16-letter words containing n, q
- judicial inquiry — a formal legal investigation conducted into a matter of public concern by a judge, appointed by the government
- laplace equation — the second-order partial differential equation indicating that the Laplace operator operating on a given function results in zero. Compare harmonic (def 4c).
- leading question — a question so worded as to suggest the proper or desired answer.
- loire-atlantique — a department in NW France. 2695 sq. mi. (6980 sq. km). Capital: Nantes.
- lourenco marques — former name of Maputo.
- magnetic equator — aclinic line.
- marsh cinquefoil — a variety of cinquefoil, Potentilla palustris, that grows in marshy areas
- medium frequency — any frequency between 300 and 3000 kilohertz. Abbreviation: MF.
- mosquito netting — netting used in the making of mosquito nets.
- munching squares — A display hack dating back to the PDP-1 (ca. 1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs a trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T for successive values of T - see HAKMEM items 146--148) to produce an impressive display of moving and growing squares that devour the screen. The initial value of T is treated as a parameter, which, when well-chosen, can produce amazing effects. Some of these, later (re)discovered on the LISP Machine, have been christened "munching triangles" (try AND for XOR and toggling points instead of plotting them), "munching w's", and "munching mazes". More generally, suppose a graphics program produces an impressive and ever-changing display of some basic form, foo, on a display terminal, and does it using a relatively simple program; then the program (or the resulting display) is likely to be referred to as "munching foos". [This is a good example of the use of the word foo as a metasyntactic variable.]
- musique concrete — tape-recorded musical and natural sounds, often electronically distorted, arranged in planned combinations, sequences, and rhythmic patterns to create an artistic work.
- nash equilibrium — (in game theory) a stable state of a system involving the interaction of two or more players in which no player can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the other players remain unchanged
- non-quantifiable — to determine, indicate, or express the quantity of.
- north massapequa — a city on S Long Island, in SE New York.
- nueva ocotepeque — a town in W Honduras.
- oblique triangle — any triangle that does not have a right angle (contrasted with right triangle).
- oblique zenithal — a type of map projection in which part of the earth's surface is projected onto a plane tangential to it between the poles and the equator
- obsequent stream — a stream flowing in a direction opposite to that of the dip of the local strata.
- pique oneself on — to be proud of
- pop the question — to make a short, quick, explosive sound: The cork popped.
- proto-algonquian — the unattested parent language from which the Algonquian languages are descended.
- put the question — to require members of a deliberative assembly to vote on a motion presented
- qin shi huang di — Ch'in Shih Huang Ti.
- quadricentennial — of, relating to, or marking the completion of a period of four hundred years.
- quadrimillennial — Occurring every four thousand years.
- quantitativeness — The state or quality of being quantitative.
- quantum computer — a computer that makes use of the quantum states of electrons or other particles to store and process information as quantum bits.
- quantum sufficit — as much as suffices; enough.
- quarter sessions — an English court of general criminal jurisdiction for crimes less than homicide, held quarterly.
- quarter-finalist — A quarter-finalist is a person or team that is competing in a quarter-final.
- quasi-equivalent — equal in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc.: His silence is equivalent to an admission of guilt.
- quasi-managerial — pertaining to management or a manager: managerial functions; the managerial class of society.
- quasi-scientific — of or relating to science or the sciences: scientific studies.
- quasi-stationary — a person or thing that is stationary.
- quatercentennial — pertaining to or marking a period of 400 years.
- queen anne style — a style of English architecture of the early 18th cent., characterized by construction in red brick, forms modified from classical architecture, and simple, elegant, and stately ornamentation
- queen anne's war — the war (1702–13) in which England and its American colonies opposed France and its Indian allies. It constituted the American phase of the War of the Spanish Succession.
- queen maud range — a mountain range in Antarctica, in Ross Dependency, S of the Ross Sea.
- queen's champion — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.
- queen's evidence — evidence for the crown given by an accused person against his or her alleged accomplices.
- queen's shilling — king's shilling.
- question of fact — a question concerning the reality of an alleged event or circumstance in a trial by jury, usually determined by the jury.
- questionableness — The state or condition of being questionable; dubiousness.
- quiet revolution — a period during the 1960s in Quebec, marked by secularization, educational reforms, and rising support for separation from the rest of Canada
- quinquagenarians — Plural form of quinquagenarian.
- quinquefoliolate — (botany) Having five leaflets.
- quintessentially — of the pure and essential essence of something: the quintessential Jewish delicatessen.
- required reading — If you say that something is required reading for a particular group of people, you mean that you think it is essential for them to read it because it will give them information which they should have.
- research quantum — the standard by which the contribution to a university of individual academics is measured and on the basis of which universities receive government funding and academics are promoted
- return on equity — the amount of profit computed by dividing net income before taxes less preferred dividends by the value of stockholders' equity, usually expressed as a percentage. Abbreviation: ROE.