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19-letter words containing n, a, p, r, t

  • deflationary spiral — Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.
  • dental receptionist — a receptionist working in a dental surgery
  • department chairman — the chairman of a university department
  • department of labor — the department of the U.S. federal government that promotes and improves the welfare, opportunities, and working conditions of wage earners. Abbreviation: DOL.
  • department of state — the department of the U.S. federal government that sets forth and maintains the foreign policy of the U.S., especially in negotiations with foreign governments and international organizations. Abbreviation: DOS.
  • departmentalisation — Alternative spelling of departmentalization.
  • departmentalization — to divide into departments.
  • dependable software — software reliability
  • differential backup — (operating system)   A kind of backup that copies all files that have changed since the last full backup. Each differential backup will include all files in previous differential backups since the full backup so to restore a version of a file, you only need to search the full backup and the relevant differential backup. Some systems support differential backup by associating an "Archive" flag with each file and setting this flag whenever the file is modified to indicate that it should be included in the next backup. A differential backup does not change this flag, whereas an incremental backup resets it.
  • diffraction pattern — the phenomenon exhibited by wave fronts that, passing the edge of an opaque body, are modulated, thereby causing a redistribution of energy within the front: it is detectable in light waves by the presence of a pattern of closely spaced dark and light bands (diffraction pattern) at the edge of a shadow.
  • digital linear tape — (storage)   (DLT) A kind of magnetic tape drive originally developed by DEC and now marketed by Quantum. DLT drives implement the Digital Lempel Ziv 1 (DLZ1) compression algorithm in a combination of hardware and firmware. They use a popular chip by Stac (now hi/fn) to do the string searching. Counting, sorting and Huffman coding are done in firmware (with hardware support for the Huffman algorithm?). In April 1997 DLT drives can transfer 5 megabytes per second and can store 35 gigabytes on a single cartridge. Compression might roughly double these figures.
  • directional coupler — (communications)   (tap) A passive device used in cable systems to divide and combine radio frequency signals. A directional coupler has at least three ports: line in, line out, and the tap. The signal passes between line in and line out ports with loss referred to as the insertion loss. A small portion of the signal power applied to the line in port passes to the tap port. A signal applied to the tap port is passed to the line in port less the tap attenuation value. The tap signals are isolated from the line out port to prevent reflections. A signal applied to the line out port passes to the line in port and is isolated from the tap port. Some devices provide more than one tap output line (multi-taps).
  • disciplinary action — punishment or caution
  • dispatch department — the department of an organization responsible for the dispatch of orders
  • dispersion relation — the relationship between the angular frequency (ω;) of a wave and the magnitude of its wave vector (k). Thus the wave's speed is ω/k
  • display advertising — display ads taken collectively.
  • diversional therapy — the structured use of leisure time in recreation and play as a form of or supplement to conventional therapy
  • electrode potential — the potential difference developed when an electrode of an element is placed in a solution containing ions of that element
  • electron micrograph — a photograph or image of a specimen taken using an electron microscope
  • electronic graphics — (on television) the production of graphic designs and text by electronic means
  • elementary particle — any of several entities, such as electrons, neutrons, or protons, that are less complex than atoms and are regarded as the constituents of all matter
  • employment tribunal — (in England, Scotland, and Wales) a tribunal that rules on disputes between employers and employees regarding unfair dismissal, redundancy, etc
  • entitlement program — a government program providing defined sectors of the population with social benefits
  • equal opportunities — Equal opportunities refers to the policy of giving everyone the same opportunities for employment, pay and promotion, without discriminating against particular groups.
  • european parliament — law: assembly in Strasbourg
  • evaporative cooling — a method of reducing temperature that uses evaporation
  • expeditionary force — An expeditionary force is a group of soldiers who are sent to fight in a foreign country.
  • expressionistically — In an expressionistic manner.
  • extreme programming — a discipline of software engineering following a specific structure, designed to simplify and speed up the development process
  • family practitioner — medical specialization in general practice, requiring training beyond that of general practice and leading to board certification.
  • female impersonator — a male performer who dresses as and impersonates women.
  • first person plural — a grammatical category of pronouns and verbs used by the speaker to refer to or talk about himself together with others
  • focal plane shutter — an opaque shield in a camera, lying in the focal plane of the lens, that, when tripped, admits light to expose the film or plate for a predetermined period, usually a fraction of a second
  • focal-plane shutter — a camera shutter situated directly in front of the film.
  • forensic psychiatry — the use of psychiatric knowledge and techniques in questions of law, as in determining legal insanity.
  • fractal compression — (algorithm)   A technique for encoding images using fractals.
  • freezer compartment — in a refrigerator, an enclosed area kept at a temperature low enough to store frozen foods or freeze non-frozen foods
  • gedanken experiment — thought experiment.
  • general partnership — a partnership in which each of the partners is fully liable for the firm's debts.
  • general post office — (in the U.S. postal system) the main post office of a city, county, etc., that also has branch post offices. Abbreviation: G.P.O., GPO.
  • genetic programming — (programming)   (GP) A programming technique which extends the genetic algorithm to the domain of whole computer programs. In GP, populations of programs are genetically bred to solve problems. Genetic programming can solve problems of system identification, classification, control, robotics, optimisation, game playing, and pattern recognition. Starting with a primordial ooze of hundreds or thousands of randomly created programs composed of functions and terminals appropriate to the problem, the population is progressively evolved over a series of generations by applying the operations of Darwinian fitness proportionate reproduction and crossover (sexual recombination).
  • gentleman-pensioner — (formerly) a gentleman-at-arms.
  • geocentric parallax — the apparent displacement of an observed object due to a change in the position of the observer.
  • get one's dander up — to become or to cause someone to become annoyed or angry
  • gigabits per second — (unit)   (Gbps) A unit of information transfer rate equal to one billion bits per second. Note that, while a gigabit is defined as a power of two (2^30 bits), a gigabit per second is defined as a power of ten (10^9 bits per second, which is slightly less) than 2^30).
  • give a person a fit — to surprise a person in an outrageous manner
  • go on a/the rampage — If people go on a rampage, they rush around in a wild or violent way, causing damage or destruction.
  • grade point average — a measure of scholastic attainment computed by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number of credits or hours of course work taken.
  • graphic workstation — (graphics, computer)   A workstation specifically configured for graphics works such as image manipulation, bitmap graphics ("paint"), and vector graphics ("draw") type applications. Such work requires a powerful CPU and a high resolution display. A graphic workstation is very similar to a CAD workstation and, given the typical specifications of personal computers currently available in 1999, the distinctions are very blurred and are more likely to depend on availability of specific software than any detailed hardware requirements.
  • gregorian telescope — a telescope similar in design to the Cassegrainian telescope but less widely used.
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