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17-letter words containing d, e, c, r

  • fourfold purchase — a tackle that is composed of a rope passed through two fourfold blocks in such a way as to provide mechanical power in the ratio of 1 to 5 or 1 to 4, depending on whether hauling is done on the running or the standing block and without considering friction. Compare tackle (def 2).
  • fractal dimension — (mathematics)   A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
  • frames per second — (unit)   (fps) The unit of measurement of the frame rate of a moving image.
  • francis ferdinand — 1863–1914, archduke of Austria: heir apparent to the thrones of Austria and Hungary whose assassination precipitated the outbreak of World War I (nephew of Francis Joseph I).
  • frederick pollock — Sir Frederick, 1845–1937, English legal scholar and author.
  • frederick william — 1795–1861, king of Prussia 1840–61 (brother of William I of Prussia).
  • freedom of speech — the right of people to express their opinions publicly without governmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitement to violence or rebellion, etc.
  • french somaliland — a former name of Djibouti (def 1).
  • full load current — A full load current is the largest current that a motor or other device is designed to carry under particular conditions.
  • further education — adult education.
  • gaucher's disease — a rare inherited disorder of fat metabolism that causes spleen and liver enlargement, abnormal fragility and pain of the bones, and progressive neurologic disturbances, leading to early death.
  • general discharge — a discharge from military service of a person who has served honorably but who has not met all the conditions of an honorable discharge.
  • giscard d'estaing — Valéry [va-ley-ree] /va leɪˈri/ (Show IPA), born 1926, French political leader: president 1974–81.
  • go for the doctor — to make a great effort or move very fast, esp in a horse race
  • good-time charlie — an affable, sociable, pleasure-loving man.
  • grand climacteric — Physiology. a period of decrease of reproductive capacity in men and women, culminating, in women, in the menopause.
  • grande chartreuse — the Carthusian monastery at Grenoble, France: the chief monastery of the Carthusians until 1903.
  • grandfather clock — a pendulum floor clock having a case as tall as or taller than a person; tall-case clock; long-case clock.
  • grandmother clock — a pendulum clock similar to a grandfather's clock but shorter.
  • greater celandine — celandine (def 1).
  • green book cd-rom — A standard CD-ROM format developed by Philips for CD-i. It is ISO 9660 compliant and uses mode 2 form 2 addressing. It can only be played on drives which are XA (Extended Architecture) compatible. Many Green Book discs contain CD-i applications which can only be played on a CD-i player but many others contain films or music videos. Video CDs in Green Book format are normally labelled "Digital Video on CD" Green Book was obsoleted by White book CD-ROM in March 1994.
  • green peach aphid — an aphid, Myzus persicae, that is a pest of many fruit trees, ornamentals, and vegetables and a vector of certain viral plant diseases.
  • greenland current — the ocean current flowing clockwise around S Greenland.
  • greensand process — a process for casting iron with sand not previously heated.
  • grey-faced petrel — a dark-coloured New Zealand petrel, Pterodroma macroptera gouldi
  • grid merchandiser — A grid merchandiser is a lightweight, free-standing, flexible fixture made up of moveable grids of wire and used by retailers can display large volumes of merchandise in a small space.
  • grignard reaction — the reaction of a Grignard reagent with any of the numerous types of compounds with which it can combine, as alcohols, acids, aldehydes, ketones, or esters: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
  • grooved fricative — a fricative, as (s), in which air is channeled through a groove along the center of the tongue.
  • ground connection — the conductor used to establish a ground.
  • haemorrhoidectomy — surgical removal of haemorrhoids
  • half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
  • hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
  • hammer and sickle — the emblem of the Soviet Union, adopted in 1923 and consisting of an insignia of a hammer with its handle across the blade of a sickle and a star above.
  • hammered dulcimer — dulcimer (sense 1)
  • handicap register — a list of the disabled people in its area that a local authority had a duty to compile under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970
  • hard rock geology — (loosely) of or relating to igneous or metamorphic rocks, as in mining (hard-rock mining) and geology (hard-rock geology)
  • hard-shelled clam — quahog
  • hard-shelled crab — a crab, esp. an edible sea crab, before it has shed its hard shell
  • henry cabot lodge — Henry Cabot, 1850–1924, U.S. public servant and author: senator 1893–1924.
  • herbaceous border — A herbaceous border is a flower bed containing a mixture of plants that flower every year.
  • heterochlamydeous — (of a plant) having a perianth consisting of distinct sepals and petals
  • historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
  • homeland security — national defence
  • hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
  • horseradish sauce — a piquant sauce made from horseradish root, vinegar, etc, and traditionally eaten in Britain with roast beef
  • household cavalry — (in Britain) cavalry units forming part of the ceremonial guard of the monarch.
  • humpbacked bridge — A humpbacked bridge or humpback bridge is a short and very curved bridge with a shape similar to a semi-circle.
  • hundred-percenter — a completely patriotic, sometimes jingoistic person.
  • hybrid fiber coax — (networking)   (HFC) A kind of physical connection used in networks for audio, video, and data. DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) is used in Europe and DOCSIS is used in N America.
  • hydroelectrically — Using hydroelectric power.
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