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18-letter words containing f, e, n

  • power-on self-test — (hardware, testing)   (POST) A sequence of diagnostic tests that are run automatically by a device when the power is turned on. In a personal computer a typical POST sequence does the following: - checks that the system board is working - checks that the memory is working - compares the current system configuration with that recorded by the PC's configuration program to see if anything has been added or removed or broken - starts the video operation - checks that the diskette drive, hard disk drive, CD-ROM drive, and any other drives that may be installed are working. When POST is finished, typically it will beep, and then let your operating system start to boot. If POST finds an error, it may beep more than once (or possibly not at all if it is your PC speaker that is broken) and display a POST error message. These messages are often nothing more than a single ominous number. Some common numbers and their meanings are: 161 Dead battery (get a new battery for the system board) 162 Configuration changed (you added some memory or a new card to the PC) 301 Keyboard error (take the book off the corner of the keyboard) Because a successful POST indicates that the system is restored to known state, turning the power off and on is a standard way to reset a system whose software has hung. Compare 120 reset, Big Red Switch, power cycle.
  • prayer of manasses — a book of the Apocrypha.
  • pre-filled syringe — A pre-filled syringe is a disposable syringe that is supplied already loaded with the substance to be injected.
  • preferred position — especially desirable advertising space for which, if it is specifically requested by the advertiser, a publication charges a premium rate.
  • presumption of law — a presumption based upon a policy of law or a general rule and not upon the facts or evidence in an individual case.
  • primate of england — a title of the archbishop of Canterbury.
  • prince of darkness — Satan.
  • process identifier — (operating system)   (PID) An integer used by the Unix kernel to uniquely identify a process. PIDs are returned by the fork system call and can be passed to wait() or kill() to perform actions on the given process.
  • protein deficiency — a lack or insuffiency of protein
  • purchasing officer — the member of staff in an organization who is responsible for buying goods or products
  • put a bold face on — to seem bold or confident about
  • put one in mind of — to remind (one) of
  • quantum efficiency — the number of electrons released by a photocell per photon of incident radiation of a given energy
  • rabbit's-foot fern — hare's-foot fern.
  • rabbit-proof fence — a fence through which rabbits are unable to pass
  • radiant efficiency — the ratio of the power emitted by a source of radiation to the power consumed by it
  • raffinate recovery — Raffinate recovery is the use of a substance which is left after a process is complete and the desired substances have been removed.
  • range of stability — the angle to the perpendicular through which a vessel may be heeled without losing the ability to right itself.
  • reach for the moon — to desire or attempt something unattainable or difficult to obtain
  • reaction formation — a behavioral tendency developed in direct opposition to a repressed impulse.
  • recruiting officer — a person whose job is to recruit staff, esp on behalf of the military
  • recursive function — a function defined in terms of the repeated application of a number of simpler functions to their own values, by specifying a base clause and a recursion formula
  • reference counting — (programming)   A garbage collection technique where each memory cell contains a count of the number of other cells which point to it. If this count reaches zero the cell is freed and its pointers to other cells are followed to decrement their counts, and so on recursively. This technique cannot cope with circular data structures. Cells in such structures refer (indirectly) to themselves and so will never have a zero reference count. This means they would never be reclaimed, even when there are no references from outside the structure.
  • reflection density — a measure of the extent to which a surface reflects light or other electromagnetic radiation, equal to the logarithm to base ten of the reciprocal of the reflectance
  • reinforced plastic — plastic with fibrous matter, such as carbon fibre, embedded in it to confer additional strength
  • relative frequency — the ratio of the number of times an event occurs to the number of occasions on which it might occur in the same period.
  • repeat performance — sth done again
  • reproduction proof — repro proof.
  • resistance fighter — someone who fights (for freedom, etc) against an invader in an occupied country, or against their government, etc, often secretly or illegally
  • restraint of trade — action tending to interrupt the free flow of goods and services, as by price fixing and other practices that have the effect of reducing competition.
  • retirement benefit — a payment made to a retired person
  • return to the fold — come back home
  • return-flue boiler — a fire-tube boiler having flues that collect the combustion gases at the end of the boiler opposite the fire door and pass them through the boiler to an uptake above the fire door.
  • richard p. feynman — (person, computing, architecture)   /fayn'mn/ 1918-1988. A US physicist, computer scientist and author who graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton. Feynmane was a key figure in helping Oppenheimer and team develop atomic bomb. In 1950 he became a professor at Caltech and in 1965 became Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics for QED (quantum electrodynamics). He was a primary figure in "solving" the Challenger disaster O-ring problem. He "rediscovered" the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Tuva. The 2001 film "Infinity" about Feynman's early life featured Matthew Broderick and Patricia Arquette. In 2001, "QED", a play about Feynman's life featuring Alan Alda opened.
  • room for manoeuvre — If you have room for manoeuvre, you have the opportunity to change your plans if it becomes necessary or desirable.
  • rule of engagement — a directive issued by a military authority controlling the use and degree of force, especially specifying circumstances and limitations for engaging in combat.
  • russian federation — a republic extending from E Europe to N and W Asia. 6,593,000 sq. mi. (17,076,000 sq. km). Capital: Moscow.
  • safety regulations — regulations or rules that are put in place to ensure a product, event, etc, is safe and not dangerous
  • saint peter's fish — another name for tilapia, taken from a Bible story about Saint Peter catching a fish with a coin in its mouth
  • sampling frequency — sample rate
  • scientific officer — a police officer who carries out forensic examinations
  • scruff of the neck — If someone takes you by the scruff of the neck, they take hold of the back of your neck or collar suddenly and roughly.
  • seafloor spreading — a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth's mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.
  • secondary offering — the sale of a large block of outstanding stock off the floor of an exchange, usually by a major stockholder.
  • security of tenure — (in Britain) the right of a tenant to continue to occupy a dwelling or site unless the landlord obtains a court order for possession of the property or termination of the tenancy agreement
  • selenium rectifier — a rectifier consisting of laminated plates of metal, usually iron, that have been coated with selenium on one side, with rectification taking place because the flow of electrons from the conductive metal to the selenium occurs more readily than the flow in the opposite direction.
  • self-actualization — the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.
  • self-advertisement — a paid announcement, as of goods for sale, in newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, etc.
  • self-certification — statement of sick leave
  • self-comprehending — to understand the nature or meaning of; grasp with the mind; perceive: He did not comprehend the significance of the ambassador's remark.
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