18-letter words containing m, i, s, d
- fragile x syndrome — a widespread form of mental retardation caused by a faulty gene on the X chromosome.
- fragile-x syndrome — an inherited condition characterized by learning disability: affected individuals have an X-chromosome that is easily damaged under certain conditions
- gamma distribution — a continuous two-parameter distribution from which the chi-square and exponential distributions are derived, written Gamma (α. β), where α and β are greater than zero, and defined in terms of the gamma function
- gas plasma display — (electronics) A type of display containing super-energised neon gas, used mostly in flat monitor and television screens. Each pixel has a transistor that controls its colour and brightness.
- good samaritan law — a law that exempts from legal liability persons, sometimes only physicians, who give reasonable aid to strangers in grave physical distress.
- gum digger's spear — a long steel probe used by gum diggers digging for kauri gum
- hand it to someone — to give credit to someone
- handyman's special — fixer-upper.
- head disk assembly — (hardware, storage) (HDA) A sealed, high capacity mainframe hard disk with integral heads, as opposed to a removable disk.
- hemidemisemiquaver — a sixty-fourth note.
- hemorrhoidectomies — Plural form of hemorrhoidectomy.
- hideyoshi toyotomi — 1536–98, Japanese military dictator (1582–98). He unified all Japan (1590)
- histamine headache — cluster headache.
- honour moderations — (at Oxford University) the first public examination, in which candidates are placed into one of three classes of honours
- hydroxytryptamines — Plural form of hydroxytryptamine.
- hyperaldosteronism — aldosteronism.
- hypodermic syringe — a small glass piston or barrel syringe having a detachable, hollow needle for use in injecting solutions subcutaneously.
- hypoparathyroidism — Diminished concentration of parathyroid hormone in the blood, which causes deficiencies of calcium and phosphorus compounds in the blood and results in muscular spasms.
- immunodeficiencies — Plural form of immunodeficiency.
- imploded consonant — a consonant which is pronounced with or by implosion
- in inverted commas — If you say in inverted commas after a word or phrase, you are indicating that it is inaccurate or unacceptable in some way, or that you are quoting someone else.
- in your mind's eye — If you see something in your mind's eye, you imagine it and have a clear picture of it in your mind.
- incidental damages — law: incurred by contract breach
- indiscriminateness — The state of being indiscriminate.
- indiscriminatingly — In an indiscriminating manner.
- industrial diamond — a small often synthetic diamond, valueless as a gemstone, used in cutting tools, abrasives, etc
- information island — (jargon) A body of information (i.e. electronic files) that needs to be shared but has no network connection.
- infrared astronomy — the study of infrared radiation emitted by celestial objects.
- instrument landing — an aircraft landing accomplished by use of gauges on the instrument panel and ground-based radio equipment, with limited reference to outside visual signals.
- italian somaliland — a former Italian colony and trust territory in E Africa: now part of the Democratic Somali Republic.
- james baird weaver — James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.
- jimenez de quesada — Gonzalo [gawn-thah-law,, -sah-] /gɔnˈθɑ lɔ,, -ˈsɑ-/ (Show IPA), 1497?–1579, Spanish explorer and conqueror in South America.
- jose de san martin — José de [haw-se th e] /hɔˈsɛ ðɛ/ (Show IPA), 1778–1850, South American general and statesman, born in Argentina: leader in winning independence for Argentina, Peru, and Chile; protector of Peru 1821–22.
- jump discontinuity — a discontinuity of a function at a point where the function has finite, but unequal, limits as the independent variable approaches the point from the left and from the right. Compare jump (def 52).
- justice department — the United States federal department for enforcing federal laws
- kitchen-sink drama — a type of drama of the 1950s depicting the sordid aspects of domestic reality
- lambda abstraction — A term in lambda-calculus denoting a function. A lambda abstraction begins with a lower-case lambda (represented as "\" in this document), followed by a variable name (the "bound variable"), a full stop and a lambda expression (the body). The body is taken to extend as far to the right as possible so, for example an expression, \ x . \ y . x+y is read as \ x . (\ y . x+y). A nested abstraction such as this is often abbreviated to: \ x y . x + y The lambda expression (\ v . E) denotes a function which takes an argument and returns the term E with all free occurrences of v replaced by the actual argument. Application is represented by juxtaposition so (\ x . x) 42 represents the identity function applied to the constant 42. A lambda abstraction in Lisp is written as the symbol lambda, a list of zero or more variable names and a list of zero or more terms, e.g. (lambda (x y) (plus x y)) Lambda expressions in Haskell are written as a backslash, "\", one or more patterns (e.g. variable names), "->" and an expression, e.g. \ x -> x.
- 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.
- limit-state design — a design criterion specifying that with acceptable probabilities a structure will not reach a limit state in which it either is unfit for the use for which it was designed (unavailability limit state) or fails (ultimate limit state)
- literal-mindedness — the quality or state of tending to take words in their literal sense
- locked-in syndrome — a condition in which a person is conscious but unable to move any part of the body except the eyes: results from damage to the brainstem
- logarithmus dualis — (mathematics) (ld) Latin for logarithm base two. More commonly written as "log" with a subscript "2". Roughly the number of bits required to represent an integer.
- loschmidt's number — the number of molecules in one cubic centimeter of an ideal gas at standard temperature and pressure, equal to 2.687 × 10 19.
- madagascar jasmine — a Madagascan twining, woody vine, Stephanotis floribunda, of the milkweed family, having waxy-white, fragrant flowers.
- magnesium peroxide — a white, tasteless, water-insoluble powder, MgO 2 , used as an antiseptic and as an oxidizing and bleaching agent.
- magnetogasdynamics — magnetohydrodynamics.
- maison-de-molieres — Comédie Française.
- make someone tired — to annoy or vex someone
- 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.
- malicious wounding — the intentional violent wounding or injuring of someone