0%

32-letter words containing a, d, e, n, o

  • nondeterministic polynomial time — (complexity)   (NP) A set or property of computational decision problems solvable by a nondeterministic Turing Machine in a number of steps that is a polynomial function of the size of the input. The word "nondeterministic" suggests a method of generating potential solutions using some form of nondeterminism or "trial and error". This may take exponential time as long as a potential solution can be verified in polynomial time. NP is obviously a superset of P (polynomial time problems solvable by a deterministic Turing Machine in polynomial time) since a deterministic algorithm can be considered as a degenerate form of nondeterministic algorithm. The question then arises: is NP equal to P? I.e. can every problem in NP actually be solved in polynomial time? Everyone's first guess is "no", but no one has managed to prove this; and some very clever people think the answer is "yes". If a problem A is in NP and a polynomial time algorithm for A could also be used to solve problem B in polynomial time, then B is also in NP. See also Co-NP, NP-complete.
  • object database management group — Object Data Management Group
  • office of defense transportation — the World War II federal agency (1941–45) that regulated the transport over public routes of goods considered vital to the war effort. Abbreviation: ODT.
  • on pain of sth/under pain of sth — If someone is ordered not to do something on pain of or under pain of death, imprisonment, or arrest, they will be killed, put in prison, or arrested if they do it.
  • open document interchange format — (standard)   (ODIF) Part of the ODA standard.
  • password authentication protocol — (networking)   (PAP) An authentication scheme used by PPP servers to validate the identity of the originator of the connection. PAP applies a two-way handshaking procedure. After the link is established the originator sends an id-password pair to the server. If authentication succeeds the server sends back an acknowledgement; otherwise it either terminates the connection or gives the originator another chance. PAP is not a strong authentication method. Passwords are sent over the circuit "in the clear" and there is no protection against playback or repeated "trial and error" attacks. The originator is in total control of the frequency and timing of the attempts. Therefore, any server that can use a stronger authentication method, such as CHAP, will offer to negotiate that method prior to PAP. The use of PAP is appropriate, however, if a plaintext password must be available to simulate a login at a remote host. PAP is defined in RFC 1334.
  • plesiochronous digital hierarchy — (communications)   (PDH) A transmission system for voice communication using plesiochronous synchronisation. PDH is the conventional multiplexing technology for network transmission systems. The transmitter adds dummy information bits to allow multiple channels to be bit interleaved. The receiver discards these bits once the signals have been demultiplexed. PDH combines multiple 2 Mb/s (E1) channels in Europe and 1.544 Mb/s (DS1) channels in the US and Japan. PDH is being replaced by SONET and other SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) schemes.
  • pleuk grammar development system — (grammar, tool)   A shell for grammar development by Jo Calder <[email protected]>, Kevin Humphreys <[email protected]>, Chris Brew <[email protected]>, and Mike Reape <[email protected]>. It handles various grammatical formalisms and requires SICStus Prolog version 2.1#6 or later. E-mail: <[email protected]>.
  • probability of failure on demand — (systems)   (POFOD) The likelihood that some system will fail when a service request is made.
  • queen mary and westfield college — (QMW) One of the largest of the multi-faculty schools of the University of London. QMW has some 6000 students and over 600 teaching and research staff organised into seven faculties. QMW was one of the first colleges in the University of London to develop fully the course-unit, or modular, approach to degree programmes. Cross faculty courses are encouraged and the physical proximity of all the College buildings is a major factor in enabling students to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to their studies.
  • real-time common design language — (language)   (RT-CDL) A real-time language for the design of reliable reactive systems.
  • round the clock/around the clock — If something is done round the clock or around the clock, it is done all day and all night without stopping.
  • saint bartholomew's day massacre — a massacre of over 3000 Huguenots, instigated by Catherine de Médicis and begun in Paris on St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1572.
  • securities and investments board — (from 1986 to 1997) a British regulatory body that oversaw London's financial markets, each of which has its own self-regulatory organization: replaced by the Financial Services Authority
  • single instruction multiple data — Single Instruction/Multiple Data
  • software practice and experience — (publication)   (SPE) A journal about software.
  • standing settlement instructions — Standing settlement instructions are instructions that have been agreed in advance, and that are to be used every time a trade is made.
  • sweep something under the carpet — to conceal (something, esp a problem) in the hope that it will be overlooked by others
  • take one's courage in both hands — to nerve oneself to perform an action
  • take the law into your own hands — act as a vigilante
  • take the wind out of one's sails — air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.
  • telecommunication display device — Telecommunications Device for the Deaf
  • temporomandibular joint disorder — a syndrome caused by a dislocation, injury, etc. of the temporomandibular joint, characterized variously by headache, facial pain, dizziness, partial loss of hearing, etc.
  • temporomandibular joint syndrome — a condition attributed to tension in or faulty articulation of the temporomandibular joint, having a wide range of symptoms that include dizziness, ringing in the ears, and pain in the head, neck, and shoulders.
  • terminal oriented social science — (project)   (TOSS) The Cambridge Project Project MAC was an ARPA-funded political science computing project. They worked on topics like survey analysis and simulation, led by Ithiel de Sola Pool, J.C.R. Licklider and Douwe B. Yntema. Yntema had done a system on the MIT Lincoln Labs TX-2 called the Lincoln Reckoner, and in the summer of 1969 led a Cambridge Project team in the construction of an experiment called TOSS. TOSS was like Logo, with matrix operators. A major feature was multiple levels of undo, back to the level of the login session. This feature was cheap on the Lincoln Reckoner, but absurdly expensive on Multics.
  • the game is not worth the candle — If you say that the game is not worth the candle, you mean that something is not worth the trouble or effort needed to achieve or obtain it.
  • throw someone in at the deep end — to put someone into a new situation, job, etc, without preparation or introduction
  • to go to great lengths to do sth — if you say that someone goes to great lengths to achieve something, you mean that they go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve it
  • to have by the short and curlies — to have completely in one's power
  • to have mixed feelings about sth — If you have mixed feelings about something or someone, you feel uncertain about them because you can see both good and bad points about them.
  • to vanish from the radar screens — to go missing; to no longer be visible or able to be detected by anyone
  • turn/beat swords into plowshares — If you say that swords have been turned into plowshares or beaten into plowshares, you mean that a state of conflict between two or more groups of people has ended and a period of peace has begun.
  • twist around one's little finger — to have easy and complete control or influence over
  • uniform code of military justice — the body of laws governing members of the U.S. armed forces: superseded the Articles of War in 1951
  • united states employment service — the division of the Department of Labor that supervises and coordinates the activities of state employment agencies. Abbreviation: USES.
  • united states information agency — an independent agency, created in 1953 and known from 1978 to 1982 as the International Communication Agency, that administers the government's overseas information and cultural programs. Abbreviation: USIA.
  • virtual sequential access method — Virtual Storage Access Method
  • wash one's dirty linen in public — fabric woven from flax yarns.
  • workers' educational association — a charitable organization providing adult community education
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?