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18-letter words containing p, a, c, e

  • family-size packet — a packet large enough to be suitable for a family
  • faraday dark space — the dark region between the negative glow and the positive column in a vacuum tube occurring when the pressure is low.
  • feeping creaturism — /fee'ping kree"ch*r-izm/ A deliberate spoonerism for creeping featurism, meant to imply that the system or program in question has become a misshapen creature of hacks. This term isn"t really well defined, but it sounds so neat that most hackers have said or heard it. It is probably reinforced by an image of terminals prowling about in the dark making their customary noises.
  • fermat's principle — Optics. the law that the path taken by a ray of light in going from one point to another point will be the path that requires the least time.
  • flat address space — (architecture)   The memory architecture in which any memory location can be selected from a single contiguous block by a single integer offset. Almost all popular processors have a flat address space, but the Intel x86 family has a segmented address space. A flat address space greatly simplifies programming because of the simple correspondence between addresses (pointers) and integers.
  • forward compatible — forward compatibility
  • ftp software, inc. — (company)   Developers of the original PC/TCP Packet Driver specification. Address: 26 Princess St. Wakefield, MA 01880-3004. Telephone: +1 (617) 246 0900.
  • funeral procession — ceremonial cortège at a burial
  • galilean telescope — a refracting telescope that forms an erect image, consisting of an objective of relatively long focal length that causes light rays to converge and an eyepiece of short focal length that causes them to diverge.
  • gene amplification — an increase in the frequency of replication of a DNA segment.
  • general precession — the precession that results from both lunisolar precession and planetary precession; precession of the equinoxes.
  • gensym corporation — (company)   A company that supplies software and services for intelligent operations management. Common applications include quality management, process optimisation, dynamic scheduling, network management, energy and environmental management, and process modelling and simulation. Their products include G2.
  • geometrical optics — the branch of optics dealing with light as rays, especially in the study of the effects of lenses and mirrors on light beams and of their combination in optical instruments.
  • gestalt psychology — (sometimes lowercase) the theory or doctrine that physiological or psychological phenomena do not occur through the summation of individual elements, as reflexes or sensations, but through gestalts functioning separately or interrelatedly.
  • giant peacock moth — the largest European moth, an emperor, Saturnia pyri, reaching 15 cm (6 in.) in wingspan. It is mottled brown with a prominent ocellus on each wing and being night-flying can be mistaken for a bat
  • gravity escapement — an escapement, used especially in large outdoor clocks, in which the impulse is given to the pendulum by means of a weight falling through a certain distance.
  • great expectations — a novel (1861) by Charles Dickens.
  • greater pichiciego — an armadillo, Burmeisteria retusa, similar to, but larger than, a pichiciego
  • handyman's special — fixer-upper.
  • helicopter station — a place where helicopters are kept in readiness for use
  • heptadecanoic acid — a colourless crystalline water-insoluble carboxylic acid used in organic synthesis. Formula: CH3(CH2)15COOH
  • hexachlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) Either of forty-two isomers of the polychlorinated biphenyl containing six chlorine atoms.
  • hippocratic facies — the sallow facial expression, with listless staring eyes, often regarded as denoting approaching death
  • historical present — the present tense used in narrating a past event as if happening at the time of narration.
  • hyper-intellectual — appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
  • hyper-metaphorical — a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”. Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def 1).
  • hyperbaric chamber — a steel vessel in which atmospheric pressure can be raised or lowered by air compressors, used to treat divers or pilots afflicted with aeroembolism and to provide high-oxygen environments for certain medical treatments and operations.
  • hypercholesteremia — Alternative spelling of hypercholesteraemia.
  • hyperconcentration — the act of concentrating; the state of being concentrated.
  • hypernationalistic — a person devoted to nationalism.
  • hypochromic anemia — an anemia characterized by an abnormally low concentration of hemoglobin in the red blood cells, often due to iron deficiency.
  • hypogastric artery — iliac artery (def 3).
  • impedance matching — the technique of choosing or adjusting electric circuits and components so that the impedance of the load is equal to the internal impedance of the power source, thereby optimizing the power transfer from source to load.
  • impingement attack — a form of corrosion of metals caused by erosion of the oxide layer by a moving fluid in which there are suspended particles or air bubbles
  • imploded consonant — a consonant which is pronounced with or by implosion
  • in compliance with — in accordance with
  • in the first place — firstly
  • incapacity benefit — (in Britain) a regular government payment made to people who are unable to work for an extended period through disability
  • incremental backup — (operating system)   A kind of backup that copies all files which have changed since the date of the previous backup. The first backup of a file system should include all files - a "full backup". Call this level 0. The next backup could also be a full level 0 backup but it is usually much quicker to do a level 1 backup which will include only those files which have changed since the level 0 backup. Together the level 0 and level 1 backups will include the latest version of every file. Level 1 backups can be made until, say, the backup tape is nearly full, after which we can switch to level 2. Each level includes those files which have changed since the last backup at a lower level. The more levels you use, the longer it will take to restore the latest version of a file (or all files) if you don't know when it was last modified. Compare differential backup.
  • independent clause — a clause that can stand alone as a sentence, containing a subject and a predicate with a finite verb, as I was there in the sentence I was there when he arrived.
  • inspector of taxes — an official of HMRC whose work is to assess individuals' income tax liability
  • interstellar space — astronomy: space between the stars
  • investment company — a company that invests its funds in other companies and issues its own securities against these investments.
  • iomega corporation — (company, storage)   A storage device manufacturer whose major products are the Zip and Jaz removable disk drives and Ditto tape drives. They became popular with an early product called the Bernoulli Box. These products fall in line with their focus set in 1994 "to help people manage their stuff". The company's stated aim is to create portable, fast, large and cheap storage solutions. Iomega's major competitor in the growing market for removable disks is SyQuest, who seem to always be a few weeks behind them. In general, Iomega target the Small Office/Home Office. They are also investigating the growing digital photography market which also needs large removable storage devices. Iomega's president and CEO is Kim Edwards. They have nearly 2000 employees in offices world-wide. Revenue for the quarter ending Dec 1996 was $371 million and net income was $20 million. Headquarters: Roy, Utah, USA.
  • irreproachableness — The quality or state of being irreproachable; integrity; innocence.
  • isothermal process — a process that takes place without change in temperature.
  • jack-in-the-pulpit — A North American plant, Arisaema triphyllum, of the arum family, having an upright spadix arched over by a green or striped purplish-brown spathe.
  • japanese artichoke — Chinese artichoke.
  • japanese red cedar — Cryptomeria japonica, an evergreen redwood tree that grows to a height of up to 50m
  • juan ponce de leon — Juan [hwahn] /ʰwɑn/ (Show IPA), c1460–1521, Spanish explorer.
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