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23-letter words containing a, l, i, t, o

  • commercial exploitation — unethical business practices
  • commonwealth of nations — a voluntary association of independent nations and dependent territories linked by historical ties (as parts of the former British Empire) and cooperating on matters of mutual concern, especially regarding economics and trade.
  • communist international — Third International.
  • communist-international — an international organization (1919–43), founded in Moscow, uniting Communist groups of various countries and advocating the attainment of their ends by violent revolution. Also called Comintern, Communist International. Compare international (def 6).
  • community health centre — a medical centre that serves a particular area
  • compact disc recordable — (storage)   (CD-R) A write-once version of CD-ROM. CD-Rs can hold about 650 megabytes of data. They are very durable and can be read by normal CD-ROM drives, but once data has been written it cannot be altered. Standard prerecorded CDs have their information permanently stamped into an aluminium reflecting layer. CD-R discs have a dye-based recording layer and an additional golden reflecting layer. Digital information is written to the disc by burning (forming) pits in the recording layer in a pattern corresponding to that of a conventional CD. The laser beam heats the substrate and recording layer to approximately 250 C. The recording layer melts and the substrate expands into the space that becomes available. See also CD-RW and DVD-RAM.
  • compact disc rewritable — (storage)   (CD-RW) A rewritable version of CD-ROM. A CD-RW drive can write about 650 megabytes of data to CD-RW media an unlimited number of times. Most CD-RW drives can also write once to CD-R media. CD-RW media cannot be read by CD-ROM drives built prior to 1997 due to the reduced reflectivity (15% compared to 70%) of CD-RW media. CD-RW drives and media are currently (1999) more expensive than CD-R drives and media. CD-R is sometimes considered a better technology for archival purposes as the data cannot be accidentally modified or tampered with, and encourages better archival practices. Standard prerecorded CDs have their information permanently stamped into an aluminium reflecting layer. CD-WR discs have a phase-change recording layer and an additional silver (aluminium) reflecting layer. A laser beam can melt crystals in the recording layer into a non-crystalline amorphous phase or anneal them slowly at a lower temperature back to the crystalline state. The different reflectance of the areas make them appear as the 'pits' and 'lands' of a standard CD. See also CD-R and DVD-RAM.
  • comparative linguistics — the study of the correspondences between languages that have a common origin.
  • complain about the food — If you complain about the food, you say that you are not satisfied with it.
  • composite colour signal — a colour television signal in which luminance and two chrominance components are encoded into a single signal
  • computer-aided learning — Computer-Aided Instruction
  • conditional convergence — the property of an infinite series that converges while the series formed by replacing each term in the given series with its absolute value diverges; the property of an infinite series that converges when the order of the terms is altered. Compare absolute convergence (def 1).
  • conditional probability — the probability of one event, A, occurring given that another, B, is already known to have occurred: written P(A|B) and equal to P(A and B)|P(B)
  • confessional television — television programmes, esp talk shows, in which members of the public reveal their private lives, personal problems, etc
  • conformational analysis — the study of the spatial arrangement of atoms or groups of atoms in a molecule and the way in which this influences chemical behaviour
  • conjunctive normal form — (logic)   (CNF) A logical formula consisting of a conjunction of disjunctions of terms where no disjunction contains a conjunction. Such a formula might also be described as a product of sums. E.g. the CNF of (A and B) or C is (A or C) and (B or C). Contrast Disjunctive Normal Form.
  • connection machine lisp — (language)   Lisp with a parallel data structure, the 'xapping', an array of values assigned to an array of sites.
  • conservative evaluation — (programming)   Under this parallel evaluation strategy, no evaluation is started unless it is known to be needed. The opposite of conservative evaluation is speculative evaluation.
  • consolidated deliveries — deliveries of goods to different shops in a common location by a single carrier and in a single vehicle
  • constant velocity joint — A constant velocity joint is a universal joint in which the output shaft rotates at constant speed if the input shaft speed is constant.
