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14-letter words containing c, r, a, d

  • quasi-periodic — almost periodic
  • race condition — Anomalous behavior due to unexpected critical dependence on the relative timing of events. For example, if one process writes to a file while another is reading from the same location then the data read may be the old contents, the new contents or some mixture of the two depending on the relative timing of the read and write operations. A common remedy in this kind of race condition is file locking; a more cumbersome remedy is to reorganize the system such that a certain processes (running a daemon or the like) is the only process that has access to the file, and all other processes that need to access the data in that file do so only via interprocess communication with that one process. As an example of a more subtle kind of race condition, consider a distributed chat network like IRC, where a user is granted channel-operator privileges in any channel he starts. If two users on different servers, on different ends of the same network, try to start the same-named channel at the same time, each user's respective server will grant channel-operator privileges to each user, since neither will yet have received the other's signal that that channel has been started. In this case of a race condition, the "shared resource" is the conception of the state of the network (what channels exist, as well as what users started them and therefore have what privileges), which each server is free to change as long as it signals the other servers on the network about the changes so that they can update their conception of the state of the network. However, the latency across the network makes possible the kind of race condition described. In this case, heading off race conditions by imposing a form of control over access to the shared resource -- say, appointing one server to be in charge of who holds what privileges -- would mean turning the distributed network into a centralized one (at least for that one part of the network operation). Where this is not acceptable, the more pragmatic solution is to have the system recognize when a race condition has occurred and to repair the ill effects. Race conditions also affect electronic circuits where the value output by a logic gate depends on the exact timing of two or more input signals. For example, consider a two input AND gate fed with a logic signal X on input A and its negation, NOT X, on input B. In theory, the output (X AND NOT X) should never be high. However, if changes in the value of X take longer to propagate to input B than to input A then when X changes from false to true, there will be a brief period during which both inputs are true, and so the gate's output will also be true. If this output is fed to an edge-sensitive component such as a counter or flip-flop then the temporary effect ("glitch") will become permanent.
  • radicalization — to make radical or more radical, as in politics: young people who are being radicalized by extremist philosophies.
  • radio cassette — A radio cassette is a radio and a cassette player together in a single machine.
  • radio receiver — an apparatus that receives incoming modulated radio waves and converts them into sound
  • radio spectrum — the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that includes radio waves.
  • radioacoustics — the science and technology of the production, transmission, and reproduction of sounds carried by radio waves.
  • radiobroadcast — a broadcast by radio.
  • radiochemistry — the chemical study of radioactive elements, both natural and artificial, and their use in the study of chemical processes.
  • radiofrequency — the frequency of the transmitting waves of a given radio message or broadcast.
  • radiographical — the production of radiographs.
  • radiologically — of or relating to radiology.
  • railroad track — railway line
  • ranch dressing — seasoned mayonnaise sauce
  • rancho cordova — a town in central California.
  • rationalized c — (language)   (RatC, after "RATFOR") A version of Ron Cain's original Small-C compiler.
  • re-accommodate — to do a kindness or a favor to; oblige: to accommodate a friend by helping him move to a new apartment.
  • reach-me-downs — trousers
  • reading notice — a short advertisement placed at the bottom of a column, as on the front page of a newspaper, and often set in the same print as other matter.
  • readjudication — an act of adjudicating.
  • ready reckoner — reckoner (def 2).
  • recodification — the act, process, or result of arranging in a systematic form or code.
  • recommendation — an act of recommending.
  • recommendatory — serving to recommend; recommending.
  • recondensation — the act or process of condensing again
  • reconsolidated — to bring together (separate parts) into a single or unified whole; unite; combine: They consolidated their three companies.
  • record cabinet — a piece of furniture like a cupboard, designed to hold or display vinyl records stacked on their side
  • record changer — a device that automatically places each of a stack of records in succession onto the turntable of a phonograph.
  • record company — business: sells recorded music
  • record library — a collection of records belonging to an individual or an organization, for people to borrow usually without payment
  • record-breaker — A record-breaker is someone or something that beats the previous best result in a sport or other activity.
  • record-changer — a device that automatically places each of a stack of records in succession onto the turntable of a phonograph.
  • recording head — the part of a tape recorder that records a sound source by converting the electrical analog of the sound, as from a microphone, into a magnetic signal for storage on magnetic tape.
  • recording tape — a ribbon of material, esp magnetic tape, used to record sound, images and data, used in a tape recorder
  • recycled paper — paper made from recycled materials, esp waste paper
  • rediscountable — able to be rediscounted
  • reducing agent — a substance that causes another substance to undergo reduction and that is oxidized in the process.
  • reducing glass — a lens or mirror that produces a virtual image of an object smaller than the object itself.
  • reductase test — a test for the bacterial content in milk to determine its fitness for drinking.
  • redundancy pay — severance pay.
  • reflected plan — a plan, as of a room, taken as seen from above but having the outlines of some upper surface, as a vault or compartmented ceiling, projected downward upon it so that a part that would appear at the right when seen from below appears on the plan at the left.
  • reindoctrinate — to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.
  • rene descartes — René [ruh-ney;; French ruh-ney] /rəˈneɪ;; French rəˈneɪ/ (Show IPA), 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician.
  • res adjudicata — res judicata.
  • residence hall — Residence halls are buildings with rooms or apartments, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the school year.
  • richard scarry — Richard McClure, 1919–94, U.S. author and illustrator of children's books.
  • richard tawney — Richard Henry, 1880–1962, English historian, born in Calcutta.
  • richard trench — Richard Chenevix [shen-uh-vee] /ˈʃɛn ə vi/ (Show IPA), 1807–86, English clergyman and scholar, born in Ireland.
  • ride at anchor — to be anchored
  • rigidification — the state or process of stiffening or rigidifying
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