16-letter words containing o, e, c, d
- dealcoholization — to remove some or all of the alcohol from (a drink).
- debating society — a club, e.g. at a school or university, which regularly holds debates
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- decanedioic acid — a white crystalline carboxylic acid obtained by heating castor oil with sodium hydroxide, used in the manufacture of polyester resins and rubbers and plasticizers. Formula: HOOC(CH2)8COOH
- decapitalization — to deprive of capital; discourage capital formation; withdraw capital from: The government decapitalized industry with harsh tax policies.
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- decision problem — (theory) A problem with a yes/no answer. Determining whether some potential solution to a question is actually a solution or not. E.g. "Is 43669" a prime number?". This is in contrast to a "search problem" which must find a solution from scratch, e.g. "What is the millionth prime number?". See decidability.
- decision support — Software used to aid management decision making, typically relying on a decision support database.
- declare war (on) — to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
- declassification — to remove the classification from (information, a document, etc.) that restricts access in terms of secrecy, confidentiality, etc. Compare classification (def 5).
- deconstructively — In a deconstructive manner.
- decontextualized — removed from the usual context
- deflecting force — the apparent deflection (Coriolis acceleration) of a body in motion with respect to the earth, as seen by an observer on the earth, attributed to a fictitious force (Coriolis force) but actually caused by the rotation of the earth and appearing as a deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and a deflection to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
- dehumidification — Dehumidification is the removal of vapor from a gas-vapor mixture.
- dehydroascorbate — (organic compound) Any salt or ester of dehydroascorbic acid.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delta connection — a connection used in a three-phase electrical system in which three elements in series form a triangle, the supply being input and output at the three junctions
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- democratic party — (in the US) the older and more liberal of the two major political parties, so named since 1840
- demoiselle crane — a gray crane, Anthropoides virgo, of northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, having long, white plumes behind each eye.
- dendrochronology — the study of the annual rings of trees, used esp to date past events
- dentist's office — A dentist's office is the room or house where a dentist works.
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- deoxyribonucleic — (genetics) Of or pertaining to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or its derivatives.
- dependency-prone — tending to become psychologically or physiologically dependent on a drug.
- dephlogisticated — Simple past tense and past participle of dephlogisticate.
- depoliticization — The act or process of depoliticizing.
- depth perception — ability to see objects in perspective
- depth psychology — the study of unconscious motives and attitudes
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- dermatologically — In a dermatological way.
- descending colon — the last portion of the colon, beginning at the upper left abdomen in the region of the spleen and continuing downward along the left posterior wall to the sigmoid flexure.
- descent function — If a recursive function is of the form f x = ... f (d x) ... then d is known as the descent function.
- destroyer escort — a lightly armed warship smaller than a destroyer, designed to escort fleets or convoys
- detention center — A detention center is a sort of prison, for example, a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept while a decision is made about what to do with them.
- detention centre — A detention centre is a sort of prison, for example a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept while a decision is made about what to do with them.
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- device control 1 — control-Q
- device control 2 — (character) (DC2) The mnemonic for ASCII character 18, one of the four Device Control characters.
- device control 3 — control-S
- device control 4 — (character) (DC4) The mnemonic for ASCII character 20, one of the four Device Control characters.
- 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 cream — clotted cream.
- diacetylmorphine — heroin.
- diagonal process — a form of argument in which a new member of a set is constructed from a list of its known members by making the nth term of the new member differ from the nth term of the nth member. The new member is thus different from every member of the list
- dichlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) Either of twelve isomers of the polychlorinated biphenyl containing two chlorine atoms.
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.