16-letter words containing c, r, e, d
- d-glyceraldehyde — an isomer of glyceraldehyde in which the OH group is on the right side of the asymmetric carbon atom.
- dacryocystectomy — The surgical removal of a part of the lacrimal sac.
- dark-side hacker — (jargon, legal) A criminal or malicious hacker; a cracker. From George Lucas's Darth Vader, "seduced by the dark side of the Force". The implication that hackers form a sort of elite of technological Jedi Knights is intended. Opposite: samurai.
- darwin's finches — the finches of the subfamily Geospizinae of the Galapagos Islands, showing great variation in bill structure and feeding habits: provided Darwin with evidence to support his theory of evolution
- data compression — the act of compressing.
- davidson current — a winter countercurrent that flows N along the W coast of the U.S.
- day of reckoning — If someone talks about the day of reckoning, they mean a day or time in the future when people will be forced to deal with an unpleasant situation which they have avoided until now.
- dc potentiometer — A DC potentiometer is a potentiometer in which the supply is a battery and the balance is under direct current conditions.
- de-concentration — to reduce the power or control of (a corporation, industry, etc.); decentralize.
- dead sea scrolls — a collection of manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic discovered in caves near the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956. They are widely held to have been written between about 100 bc and 68 ad and provide important biblical evidence
- debating chamber — a room where a legislative assembly holds debates
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- debut appearance — debut
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- dechristianizing — Present participle of dechristianize.
- decimal currency — a system of currency in which the monetary units are parts or powers of ten
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- decision problem — (theory) A problem with a yes/no answer. Determining whether some potential solution to a question is actually a solution or not. E.g. "Is 43669" a prime number?". This is in contrast to a "search problem" which must find a solution from scratch, e.g. "What is the millionth prime number?". See decidability.
- decision support — Software used to aid management decision making, typically relying on a decision support database.
- declare war (on) — to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
- deconstructively — In a deconstructive manner.
- defective number — a positive number that is greater than the sum of all positive integers that are submultiples of it, as 10, which is greater than the sum of 1, 2, and 5.
- deferred success — (in Britain) a euphemism suggested as an alternative to ‘failure’, in order not to stigmatize pupils who have not achieved a pass in a particular subject
- definite article — The word 'the' is sometimes called the definite article.
- deflecting force — the apparent deflection (Coriolis acceleration) of a body in motion with respect to the earth, as seen by an observer on the earth, attributed to a fictitious force (Coriolis force) but actually caused by the rotation of the earth and appearing as a deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and a deflection to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
- dehydroascorbate — (organic compound) Any salt or ester of dehydroascorbic acid.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- democratic party — (in the US) the older and more liberal of the two major political parties, so named since 1840
- demoiselle crane — a gray crane, Anthropoides virgo, of northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, having long, white plumes behind each eye.
- dendrochronology — the study of the annual rings of trees, used esp to date past events
- dental insurance — Dental insurance is insurance that pays for treatment by a dentist.
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- deoxyribonucleic — (genetics) Of or pertaining to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or its derivatives.
- dependency-prone — tending to become psychologically or physiologically dependent on a drug.
- depth perception — ability to see objects in perspective
- deputy secretary — the Deputy Secretary of State or Defense etc
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- derbyshire chair — a chair of the mid-17th century, made of oak, usually without arms, and having a back of two carved rails between square uprights.
- dermatologically — In a dermatological way.
- destroyer escort — a lightly armed warship smaller than a destroyer, designed to escort fleets or convoys
- destructibleness — The quality of being destructible.
- detention center — A detention center is a sort of prison, for example, a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept while a decision is made about what to do with them.
- detention centre — A detention centre is a sort of prison, for example a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept while a decision is made about what to do with them.
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- device control 1 — control-Q
- device control 2 — (character) (DC2) The mnemonic for ASCII character 18, one of the four Device Control characters.
- device control 3 — control-S