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16-letter words containing a, d, r, t

  • digital computer — a computer that processes information in digital form.
  • digital research — (company)   The company which developed CP/M, the operating system used on many of the first generation 8-bit microprocessor-based personal computers. Digital Research also produced DR-DOS. Address: Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
  • dihydroxyacetone — (organic compound) The compound CO(CH2OH)2 that has a number of industrial uses.
  • dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
  • dinosaurs mating — (humour)   The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
  • diphosphorylated — (biochemistry) phosphorylated with two units of phosphoric acid.
  • diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
  • direct democracy — to manage or guide by advice, helpful information, instruction, etc.: He directed the company through a difficult time.
  • direct marketing — marketing direct to the consumer, as by direct mail or coupon advertising.
  • direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
  • director general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
  • director's chair — a lightweight folding armchair with transversely crossed legs and having a canvas seat and back panel, as traditionally used by motion-picture directors.
  • director-general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
  • disaccreditation — to take away the accreditation or authorization of: to disaccredit a diplomat.
  • disappearing act — magic trick
  • discriminability — The condition of being discriminable.
  • discriminatingly — With discrimination.
  • discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
  • disembarrassment — Freedom or relief from impediment or perplexity.
  • disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
  • disfranchisement — to deprive (a person) of a right of citizenship, as of the right to vote.
  • disincorporation — to remove from an incorporated state or status.
  • dispersing agent — a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping
  • display standard — (hardware, standard)   IBM and others have introduced a bewildering plethora of graphics and text display standards for IBM PCs. The standards are mostly implemented by plugging in a video display board (or "graphics adaptor") and connecting the appropriate monitor to it. Each new standard subsumes its predecessors. For example, an EGA board can also do CGA and MDA. With the PS/2, IBM introduced the VGA standard and built it into the main system board motherboard. VGA is also available as a plug-in board for PCs from third-party vendors. Also with the PS/2, IBM introduced the 8514 high-resolution graphics standard. An 8514 adaptor board plugs into the PS/2, providing a dual-monitor capability. Graphics software had to support the major IBM graphics standards and many non-IBM, proprietary standards for displays. Either software vendors provided display drivers or display vendors provided drivers for the software package. In either case, switching software or switching display systems was fraught with compatibility problems. More colours are available from third-party vendors for some display types. See also MDA, CGA, EGA, PGA, Hercules, MCGA, VGA, SVGA, 8514, VESA.
  • display terminal — Visual Display Unit
  • disproportionate — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
  • disreputableness — The state or quality of being disreputable or disgraceful; disreputability.
  • distributionally — In a distributional manner.
  • distributive law — a theorem asserting that one operator can validly be distributed over another
  • district heating — a heating system in which centrally generated heat is distributed via ducts and pipes to multiple buildings or locations
  • distrito federal — Federal District. Abbreviation: D.F.
  • diversifications — Plural form of diversification.
  • divisional court — a high court in which at least two judges sit
  • do the necessary — to do something that is necessary in a particular situation
  • documentary film — factual, informative film
  • dolce far niente — pleasing inactivity.
  • domestic partner — either member of an unmarried, cohabiting, and especially homosexual couple that seeks benefits usually available only to spouses.
  • domestic prelate — an honorary distinction conferred by the Holy See upon clergy, entitling them to some of the privileges of a bishop.
  • domestic servant — person employed to do household chores
  • dominical letter — any one of the letters from A to G used in church calendars to mark the Sundays throughout any particular year, serving primarily to aid in determining the date of Easter.
  • dorothy canfield — Dorothy, Fisher, Dorothy Canfield.
  • double monastery — a religious community of both men and women who live in separate establishments under the same superior and who worship in a common church.
  • double solitaire — a game of solitaire for two persons, each player usually having a pack and layout but pooling foundations with the opponent.
  • double-breasting — the practice of employing nonunion workers, especially in a separate division, to supplement the work of higher-paid union workers.
  • drag coefficient — a measure of the drag of an object in a moving fluid, esp air
  • dramatic society — an amateur dramatics club
  • draught excluder — a device (such as a strip of wood, or a long cylindrical cushion) placed at the bottom of a door to keep out draughts
  • draw and quarter — to disembowel and dismember (a person) after hanging
  • draw the longbow — to exaggerate in telling something
  • dressing station — a post or center that gives first aid to the wounded, located near a combat area.
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