16-letter words containing m, d, t
- diacritical mark — any of various marks, as a macron or cedilla, added to a letter or symbol to indicate its pronunciation or to distinguish it in some way
- diagrammatically — in the form of a diagram; graphic; outlined.
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- diamondback moth — a small moth Plutella xylostella that has diamond-shaped markings on the underside of its front wings that are visible when the wings are folded
- diastereoisomers — Plural form of diastereoisomer.
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.
- dictionary-maker — a person who compiles a dictionary
- diethyltoluamide — a liquid, C 12 H 17 NO, used as an insect repellent and resin solvent.
- digestive system — the system by which ingested food is acted upon by physical and chemical means to provide the body with absorbable nutrients and to excrete waste products; in mammals the system includes the alimentary canal extending from the mouth to the anus, and the hormones and enzymes assisting in digestion.
- digital computer — a computer that processes information in digital form.
- dimethoxymethane — methylal.
- dimethyl sulfate — a colorless or yellow, slightly water-soluble, poisonous liquid, (CH 3) 2 SO 2 , used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
- dimethylglyoxime — (organic compound) The oxime 2,3-butanedione dioxime that is used as a reagent in the analysis of nickel and palladium.
- dinosaurs mating — (humour) The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
- diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
- diplomatic pouch — a sealed mailbag containing diplomatic correspondence that is sent free of inspection between a foreign office and its diplomatic or consular post abroad or from one such post to another.
- direct democracy — to manage or guide by advice, helpful information, instruction, etc.: He directed the company through a difficult time.
- direct marketing — marketing direct to the consumer, as by direct mail or coupon advertising.
- direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
- direction number — the component of a vector along a given line; any number proportional to the direction cosines of a given line.
- discombobulating — Present participle of discombobulate.
- discombobulation — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- discovery method — a largely unstructured, situational method or philosophy of teaching whereby students are permitted to find solutions to problems on their own or at their own pace, often jointly in group activities, either independent of or under the guidance of a teacher.
- discriminability — The condition of being discriminable.
- discriminatingly — With discrimination.
- discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- disembarrassment — Freedom or relief from impediment or perplexity.
- disestablishment — to deprive of the character of being established; cancel; abolish.
- disfranchisement — to deprive (a person) of a right of citizenship, as of the right to vote.
- displacement ton — a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater.
- display terminal — Visual Display Unit
- distance modulus — a measure of the distance, r, of a celestial object too far away to show measurable parallax. It is given by m–M = 5 log(r/10), where m is its apparent magnitude (corrected for interstellar absorption) and M is its absolute magnitude
- distinguishments — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- distributed term — a term applying equally to every member of the class it designates, as doctors in no doctors are overworked
- diverticulectomy — (surgery) The surgical removal of a diverticulum.
- doctor's commons — the London building of the College of Advocates and Doctors of Law between 1572 and 1867, in which the ecclesiastical and Admiralty courts were housed
- document imaging — the process of converting paper documents into an electronic or digital format
- documentary film — factual, informative film
- domain selection — (systems analysis) The prioritisation and selection of one or more domains for which specific software reuse engineering projects are to be initiated.
- dome of the rock — a shrine in Jerusalem at the site from which Muhammad ascended through the seven heavens to the throne of God: built on the site of the Jewish Temple.
- domestic partner — either member of an unmarried, cohabiting, and especially homosexual couple that seeks benefits usually available only to spouses.
- domestic prelate — an honorary distinction conferred by the Holy See upon clergy, entitling them to some of the privileges of a bishop.
- domestic science — home economics.
- domestic servant — person employed to do household chores
- domestic service — the work of household servants
- dominical letter — any one of the letters from A to G used in church calendars to mark the Sundays throughout any particular year, serving primarily to aid in determining the date of Easter.
- don't mention it — you're welcome
- double indemnity — a clause in a life-insurance or accident-insurance policy providing for payment of twice the face value of the policy in the event of accidental death.
- double monastery — a religious community of both men and women who live in separate establishments under the same superior and who worship in a common church.