19-letter words containing m, c, a
- atmospheric braking — a technique of reentry in which the vehicle is maneuvered in the upper atmosphere so as to lose velocity by utilizing drag without overheating.
- attachment disorder — an emotional and behavioral disorder arising from a failure to form a strong bond with one’s primary caregiver in early childhood and affecting one’s social relationships in later childhood and adulthood. See also attachment (def 3a).
- augmented cognition — the study of the augmenting of human mental functions by computer programs
- ave regina coelorum — a Latin hymn in honor of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven.
- axiomatic semantics — (theory) A set of assertions about properties of a system and how they are effected by program execution. The axiomatic semantics of a program could include pre- and post-conditions for operations. In particular if you view the program as a state transformer (or collection of state transformers), the axiomatic semantics is a set of invariants on the state which the state transformer satisfies. E.g. for a function with the type: sort_list :: [T] -> [T] we might give the precondition that the argument of the function is a list, and a postcondition that the return value is a list that is sorted. One interesting use of axiomatic semantics is to have a language that has a finitely computable sublanguage that is used for specifying pre and post conditions, and then have the compiler prove that the program will satisfy those conditions. See also operational semantics, denotational semantics.
- backward compatible — backward compatibility
- backward somersault — a somersault performed in a backward direction with the legs leading the rest of the body
- balance of payments — A country's balance of payments is the difference, over a period of time, between the payments it makes to other countries for imports and the payments it receives from other countries for exports.
- barometric gradient — pressure gradient
- barometric pressure — atmospheric pressure as indicated by a barometer
- barrack-room lawyer — a person who freely offers opinions, esp in legal matters, that he or she is unqualified to give
- basic object system — (programming) (BOS) A C-callable library that implements the notion of object and which uses Tcl as its interpreter for interpreted methods (you can have "compiled" methods in C, and mix compiled and interpreted methods in the same object, plus lots more). You can subclass and mix in existing objects using BOS to extend, among other things, the set of tk widgets. BOS is a class-free object system, also called a prototype-based object system; it is modelled loosely on the Self system from Stanford University. Version 1.31 by Sean Levy <[email protected]>.
- behavioral medicine — an interdisciplinary field that uses the concepts and techniques of the behavioral sciences to improve physical and emotional health.
- benefit performance — a theatrical or musical performance in aid of charity
- betamethyl acrolein — crotonaldehyde.
- black-billed magpie — either of two corvine birds, Pica pica (black-billed magpie) of Eurasia and North America, or P. nuttalli (yellow-billed magpie) of California, having long, graduated tails, black-and-white plumage, and noisy, mischievous habits.
- blackstrap molasses — the molasses remaining after the maximum quantity of sugar has been extracted from the raw material
- boundary commission — (in Britain) a body established by statute to undertake periodic reviews of the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and to recommend changes to take account of population shifts
- brand contamination — the process by which the reputation of a particular brand or product becomes tarnished by adverse publicity
- bug tracking system — (programming) (BTS) A system for receiving and filing bugs reported against a software project, and tracking those bugs until they are fixed. Most major software projects have their own BTS, the source code of which is often available for use by other projects. Well known BTSs include GNATS, Bugzilla, and Debbugs.
- cairngorm mountains — a mountain range of NE Scotland: part of the Grampians. Highest peak: Ben Macdui, 1309 m (4296 ft); designated a national park in 2003
- calcium oxychloride — a white powder that decomposes on contact with water and has the characteristic odor of gaseous chlorine: regarded, when dry, as a mixed calcium hypochlorite-chloride, used as a commercial bleach for wood pulp, textiles, oils, and soaps, and in laundering as a decolorizer and disinfectant.
- calculate a premium — If you calculate a premium, you decide how much a policyholder has to pay for insurance cover.
- calculating machine — calculator (sense 3)
- california fan palm — a tall fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, of California, having a shaggy skirt of withered leaves near the top of the trunk.
- camouflage passport — a passport from a non-existent country intended to conceal the bearer's true nationality (from hijackers, kidnappers, etc)
- campernelle jonquil — a narcissus, Narcissus odorus, of the amaryllis family, having clusters of two to four fragrant yellow flowers.
- canterbury pilgrims — the pilgrims whose stories are told in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
- cap-de-la-madeleine — a city in S Quebec, in E Canada, near Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence.
- cape-disappointment — Cape, a cape in SW Washington state, projecting into the Pacific Ocean on the N of the mouth of the Columbia River.
- cash-flow statement — a financial statement that shows a company's cash disbursements and receipts over a given period
- cask of amontillado — a short story (1846) by Edgar Allan Poe.
- catalytic reforming — Catalytic reforming is a process that converts petroleum refinery naphthas to high-octane blending components.
- catch someone's eye — If something catches your eye, you suddenly notice it.
- category management — the management of a range of related products in a way designed to increase sales of all of the products
- cathodoluminescence — luminescence caused by irradiation with electrons (cathode rays)
- celestial mechanics — the study of the motion of celestial bodies under the influence of gravitational fields
- ceramic engineering — the branch of engineering concerned with the development and production of ceramics.
- cerebellar syndrome — a disease of the cerebellum characterized by unsteady movements and mispronunciation of words
- cerebral hemisphere — either half of the cerebrum
- cerebral hemorrhage — hemorrhage from a blood vessel into the cerebrum, often followed by neurologic damage; a type of stroke.
- cerebral thrombosis — formation of a clot or other blockage in one of the blood vessels of the brain, often followed by neurologic damage; a type of stroke.
- chamber of commerce — A chamber of commerce is an organization of businessmen that promotes local commercial interests.
- chamber of deputies — the lower house of the legislature of certain countries, as Italy.
- champagne corks pop — If you say that champagne corks are popping, you mean that people are celebrating something.
- champagne lifestyle — a lifestyle involving the enjoyment of luxuries and expensive pleasures
- champagne socialist — a professed socialist who enjoys an extravagant lifestyle
- champigny-sur-marne — a suburb of Paris, on the River Marne. Pop: 75 556 (2006)
- champion of england — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.
- chandrasekhar limit — the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf, equal to 1.44 solar masses. A star having a mass above this limit will continue to collapse to form a neutron star