20-letter words containing c, o, r, i
- light the touchpaper — to do something that will cause much anger or excitement
- light-weight process — (operating system, parallel) (LWP) A single-threaded sub-process which, unlike a thread, has its own process identifier and may also differ in its inheritance and controlling features. Several operating systems, e.g. SunOS 5.x, provide system calls for creating and controlling LWPs.
- like a ton of bricks — (used esp of the manner of punishing or reprimanding someone) with great force; severely
- linguistic geography — dialect geography.
- logarithmic function — a function defined by y = log bx, especially when the base, b, is equal to e, the base of natural logarithms.
- logical construction — anything referred to by an incomplete symbol capable of contextual definition.
- logical link control — (networking) (LLC) The upper portion of the data link layer, as defined in IEEE 802.2. The LLC sublayer presents a uniform interface to the user of the data link service, usually the network layer. Beneath the LLC sublayer is the Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer.
- lord high chancellor — the highest judicial officer of the British crown: law adviser of the ministry, keeper of the great seal, presiding officer in the House of Lords, etc.
- lost property office — room for mislaid objects
- lunisolar precession — the principal component of the precession of the equinoxes, produced by the gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon on the equatorial bulge of the earth.
- macular degeneration — degeneration of the central portion of the retina, resulting in a loss of sharp vision.
- magical mystery tour — something exciting and mysterious; esp an exploration of a new place where somebody being shown or taken around does not know where exactly they will be going
- magnetohydrodynamics — the branch of physics that deals with the motion of electrically conductive fluids, especially plasmas, in magnetic fields. Abbreviation: MHD.
- magnification factor — the size of a magnified image of an object divided by the size of the object itself
- mail exchange record — (messaging) (MX Record) A DNS resource record type that says which SMTP server handles electronic mail for a particular domain. E.g. the MX record foo.co.uk. 1054 IN MX 10 mail.foo.co.uk. means that mail for an address like "[email protected]" should be sent to "mail.foo.co.uk". There can be several servers for a domain. The "10" is a priority - the server with the lowest number will be tried first.
- mail-order catalogue — a catalogue of goods you can buy from a particular company by mail order
- maintenance contract — a formal agreement between two parties which states that one party will keep a building, vehicle, machine, etc, belonging to the other party in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary
- make a/no difference — If something makes a difference or makes a lot of difference, it affects you and helps you in what you are doing. If something makes no difference, it does not have any effect on what you are doing.
- malpighian corpuscle — Also called kidney corpuscle, Malpighian body. the structure at the beginning of a vertebrate nephron, consisting of a glomerulus and its surrounding Bowman's capsule.
- master of ceremonies — a person who directs the entertainment at a party, dinner, nightclub, radio or television broadcast, or the like, acting as host and introducing the speakers or performers. Abbreviation: M.C., MC.
- material implication — equivalence (def 4a).
- media access control — (networking) (MAC) The lower sublayer of the OSI data link layer. The interface between a node's Logical Link Control and the network's physical layer. The MAC differs for various physical media. See also MAC Address, Ethernet, IEEE 802.3, token ring.
- medical practitioner — doctor
- megakaryocytopoiesis — (biology) The cellular development process that leads to platelet production.
- meissner's corpuscle — tactile corpuscle.
- member of the public — a member of the general population
- menstrual extraction — an abortion procedure involving suction aspiration of the uterine contents early in gestation, before the first missed menstrual period: sometimes performed later.
- meta-dichlorobenzene — a colorless liquid, C 6 H 4 Cl 2 , soluble in alcohol and ether: used as a fumigant and insecticide.
- mickey mouse program — (jargon) The North American equivalent of a "noddy program", i.e. trivial. The term doesn't necessarily have the belittling connotations of mainstream slang "Oh, that's just mickey mouse stuff!"; sometimes trivial programs can be very useful.
- microcrystalline wax — Microcrystalline wax is a wax used as a stiffening agent and as a coating agent for tablets and capsules.
- microelectrophoresis — any of several techniques for observing, by means of a microscope or an ultramicroscope, the electrophoresis of minute surface particles.
- microminiaturization — extreme miniaturization, especially of electronic equipment, with extensive use of integrated circuits.
- microsoft networking — (networking) Microsoft's name for the networking subsystems of Windows 95 and later. Not to be confused with The Microsoft Network. Microsoft networking uses the SMB file sharing protocol. It is implemented as file system drivers i.e. "installable file systems" (IFS). The network redirector "Client for Microsoft Networks", is implemented in the VREDIR.VXD virtual device driver. Peer resource sharing is provided by "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" (VSERVER.VXD). Windows 95's support for Netware (NCP) networks is provided in a similar way via NWREDIR.VXD and NWSERVER.VXD.
- microsoft sql server — (database) A relational database management system (RDBMS) which is part of Microsoft's BackOffice family of servers. SQL Server was designed for client/server use and is accessed by applications using SQL. It runs on Windows NT version 3.5 or higher and is compliant with the ANSI SQL-92 and FIPS 127-2 SQL standards. SQL Server supports symmetric multiprocessing hardware; SNMP, ODBC, and major open standard communications protocols. It has Internet integration, data replication, and data warehousing features. Microsoft SQL Server was originally developed by Sybase Corporation but the cooperation was broken sometime [when?] before version 6.0.
- microwave background — a background of microwave electromagnetic radiation with a black-body spectrum discovered in 1965, understood to be the thermal remnant of the big bang with which the universe began
- midcourse correction — a navigational correction made in the course of a ship, airplane, rocket, or space vehicle at some point between the beginning and end of the journey.
- miliary tuberculosis — tuberculosis in which the bacilli are spread by the blood from one point of infection, producing small tubercles in other parts of the body.
- mischaracterizations — Plural form of mischaracterization.
- missionary apostolic — an honorary title conferred by the pope on certain missionaries.
- molecular geneticist — a specialist in the study of the molecular constitution of genes and chromosomes
- mollweide projection — homolographic projection.
- mountain rescue team — a group of people who conduct search and rescue on a mountain, for example of someone who has fallen, got lost, etc
- multiplicative group — a group in which the operation of the group is multiplication.
- multipurpose vehicle — a large car, similar to a van, designed to carry up to eight passengers
- multistorey car park — a car park consisting of several levels
- music of the spheres — a music, imperceptible to human ears, formerly supposed to be produced by the movements of the spheres or heavenly bodies.
- neapolitan ice cream — variously flavored and colored ice cream and ice mixtures frozen in layers.
- nemine contradicente — no one contradicting; unanimously.
- nephroangiosclerosis — (pathology) sclerosis of the renal arterioles.
- net domestic product — the gross domestic product minus an allowance for the depreciation of capital goods