16-letter words containing o, d, i, s, t
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- demilitarisation — The removal of a military force, usually at the end of hostilities or as part of a treaty.
- demineralisation — Alternative spelling of demineralization.
- demolition squad — a group of demolishers
- demutualizations — Plural form of demutualization.
- dentist's office — A dentist's office is the room or house where a dentist works.
- depending on sth — You use depending on when you are saying that something varies according to the circumstances mentioned.
- dephlogisticated — Simple past tense and past participle of dephlogisticate.
- depolymerisation — (chemistry) alternative spelling of depolymerization.
- depressurization — to remove the air pressure from (a pressurized compartment of an aircraft or spacecraft).
- descent function — If a recursive function is of the form f x = ... f (d x) ... then d is known as the descent function.
- destabilizations — Plural form of destabilization.
- destigmatization — The process or act of destigmatizing.
- destroying angel — a white slender very poisonous basidiomycetous toadstool, Amanita virosa, having a pronounced volva, frilled, shaggy stalk, and sickly smell
- developmentalism — An economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods.
- developmentalist — an expert in or advocate of developmental psychology.
- devil's advocate — If you play devil's advocate in a discussion or debate, you express an opinion which you may not agree with but which is very different to what other people have been saying, in order to make the argument more interesting.
- devonshire split — a kind of yeast bun split open and served with whipped cream or butter and jam
- dew-point spread — the degrees of difference between the air temperature and the dew point
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- diastereoisomers — Plural form of diastereoisomer.
- dinosaurs mating — (humour) The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
- dip one's toe in — to begin doing or try something new or unfamiliar
- diphosphorylated — (biochemistry) phosphorylated with two units of phosphoric acid.
- diphthongisation — The process by which a single vowel sound (monophthong) shifts to a two-vowel vocalization (diphthong).
- diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
- direct discourse — quotation of a speaker in which the speaker's exact words are repeated.
- direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
- direction cosine — the cosine of the angle made by a given vector and a coordinate axis.
- director's chair — a lightweight folding armchair with transversely crossed legs and having a canvas seat and back panel, as traditionally used by motion-picture directors.
- disaccreditation — to take away the accreditation or authorization of: to disaccredit a diplomat.
- disclosing agent — a vegetable dye, administered as a liquid or in tablet form (disclosing tablet), that stains plaque, making it readily apparent on the teeth
- discombobulating — Present participle of discombobulate.
- discombobulation — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- disconcertedness — The characteristic of being disconcerted.
- disconnectedness — The characteristic of being disconnected.
- disconsolateness — (uncountable) The state of being disconsolate; gloom.
- discontentedness — The state or quality of being discontented.
- discountenancing — Present participle of discountenance.
- discourteousness — The state or quality of being discourteous.
- discovery method — a largely unstructured, situational method or philosophy of teaching whereby students are permitted to find solutions to problems on their own or at their own pace, often jointly in group activities, either independent of or under the guidance of a teacher.
- discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
- disincorporation — to remove from an incorporated state or status.
- displacement ton — a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater.
- disproportionate — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
- disproportioning — Present participle of disproportion.
- disputatiousness — The state or quality of being disputatious or argumentative; contentiousness.
- disqualification — an act or instance of disqualifying.
- dissatisfactions — Plural form of dissatisfaction.