19-letter words containing a, s, i, t, c, b

foundation subjects — the subjects studied as part of the National Curriculum, including the compulsory core subjects
functional database — (database, language) A database which uses a functional language as its query language. Databases would seem to be an inappropriate application for functional languages since, a purely functional language would have to return a new copy of the entire database every time (part of) it was updated. To be practically scalable, the update mechanism must clearly be destructive rather than functional; however it is quite feasible for the query language to be purely functional so long as the database is considered as an argument. One approach to the update problem would use a monad to encapsulate database access and ensure it was single threaded. Alternative approaches have been suggested by Trinder, who suggests non-destructive updating with shared data structures, and Sutton who uses a variant of a Phil Wadler's linear type system. There are two main classes of functional database languages. The first is based upon Backus' FP language, of which FQL is probably the best known example. Adaplan is a more recent language which falls into this category. More recently, people have been working on languages which are syntactically very similar to modern functional programming languages, but which also provide all of the features of a database language, e.g. bulk data structures which can be incrementally updated, type systems which can be incrementally updated, and all data persisting in a database. Examples are PFL [Poulovassilis&Small, VLDB-91], and Machiavelli [Ohori et al, ACM SIGMOD Conference, 1998].
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).
hydrostatic balance — a balance for finding the weight of an object submerged in water in order to determine the upthrust on it and thus determine its relative density
hyperbolic cosecant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of hyperbolic sine
in the catbird seat — If you say that someone is in the catbird seat, you think that their situation is very good.
interchangeableness — Quality of being interchangeable.
internal-combustion — of or relating to an internal-combustion engine.
intervertebral disc — any of the cartilaginous discs between individual vertebrae, acting as shock absorbers
job creation scheme — a governmental scheme to increase the number of jobs in an area, organization, etc
label switched path — (networking) (LSP) The specific path through a network that a datagram follows, based on its MPLS labels.
liability insurance — insurance covering the insured against losses arising from injury or damage to another person or property.
magnesium carbonate — a white powder, MgCO 3 , insoluble in water and alcohol, soluble in acids, used in dentifrices and cosmetics, in medicine as an antacid, and as a refractory material.
malleable cast iron — white cast iron that has been malleablized.
megabits per second — (unit) (Mbps, Mb/s) Millions of bits per second. A unit of data rate. 1 Mb/s = 1,000,000 bits per second (not 1,048,576). E.g. Ethernet can carry 10 Mbps.
molecular biologist — a specialist in the study of biological phenomena at the molecular level
olive-backed thrush — Swainson's thrush.
optical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)
pancreatic fibrosis — cystic fibrosis.
piggyback investing — Piggyback investing is a situation in which a broker repeats a trade on his own behalf immediately after trading for an investor, because he thinks the investor may have inside information.
potassium carbonate — a white, granular, water-soluble powder, K 2 CO 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of soap, glass, and potassium salts.
public-interest law — a branch of law that often utilizes class-action suits to protect the interest of a large group or of the public at large, as in matters relating to racial discrimination, air pollution, etc.
put one's back into — to devote all one's strength to (a task)
rebus sic stantibus — (of the duration of the binding force treaty) for as long as the relevant facts and circumstances remain basically the same.
reversible reaction — a reaction that, depending on ambient conditions, can proceed in either of two directions: the production of the reaction products from the reactants, or the production of the original reactants from the formed reaction products. Compare equilibrium (def 4).
semibituminous coal — a coal intermediate between bituminous and anthracite coal in hardness, yielding the maximum heat of any ordinary steam coal.
semidetached binary — a pair of stars that are so close together that mass transfer occurs from one to the other
siberian forest cat — a breed of powerfully-built long-haired cat, typically tabby with a white ruff and white paws
simple carbohydrate — a carbohydrate, as glucose, that consists of a single monosaccharide unit.
son-of-a-bitch stew — (in the Old West) a stew often prepared by chuck-wagon cooks for working cowboys, containing tripe and often also the heart, liver, brains, kidney, etc., of a slaughtered steer.
specialized subject — a school or university subject that concentrates on a particular field of knowledge
stationery cupboard — a cupboard where things like paper, pens and paper clips are kept
stochastic variable — a random variable.
subjective idealism — a doctrine that the world has no existence independent of sensations or ideas.
subminiature camera — a very small, palm-sized still camera for taking photographs on 16-millimeter or similar film.
subnuclear particle — any of the elementary particles, including those that do not exist in stable matter but appear as a result of high-energy collisions of other particles or nuclei.
subsistence farming — farming whose products are intended to provide for the basic needs of the farmer, with little surplus for marketing.
subtractive process — a process of color photography in which the colors are formed by combination of cyan, yellow, and magenta lights.
switchblade (knife) — a large jackknife that snaps open when a release button on the handle is pressed
telescopic umbrella — an umbrella having parts that telescope
the compassion club — (in Canada) a nonprofit organization that provides uncontaminated cannabis for medical purposes and natural therapies in a safe environment
to be in the charts — (of a record or pop group) to be popular
to rack your brains — If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
to take the biscuit — If someone has done something very stupid, rude, or selfish, you can say that they take the biscuit or that what they have done takes the biscuit, to emphasize your surprise at their behaviour.
toshiba corporation — (company) A Japanese technology manufacturer with 364 subsidiaries worldwide. Toshiba makes and sells electronics for home, office, industry and health care including information and communication systems, electronic components, heavy electrical apparatus, consumer products and medical diagnostic imaging equipment. In FY 2003-4, Toshiba employed 161,286 people.
tubular steel chair — a chair with a frame made of tubular steel
vertical stabilizer — the fixed vertical surface of an aircraft empennage, to which the rudder is hinged.
visual basic script — (language) (VBScript) Microsoft's scripting language which is an extension of their Visual Basic language. VBScript can be used with Microsoft Office applications and others. It can also be embedded in web pages but can only be understood by Internet Explorer. Visual Basic is a BASIC variant with object-oriented features. Objects include applications, windows and selections.
websters-dictionary — Informal. a dictionary of the English language, especially American English, such as Dictionary.com.
xt bus architecture — (hardware, architecture) (After the IBM PC XT) An eight-bit ISA bus architecture used by Intel 8086 and Intel 8088 systems in the IBM PC and IBM PC XT in the 1980s. It predates the 16-bit ISA architecture used on the Intel 80286 based machines. The XT bus has four DMA channels, of which three are brought out to the expansion slots. Of these three, two are normally allocated to machine functions: DMA channel Expansion Standard function 0 No {dynamic RAM} refresh 1 Yes add-on cards 2 Yes {floppy disk} controller 3 Yes {hard disc} controller (1997-09-15)

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?