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22-letter words containing i, n, p

  • cargo cult programming — (programming, humour)   A style of (incompetent) programming dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose. A cargo cult programmer will usually explain the extra code as a way of working around some bug encountered in the past, but usually neither the bug nor the reason the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood (compare shotgun debugging, voodoo programming). The term "cargo cult" is a reference to aboriginal religions that grew up in the South Pacific after World War II. The practices of these cults centre on building elaborate mockups of aeroplanes and military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of the god-like aeroplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war. Hackish usage probably derives from Richard Feynman's characterisation of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in his book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" (W. W. Norton & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7).
  • catoctin mountain park — a federal park in N central Maryland: site of Camp David. 9 sq. mi. (23 sq. km).
  • central african empire — a former name (1976–79) of Central African Republic.
  • ceramic pin grid array — (hardware, processor)   (CPGA) A form of Pin Grid Array package used by Cyrix III processors. Compare PPGA and FC-PGA.
  • chip on one's shoulder — an inclination to fight or quarrel
  • chorionic gonadotropin — Also called human chorionic gonadotropin. Biochemistry. a hormone, produced in the incipient placenta of pregnant women, that stimulates the production of estrogen and progesterone: its presence in blood or urine is an indication of pregnancy.
  • client-centred therapy — a form of psychotherapy in which the therapist makes no attempt to interpret what the patient says but encourages him or her to develop his or her own attitudes and insights, often by questioning
  • combinatorial topology — the branch of topology that deals with the properties of geometric figures by considering the figures as being composed of elementary geometric figures, as points or lines.
  • common situs picketing — the picketing of an entire construction project by a union having a dispute with only one subcontractor working at the site.
  • common snapping turtle — a large aggressive North American river turtle, Chelydra serpentina, having powerful hooked jaws and a rough shell
  • common-situs picketing — the picketing of an entire construction site by a union striking against a particular contractor or subcontractor working on only one section
  • compactness preserving — (theory)   In domain theory, a function f is compactness preserving if f c is compact whenever c is.
  • comparative government — the study and comparison of different forms of government.
  • compass deviation card — a card, sheet, or the like, with two compass roses printed on it concentrically, for recording, on a given voyage, the amount of deviation for which the navigator must compensate in using the ship's compass to steer a magnetic course.
  • complementary medicine — the treatment, alleviation, or prevention of disease by such techniques as osteopathy, homeopathy, aromatherapy, and acupuncture, allied with attention to such factors as diet and emotional stability, which can affect a person's wellbeing
  • component architecture — (programming)   A notion in object-oriented programming where "components" of a program are completely generic. Instead of having a specialised set of methods and fields they have generic methods through which the component can advertise the functionality it supports to the system into which it is loaded. This enables completely dynamic loading of objects. JavaBeans is an example of a component architecture. See also design pattern.
  • compulsory liquidation — the liquidation of a business in order to settle its debts
  • compuserve corporation — (company)   The parent organisation of CompuServe Information Service, CompuServe Network Services and CompuServe Remote Computing Services. CompuServe was owned by H.R. Block but is now (1999) owned by America On-Line.
  • computational geometry — (mathematics)   The study of algorithms for combinatorial, topological, and metric problems concerning sets of points, typically in Euclidean space. Representative areas of research include geometric search, convexity, proximity, intersection, and linear programming.
  • computational learning — grammatical inference
  • connecticut compromise — a compromise adopted at the Constitutional Convention, providing the states with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.
  • conservation of parity — the principle that the parity of the total wave function describing a system of elementary particles is conserved. In fact it is not conserved in weak interactions
  • continental philosophy — a general term for related philosophical traditions that originated in 20th-century continental Europe, including critical theory, deconstruction, existentialism, hermeneutics, phenomenology, and structuralism (contrasted with analytic philosophy).
  • cornell list processor — (CLP) A list processing language, an extension of CORC, used for simulation.
  • cosmological principle — the theory that the universe is uniform, homogenous, and isotropic, and therefore appears the same from any position
  • counterinterpretations — Plural form of counterinterpretation.
  • critical path analysis — a technique for planning complex projects by analysing alternative systems with reference to the critical path, which is the sequence of stages requiring the longest time
  • curvature of the spine — a condition in which the spine is abnormally curved
  • cytidine monophosphate — a nucleotide constituent of ribonucleic acids; a phosphoric acid ester of cytidine. Abbreviation: CMP.
  • d'alembert's principle — the principle that for a moving body the external forces are in equilibrium with the inertial forces; a generalization of Newton's third law of motion
  • damn with faint praise — If someone damns something with faint praise, they say something about it which sounds quite nice but is not enthusiastic, and shows that they do not have a high opinion of it.
  • decompartmentalization — the act of decompartmentalizing
  • decompression sickness — a disorder characterized by severe pain in muscles and joints, cramp, and difficulty in breathing, caused by a sudden and sustained decrease in air pressure, resulting in the deposition of nitrogen bubbles in the tissues
  • dehydroepiandrosterone — the most abundant steroid in the human body, that is involved in the manufacture of testosterone, oestrogen, progesterone, and corticosterone
  • deoxyribonucleoprotein — any of a class of nucleoproteins that yield DNA upon partial hydrolysis.
  • descriptive cataloging — the aspect of cataloging concerned with the bibliographic and physical description of a book, recording, or other work, accounting for such items as author or performer, title, edition, and imprint as opposed to subject content.
  • developmental disorder — any condition, such as autism or dyslexia, that appears in childhood and is characterized by delay in the development of one or more psychological functions, such as language skill
  • dicyclopentadienyliron — ferrocene (def 1).
  • digital standard mumps — (DSM) DEC's version of MUMPS.
  • dihydroxyphenylalanine — dopa.
  • direct public offering — A direct public offering is stock offered directly for sale to investors by a company without the use of underwriters or brokers.
  • directional microphone — a microphone that has a greater sensitivity to sounds coming from a particular area in front of it: used to eliminate unwanted sounds.
  • disciplinary committee — a committee charged with examining alleged breaches of discipline within an organization, profession, etc and adjudicating on them
  • distributed processing — a system consisting of a network of microcomputers performing certain functions and linked with a main computer used for more complex tasks
  • draft-quality printing — low-quality, high-speed output in printed form from a printer linked to a word processor
  • earth inductor compass — a compass actuated by induction from the earth's magnetic field.
  • educational psychology — a branch of psychology concerned with developing effective educational techniques and dealing with psychological problems in schools.
  • electrothermal printer — a printer that produces characters by burning the image on specially coated paper
  • employers' association — a body of employers, usually from the same sector of the economy, associated to further the interests of member companies by conducting negotiations with trade unions, providing advice, making representations to other bodies, etc
  • endotrophic mycorrhiza — the most widespread and common type of mycorrhiza, in which the fungus lives within the cells of the roots of the plant
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