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18-letter words containing n, a, p, e, r

  • cranial osteopathy — osteopathy that focuses on the cranium and the spine
  • creatine phosphate — phosphocreatine.
  • creeping featurism — (jargon)   /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ (Or "feature creep") A systematic tendency to load more chrome and features onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed when originally designed. "The main problem with BSD Unix has always been creeping featurism." More generally, creeping featurism is the tendency for anything to become more complicated because people keep saying "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature too". The result is usually a patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc step at a time, rather than being planned. Planning is a lot of work, but it's easy to add just one extra little feature to help someone, and then another, and another, .... When creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's like a cancer. Usually this term is used to describe computer programs, but it could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040 form, and new cars. A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts conscious redesigns; see second-system effect. See also creeping elegance.
  • creeping paralysis — any slow process that causes a system, government, etc, to stop working efficiently
  • crystal microphone — a microphone that uses a piezoelectric crystal to convert sound energy into electrical energy
  • cumberland plateau — division of the W Appalachians, extending from S W.Va. to N Ala.
  • cyclopean concrete — concrete containing stones larger than 6 inches (15 cm).
  • daisywheel printer — (printer)   A kind of impact printer where the characters are arranged on the ends of the spokes of a wheel (resembling the petals on a daisy). The wheel (usually made of plastic) is rotated to select the character to print and then an electrically operated hammer mechanism bends the selected spoke forward slightly, sandwiching an ink ribbon between the character and the paper, as in a typewriter. One advantage of this arrangement over that of a typewriter is that different wheels may be inserted to produce different typefaces.
  • deanthropomorphism — the ridding of philosophy or religion of anthropomorphic beliefs and doctrines.
  • decachlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) The fully chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyl containing ten chlorine atoms.
  • decompartmentalize — to remove excessive compartmentalization from (an organization)
  • deep-sea fisherman — a person who takes part in deep-sea fishing
  • delmarva peninsula — a peninsula of the northeast US, between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic
  • departmental store — a department store.
  • dependency grammar — a type of generative grammar in which grammatical structure is determined by the relationship between a governor and its dependents
  • dependent variable — a variable in a mathematical equation or statement whose value depends on that taken on by the independent variable
  • devil's paintbrush — a perennial European hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) with leafless flower stalks bearing a cluster of orange-red heads: now a common weed in N U.S. and Canada
  • dietary supplement — a substance taken in addition to what you eat in order to promote health
  • dimethyltryptamine — a hallucinogenic drug, C 12 H 16 N 2 , with an action of short duration. Abbreviation: DMT.
  • diphtheria vaccine — a vaccine used to produce immunity against diphtheria
  • discharge printing — a fabric-printing method in which the material is dyed and then certain areas are discharged so as to permit the original hue or its color replacement to act as a pattern against the colored ground.
  • disproportionately — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
  • divine inspiration — insight provided by higher power
  • dna fingerprinting — the use of a DNA probe for the identification of an individual, as for the matching of genes from a forensic sample with those of a criminal suspect.
  • doctype decoration — (humour)   When a web author adds a doctype declaration but doesn't bother to write valid HTML.
  • dominican republic — a republic in the West Indies, occupying the E part of the island of Hispaniola. 19,129 sq. mi. (49,545 sq. km). Capital: Santo Domingo.
  • dot matrix printer — (hardware, printer)   A kind of printer with a vertical column of up to 48 small closely packed needles or "pins" each of which can be individually forced forward to press an ink ribbon against the paper. The print head is repeatedly scanned across the page and different combinations of needles activated at each point. Dot matrix printers are noisy compared to non-impact printers.
  • dot-matrix printer — device: prints using matrix dots
  • drainpipe trousers — trousers with very narrow legs
  • dry-powder inhaler — A dry-powder inhaler is a device that delivers medication to the lungs in the form of a dry powder.
  • earnings per share — the net income of a corporation divided by the total number of shares of its common stock outstanding at a given time. Abbreviation: EPS.
  • eastern hemisphere — the eastern part of the terrestrial globe, including Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.
  • echoencephalograph — a device that employs reflected ultrasonic waves to examine the position of brain structures.
  • eclipsing variable — a variable star whose changes in brightness are caused by periodic eclipses of two stars in a binary system.
  • economic geography — a branch of geography that deals with the relation of physical and economic conditions to the production and utilization of raw materials and their manufacture into finished products.
  • egg and spoon race — a novelty race in which contestants each carry an egg in a spoon to the finish line, the winner being the first to finish without dropping or breaking the egg.
  • egg-and-spoon race — a race in which runners carry an egg balanced in a spoon
  • eggshell porcelain — a type of very thin translucent porcelain originally made in China
  • electric potential — the work required to transfer a unit positive electric charge from an infinite distance to a given point against an electric field
  • electroacupuncture — the insertion into the body of one or more needles through which an electric current is passed
  • electron transport — the metabolic process in mitochondria or chloroplasts, in which electrons are transferred in stages from energy-rich compounds to molecular oxygen with liberation of energy
  • elizabeth petrovna — 1709-62; empress of Russia (1741-62): daughter of Peter I
  • endangered species — animal, plant becoming extinct
  • entrepreneurialism — The spirit or state of acting in an entrepreneurial manner.
  • epstein-barr virus — a virus belonging to the herpes family that causes infectious mononucleosis; it is also implicated in the development of Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease
  • equinoctial spring — either of the two highest spring tides that occur at the equinoxes
  • european community — an economic and political association of European States that came into being in 1967, when the legislative and executive bodies of the European Economic Community merged with those of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community: subsumed into the European Union in 1993
  • evapotranspiration — The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
  • examination script — a script with answers written on it by an examination candidate taking a written examination
  • exchange programme — an arrangement in which people from different countries visit each other's country, perhaps to strengthen links between them or to improve foreign language skills
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