23-letter words containing d, a, n, t, o
- mortise and tenon joint — a joint (in wood or stone) using a mortise and tenon
- moving target indicator — a Doppler-radar presentation that indicates moving targets only, stationary objects reflecting signals that the system rejects. Abbreviation: MTI.
- near-infrared radiation — the shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum, extending from about 0.75 to 2.5 micrometers, usually radiation reflected from plant materials.
- negative bending moment — a bending moment that produces convex bending at the supports of a continuously supported beam
- nondisclosure agreement — a legal contract in which one or more parties agree to keep information, as a trade secret, confidential and protected for a specific amount of time. Abbreviation: NDA.
- nonessential amino acid — an amino acid that can be synthesized in the body
- not dry behind the ears — free from moisture or excess moisture; not moist; not wet: a dry towel; dry air.
- o'reilly and associates — The leading publisher of information on the Internet, Unix, the X Window System and other open systems. They also provide the Global Network Navigator service.
- object-oriented fortran — (language) (OOF) An object-oriented extension of Fortran, in which data items can be grouped into objects, which can be instantiated and executed in parallel. It was available for Sun, Iris, iPSC, and nCUBE, but is no longer supported. E-mail: Donna Reese <[email protected]>.
- of many years' standing — You can use the expression of many years' standing to say that something has had a particular function or someone has had a particular role for many years. For example, if a place is your home of ten years' standing, it has been your home for ten years.
- on-line data processing — the storing or processing of data on a computer using the internet
- order of the visitation — a religious order of nuns founded in 1610 by St Francis of Sales and dedicated to contemplation and the cultivation of humility, gentleness, and sisterly love
- orthodox eastern church — Eastern Orthodox Church
- overnight accommodation — accommodation provided by an establishment (such as a hotel) where guests can sleep or spend the night
- painting and decorating — interior decoration
- parasexual reproduction — reproduction by recombination of genes from genetically dissimilar nuclei within binucleate or multinucleate cells, as in filamentous fungi.
- parkinson's law of data — "Data expands to fill the space available for storage"; buying more memory encourages the use of more memory-intensive techniques. It has been observed over the last 10 years that the memory usage of evolving systems tends to double roughly once every 18 months. Fortunately, memory density available for constant dollars also tends to double about once every 12 months (see Moore's Law); unfortunately, the laws of physics guarantee that the latter cannot continue indefinitely.
- parliamentary democracy — a system of government in which people elect representatives to a parliament to make laws, for example Canada and the UK
- partial differentiation — the process of finding one of the partial derivatives of a function of several variables.
- past one's sell-by date — If you say that someone or something is past their sell-by date, you mean they are no longer effective, interesting, or useful.
- patient confidentiality — the law that a doctor or medical practitioner cannot reveal anything said to them by their patients during consultation or treatment
- pentagonal dodecahedron — pyritohedron.
- percentage distribution — a frequency distribution is which individual frequencies are shown as a percentage of the total frequencies
- performance-related pay — salary based on individual assessment
- pest control department — the local government department responsible for controlling such pests as rats and mice
- photoelectric magnitude — the magnitude of a star determined using a photometer plus a filter to select light or other radiation of the desired wavelength
- plain old documentation — (text) (pod, occasionally "POD") A simple markup language used to embed documentation, literate programming-style, in Perl programs. Pod readers and converters are part of the standard Perl distribution and the documentation provided with Perl is all in pod format.
- plan position indicator — a radarscope on which an object reflecting radar waves shows its bearing and distance from the radar detector by causing a spot of light to appear on a screen that represents a map of the area around the detector. Abbreviation: PPI.
- polybrominated biphenyl — PBB.
- positive discrimination — special opportunities
- postcode discrimination — discrimination on the basis of the area where someone lives, with relation to employment, credit rating, etc
- precipitation hardening — a process in which alloys are strengthened by the formation, in their lattice, of a fine dispersion of one component when the metal is quenched from a high temperature and aged at an intermediate temperature
- presidential government — a system of government in which the powers of the president are constitutionally separate from those of the legislature.
- private limited company — a company whose shares can be bought by the public
- product differentiation — the real or illusory distinction between competing products in a market
- productivity bargaining — the process of reaching an agreement (productivity agreement) through collective bargaining whereby the employees of an organization agree to changes which are intended to improve productivity in return for an increase in pay or other benefits
- professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
- profit and loss account — income account (def 2).
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- publicly-quoted company — a company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange
- quantum electrodynamics — the quantum field theory that deals with the electromagnetic field and its interaction with electrons and positrons. Abbreviation: QED.
- quantum flavourdynamics — a gauge theory of the electromagnetic and weak interactions
- queen charlotte islands — a group of about 150 islands off the W coast of Canada: part of British Columbia. Pop: about 6000 (latest est). Area: 9596 sq km (3705 sq miles)
- quod erat demonstrandum — (at the conclusion of a proof, esp of a theorem in Euclidean geometry) which was to be proved
- quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
- radio direction finding — the act or process of finding the direction to a radio source by comparing the signal strength of antennae pointing in different directions
- random number generator — a piece of computer software used to create a sequence of random numbers
- rank outsider/outsiders — If one of the people in a competition is described as a rank outsider, they are considered to have very little chance of winning.
- rate-of-climb indicator — a flight instrument that indicates the rate of climb or descent of an aircraft.
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.