20-letter words containing a, u, p
- comparative judgment — any judgment about whether there is a difference between two or more stimuli
- compensation culture — a culture in which people are very ready to go to law over even relatively minor incidents in the hope of gaining compensation
- complaints procedure — a prescribed method of lodging a complaint to an institution
- complementary colour — one of any pair of colours, such as yellow and blue, that give white or grey when mixed in the correct proportions
- complete unification — (programming) W.P. Weijland's name for unification without occur check.
- computability theory — (mathematics) The area of theoretical computer science concerning what problems can be solved by any computer. A function is computable if an algorithm can be implemented which will give the correct output for any valid input. Since computer programs are countable but real numbers are not, it follows that there must exist real numbers that cannot be calculated by any program. Unfortunately, by definition, there isn't an easy way of describing any of them! In fact, there are many tasks (not just calculating real numbers) that computers cannot perform. The most well-known is the halting problem, the busy beaver problem is less famous but just as fascinating.
- computer programming — the activity or profession of writing computer programs
- computing dictionary — Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
- construction company — a business enterprise concerned with the construction of buildings, bridges, etc
- consultant physician — a physician who has attained the rank of consultant in a particular speciality
- copulative asyndeton — a staccato effect produced by omitting copulative connectives between two or more items in a group, as in “Friends, Romans, countrymen.”.
- council-manager plan — (in the US) a system of local government with an elected legislative council and an appointed administrative manager
- counterproliferation — Action intended to prevent an increase or spread in the possession of nuclear weapons.
- cream of tomato soup — a creamy soup made from tomatoes
- crime and punishment — a novel (1866) by Feodor Dostoevsky.
- critical temperature — the temperature of a substance in its critical state. A gas can only be liquefied by pressure alone at temperatures below its critical temperature
- cycloidal propulsion — propulsion of a vessel by propellers of controllable pitch that steer as well as propel.
- dementia pugilistica — chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
- developing-out paper — a sensitized printing paper requiring development in order to bring out the image. Abbreviation: D.O.P.
- diammonium phosphate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound, (NH 4) 2 HPO 4 , used as fertilizer, in fire extinguishers, etc.
- diisobutyl phthalate — a clear, colorless liquid, C 14 H 26 O 4 , used chiefly as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose.
- diophantine equation — an equation involving more than one variable in which the coefficients of the variables are integers and for which integral solutions are sought.
- displacement current — the rate of change, at any point in space, of electric displacement with time.
- disruptive discharge — the sudden, large increase in current through an insulating medium resulting from complete failure of the medium under electrostatic stress.
- distributed practice — learning with reasonably long intervals between separate occasions of learning
- double-aspect theory — a monistic theory that holds that mind and body are not distinct substances but merely different aspects of a single substance
- drum and bugle corps — a marching band of drum players and buglers.
- dry-bulb temperature — A dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of a dry surface in a vapor-gas environment.
- dual in-line package — (hardware) (DIL, DIP) The most common type of package for small and medium scale integrated circuits, with up to about 48 pins. The pins hang vertically from the two long edges of the rectangular package, spaced at intervals of 0.1 inch. The pins fit through holes in the circuit board to which they are soldered or into a socket.
- duck-billed platypus — platypus.
- due process (of law) — the course of legal proceedings established by the legal system of a nation or state to protect individual rights
- dun & bradstreet — an agency furnishing subscribers with information as to the financial standing and credit rating of businesses
- ecumenical patriarch — the patriarch of Constantinople, regarded as the highest dignitary of the Greek Orthodox Church.
- education department — the department of a local authority that is concerned with education, or the government department concerned with education
- effective computable — (theory) A term describing a function for which there is an effective algorithm that correctly calculates the function. The algorithm must consist of a finite sequence of instructions.
- electromagnetic pump — a device for pumping liquid metals by placing a pipe between the poles of an electromagnet and passing a current through the liquid metal
- epidural anaesthesia — numbing injection in the spine
- equalization payment — a financial grant made by the federal government to a poorer province in order to facilitate a level of services equal to that of a richer province
- equivalent air speed — the speed at sea level that would produce the same Pitot-static tube reading as that measured at altitude
- european social fund — one of the four Structural Funds of the European Union which aims to support employment and the economic and social well-being of EU member countries
- factor of production — any instrument, agent, etc., employed in the production of goods and services.
- flame-fusion process — Verneuil process.
- freefall parachuting — a variety of parachuting in which the jumper manoeuvres in free fall before opening the parachute
- freight pass-through — a special allowance or discounted price given a bookseller or bookstore by a publishing house for paying the freight charge on a shipment of books ordered: so called because the shipping charge is passed on to the consumer by an increase in the suggested retail price for each book. Abbreviation: FPT.
- friar minor capuchin — capuchin (def 4).
- frontenac et palluau — Comte de (Louis de Buade) 1620?–98, French governor of New France 1672–82, 1689–98.
- fulminating compound — a fulminate.
- function application — A function applied to (some of) its arguments. If it is not applied to all its argument then it is a "partial application". Application is usually written in the form f(x) but some languages such as command-line interpreters and many functional languages use juxtaposition: f x. Lisp places the parentheses around the whole application: (f x).
- fundamental particle — elementary particle.
- general postal union — former name of Universal Postal Union. Abbreviation: GPU.