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18-letter words containing a, p, i, n

  • arm's-length price — a price of a transaction agreed in accordance with market values, disregarding any connection such as common ownership of the companies involved
  • army of occupation — an army that goes into a defeated country to enforce peace terms, keep order, etc.
  • aseptic meningitis — a mild form of meningitis usually caused by one of several viruses, characterized by headache, fever, and neck stiffness.
  • assignment problem — (mathematics, algorithm)   (Or "linear assignment") Any problem involving minimising the sum of C(a, b) over a set P of pairs (a, b) where a is an element of some set A and b is an element of set B, and C is some function, under constraints such as "each element of A must appear exactly once in P" or similarly for B, or both. For example, the a's could be workers and the b's projects. The problem is "linear" because the "cost function" C() depends only on the particular pairing (a, b) and is independent of all other pairings.
  • associated company — a company which is largely controlled by its parent company because the latter owns anything up to 50% of the shares
  • assumption of risk — Assumption of risk is the practice of paying for minor losses yourself, but protecting against catastrophic losses by buying insurance cover.
  • at your fingertips — If you say that something is at your fingertips, you approve of the fact that you can reach it easily or that it is easily available to you.
  • atmospheric engine — an early form of single-acting engine in which the power stroke is provided by atmospheric pressure acting upon a piston in an exhausted cylinder.
  • atmospheric window — wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be transmitted through the earth's atmosphere. Atmospheric windows occur in the visible, infrared, and radio regions of the spectrum
  • auditory phonetics — the branch of phonetics concerned with the perception of speech sounds by humans
  • australopithecines — Plural form of australopithecine.
  • autoignition point — the minimum temperature at which a substance will undergo spontaneous combustion.
  • axile placentation — a type of placenta structure in an ovary with the ovules forming at the angles where the septa join the central placenta
  • balanced computing — (jargon)   Matching computer tools to job activities so that the computer system structure parallels the organisation structure and work functions. Both personal computers and employees operate in a decentralised environment with monitoring of achievement of management objectives from centralised corporate systems.
  • ballistic pendulum — a device consisting of a large mass hung from a horizontal bar by two rods, used to measure the velocity of an object, as a bullet, by retaining the object upon impact, its velocity being a function of the displacement of the mass.
  • band-tailed pigeon — a wild pigeon, Columba fasciata, of western North America, having a gray band on its tail.
  • baritone saxophone — the second lowest instrument in the family of saxophones
  • be in good company — If you say that someone is in good company, you mean that they should not be ashamed of a mistake or opinion, because some important or respected people have made the same mistake or have the same opinion.
  • beauty competition — a competition in which the participants, usually women, are judged on their attractiveness, with a prize, and often a title, awarded to the winner
  • behaviour patterns — the characteristic ways in which a person or animal acts
  • benchmark position — a public service job used for comparison with a similar position, such as a position in commerce, for wage settlements
  • beta-naphthylamine — a white to reddish, crystalline, water-soluble, extremely toxic solid, C 10 H 9 N, used chiefly in the manufacture of azo dyes.
  • biological parents — the biological mother and father of a child
  • bipolar transistor — (electronics)   A transistor made from a sandwich of n- and p-type semiconductor material: either npn or pnp. The middle section is known as the "base" and the other two as the "collector" and "emitter". When used as an amplifying element, the base to emitter junction is in a "forward-biased" (conducting) condition, and the base to collector junction is "reverse-biased" or non-conducting. Small changes in the base to emitter current (the input signal) cause either holes (for pnp devices) or free electrons (for npn) to enter the base from the emitter. The attracting voltage of the collector causes the majority of these charges to cross into and be collected by the collector, resulting in amplification. Contrast field effect transistor.
  • blocking capacitor — a capacitor that blocks the passage of direct current but allows alternating current to pass
  • bomb disposal unit — a unit of the police or armed services specializing in bomb disposal
  • brazilian sapphire — a blue variety of tourmaline used as a gem: not a true sapphire.
  • c-reactive protein — a globulin in the blood produced by the liver in response to inflammation
  • calcium propionate — a white, water-soluble powder, CaC 6 H 10 O 4 , used in bakery products to inhibit the growth of fungi.
  • campaign furniture — furniture, as chests or desks, having metal hinges on the corners and handles on the sides.
  • cap of maintenance — a ceremonial cap or hat worn or carried as a symbol of office, rank, etc
  • cape breton island — an island off SE Canada, in NE Nova Scotia, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Canso: its easternmost point is Cape Breton. Pop: 132 298 (2006). Area: 10 280 sq km (3970 sq miles)
  • cape saint vincent — a headland at the SW extremity of Portugal: scene of several important naval battles, notably in 1797, when the British defeated the French and Spanish
  • capital allowances — the money spent by a company on fixed assets which can be taken off the profits of the company before tax is imposed
  • capital investment — the money that is invested in something
  • capital punishment — Capital punishment is punishment which involves the legal killing of a person who has committed a serious crime such as murder.
  • captain james cook — Frederick Albert, 1865–1940, U.S. physician and polar explorer.
  • carthaginian peace — the treaty by which Rome reduced Carthage to the status of a puppet state in 201 b.c.
  • castration complex — an unconscious fear of having one's genitals removed, as a punishment for wishing to have sex with a parent
  • catapult launching — the fact of launching aircraft into the air by a device installed in warships
  • caterpillar hunter — any of various carabid beetles of the genus Calosoma, of Europe and North America, which prey on the larvae of moths and butterflies
  • central projection — a projection of one plane onto a second plane such that a point on the first plane and its image on the second plane lie on a straight line through a fixed point not on either plane.
  • championship point — a point that would decide the winner of a match that would decide the championship
  • changement de pied — a jump in which the dancer's feet are reversed from the starting position.
  • checkpoint charlie — a crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War
  • chemical potential — a thermodynamic function of a substance in a system that is the partial differential of the Gibbs function of the system with respect to the number of moles of the substance
  • chemical pregnancy — a pregnancy that is confirmed by a pregnancy test but not by clinical signs and terminates before clinical signs can be observed.
  • christine de pisan — ?1364–?1430, French poet and prose writer, born in Venice. Her works include ballads, rondeaux, lays, and a biography of Charles V of France
  • christmas shopping — shopping especially for Christmas presents, but also for Christmas food and drink, and all the other things required over the Christmas period.
  • chromatic printing — printing from blocks or types inked with various colours
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