17-letter words containing o, s, m, l
- facsimile catalog — a catalog that includes small reproductions of the items listed, as paintings, slides, designs, or the like.
- first normal form — database normalisation
- footmen's gallery — the rearmost section of seats in the balcony of an English theater, especially in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- french somaliland — a former name of Djibouti (def 1).
- functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
- garlic mayonnaise — mayonnaise flavoured with garlic
- general admission — an admission charge for unreserved seats at a theatrical performance, sports event, etc.
- general sarmiento — a city in E Argentina, a suburb of Buenos Aires.
- give someone hell — the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits; Gehenna or Tartarus.
- glycosaminoglycan — any of a class of polysaccharides derived from hexosamine that form mucins when complexed with proteins: formerly called mucopolysaccharide.
- gomez de la serna — Ramón [rah-mawn] /rɑˈmɔn/ (Show IPA), ("Ramón") 1888–1963, Spanish novelist, dramatist, biographer, and critic.
- grist to the mill — If you say that something is grist to the mill, you mean that it is useful for a particular purpose or helps support someone's point of view.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- harmonic analysis — the calculation of Fourier series and their generalization.
- hemiglossectomies — Plural form of hemiglossectomy.
- heterochlamydeous — (of a plant) having a perianth consisting of distinct sepals and petals
- hippocampal gyrus — a convolution on the inner surface of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum, bordering the hippocampus.
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
- hold sb to ransom — If you say that someone is holding you to ransom in British English, or holding you for ransom in American English, you mean that they are using their power to try to force you to do something which you do not want to do.
- holistic medicine — incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology.
- homeland security — national defence
- homo floresiensis — a possible species of very small, primitive human: its fossils were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003.
- homolytic fission — the dissociation of a molecule into two neutral fragments
- house of assembly — the legislature or the lower house of the legislature in certain countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.
- house of ill fame — a house of prostitution; brothel
- household ammonia — diluted ammonia, often having a small quantity of detergent, used in the home for cleaning.
- hurler's syndrome — a medical condition characterized by physical deformity and mental deficiency
- hypocholesteremia — an abnormally low amount of cholesterol in the blood.
- hypovolemic shock — a type of shock caused by reduced blood volume, as from massive bleeding or dehydration.
- immunofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or using immunofluorescence.
- impersonalization — to make impersonal: The dial system impersonalized the telephone.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- implosive-therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impossible figure — a picture of an object that at first sight looks three-dimensional but cannot be a two-dimensional projection of a real three-dimensional object, for example a picture of a staircase that re-enters itself while appearing to ascend continuously
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- improvisationally — In an improvisational way.
- inclusion complex — a solid solution in which molecules of one compound occupy places in the crystal lattice of another compound. Compare adduct (def 2).
- incompatibilities — not compatible; unable to exist together in harmony: She asked for a divorce because they were utterly incompatible.
- incomprehensively — In an incomprehensive manner.
- incompressibility — The quality of being incompressible, of not compressing under pressure.
- insertion element — a section of DNA that is capable of becoming inserted into another chromosome
- insurmountability — incapable of being surmounted, passed over, or overcome; insuperable: an insurmountable obstacle.
- intersectionalism — The study of minorities within minorities, or intersections between minorities; specifically, the study of the interactions of multiple systems of oppression or discrimination.
- invisible imports — imports of services rather than goods
- isomorphism class — (mathematics) A collection of all the objects isomorphic to a given object. Talking about the isomorphism class (of a poset, say) ensures that we will only consider its properties as a poset, and will not consider other incidental properties it happens to have.
- kvatro telecom as — (company) The company that maintains Mary. Address: Trondheim, Norway.
- kyoto common lisp — (language) (KCL) An implementation of Common Lisp by T. Yuasa <[email protected]> and M. Hagiya <[email protected]>, written in C to run under Unix-like operating systems. KCL is compiled to ANSI C. It conforms to Common Lisp as described in Guy Steele's book and is available under a licence agreement. E-mail: <[email protected]> (bug reports). Mailing list: [email protected], [email protected]