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19-letter words containing d, e, b, n, s

  • fault-based testing — (testing)   Software testing using test data designed to demonstrate the absence of a set of pre-specified faults; typically, frequently occurring faults. For example, to demonstrate that the software handles or avoids divide by zero correctly, the test data would include zero.
  • foundation subjects — the subjects studied as part of the National Curriculum, including the compulsory core subjects
  • functional database — (database, language)   A database which uses a functional language as its query language. Databases would seem to be an inappropriate application for functional languages since, a purely functional language would have to return a new copy of the entire database every time (part of) it was updated. To be practically scalable, the update mechanism must clearly be destructive rather than functional; however it is quite feasible for the query language to be purely functional so long as the database is considered as an argument. One approach to the update problem would use a monad to encapsulate database access and ensure it was single threaded. Alternative approaches have been suggested by Trinder, who suggests non-destructive updating with shared data structures, and Sutton who uses a variant of a Phil Wadler's linear type system. There are two main classes of functional database languages. The first is based upon Backus' FP language, of which FQL is probably the best known example. Adaplan is a more recent language which falls into this category. More recently, people have been working on languages which are syntactically very similar to modern functional programming languages, but which also provide all of the features of a database language, e.g. bulk data structures which can be incrementally updated, type systems which can be incrementally updated, and all data persisting in a database. Examples are PFL [Poulovassilis&Small, VLDB-91], and Machiavelli [Ohori et al, ACM SIGMOD Conference, 1998].
  • gigabits per second — (unit)   (Gbps) A unit of information transfer rate equal to one billion bits per second. Note that, while a gigabit is defined as a power of two (2^30 bits), a gigabit per second is defined as a power of ten (10^9 bits per second, which is slightly less) than 2^30).
  • giraldus cambrensis — literary name of Gerald de Barri. ?1146–?1223, Welsh chronicler and churchman, noted for his accounts of his travels in Ireland and Wales
  • go down the tube(s) — If a business, economy, or institution goes down the tubes or goes down the tube, it fails or collapses completely.
  • handlebar moustache — a man's moustache having long, curved ends that resemble the handlebars of a bicycle.
  • have one's blood up — to be or cause to be angry or inflamed
  • honorable discharge — a discharge from military service of a person who has fulfilled obligations efficiently, honorably, and faithfully.
  • hydrostatic balance — a balance for finding the weight of an object submerged in water in order to determine the upthrust on it and thus determine its relative density
  • in the catbird seat — If you say that someone is in the catbird seat, you think that their situation is very good.
  • installed user base — user base
  • intervertebral disc — any of the cartilaginous discs between individual vertebrae, acting as shock absorbers
  • intervertebral disk — the plate of fibrocartilage between the bodies of adjacent vertebrae.
  • keyboard instrument — any musical instrument that is played using a keyboard
  • kilobits per second — (unit)   (kbps, kb/s) A unit of data rate where 1 kb/s = 1000 bits per second. This contrasts with units of storage where 1 Kb = 1024 bits (note upper case K).
  • knock someone bandy — to amaze or astound
  • lean over backwards — to make a special effort, esp in order to please
  • learning disability — a disorder, as dyslexia, usually affecting school-age children of normal or above-normal intelligence, characterized by difficulty in understanding or using spoken or written language, and thought to be related to impairment or slowed development of perceptual motor skills.
  • lighten sb's burden — If someone or something lightens your burden or your load, they make a bad or difficult situation better for you.
  • lobby correspondent — a political correspondent who reports from parliament
  • louis ii de bourbon — Condé, Prince de.
  • megabits per second — (unit)   (Mbps, Mb/s) Millions of bits per second. A unit of data rate. 1 Mb/s = 1,000,000 bits per second (not 1,048,576). E.g. Ethernet can carry 10 Mbps.
  • non-distinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
  • object-oriented sql — (language)   (OSQL) A functional language, a superset of SQL, used in Hewlett-Packard's OpenODB database system.
  • own flesh and blood — If you say that someone is your own flesh and blood, you are emphasizing that they are a member of your family.
  • pied-de-biche spoon — a spoon having a handle with a trifid end.
  • pseudorandom number — (programming)   One of a sequence of numbers generated by some algorithm so as to have an even distribution over some range of values and minimal correlation between successive values. Pseudorandom numbers are used in simulation and encryption. They are pseudorandom not random because the sequence eventually repeats exactly and is entirely determined by the initial conditions. One of the simplest algorithms is x[i+1] = (a * x[i] + c) mod m but this repeats after at most m numbers and successive numbers are closely related. Better algorithms generally use more previous numbers to calculate the next number.
  • redbrick university — any new or little-known university, especially one built since World War II to educate students in industrial regions, emphasizing technical subjects rather than the classics, and often partially supported by government funds.
  • redress the balance — to make a fair adjustment; see that justice is done
  • relational database — an electronic database comprising multiple files of related information, usually stored in tables of rows (records) and columns (fields), and allowing a link to be established between separate files that have a matching field, as a column of invoice numbers, so that the two files can be queried simultaneously by the user.
  • rhodesian ridgeback — a large short-haired breed of dog characterized by a ridge of hair growing along the back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. It was originally a hunting dog from South Africa
  • sale and lease back — leaseback.
  • san bernardino pass — a pass over the Lepontine Alps in SE Switzerland. Highest point: 2062 m (6766 ft)
  • semidetached binary — a pair of stars that are so close together that mass transfer occurs from one to the other
  • stanford-binet test — a revised version of the Binet-Simon scale, prepared at Stanford University for use in the U.S.
  • stationery cupboard — a cupboard where things like paper, pens and paper clips are kept
  • switchblade (knife) — a large jackknife that snaps open when a release button on the handle is pressed
  • take sb/sth in hand — If you take something or someone in hand, you take control or responsibility over them, especially in order to improve them.
  • tarnished plant bug — a bug, Lygus lineolaris, of the family Miridae, that is a common and widely distributed pest of alfalfa and other legumes and of peach and other fruit trees.
  • the best of friends — If two people are the best of friends, they are close friends, especially when they have had a disagreement or fight in the past.
  • the london assembly — the devolved legislature of London, based in City Hall, Southwark
  • to be headline news — to attract a lot of attention from newspapers
  • to plumb new depths — If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad.
  • united presbyterian — a member of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, founded in Pittsburgh in 1858 by a union of two Presbyterian groups.
  • wandering albatross — a large albatross, Diomedea exulans, of southern waters, having the plumage mostly white with dark markings on the upper parts.
  • wassermann antibody — reagin (def 1).
  • websters-dictionary — Informal. a dictionary of the English language, especially American English, such as Dictionary.com.
  • west dunbartonshire — a council area of W central Scotland, on Loch Lomond and the Clyde estuary: corresponds to part of the historical county of Dunbartonshire; part of Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: engineering industries. Administrative centre: Dumbarton. Pop: 92 320 (2003 est). Area: 162 sq km (63 sq miles)
  • wet behind the ears — moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid: wet hands.
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