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15-letter words containing e, c, h, i

  • cinemicrography — the making of a film through the lens of a microscope
  • cineradiography — the filming of motion pictures through a fluoroscope or x-ray machine.
  • citrus whitefly — See under whitefly.
  • class hierarchy — (programming)   In object-oriented programming, a set of classes related by inheritance. Each class is a "subclass" of another class - its "superclass". The subclass contains all the features of its superclass, but may add new features or redefine existing features. The features of a class are the set of attributes (or "properties") that an object of that class has and the methods that can be invoked on it. If each class has a just one superclass, this is called single inheritance. The opposite is multiple inheritance, under which a class may have multiple superclasses. Single inheritance gives the class hierarchy a tree structure whereas multiple inheritance gives a directed graph. Typically there is one class at the top of the hierarchy which is the "object" class, the most general class that is an ancestor of all others and which has no superclass. In computing, as in genealogy, trees grow downwards, which is why subclasses are considered to be "below" their superclasses. When invoking a method on an object, the method is first looked for in the object's class, then the superclass of that class, and so on up the hierarchy until it is found. Thus a class need only define those methods which are specific to it and it will inherit all other methods from all its superclasses. An object of the subclass can do everything that an object of the superclass can and possible more.
  • climb the walls — any of various permanent upright constructions having a length much greater than the thickness and presenting a continuous surface except where pierced by doors, windows, etc.: used for shelter, protection, or privacy, or to subdivide interior space, to support floors, roofs, or the like, to retain earth, to fence in an area, etc.
  • coachwhip snake — a slender nonvenomous snake, Masticophis flagellum, of the US
  • cocktail shaker — a container in which cocktails are mixed
  • coffee whitener — a milk substitute to put in coffee
  • come to nothing — plan, idea: fail
  • community chest — a fund raised by voluntary contribution for local welfare activities
  • complex-machine — Older Use. an automobile or airplane. a typewriter.
  • comprehendingly — In an comprehending manner; knowingly.
  • comprehensively — Something that is done comprehensively is done thoroughly.
  • comprehensivize — to make (an educational system) comprehensive
  • comptrollership — controller (def 1).
  • computer ethics — (philosophy)   Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?).
  • computer-phobia — a person who distrusts or is intimidated by computers.
  • connoisseurship — a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste: a connoisseur of modern art.
  • conservatorship — the legal status of a person appointed by a court to protect the interests of someone, such as a child, who is unable to manage his or her own affairs
  • consumer choice — the range of competing products and services from which a consumer can choose
  • copying machine — a machine that makes copies of original documents, especially by xerography.
  • corn-leaf aphid — a green aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis, widely distributed in the U.S.: a pest of corn and other grasses.
  • council chamber — the room in which council meetings are held
  • countercathexis — (psychology) The suppression or repression of mental energy.
  • countercharging — Present participle of countercharge.
  • countercharming — Present participle of countercharm.
  • counterchecking — Present participle of countercheck.
  • counterflashing — (construction) Formed metal or elastomeric sheeting secured on or into a wall, curb, pipe or other surface, to cover and protect the upper edge of a base flashing and its associated fasteners.
  • countermarching — Present participle of countermarch.
  • counterpunching — Present participle of counterpunch.
  • counterweighted — Simple past tense and past participle of counterweight.
  • country kitchen — a large kitchen with ample areas for food preparation and eating.
  • crashworthiness — the ability of a vehicle structure to withstand a crash
  • credit-crunched — adversely affected by a credit crunch
  • cricopharyngeal — of, relating to, or involving the cricoid cartilage and the pharynx.
  • cricopharyngeus — (anatomy) Part of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, arising from the cricoid cartilage.
  • crisis theology — a neoorthodox theology, advocated by Karl Barth and others, emphasizing the absolute necessity of faith and divine revelation in transcending the personal crisis, common to all humankind, that arises from the contradictions inherent in human nature and in the social order.
  • crohn's disease — inflammation, thickening, and ulceration of any of various parts of the intestine, esp the ileum
  • cross-ownership — ownership of two or more similar or related businesses, as communications media, especially in the same locality: to forbid cross-ownership of newspapers and TV or radio stations in the same city.
  • crude oil berth — A crude oil berth is a place at a port for ships carrying crude oil.
  • crush-resistant — not being easily creased
  • cryoanaesthesia — Alternative spelling of cryoanesthesia.
  • crystal healing — (in alternative therapy) the use of the supposed power of crystals to affect the human energy field
  • curate's-eggish — good in parts
  • curia rhaetorum — a city in E Switzerland, capital of Graubünden canton. Pop: 32 989 (2000)
  • curl one's hair — to form into coils or ringlets, as the hair.
  • curtain shutter — a focal-plane shutter consisting of a curtain on two rollers, moved at a constant speed past the lens opening so as to expose the film to one of several slots in the curtain, the width of which determines the length of exposure.
  • cyanoethylation — the act of introducing a cyano-ethyl group into a compound
  • cycling clothes — special clothes, such as lycra shorts, suitable for cycling in
  • cyclohexylamine — a highly toxic and hazardous organic chemical derived from cyclohexane
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