17-letter words containing d, i, s, t, e
- foundation course — A foundation course is a course that you do at some colleges and universities in order to prepare yourself for a longer or more advanced course.
- 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].
- frankenstein food — any foodstuff that has been genetically modified
- from side to side — movement: back and forth
- get one's wind up — to become (or be) nervous or alarmed
- giscard d'estaing — Valéry [va-ley-ree] /va leɪˈri/ (Show IPA), born 1926, French political leader: president 1974–81.
- go by the wayside — to be put aside on account of something more urgent
- going to the dogs — If you say that something is going to the dogs, you mean that it is becoming weaker and worse in quality.
- goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.
- graduated pension — the money that an employee receives after retirement if they have paid into the graduated pension scheme
- haitian solenodon — a rare shrewlike nocturnal mammal of the Caribbean, Solenodon paradoxus, having a long hairless tail and an elongated snout: family Solenodontidae, order Insectivora (insectivores)
- 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
- hardware register — (hardware, system administration) (Or "hardware log") A list of all hardware, both internal and external, that is attached to a particular computer.
- heritage industry — an industry that manages the historical sites, buildings, and museums in a particular place, with the aim of encouraging tourism
- high-density disk — a computer storage disk capable of holding more than 720 kilobytes of data
- 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.
- hit the headlines — be prominently featured in the news
- holistic medicine — incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology.
- homeland security — national defence
- homogentisic acid — an intermediate compound in the metabolism of tyrosine and of phenylalanine, found in excess in the blood and urine of persons affected with alkaptonuria.
- hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
- how the land lies — the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
- hydrotherapeutics — hydrotherapy.
- icositetrahedrons — Plural form of icositetrahedron.
- identity politics — political activity or movements based on or catering to the cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, religious, or social interests that characterize a group identity.
- immediate version — child version
- in the wilderness — If politicians or other well-known people spend time in the wilderness, they are not in an influential position or very active in their profession for that time.
- in/into disrepair — If something is in disrepair or is in a state of disrepair, it is broken or in bad condition.
- incandescent lamp — a lamp that emits light due to the glowing of a heated material, especially the common device in which a tungsten filament enclosed within an evacuated glass bulb is rendered luminous by the passage of an electric current through it.
- inconsiderateness — without due regard for the rights or feelings of others: It was inconsiderate of him to keep us waiting.
- indecent exposure — the intentional exposure of one's body's privates in a manner that gives offense against accepted or prescribed behavior.
- indefatigableness — The state of being indefatigable.
- indestructibility — not destructible; that cannot be destroyed.
- indeterminateness — The quality of being indeterminate.
- indian restaurant — a restaurant that serves Indian food
- indian strawberry — a plant, Duchesnea indica, of the rose family, native to India, having yellow flowers and inedible fruit resembling strawberries.
- indicator species — See at indicator (def 6).
- indirect question — An indirect question is the same as a reported question.
- indistinctiveness — The quality of being indistinctive.
- indistinguishable — not distinguishable.
- industrial design — the art that deals with the design problems of manufactured objects, including problems of designing such objects with consideration for available materials and means of production, of designing packages, bottles, etc., for manufactured goods, and of graphic design for manufactured objects, packages, etc.
- industrial estate — industrial park.
- industrial unrest — business: among employees
- institutionalised — to make institutional.
- institutionalized — to make institutional.
- insulin-dependent — of or relating to the type of diabetes that mainly affects young people
- integrated course — a course that covers several subjects
- integrated optics — an assembly of miniature optical elements of a size comparable to those used in electronic integrated circuits.
- integrated school — (in New Zealand) a private or church school that has joined the state school system
- interdental brush — a small brush that is used to clean between the teeth