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15-letter words containing h, i, r, u

  • chi-square test — a test derived from the chi-square distribution to compare the goodness of fit of theoretical and observed frequency distributions or to compare nominal data derived from unmatched groups of subjects
  • children's hour — a play (1934) by Lillian Hellman.
  • chinese juniper — a shrub or tree, Juniperus chinensis, of China, Mongolia, and Japan, having scalelike leaves and small, round, purplish-brown fruit.
  • chinese lacquer — lacquer (def 2).
  • chinese mustard — brown mustard.
  • chintz curtains — curtains made of chintz
  • chitlin circuit — a group of clubs and theaters featuring black performers and intended to appeal to black people.
  • chromium-plated — having been plated with chromium
  • church militant — those Christians on earth who are engaged in a continuous war against evil and the enemies of Christ.
  • church register — parish register.
  • church slavonic — Old Church Slavonic, esp as preserved in the liturgical use of the Orthodox church
  • churchill falls — a waterfall in E Canada, in SW Labrador on the Churchill River: site of one of the largest hydroelectric power projects in the world. Height: 75 m (245 ft)
  • churrigueresque — of or relating to a style of baroque architecture of Spain in the late 17th and early 18th centuries
  • citrus whitefly — See under whitefly.
  • claustrophobics — Plural form of claustrophobic.
  • 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.
  • consumer choice — the range of competing products and services from which a consumer can choose
  • 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.
  • court christian — ecclesiastical court.
  • credit-crunched — adversely affected by a credit crunch
  • cricopharyngeus — (anatomy) Part of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, arising from the cricoid cartilage.
  • crude oil berth — A crude oil berth is a place at a port for ships carrying crude oil.
  • crush-resistant — not being easily creased
  • 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.
  • dartmouth basic — (language)   The original BASIC language, designed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in 1963. Dartmouth BASIC first ran on a GE 235 [date?] and on an IBM 704 on 1964-05-01. It was designed for quick and easy programming by students and beginners using Dartmouth's experimental time-sharing system. Unlike most later BASIC dialects, Dartmouth BASIC was compiled.
  • daughter-in-law — Someone's daughter-in-law is the wife of their son.
  • de bruijn graph — (mathematics)   A class of graphs with elegant properties. De Bruijn graphs are especially easy to use for routing, with shifting of source and destination addresses.
  • deoch-an-doruis — a parting drink or stirrup cup
  • deutsches reich — former German name of Germany.
  • dionysius thrax — c100 b.c, Greek grammarian.
  • dishcloth gourd — loofah (def 1).
  • distributorship — a franchise held by a distributor.
  • do your head in — If something or someone does your head in, they make you angry or frustrated.
  • draughtproofing — Present participle of draughtproof.
  • draughtsmanship — (British) alternative spelling of draftsmanship.
  • drinking trough — a narrow open container in which water for animals is put
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