24-letter words containing n, i, c, o, l, e
- constantinopolitan creed — a formal statement of the chief tenets of Christian belief, adopted by the first Nicene Council.
- consultant paediatrician — a paediatrician who has attained the rank of consultant
- cooperative multitasking — (parallel, operating system) A form of multitasking where it is the responsibility of the currently running task to give up the processor to allow other tasks to run. This contrasts with pre-emptive multitasking where the task scheduler periodically suspends the running task and restarts another. Cooperative multitasking requires the programmer to place calls at suitable points in his code to allow his task to be descheduled which is not always easy if there is no obvious top-level main loop or some routines run for a long time. If a task does not allow itself to be descheduled all other tasks on the system will appear to "freeze" and will not respond to user action. The advantage of cooperative multitasking is that the programmer knows where the program will be descheduled and can make sure that this will not cause unwanted interaction with other processes. Under pre-emptive multitasking, the scheduler must ensure that sufficient state for each process is saved and restored that they will not interfere. Thus cooperative multitasking can have lower overheads than pre-emptive multitasking because of the greater control it offers over when a task may be descheduled. Cooperative multitasking is used in RISC OS, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh System 7.
- correspondence principle — the principle that the laws of quantum mechanics and of any new theory that may be developed reduce to the laws of Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetic theory when applied to systems in which Planck's constant can be regarded as negligible, wavelengths are comparatively small, dimensions are relatively large, etc.
- cost-of-living allowance — an additional payment which takes account of the cost of living
- council of nationalities — the legislature of the former Soviet Union and its successor states, consisting of an upper house (Soviet of the Union or Council of the Union) whose delegates are elected on the basis of population, and a lower house (Soviet of Nationalities or Council of Nationalities) whose delegates are elected to represent the various nationalities.
- cross/step over the line — If you say that someone has crossed the line or has stepped over the line, you mean that they have behaved in a way that is considered unacceptable.
- decentralized processing — the use of word processing or data processing units in stand-alone or localized situations
- destructive distillation — the decomposition of a complex substance, such as wood or coal, by heating it in the absence of air and collecting the volatile products
- dicyclopentadienyl metal — ferrocene (def 2).
- differential association — a theory that criminal and deviant behavior is learned through close and frequent association with criminal or deviant behavior patterns, norms, and values.
- differential coefficient — derivative (def 6).
- digital switched network — (communications) (DSN) The completely digital version of the PSTN.
- diphenylaminechlorarsine — adamsite.
- domain-specific language — (language) A machine-processable language whose terms are derived from a domain model and that is used for the definition of components or software architectures supporting that domain. A domain-specific language is often used as input to an application generator.
- domestic relations court — in some states, a court with jurisdiction over matters involving relations within the family or household, as between husband and wife or parent and child
- domestic science college — a school or an institution providing specialized tuition in domestic science
- domestic-relations court — court of domestic relations.
- ecole normale superieure — (body) (ENS) A higher education and research institution in Paris, France.
- educational psychologist — a person trained in educational psychology
- electromagnetic spectrum — the complete range of electromagnetic radiation from the longest radio waves (wavelength 105 metres) to the shortest gamma radiation (wavelength 10–13 metre)
- electronic configuration — the arrangement of electrons in the orbitals of an atom or molecule
- electronic point of sale — a computerized system for recording sales in retail shops, using a laser scanner at the cash till to read bar codes on the packages of the items sold
- electronic whiteboarding — audiographic teleconferencing
- emotional roller coaster — a situation or experience that alternates between making you feel excited, exhilarated, or happy and making you feel sad, disappointed, or desperate
- endotracheal anaesthesia — a method of administering gaseous anaesthetics to animals through a tube inserted into the trachea
- equivalence partitioning — equivalence class partitioning
- evolutionary computation — Computer-based problem solving systems that use computational models of evolutionary processes as the key elements in design and implementation. A number of evolutionary computational models have been proposed, including evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, the evolution strategy, evolutionary programming, and artificial life.
- explicit type conversion — (programming) (Or "cast" in C and elsewhere). A programming construct (syntax) to specify that an expression's value should be converted to a different type. For example, in C, to convert an integer (usually 32 bits) to a char (usually 8 bits) we might write: int i = 42; char *p = &buf; *p = (char) i; The expression "(char)" (called a "cast") converts i's value to char type. Casts (including this one) are often not strictly necessary, due to automatic coercions performed by the compiler, but can be used to make the conversion obvious and to avoid warning messages.
- face as long as a fiddle — a dismal or gloomy facial expression
- family income supplement — a benefit formerly paid to low-income families
- fcc propylene production — FCC propylene production is the production of propylene from a catalytic cracker.
- federal power commission — FPC.
- federal trade commission — FTC.
- ferdinand lewis alcindor — (Ferdinand) Lew(is, Jr.) original name of Abdul-Jabbar.
- fight or flight reaction — the response of the sympathetic nervous system to a stressful event, preparing the body to fight or flee, associated with the adrenal secretion of epinephrine and characterized by increased heart rate, increased blood flow to the brain and muscles, raised sugar levels, sweaty palms and soles, dilated pupils, and erect hairs.
- fight-or-flight reaction — the response of the sympathetic nervous system to a stressful event, preparing the body to fight or flee, associated with the adrenal secretion of epinephrine and characterized by increased heart rate, increased blood flow to the brain and muscles, raised sugar levels, sweaty palms and soles, dilated pupils, and erect hairs.
- floating decimal (point) — a decimal (point) whose position is not fixed
- floating-point specratio — SPECfp92
- fluoxetine hydrochloride — a white crystalline compound, C 17 H 18 F 3 NO⋅HCl: inhibits the uptake of serotonin and is used chiefly as an antidepressant.
- french equatorial africa — a former federation of French territories in central Africa, including Chad, Gabon, Middle Congo (now People's Republic of the Congo), and Ubangi-Shari (now Central African Republic): each became independent in 1960.
- functional specification — (programming, project) A description of what a system (e.g. a piece of software) does or should do (but not how it should do it). The functional specification is one of the inputs to the design process. See IEEE/ANSI Std. 610.12-1990.
- general of the air force — the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Air Force.
- general protection fault — General Protection Failure
- geographical determinism — the theory that human activity is determined by geographical conditions
- glycogen storage disease — any of several inherited disorders of glycogen metabolism that result in excess accumulation of glycogen in various organs of the body.
- guaranteed annual income — Also called guaranteed income. compensation provided by the government to any family or individual whose annual income falls below a specified level.
- gulf cooperation council — an association of Persian Gulf nations formed for the purpose of collective defense against aggression. Abbreviation: GCC.
- homolographic projection — an equal-area projection in which the proportion between regions of unequal area is correctly shown.
- immunofluorescence assay — a diagnostic blood test using the technique of immunofluorescence. Abbreviation: IFA.