18-letter words containing n, e, p, t
- counter-productive — Something that is counter-productive achieves the opposite result from the one that you want to achieve.
- counterprogramming — the practice of scheduling a program opposite another program, esp. a popular one, that appeals to a different kind of audience, as in placing a romantic film directed at women opposite a sports program mainly watched by men
- counterproposition — a proposition made in place of or in opposition to a preceding one.
- countertherapeutic — Working against a therapy.
- 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.
- crown-jewel option — an option given by a company subjected to an unwelcome takeover bid to a friendly firm, allowing this firm to buy one or more of its best businesses if the bid succeeds
- 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.
- customs inspection — an inspection carried out by a customs department
- 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.
- decompartmentalize — to remove excessive compartmentalization from (an organization)
- deep-discount bond — a fixed-interest security that pays little or no interest but is issued at a substantial discount to its redemption value, thus largely substituting capital gain for income
- deficiency payment — a payment made to a commodity producer that represents the difference between the market price and the guaranteed price
- definitive plumage — the plumage of a bird that, once attained, does not change significantly in color or pattern for the rest of the bird's life.
- departmental store — a department store.
- dependent variable — a variable in a mathematical equation or statement whose value depends on that taken on by the independent variable
- desalination plant — a factory where salt is removed from salt water in order to make the water suitable for drinking and irrigation
- desktop publishing — Desktop publishing is the production of printed materials such as newspapers and magazines using a desktop computer and a laser printer, rather than using conventional printing methods. The abbreviation DTP is also used.
- developing country — a nonindustrialized poor country that is seeking to develop its resources by industrialization
- development period — a length of time during which a company grows
- development system — a computer system, including hardware and software, that is specifically designed to aid in the development of software and interfaces
- 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
- diabetes insipidus — a disorder of the pituitary gland causing excessive thirst and excretion of large quantities of dilute urine
- didot point system — a Continental system of measurement for type, based on a unit of 0.0148 inches (0.3759 mm).
- 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
- disability pension — a pension paid to people who are unable to continue to work because of a disability
- 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.
- dispatch documents — documents sent with a parcel, etc, detailing information such as contents, delivery address, etc
- dispensing chemist — a shop where drugs and medicines are sold or given out
- disproportionately — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
- dissenting opinion — (in appellate courts) an opinion filed by a judge who disagrees with the majority decision of a case.
- 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.
- domestic appliance — a machine used for household tasks, for example, a washing machine, refrigerator, etc.
- 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
- drop in the bucket — a deep, cylindrical vessel, usually of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail, for collecting, carrying, or holding water, sand, fruit, etc.; pail.
- duchenne dystrophy — the most common form of muscular dystrophy, usually affecting only boys
- duty-free shopping — the making of duty-free purchases
- east india company — the company chartered by the English government in 1600 to carry on trade in the East Indies: dissolved in 1874.
- eastern hemisphere — the eastern part of the terrestrial globe, including Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.
- eigendecomposition — (linear algebra) The factorization of a matrix into a canonical form, whereby the matrix is represented in terms of its eigenvalues and eigenvectors.