19-letter words containing a, d, i, p, c
- deaf without speech — (usually of a prelingually deaf person) able to utter sounds but not speak
- deflate compression — deflate
- dental receptionist — a receptionist working in a dental surgery
- department chairman — the chairman of a university department
- depletion allowance — a tax allowance granted in certain industries, such as the oil and gas industries, to compensate for the depletion of the oil, gas, etc owned by the company
- descriptive grammar — an approach to grammar that is concerned with reporting the usage of native speakers without reference to proposed norms of correctness or advocacy of rules based on such norms.
- differential backup — (operating system) A kind of backup that copies all files that have changed since the last full backup. Each differential backup will include all files in previous differential backups since the full backup so to restore a version of a file, you only need to search the full backup and the relevant differential backup. Some systems support differential backup by associating an "Archive" flag with each file and setting this flag whenever the file is modified to indicate that it should be included in the next backup. A differential backup does not change this flag, whereas an incremental backup resets it.
- diffraction pattern — the phenomenon exhibited by wave fronts that, passing the edge of an opaque body, are modulated, thereby causing a redistribution of energy within the front: it is detectable in light waves by the presence of a pattern of closely spaced dark and light bands (diffraction pattern) at the edge of a shadow.
- diplomatic immunity — exemption from taxation, searches, arrest, etc., enjoyed by diplomatic officials and their dependent families under international law, and usually on a reciprocal basis.
- direct mapped cache — (architecture) A cache where the cache location for a given address is determined from the middle address bits. If the cache line size is 2^n then the bottom n address bits correspond to an offset within a cache entry. If the cache can hold 2^m entries then the next m address bits give the cache location. The remaining top address bits are stored as a "tag" along with the entry. In this scheme, there is no choice of which block to flush on a cache miss since there is only one place for any block to go. This simple scheme has the disadvantage that if the program alternately accesses different addresses which map to the same cache location then it will suffer a cache miss on every access to these locations. This kind of cache conflict is quite likely on a multi-processor. See also fully associative cache, set associative cache.
- directional coupler — (communications) (tap) A passive device used in cable systems to divide and combine radio frequency signals. A directional coupler has at least three ports: line in, line out, and the tap. The signal passes between line in and line out ports with loss referred to as the insertion loss. A small portion of the signal power applied to the line in port passes to the tap port. A signal applied to the tap port is passed to the line in port less the tap attenuation value. The tap signals are isolated from the line out port to prevent reflections. A signal applied to the line out port passes to the line in port and is isolated from the tap port. Some devices provide more than one tap output line (multi-taps).
- disaster capitalism — the practice (by a government, regime, etc) of taking advantage of a major disaster to adopt liberal economic policies that the population would be less likely to accept under normal circumstances
- disciplinary action — punishment or caution
- dispatch department — the department of an organization responsible for the dispatch of orders
- displaced homemaker — a woman recently divorced, separated, or widowed after many years as a homemaker.
- displacement engine — any engine employing the rectilinear motion of one or more pistons in cylinders.
- dobsonian telescope — a relatively inexpensive Newtonian telescope, suitable for visual but not photographic use, in which the tube assembly slips freely in the lower base.
- dry-bulk cargo ship — a ship that carries an unpackaged dry cargo such as coal or grain; bulk carrier
- duplicating machine — a duplicator, especially one for making identical copies of documents, letters, etc.
- dynamic positioning — Dynamic positioning is the use of computers to control the position of a semi-submersible rig.
- early purple orchid — a Eurasian orchid, Orchis mascula, with purplish-crimson flowers and stems marked with blackish-purple spots
- electrocardiographs — Plural form of electrocardiograph.
- electrocardiography — The measurement of electrical activity in the heart and the recording of such activity as a visual trace (on paper or on an oscilloscope screen), using electrodes placed on the skin of the limbs and chest.
- electrode potential — the potential difference developed when an electrode of an element is placed in a solution containing ions of that element
- expeditionary force — An expeditionary force is a group of soldiers who are sent to fight in a foreign country.
- family-sized packet — a large packet
- feynman, richard p. — Richard P. Feynman
- fluophosphoric acid — fluorophosphoric acid.
- gigabits per second — (unit) (Gbps) A unit of information transfer rate equal to one billion bits per second. Note that, while a gigabit is defined as a power of two (2^30 bits), a gigabit per second is defined as a power of ten (10^9 bits per second, which is slightly less) than 2^30).
- grievance procedure — the established series of steps to be taken in dealing with a grievance raised with an employer by an employee
- hyperfocal distance — the distance, at a given f number, between a camera lens and the nearest point (hyperfocal point) having satisfactory definition when focused at infinity.
- hypophosphoric acid — a tetrabasic acid, H 4 P 2 O 6 , produced by the slow oxidation of phosphorous in moist air.
- imperial presidency — a U.S. presidency that is characterized by greater power than the Constitution allows.
- in the second place — secondly
- incidental expenses — costs outside those budgeted
- industrial capacity — the amount of resources (workforce, factories, etc) present in a place that will enable an industry or industries to produce goods
- intercardinal point — any of the four points of the compass midway between the cardinal points; northeast, southeast, southwest, or northwest.
- interdisciplinarity — Any academic or scientific study that draws on the expertise of more than one discipline.
- judicial separation — a decree of legal separation of spouses that does not dissolve the marriage bond.
- keep one's distance — the extent or amount of space between two things, points, lines, etc.
- kellogg-briand pact — a treaty renouncing war as an instrument of national policy and urging peaceful means for the settlement of international disputes, originally signed in 1928 by 15 nations, later joined by 49 others.
- label switched path — (networking) (LSP) The specific path through a network that a datagram follows, based on its MPLS labels.
- landscape architect — A landscape architect is the same as a landscape gardener.
- landscape gardening — the art or trade of designing or rearranging large gardens, estates, etc.
- linear independence — (in linear algebra) the property of a set of elements in a vector space in which none of the vectors can be written as a linear combination of the others.
- lipopolysaccharides — Plural form of lipopolysaccharide.
- maestro di cappella — a person in charge of an orchestra, esp a private one attached to the palace of a prince in Italy during the baroque period
- magnetic tape drive — (storage) (Or "tape drive") A peripheral device that reads and writes magnetic tape.
- managed competition — a strategy for healthcare delivery whereby costs are reduced by fostering competition between providers of managed-care contracts for large employers.
- manned space flight — space travel in vehicles with a human crew