20-letter words containing n, y, c, t, i, a
- planetary precession — the small component of the precession of the equinoxes contributed by the motion of the ecliptic, the change in orientation of the plane of the earth's orbit being produced by the gravitational attraction of the planets.
- polyanthus narcissus — a Eurasian amaryllidaceous plant, Narcissus tazetta, having clusters of small yellow or white fragrant flowers
- post-synchronization — the recording of dialogue and sound effects in synchronization with the picture after the film has been shot.
- preservation society — a society dedicated to the preservation of something, especially a building, environment, or animal
- priority inheritance — (parallel) A technique for avoiding priority inversion by temporarily raising the prioriry of all processes that want to access a shared resource to the highest priority level of any of them. Priority inversion occurs where a low priority process, L is holding a resource required by a high priority process, H, but L is not running because a medium priority process, M is running. Under priority inheritance, L temporarily inherits H's priority, allowing L to run and release the resource H is waiting for. For example, an ambulance (H) is stuck behind a lorry (L) waiting at a junction (the shared resource) for a gap in a line of cars (M) using the junction. Applying priority inheritance, the cars give way to the lorry as they would to the ambulance, thus allowing the lorry and then the ambulance to use the junction.
- probability function — the function the values of which are probabilities of the distinct outcomes of a discrete random variable
- property speculation — the buying or selling of property in the hope of deriving capital gains
- proprietary medicine — a drug or agent manufactured and distributed under a trade name
- prosecuting attorney — the public officer in a county, district, or other jurisdiction charged with carrying on the prosecution in criminal proceedings.
- psychological moment — the proper or critical time for achieving a desired result: She found the right psychological moment to make her request.
- quantum bogodynamics — /kwon'tm boh"goh-di:-nam"iks/ A theory that characterises the universe in terms of bogon sources (such as politicians, used-car salesmen, TV evangelists, and suits in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and computers), and bogosity potential fields. Bogon absorption causes human beings to behave mindlessly and machines to fail (and may also cause both to emit secondary bogons); however, the precise mechanics of bogon-computron interaction are not yet understood. Quantum bogodynamics is most often invoked to explain the sharp increase in hardware and software failures in the presence of suits; the latter emit bogons, which the former absorb.
- recreational therapy — therapy by means of recreational activities engaged in by the patient
- rocky mountain basic — (language) The BASIC language used by Hewlett Packard on their 680x0-based computers. Rocky Mountain Basic is good for interfaces to IEEE 488 controls and contains many mathematical and matrix functions. It has about 600 commands. Typical applications include automatic test stations.
- rocky mountain sheep — bighorn.
- rotary-wing aircraft — an aircraft, esp a helicopter, that is lifted or propelled by rotating airfoils
- schizoid personality — sb with identity disorder
- security association — (networking) The relationship between two or more entities (typically, a computer, but could be a user on a computer, or software component) which describes how the entities will use security services, such as encryption, to communicate. See RFC 1825.
- silicon tetrahydride — silane (def 1).
- solitary confinement — the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which he or she is completely isolated from others.
- spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
- subscription library — a commercial lending library
- summary jurisdiction — the right a court has to adjudicate immediately upon some matter arising during its proceedings
- surveillance society — a society where surveillance technology is widely used to monitor people's everyday activities
- synchronized skating — the art or sport of teams of up to twenty skaters holding onto each other and moving in patterns in time to music
- synchronous rotation — rotation of a satellite in which the period of rotation is equal to the period of orbit around its primary, leaving the same face always pointing toward the primary: The moon is in synchronous rotation about the earth.
- systemic circulation — the circulatory system in general.
- tchebycheff equation — a differential equation of the form (1 − x 2) d 2 y/dx 2 − x dy/dx + n 2 y = 0, where n is any nonnegative integer.
- teletype corporation — (company) The company which made Teletype teletypewriters. Address: Skokie, Illinois, USA.
- tetrahydrocannabinol — a compound, C 21 H 30 O 2 , that is the physiologically active component in cannabis preparations (marijuana, hashish, etc.) derived from the Indian hemp plant or produced synthetically. Abbreviation: THC.
- thermal conductivity — the amount of heat per unit time per unit area that can be conducted through a plate of unit thickness of a given material, the faces of the plate differing by one unit of temperature.
- thermodynamic system — a system whose states of equilibrium can be specified by a few macroscopic properties.
- thirty-nine articles — a set of formulas defining the doctrinal position of the Church of England, drawn up in the 16th century, to which the clergy are required to give general consent
- tom, dick, and harry — the ordinary person; people generally; everyone: They invited every Tom, Dick, and Harry to the party.
- tom, dick, and jerry — a hot mixed drink containing rum, brandy, egg, nutmeg, and sometimes milk
- toxemia of pregnancy — an abnormal condition of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, fluid retention, edema, and the presence of protein in the urine.
- track-laying vehicle — A track-laying vehicle is a vehicle whose wheels run inside a continuous chain or track.
- track-train dynamics — the interaction between the track and a moving train.
- uncharacteristically — Also, characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.
- university education — a course of study undertaken and completed at a university
- webster's dictionary — Informal. a dictionary of the English language, especially American English, such as Dictionary.com.
- whyte classification — a system for classifying steam locomotives according to the total number of wheels on the front trucks, drivers, and rear trucks, in that order. For example, a Pacific locomotive is designated as 4-6-2.
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- write-once read-many — (storage) (WORM) Any type of storage medium to which data can be written to only a single time, but can be read from any number of times. Typically this is an optical disk whose surface is permanently etched using a laser in order to record information. WORM media have a significantly longer shelf life than magnetic media and thus are used when data must be preserved for a long time.