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16-letter words containing a, e, r, o, b

  • cathode ray tube — (hardware)   (CRT) An electrical device for displaying images by exciting phosphor dots with a scanned electron beam. CRTs are found in computer VDUs and monitors, televisions and oscilloscopes. The first commercially practical CRT was perfected on 29 January 1901 by Allen B DuMont. A large glass envelope containing a negative electrode (the cathode) emits electrons (formerly called "cathode rays") when heated, as in a vacuum tube. The electrons are accelerated across a large voltage gradient toward the flat surface of the tube (the screen) which is covered with phosphor. When an electron strikes the phosphor, light is emitted. The electron beam is deflected by electromagnetic coils around the outside of the tube so that it scans across the screen, usually in horizontal stripes. This scan pattern is known as a raster. By controlling the current in the beam, the brightness at any particular point (roughly a "pixel") can be varied. Different phosphors have different "persistence" - the length of time for which they glow after being struck by electrons. If the scanning is done fast enough, the eye sees a steady image, due to both the persistence of the phospor and of the eye itself. CRTs also differ in their dot pitch, which determines their spatial resolution, and in whether they use interlace or not.
  • cathode-ray tube — A cathode-ray tube is a device in televisions and computer terminals which sends an image onto the screen.
  • cedar of lebanon — a cedar, Cedrus libani, of SW Asia with level spreading branches and fragrant wood
  • chamber of trade — a national organization representing local chambers of commerce
  • chernobyl packet — (networking)   /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ A network packet that induces a broadcast storm and/or network meltdown, named in memory of the April 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine. The typical scenario involves an IP Ethernet datagram that passes through a gateway with both source and destination Ethernet address and IP address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the subnetworks being gated between. Compare Christmas tree packet.
  • chiclet keyboard — (hardware, abuse)   A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of Chiclets chewing gum. Used especially to describe the original IBM PCjr keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early portable and laptop computers were launched with them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch any more.
  • chromatic number — (mathematics)   The smallest number of colours necessary to colour the nodes of a graph so that no two adjacent nodes have the same colour. See also: four colour map theorem.
  • city of aberdeen — a council area in NE Scotland, established in 1996. Pop: 206 600 (2003 est). Area: 186 sq km (72 sq miles)
  • cobra de capello — a cobra, Naja tripudians, that has ringlike markings on the body and exists in many varieties in S and SE Asia
  • come/bring alive — If a story or description comes alive, it becomes interesting, lively, or realistic. If someone or something brings it alive, they make it seem more interesting, lively, or realistic.
  • commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
  • commercial break — A commercial break is the interval during a commercial television programme, or between programmes, during which advertisements are shown.
  • comparable worth — the doctrine that a woman's and man's pay should be equal when their work requires equal training, skills, and responsibilities.
  • complex variable — a variable to which complex numbers may be assigned as value.
  • concertina table — an extensible table having a hinged double top falling onto a hinged frame that unfolds like an accordion when pulled out.
  • conference table — a large table, often rectangular, around which a number of people may be seated, as when holding a conference
  • congeliturbation — the churning, heaving, and thrusting of soil material due to the action of frost.
  • constant lambert — Constant [kon-stuh nt] /ˈkɒn stənt/ (Show IPA), 1905–51, English composer and conductor.
  • consumer durable — Consumer durables are goods which are expected to last a long time, and are bought infrequently.
  • control variable — Also called control. Statistics. a person, group, event, etc., that is used as a constant and unchanging standard of comparison in scientific experimentation. Compare dependent variable (def 2), independent variable (def 2).
  • controllableness — The state of being controllable; the capability of being controlled.
  • conversion table — a diagram which shows equivalent amounts in different measuring systems
  • cooperative bank — a cooperative savings institution, chartered and regulated by a state or the federal government, that receives deposits in exchange for shares of ownership and invests its funds chiefly in loans secured by first mortgages on homes.
  • cops and robbers — a children's game in which a group of players imitate the behavior of police and of thieves, as in pursuing and capturing.
  • cops-and-robbers — A cops-and-robbers film, television programme, or book is one whose story involves the police trying to catch criminals.
  • corned beef hash — a dish consisting of corned beef chopped and mixed together with mashed potatoes and various other ingredients, then fried
  • counterbalancing — Present participle of counterbalance.
  • cracked up to be — alleged or believed to be
  • crossbow archery — the sport of shooting with a crossbow
  • cyanogen bromide — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous, volatile, crystalline solid, BrCN, used chiefly as a fumigant and a pesticide.
  • daylight robbery — If someone charges you a great deal of money for something and you think this is unfair or unreasonable, you can refer to this as daylight robbery.
  • de broglie waves — the set of waves that represent the behaviour of an elementary particle, or some atoms and molecules, under certain conditions. The de Broglie wavelength, λ, is given by λ = h/mv, where h is the Planck constant, m the mass, and v the velocity of the particle
  • dearborn heights — city in SE Mich.: suburb of Detroit: pop. 58,000
  • deboursification — (jargon)   Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
  • dehydroascorbate — (organic compound) Any salt or ester of dehydroascorbic acid.
  • demonstrableness — The quality of being demonstrable.
  • diethyl carbinol — a colorless, liquid isomer of amyl alcohol, (CH3CH2)2CHOH, used in drugs and as a solvent
  • dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
  • disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
  • dishonorableness — The property of being dishonorable.
  • division algebra — a linear algebra in which each element of the vector space has a multiplicative inverse.
  • 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-barrelled — A double-barrelled gun has two barrels.
  • double-breasting — the practice of employing nonunion workers, especially in a separate division, to supplement the work of higher-paid union workers.
  • draw the longbow — to exaggerate in telling something
  • drop a bombshell — If someone drops a bombshell, they give you a sudden piece of bad or unexpected news.
  • economic embargo — a legal stoppage of commerce, usually taken by one nation or group of nations to harm the economy of another nation or group, often to force a political change
  • elburz mountains — a mountain range in N Iran, parallel to the SW and S shores of the Caspian Sea. Highest peak: Mount Demavend, 5671 m (18 606 ft)
  • embarkation card — an official document that allows travellers to leave a country by boarding a ship or plane
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