18-letter words containing i, m, p, a
- incremental backup — (operating system) A kind of backup that copies all files which have changed since the date of the previous backup. The first backup of a file system should include all files - a "full backup". Call this level 0. The next backup could also be a full level 0 backup but it is usually much quicker to do a level 1 backup which will include only those files which have changed since the level 0 backup. Together the level 0 and level 1 backups will include the latest version of every file. Level 1 backups can be made until, say, the backup tape is nearly full, after which we can switch to level 2. Each level includes those files which have changed since the last backup at a lower level. The more levels you use, the longer it will take to restore the latest version of a file (or all files) if you don't know when it was last modified. Compare differential backup.
- inner automorphism — an automorphism that maps an element x into an element of the form axa −1 where a −1 is the inverse of a.
- investment company — a company that invests its funds in other companies and issues its own securities against these investments.
- iomega corporation — (company, storage) A storage device manufacturer whose major products are the Zip and Jaz removable disk drives and Ditto tape drives. They became popular with an early product called the Bernoulli Box. These products fall in line with their focus set in 1994 "to help people manage their stuff". The company's stated aim is to create portable, fast, large and cheap storage solutions. Iomega's major competitor in the growing market for removable disks is SyQuest, who seem to always be a few weeks behind them. In general, Iomega target the Small Office/Home Office. They are also investigating the growing digital photography market which also needs large removable storage devices. Iomega's president and CEO is Kim Edwards. They have nearly 2000 employees in offices world-wide. Revenue for the quarter ending Dec 1996 was $371 million and net income was $20 million. Headquarters: Roy, Utah, USA.
- isothermal process — a process that takes place without change in temperature.
- japanese persimmon — the soft, orange or reddish, edible fruit of an Asian tree, Diospyros kaki.
- justice department — the United States federal department for enforcing federal laws
- kura kaupapa māori — a primary school where teaching is based on Māori language and culture
- light displacement — the weight of a ship with all its permanent equipment, excluding the weight of cargo, persons, ballast, dunnage, and fuel, but usually including the weight of permanent ballast and water used to operate steam machinery.
- limestone pavement — a horizontal surface of exposed limestone in which the joints have been enlarged, cutting the surface into roughly rectangular blocks
- linear programming — any of several methods for finding where a given linear function of several nonnegative variables assumes an extreme value and for determining the extreme value, the variable usually being subjected to constraints in the form of linear equalities or inequalities.
- logarithmic spiral — log r = aθ
- logical complement — (logic) In Boolean algebra, the logical complement or negation of a Boolean value is the opposite value, given by the following truth table: A | -A --+--- T | F F | T -A is also written as A with a bar over it or with a small vertical line hanging from the right-hand end of the "-" (LaTeX \neg) or as A'. In the C programming language, it is !A and in digital circuit design, /A.
- logical positivism — a philosophical movement that stresses the function of philosophy as a method of criticizing and analyzing science and that rejects all transcendental metaphysics, statements of fact being held to be meaningful only if they have verifiable consequences in experience and in statements of logic, mathematics, or philosophy itself, and with such statements of fact deriving their validity from the rules of language.
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- magnesium peroxide — a white, tasteless, water-insoluble powder, MgO 2 , used as an antiseptic and as an oxidizing and bleaching agent.
- magnetic amplifier — an amplifier that applies the input signal to a primary winding and feeds an alternating current to a secondary winding where this current is modulated by the variations in the primary winding.
- magnetic potential — a scalar quantity, analogous to the electric potential, defined at each point in a given magnetic field to be equal to the work done in bringing a unit north pole from infinity to the point.
- magnetic tape unit — a computer device that moves reels of magnetic tape past read-write heads so that data can be transferred to or from the computer
- make a practice of — be in the habit of
- make an impression — have impact
- make up one's mind — (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: the processes of the human mind.
- malpighian tubules — one of a group of long, slender excretory tubules at the anterior end of the hindgut in insects and other terrestrial arthropods.
- maritime provinces — region in Canada
- market opportunity — a situation in which a company can meet an unsatisfied customer need before its competitors
- marketing campaign — a series of coordinated activities designed to help market a product
- marsilius of padua — c1280–1343? Italian scholar and political theorist.
- maternity hospital — birthing facility
- medical profession — the body of people who work as doctors of medicine
- melville peninsula — a peninsula in N Canada, SE of the Gulf of Boothia. 250 miles (405 km) long.
- mergui archipelago — a group of over 200 islands in the Andaman Sea, off the Tenasserim coast of S Myanmar: mountainous and forested
- metamorphic facies — Geology. a group of metamorphic rock units characterized by particular mineralogic associations.
- methylated spirits — ethyl alcohol denatured with methyl alcohol for the purpose of preventing its use as an alcoholic beverage.
- mexican fire-plant — a showy plant, Euphorbia heterophylla, of the spurge family, growing in the central U.S. to central South America, having red or mottled red and white bracts.
- mexican gold poppy — an annual wildflower, Eschscholzia mexicana, having orange-gold, cup-shaped flowers, found in dry, mountainous regions of western North America.
- microencapsulation — the process of enclosing chemical substances in microcapsules.
- micrometer caliper — calipers with a micrometer screw, for extremely accurate measurement
- micrometer-caliper — any of various devices for measuring minute distances, angles, etc., as in connection with a telescope or microscope.
- micropalaeontology — the branch of palaeontology concerned with the study of microscopic fossils
- microwave spectrum — a spectrum of electromagnetic radiations whose wavelengths fall in the microwave range.
- middle paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- midstream operator — A midstream operator is a company that gathers, transports, and processes natural gas or oil.
- military policeman — A military policeman is a member of the military police.
- mineral supplement — a pill containing minerals that you take to improve your health
- miniature pinscher — one of a German breed of toy dogs resembling a smaller version of the Doberman pinscher, having a flat skull, a smooth coat, erect ears, and a docked tail, bred originally as a watchdog.
- minority programme — a programme that appeals to a minority of the available audience
- misinterpretations — Plural form of misinterpretation.
- misplaced modifier — Grammar. a word, phrase, or clause that seems to refer to or modify an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence, as when young in When young, circuses appeal to all of us.
- misrepresentations — Plural form of misrepresentation.
- mission specialist — the crew member of a space shuttle who is assigned primary responsibility for carrying out operations related to the payload of the shuttle.