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23-letter words containing d, r

  • de-compartmentalization — to divide into categories or compartments.
  • decision support system — a system in which one or more computers and computer programs assist in decision-making by providing information
  • delayed stress reaction — a post-traumatic stress disorder occurring more than six months after the experience of a traumatic event.
  • department of education — the department of the U.S. federal government that administers federal programs dealing with education: created in 1979, largely by transfer from part of the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Abbreviation: ED.
  • descriptive linguistics — the study of the description of the internal phonological, grammatical, and semantic structures of languages at given points in time without reference to their histories or to one another
  • descriptive metaphysics — the philosophical study of the structure of how we think about the world
  • deterministic automaton — (theory)   A finite-state automaton in which the overall course of the computation is completely determined by the program, the starting state, and the initial inputs. The class of problems solvable by such automata is the class P (see polynomial-time algorithm).
  • development environment — (programming, tool)   An integrated suite of tools to aid the development of software in a particular language or for a particular application. Usually, this consists of a compiler and editor and may also include one or more of a debugger, profiler, and source code manager. See also: IDE.
  • dialectical materialism — the economic, political, and philosophical system of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that combines traditional materialism and Hegelian dialectic
  • diamondback rattlesnake — either of two large, highly venomous rattlesnakes of the genus Crotalus, having diamond-shaped markings on the back.
  • dichlorodiethyl sulfide — mustard gas.
  • dichlorodifluoromethane — a colourless nonflammable gas easily liquefied by pressure: used as a propellant in aerosols and fire extinguishers and as a refrigerant. Formula: CCl2F2
  • dictionary of computing — Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
  • differentiable manifold — a manifold having the property that any two overlapping open sets are homeomorphic to locally Euclidean spaces whose coordinates are related by differentiable functions, a property with wide applications in mathematical physics and differential geometry.
  • differential compaction — differences in the extent to which sediment is compacted owing to topographic irregularities of the surface on which it is deposited.
  • differential psychology — the branch of psychology dealing with the study of characteristic differences or variations of groups or individuals, especially through the use of analytic techniques and statistical methods.
  • differential weathering — the difference in degree of discoloration, disintegration, etc., of rocks of different kinds exposed to the same environment.
  • digital subscriber line — (communications, protocol)   (DSL, or Digital Subscriber Loop, xDSL - see below) A family of digital telecommunications protocols designed to allow high speed data communication over the existing copper telephone lines between end-users and telephone companies. When two conventional modems are connected through the telephone system (PSTN), it treats the communication the same as voice conversations. This has the advantage that there is no investment required from the telephone company (telco) but the disadvantage is that the bandwidth available for the communication is the same as that available for voice conversations, usually 64 kb/s (DS0) at most. The twisted-pair copper cables into individual homes or offices can usually carry significantly more than 64 kb/s but the telco needs to handle the signal as digital rather than analog. There are many implementation of the basic scheme, differing in the communication protocol used and providing varying service levels. The throughput of the communication can be anything from about 128 kb/s to over 8 Mb/s, the communication can be either symmetric or asymmetric (i.e. the available bandwidth may or may not be the same upstream and downstream). Equipment prices and service fees also vary considerably. The first technology based on DSL was ISDN, although ISDN is not often recognised as such nowadays. Since then a large number of other protocols have been developed, collectively referred to as xDSL, including HDSL, SDSL, ADSL, and VDSL. As yet none of these have reached very wide deployment but wider deployment is expected for 1998-1999.
  • digital subscriber loop — Digital Subscriber Line
  • dionysius of alexandria — ("the Great") a.d. c190–265, patriarch of Alexandria 247?–265?.
  • direct characterization — the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives, phrases, or epithets.
  • direct distance dialing — a telephone network service feature enabling customers to direct-dial their long-distance calls.
  • direct primary election — a preliminary election at which candidates for public office are chosen by direct vote of the people instead of by delegates at a convention: in closed primary elections voters must declare party affiliation and may vote only for candidates of their party
  • director of photography — the person who is responsible for all operations concerning camera work and lighting during the production of a film.
  • discontinuous variation — variation in phenotypic traits in which types are grouped into discrete categories with few or no intermediate phenotypes. Compare continuous variation.
  • discrimination learning — a learning process in which an organism learns to react differently to different stimuli
  • dishonourable discharge — dismissal from the US armed forces by a court martial as a result of serious misconduct
  • disintegration constant — decay constant.
  • disjunctive normal form — (DNF) A logical formula consisting of a disjunction of conjunctions where no conjunction contains a disjunction. E.g. the DNF of (A or B) and C is (A and C) or (B and C).
  • dissociate oneself from — to deny or repudiate any connection with
  • dissociative extraction — Dissociative extraction is when a component is divided between two liquids, which involves breakdown of the component.
  • distributive bargaining — a negotiation process aimed at reaching a compromise agreement over how resources may be allocated between the parties
  • do someone's dirty work — To do someone's dirty work means to do a task for them that is dishonest or unpleasant and which they do not want to do themselves.
  • do someone's heart good — to make someone happy; please someone
  • dollar (cost) averaging — see average (sense 11)
  • dr. jekyll and mr. hyde — (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) a novel (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson.
  • draw a line in the sand — to put a stop to or a limit on
  • draw/make a distinction — If you draw a distinction or make a distinction, you say that two things are different.
  • drawing exchange format — (DXF) A file format for graphical information, similar to IGES. Commonly used by CAD systems like AutoCAD.
  • dressed up to the nines — If you say that someone is dressed up to the nines or dressed to the nines, you mean that they are wearing very smart or elegant clothes.
  • drive sb round the bend — If you say that someone or something drives you round the bend, you mean that you dislike them and they annoy or upset you very much.
  • drop into someone's lap — to cause to be someone's responsibility
  • drummond of hawthornden — William. 1585–1649, Scottish poet, historian, and royalist pamphleteer
  • dual sensory impairment — the condition of being affected by sight and hearing loss
  • earliest deadline first — (operating system, algorithm)   (EDF) A strategy for CPU or disk access scheduling. With EDF, the task with the earliest deadline is always executed first.
  • earthquake-proof design — Earthquake-proof design is design which will not be badly damaged by earthquakes or tsunamis.
  • eastern lowland gorilla — the largest of the anthropoid apes, Gorilla gorilla, terrestrial and vegetarian, of western equatorial Africa and the Kivu highlands, comprising the subspecies G. g. gorilla (western lowland gorilla) G. g. graueri (eastern lowland gorilla) and G. g. beringei (mountain gorilla) now rare.
  • eastern orthodox church — Orthodox Church (def 1).
  • eating your own dogfood — eating one's own dogfood
  • ecclesiastical calendar — a calendar based on the lunisolar cycle, used by many Christian churches in determining the dates for the movable feasts.
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