17-letter words containing o, c, i, d, e
- eudoxus of cnidus — ?406–?355 bc, Greek astronomer and mathematician; believed to have calculated the length of the solar year
- exception handler — Special code which is called when an exception occurs during the execution of a program. If the programmer does not provide a handler for a given exception, a built-in system exception handler will usually be called resulting in abortion of the program run and some kind of error indication being returned to the user. Examples of exception handler mechanisms are Unix's signal calls and Lisp's catch and throw.
- exceptional child — a gifted child
- fairness doctrine — a policy mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, requiring radio and television stations to grant equal time to a political candidate, group, etc., to present an opposing viewpoint to one already aired.
- field post office — a place to which mail intended for military units in the field is sent to be sorted and forwarded
- field sales force — a team of people selling a product or service in the field as opposed to over the telephone, etc
- fifth commandment — “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee”: fifth of the Ten Commandments.
- fine-toothed comb — a comb with fine, closely set teeth
- first commandment — “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”: first of the Ten Commandments.
- first-order logic — (language, logic) The language describing the truth of mathematical formulas. Formulas describe properties of terms and have a truth value. The following are atomic formulas: True False p(t1,..tn) where t1,..,tn are terms and p is a predicate. If F1, F2 and F3 are formulas and v is a variable then the following are compound formulas: The "order" of a logic specifies what entities "For all" and "Exists" may quantify over. First-order logic can only quantify over sets of atomic propositions. (E.g. For all p . p => p). Second-order logic can quantify over functions on propositions, and higher-order logic can quantify over any type of entity. The sets over which quantifiers operate are usually implicit but can be deduced from well-formedness constraints. In first-order logic quantifiers always range over ALL the elements of the domain of discourse. By contrast, second-order logic allows one to quantify over subsets.
- five-spice powder — a mixture of spices used especially in Chinese cooking, usually including cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, pepper, and star anise.
- flagrante delicto — Law. in the very act of committing the offense.
- forced convection — Forced convection is convection in which the movement of fluid does not happen naturally but is helped by a device such as a fan or pump.
- forensic evidence — evidence obtained by the use of science, for example DNA evidence, etc
- forensic medicine — the application of medical knowledge to questions of civil and criminal law, especially in court proceedings.
- foundation course — A foundation course is a course that you do at some colleges and universities in order to prepare yourself for a longer or more advanced course.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- frederick pollock — Sir Frederick, 1845–1937, English legal scholar and author.
- french somaliland — a former name of Djibouti (def 1).
- further education — adult education.
- giovanni demedici — Catherine de', Catherine de Médicis.
- good-time charlie — an affable, sociable, pleasure-loving man.
- grignard reaction — the reaction of a Grignard reagent with any of the numerous types of compounds with which it can combine, as alcohols, acids, aldehydes, ketones, or esters: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- grooved fricative — a fricative, as (s), in which air is channeled through a groove along the center of the tongue.
- ground connection — the conductor used to establish a ground.
- haemorrhoidectomy — surgical removal of haemorrhoids
- half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
- hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
- heptanedioic acid — pimelic acid.
- hexacosanoic acid — cerotic acid.
- hexadecanoic acid — palmitic acid.
- historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
- holistic medicine — incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology.
- hollandaise sauce — a sauce of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and seasonings.
- homeland security — national defence
- homogentisic acid — an intermediate compound in the metabolism of tyrosine and of phenylalanine, found in excess in the blood and urine of persons affected with alkaptonuria.
- hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
- horseradish sauce — a piquant sauce made from horseradish root, vinegar, etc, and traditionally eaten in Britain with roast beef
- hybrid fiber coax — (networking) (HFC) A kind of physical connection used in networks for audio, video, and data. DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) is used in Europe and DOCSIS is used in N America.
- hydroelectrically — Using hydroelectric power.
- hydrogen chloride — a colorless gas, HCl, having a pungent odor: the anhydride of hydrochloric acid.
- hydrotherapeutics — hydrotherapy.
- hypodermic needle — a hollow needle used to inject solutions subcutaneously.
- icosidodecahedron — A semiregular polyhedron with twelve faces that are regular pentagons and twenty that are equilateral triangles.
- icositetrahedrons — Plural form of icositetrahedron.
- identity function — identity (def 9d).
- identity politics — political activity or movements based on or catering to the cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, religious, or social interests that characterize a group identity.
- ideogrammatically — In terms of, or by means of, ideograms.
- illegal procedure — a penalty assessed against the offensive team for a technical rules violation, as in assuming an illegal formation.
- immunocompromised — having an impaired or compromised immune response; immunodeficient.