20-letter words containing o, p, e, n
- cassegrain telescope — an astronomical reflecting telescope in which incident light is reflected from a large concave paraboloid mirror onto a smaller convex hyperboloid mirror and then back through a hole in the concave mirror to form the image
- catastrophic illness — A catastrophic illness is a major health event that takes place during a particular period of time, such as a heart attack, stroke, or cancer.
- cellular respiration — the oxidation of organic compounds that occurs within cells, producing energy for cellular processes.
- center of percussion — the point on a rigid body, suspended so as to be able to move freely about a fixed axis, at which the body may be struck without changing the position of the axis.
- châlons-en-champagne — a town in NE France, on the River Marne: scene of Attila's defeat by the Romans (451 ad). Pop: 47 339 (1999)
- change-speed gearbox — A change-speed gearbox is a set of movable or constant gears which allows the speed ratio between input and output shafts to be changed either manually or automatically.
- chapter of accidents — a series of misfortunes
- chebyshev polynomial — a polynomial solution of the Tchebycheff equation, of the form T n (x) = cos(n cos −1 x), where n is an integer.
- checkerboard pattern — checked pattern that looks like a draughtboard
- child support agency — the British government agency concerned with the welfare of children
- chips & technologies — (company) A former leading distributor and supplier of integrated circuits and software to personal computer manufacturers. As well as semiconductors they also made flat panel displays, video controllers and other computer related products. In 1998, Intel Corporation bought Chips and Technologies for their flat panel controllers. In January 2000, Asiliant Technologies licensed the rights from Intel to continue to manufacturer and sell Chips and Technologies components. Address: 2950 Zanker Road, San Jose, California 95134, USA.
- clay-pigeon shooting — the activity of shooting clay pigeons
- clip someone's wings — to restrict someone's freedom
- cognitive psychology — the psychological study of higher mental processes, including thinking and perception
- cold-weather payment — (in Britain) a payment made by the government to people on low incomes when the temperature falls below a certain level for a specific number of days
- collective ownership — ownership by a group for the benefit of members of that group
- colloidal suspension — a mixture having particles of one component, with diameters between 10 −7 and 10 −9 metres, suspended in a continuous phase of another component. The mixture has properties between those of a solution and a fine suspension
- colonial experiencer — affluent young Englishman who gained experience of farming, etc in colonial Australia
- comparative judgment — any judgment about whether there is a difference between two or more stimuli
- comparative religion — a field of study seeking to derive general principles from a comparison and classification of the growth and influence of various religions.
- compare and contrast — note similarities, differences
- compartmentalisation — Alternative form of compartmentalization.
- compartmentalization — to divide into categories or compartments.
- compensating balance — Also, compensated balance, compensation balance. a balance wheel in a timepiece, designed to compensate for variations in tension in the hair spring caused by changes in temperature.
- compensation culture — a culture in which people are very ready to go to law over even relatively minor incidents in the hope of gaining compensation
- compensation package — the sum of compensation awarded in a legal case
- compensatory damages — sum paid for a loss
- complaints procedure — a prescribed method of lodging a complaint to an institution
- complementary angles — either of two angles that added together produce an angle of 90°.
- complementary colors — any of two colors of the spectrum that, combined in the right intensities, produce white or nearly white light
- complementary colour — one of any pair of colours, such as yellow and blue, that give white or grey when mixed in the correct proportions
- complementary strand — either of the two chains that make up a double helix of DNA, with corresponding positions on the two chains being composed of a pair of complementary bases.
- complete blood count — a diagnostic test that determines the exact numbers of each type of blood cell in a fixed quantity of blood. Abbreviation: CBC.
- complete unification — (programming) W.P. Weijland's name for unification without occur check.
- comprehensive school — a secondary school for children of all abilities from the same district
- compression ignition — ignition of engine fuel by the heat of air compressed in the cylinders into which the fuel is introduced.
- computer programming — the activity or profession of writing computer programs
- computer typesetting — a system for the high-speed composition of type by a device driven by punched paper tape or magnetic tape that has been processed by a computer
- conditioned response — a response that is transferred from the second to the first of a pair of stimuli. A well-known Pavlovian example is salivation by a dog when it hears a bell ring, because food has always been presented when the bell has been rung previously
- conferencing over ip — (communications, standard) (CoIP) Standards for the transmission of multimedia over the Internet. CoIP extends VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) with text, images, video. The main CoIP standard is based on H.323. The VoIP forum of the IMTC merged with the H.323 Activity Group in January 1999 to form the Conferencing over IP (CoIP) Activity Group. VoIP uses "VoIP Devices" as gateways to route voice data packets over the Internet or PSTN. Protocols such as SGCP and its successor MGCP extend VoIP to handle media other than voice data.
- conformal projection — a map projection in which angles formed by lines are preserved: a map made using this projection preserves the shape of any small area.
- connector conspiracy — (business, standard) The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension, other designers) to come up with products that don't fit with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or expensive interface devices. The term probably came into prominence with the appearance of the DEC KL-10, none of whose connectors matched anything else. The KL-10 Massbus connector was actually *patented* by DEC, who reputedly refused to licence the design, thus effectively locking out competition for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This policy was a source of frustration for the owners of dying, obsolescent disk and tape drives. A related phenomenon is the invention of new screw heads so that only Designated Persons, possessing the magic screwdrivers, can remove covers and make repairs or install options. Older Apple Macintoshes took this one step further, requiring not only a hex wrench but a specialised case-cracking tool to open the box. With the advent of more open-systems computing this term has fallen somewhat into disuse. Compare backward combatability.
- conservative baptist — a member of a Protestant denomination (Conservative Baptist Association of America) organized in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1948.
- consumer price index — The consumer price index is an official measure of the rate of inflation within a country's economy. The abbreviation CPI is also used.
- contact metamorphism — localized metamorphism resulting from the heat of an igneous intrusion.
- contempt of congress — contempt of a U.S. Congressional body, as of an investigating committee, shown by a witness summoned or appearing before it.
- contingency planning — planning for future events that seem less likely than others
- continued proportion — geometric progression
- continuum hypothesis — the assertion that there is no set whose cardinality is greater than that of the integers and smaller than that of the reals
- controlled explosion — the deliberate detonation of an explosive device under strictly controlled circumstances