  • constant-velocity joint — a universal joint that is used in the drive train of front-wheel-drive cars and operates effectively even when the shafts being connected meet at a sharp angle.
  • constitutional monarchy — a monarchy governed according to a constitution that limits and defines the powers of the sovereign
  • consultant psychiatrist — a psychiatrist who has attained the rank of consultant
  • cordillera de talamanca — a mountain range running SE from central Costa Rica to W Panama.
  • correlation coefficient — a statistic measuring the degree of correlation between two variables as by dividing their covariance by the square root of the product of their variances. The closer the correlation coefficient is to 1 or –1 the greater the correlation; if it is random, the coefficient is zero
  • correlative conjunction — either member of a matched pair of words, of which the second is a coordinating conjunction, as either … or, neither … nor, both … and, or not only … but.
  • cost-of-living increase — a pay rise that is given because the cost of living has gone up
  • cryptococcal meningitis — a form of meningitis resulting from opportunistic infection by a cryptococcus fungus, occurring in persons who are immunodeficient.
  • cut sb's umbilical cord — If you say that one person, organization, or country has cut its umbilical cord with another, you mean that they have done something that makes them more independent.
  • cylindrical coordinates — three coordinates defining the location of a point in three-dimensional space in terms of its polar coordinates (r, θ) in one plane, usually the (x, y) plane, and its perpendicular distance, z, measured from this plane
  • dark-field illumination — illumination of the field of a microscope from the side so that the specimen is viewed against a dark background
  • de-compartmentalization — to divide into categories or compartments.
  • delayed stress reaction — a post-traumatic stress disorder occurring more than six months after the experience of a traumatic event.
  • diamondback rattlesnake — either of two large, highly venomous rattlesnakes of the genus Crotalus, having diamond-shaped markings on the back.
  • dichlorodifluoromethane — a colourless nonflammable gas easily liquefied by pressure: used as a propellant in aerosols and fire extinguishers and as a refrigerant. Formula: CCl2F2
  • differentiable manifold — a manifold having the property that any two overlapping open sets are homeomorphic to locally Euclidean spaces whose coordinates are related by differentiable functions, a property with wide applications in mathematical physics and differential geometry.
  • differential compaction — differences in the extent to which sediment is compacted owing to topographic irregularities of the surface on which it is deposited.
  • differential psychology — the branch of psychology dealing with the study of characteristic differences or variations of groups or individuals, especially through the use of analytic techniques and statistical methods.
  • digital subscriber loop — Digital Subscriber Line
  • direct primary election — a preliminary election at which candidates for public office are chosen by direct vote of the people instead of by delegates at a convention: in closed primary elections voters must declare party affiliation and may vote only for candidates of their party
  • discrimination learning — a learning process in which an organism learns to react differently to different stimuli
  • disjunctive normal form — (DNF) A logical formula consisting of a disjunction of conjunctions where no conjunction contains a disjunction. E.g. the DNF of (A or B) and C is (A and C) or (B and C).
  • dissociate oneself from — to deny or repudiate any connection with
  • dollar (cost) averaging — see average (sense 11)
  • drop into someone's lap — to cause to be someone's responsibility
  • dual sensory impairment — the condition of being affected by sight and hearing loss
  • duplication of the cube — the insoluble problem of constructing a cube having twice the volume of a given cube, using only a ruler and compass.
  • eastern lowland gorilla — the largest of the anthropoid apes, Gorilla gorilla, terrestrial and vegetarian, of western equatorial Africa and the Kivu highlands, comprising the subspecies G. g. gorilla (western lowland gorilla) G. g. graueri (eastern lowland gorilla) and G. g. beringei (mountain gorilla) now rare.
  • electroencephalographic — Of or pertaining to electroencephalography or electroencephalographs.
  • electron spin resonance — a technique for investigating paramagnetic substances by subjecting them to high-frequency radiation in a strong magnetic field. Changes in the spin of unpaired electrons cause radiation to be absorbed at certain frequencies
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