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22-letter words containing o, r, a, i

  • c programmer's disease — (programming)   The tendency of the undisciplined C programmer to set arbitrary but supposedly generous static limits on table sizes (defined, if you're lucky, by constants in header files) rather than taking the trouble to do proper dynamic storage allocation. If an application user later needs to put 68 elements into a table of size 50, the afflicted programmer reasons that he or she can easily reset the table size to 68 (or even as much as 70, to allow for future expansion) and recompile. This gives the programmer the comfortable feeling of having made the effort to satisfy the user's (unreasonable) demands, and often affords the user multiple opportunities to explore the marvellous consequences of fandango on core. In severe cases of the disease, the programmer cannot comprehend why each fix of this kind seems only to further disgruntle the user.
  • calculus of variations — a branch of calculus concerned with maxima and minima of definite integrals
  • cargo cult programming — (programming, humour)   A style of (incompetent) programming dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose. A cargo cult programmer will usually explain the extra code as a way of working around some bug encountered in the past, but usually neither the bug nor the reason the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood (compare shotgun debugging, voodoo programming). The term "cargo cult" is a reference to aboriginal religions that grew up in the South Pacific after World War II. The practices of these cults centre on building elaborate mockups of aeroplanes and military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of the god-like aeroplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war. Hackish usage probably derives from Richard Feynman's characterisation of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in his book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" (W. W. Norton & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7).
  • categorical imperative — (in the ethics of Kant) the unconditional moral principle that one's behaviour should accord with universalizable maxims which respect persons as ends in themselves; the obligation to do one's duty for its own sake and not in pursuit of further ends
  • catoctin mountain park — a federal park in N central Maryland: site of Camp David. 9 sq. mi. (23 sq. km).
  • cease-and-desist order — an order by a government agency to a person or corporation to terminate a business practice found by the agency to be illegal or unfair.
  • centimeter-gram-second — designating or of a system of measurement in which the centimeter, gram, and second are the units of length, mass, and time, respectively
  • central locking device — a small device that controls the central locking on a motor vehicle
  • certificate of deposit — a negotiable certificate issued by a bank in return for a deposit of money for a term of up to five years
  • charity begins at home — If you say charity begins at home, you mean that people should deal with the needs of people close to them before they think about helping others.
  • chicago board of trade — a major exchange in the United States that deals in futures, notably of grains and metals. Abbreviation: CBT.
  • chief academic officer — an official in a university, college, or medical school who usually reports directly to the president, chancellor, rector, or vice chancellor
  • chlorotrifluoromethane — a colorless gas, CClF 3 , used chiefly as a refrigerant, in the hardening of metals, and in pharmaceutical processing.
  • chorionic gonadotropin — Also called human chorionic gonadotropin. Biochemistry. a hormone, produced in the incipient placenta of pregnant women, that stimulates the production of estrogen and progesterone: its presence in blood or urine is an indication of pregnancy.
  • chromosomal aberration — any irregularity or abnormality of chromosome distribution, number, structure, or arrangement.
  • cognitive architecture — (architecture)   A computer architecure involving non-deterministic, multiple inference processes, as found in neural networks. Cognitive architectures model the human brain and contrast with single processor computers. The term might also refer to software architectures, e.g. fuzzy logic.
  • collateral circulation — circulation of blood through a network of minor vessels that become enlarged and joined with adjacent vessels when a major vein or artery is impaired, as by obstruction.
  • color graphics adapter — (hardware, graphics)   (CGA) One of IBM's earliest hardware video display standards for use in IBM PCs. CGA can display 80*25 or 40*25 text in 16 colors, 640*200 pixels of graphics in two colors or 320*200 in four colors (IBM PC video modes 0-6). It is now obsolete.
  • combinatorial analysis — the branch of mathematics concerned with the theory of enumeration, or combinations and permutations, in order to solve problems about the possibility of constructing arrangements of objects which satisfy specified conditions
  • combinatorial topology — the branch of topology that deals with the properties of geometric figures by considering the figures as being composed of elementary geometric figures, as points or lines.
