0%

15-letter words containing o, r, t, h

  • comptrollership — controller (def 1).
  • computer ethics — (philosophy)   Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?).
  • computer-phobia — a person who distrusts or is intimidated by computers.
  • connected graph — (mathematics)   A graph such that there is a path between any pair of nodes (via zero or more other nodes). Thus if we start from any node and visit all nodes connected to it by a single edge, then all nodes connected to any of them, and so on, then we will eventually have visited every node in the connected graph.
  • conservatorship — the legal status of a person appointed by a court to protect the interests of someone, such as a child, who is unable to manage his or her own affairs
  • contour feather — any of the feathers that cover the body of an adult bird, apart from the wings and tail, and determine its shape
  • cooktown orchid — a purple Australian orchid, Dendrobium bigibbum, found in Queensland, of which it is the floral emblem
  • copper sulphate — a copper salt found naturally as chalcanthite and made by the action of sulphuric acid on copper oxide. It usually exists as blue crystals of the pentahydrate that form a white anhydrous powder when heated: used as a mordant, in electroplating, and in plant sprays. Formula: CuSO4
  • copyright block — a block of four or more U.S. stamps that includes, in the selvage of the sheet, the copyright mark of the U.S. Postal Service.
  • corn on the cob — Corn on the cob is the long rounded part of the maize or corn plant on which small yellow seeds grow, and which is eaten as a vegetable.
  • corn-root aphid — an aphid, Anuraphis maidiradicis, that lives as a symbiont in colonies of cornfield ants and feeds on the roots of corn: an agricultural pest.
  • corticothalamic — Of or pertaining to the cortex and the thalamus.
  • costochondritis — (medicine) A benign inflammation of the costal cartilage, causing pain between the ribs.
  • countercathexis — (psychology) The suppression or repression of mental energy.
  • countercharging — Present participle of countercharge.
  • countercharming — Present participle of countercharm.
  • counterchecking — Present participle of countercheck.
  • counterflashing — (construction) Formed metal or elastomeric sheeting secured on or into a wall, curb, pipe or other surface, to cover and protect the upper edge of a base flashing and its associated fasteners.
  • countermarching — Present participle of countermarch.
  • counterpunching — Present participle of counterpunch.
  • counterpurchase — barter, especially of products or materials between international companies or importers and exporters.
  • counterweighted — Simple past tense and past participle of counterweight.
  • country kitchen — a large kitchen with ample areas for food preparation and eating.
  • coup de theatre — a dramatic turn of events, esp in a play
  • couples therapy — a counseling procedure that attempts to improve the adaptation and adjustment of two people who form a conjugal unit.
  • court christian — ecclesiastical court.
  • court of arches — the court of appeal of the Province of Canterbury, formerly held under the arches of Bow Church
  • court of honour — a military court that is instituted to investigate matters involving personal honour
  • craftswomanship — The body of skills, techniques, and expertise of (a) feminine craft(s).
  • crashworthiness — the ability of a vehicle structure to withstand a crash
  • crisis theology — a neoorthodox theology, advocated by Karl Barth and others, emphasizing the absolute necessity of faith and divine revelation in transcending the personal crisis, common to all humankind, that arises from the contradictions inherent in human nature and in the social order.
  • crown of thorns — a climbing spurge, Euphorbia milii splendens, of Madagascar, having stems covered with spines.
  • crown-of-thorns — a starfish, Acanthaster planci, that has a spiny test and feeds on living coral in coral reefs
  • crude oil berth — A crude oil berth is a place at a port for ships carrying crude oil.
  • cryoanaesthesia — Alternative spelling of cryoanesthesia.
  • cryptographical — the science or study of the techniques of secret writing, especially code and cipher systems, methods, and the like. Compare cryptanalysis (def 2).
  • crystallography — the science concerned with the formation, properties, and structure of crystals
  • culture-shocked — a state of bewilderment and distress experienced by an individual who is suddenly exposed to a new, strange, or foreign social and cultural environment.
  • curia rhaetorum — a city in E Switzerland, capital of Graubünden canton. Pop: 32 989 (2000)
  • cutthroat trout — a game fish (Salmo clarki) with a reddish patch under the jaw, usually found in high mountain streams near the NW North American coast
  • cybertechnology — Computer technology, especially that which involves the Internet or cyberspace.
  • cytophotometers — Plural form of cytophotometer.
  • cytophotometric — of or relating to cytophotometry
  • cytotrophoblast — the thickened, inner part of the mammalian placenta nearest to the fetus, covering the chorion during early pregnancy
  • dadchelor party — a party primarily attended by men and held to honour and present gifts to a prospective father
  • dartmouth basic — (language)   The original BASIC language, designed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in 1963. Dartmouth BASIC first ran on a GE 235 [date?] and on an IBM 704 on 1964-05-01. It was designed for quick and easy programming by students and beginners using Dartmouth's experimental time-sharing system. Unlike most later BASIC dialects, Dartmouth BASIC was compiled.
  • day of the lord — Also called Day of Yahweh. (in Old Testament eschatology) a day of final judgment. Amos 5:18–21; Ezek. 30.
  • decision theory — the study of strategies for decision-making under conditions of uncertainty in such a way as to maximize the expected utility
  • dehydrogenating — Present participle of dehydrogenate.
  • dehydrogenation — to remove hydrogen from (a compound).
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?