  • command line interface — (operating system)   A means of communication between a program and its user, based solely on textual input and output. Commands are input with the help of a keyboard or similar device and are interpreted and executed by the program. Results are output as text or graphics to the terminal. Command line interfaces usually provide greater flexibility than graphical user interfaces, at the cost of being harder for the novice to use. Consequently, some hackers look down on GUIs as designed For The Rest Of Them.
  • commissioner for oaths — a solicitor authorized to authenticate oaths on sworn statements
  • common external tariff — the common tariff of charges imposed by the members of a customs union on imports from non-members
  • common snapping turtle — a large aggressive North American river turtle, Chelydra serpentina, having powerful hooked jaws and a rough shell
  • communication disorder — any of a number of disorders, as autism or deafness, that partially or totally prevent verbal or written expression or comprehension.
  • communications network — a network that provides information
  • compactness preserving — (theory)   In domain theory, a function f is compactness preserving if f c is compact whenever c is.
  • comparative government — the study and comparison of different forms of government.
  • comparative literature — the comparative study of various national literatures, stressing their influence one upon another, their use of similar forms, their treatment of similar themes, etc.
  • comparative musicology — ethnomusicology.
  • comparative psychology — the study of the similarities and differences in the behaviour of different species
  • compass deviation card — a card, sheet, or the like, with two compass roses printed on it concentrically, for recording, on a given voyage, the amount of deviation for which the navigator must compensate in using the ship's compass to steer a magnetic course.
  • complementary medicine — the treatment, alleviation, or prevention of disease by such techniques as osteopathy, homeopathy, aromatherapy, and acupuncture, allied with attention to such factors as diet and emotional stability, which can affect a person's wellbeing
  • complete metamorphosis — physical changes in the development of certain insects that include egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages, as in beetles, moths, or bees
  • complete quadrilateral — a polygon consisting of four lines and their six points of intersection
  • component architecture — (programming)   A notion in object-oriented programming where "components" of a program are completely generic. Instead of having a specialised set of methods and fields they have generic methods through which the component can advertise the functionality it supports to the system into which it is loaded. This enables completely dynamic loading of objects. JavaBeans is an example of a component architecture. See also design pattern.
  • compulsory liquidation — the liquidation of a business in order to settle its debts
  • compuserve corporation — (company)   The parent organisation of CompuServe Information Service, CompuServe Network Services and CompuServe Remote Computing Services. CompuServe was owned by H.R. Block but is now (1999) owned by America On-Line.
  • computational geometry — (mathematics)   The study of algorithms for combinatorial, topological, and metric problems concerning sets of points, typically in Euclidean space. Representative areas of research include geometric search, convexity, proximity, intersection, and linear programming.
  • computational learning — grammatical inference
  • concentration gradient — the gradual difference in concentration of a dissolved substance in a solution between a region of high density and one of lower density.
  • congressional district — (in the US) an electoral division of a state, entitled to send one member to the US House of Representatives
  • conservation of charge — the principle that the total charge of any isolated system is constant and independent of changes that take place within the system
  • conservation of energy — the principle that the total energy of any isolated system is constant and independent of any changes occurring within the system
  • conservation of matter — the principle that matter is neither created nor destroyed during any physical or chemical change
  • conservation of parity — the principle that the parity of the total wave function describing a system of elementary particles is conserved. In fact it is not conserved in weak interactions
  • conservative extension — a formal theory that includes among its theorems all the theorems of a given theory
  • constitutional monarch — the sovereign in a constitutional monarchy
  • constructive dismissal — If an employee claims constructive dismissal, they begin a legal action against their employer in which they claim that they were forced to leave their job because of the behaviour of their employer.
  • consummatory behaviour — any behaviour that leads directly to the satisfaction of an innate drive, e.g. eating or drinking
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