16-letter words containing p, a, n, t
- copolymerization — a process resembling polymerization, in which unlike molecules unite in alternate or random sequences in a chain
- cornet à pistons — a three-valved brass instrument of the trumpet family. Written range: about two and a half octaves upwards from E below middle C. It is a transposing instrument in B flat or A
- cornet-a-pistons — cornet (def 1).
- coroutine pascal — ["Control Separation in Programming languages", Lemon et al, ACM Ann Conf 1977].
- corporation stop — a cock controlling the flow of water or gas from mains to individual consumers.
- correcting plate — a thin lens used to correct incoming light rays in special forms of reflecting telescopes.
- counterespionage — Counterespionage is the same as counterintelligence.
- counterproposals — Plural form of counterproposal.
- court appearance — the appearance of an accused person before a court
- craftspersonship — The body of activities, skills, techniques, knowledge, and expertise pertinent to (a) particular craft(s).
- critical damping — the minimum amount of viscous damping that results in a displaced system returning to its original position without oscillation
- crossopterygians — Plural form of crossopterygian.
- cryopreservation — the storage of blood or living tissues at extremely cold temperatures, often -196 degrees Celsius.
- dangling pointer — (programming) A reference that doesn't actually lead anywhere. In C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't actually point at anything valid. Usually this happens because it formerly pointed to something that has moved or disappeared, e.g. a heap-allocated block which has been freed and reused. Used as jargon in a generalisation of its technical meaning; for example, a local phone number for a person who has since moved is a dangling pointer.
- data compression — the act of compressing.
- data preparation — the process of converting data or information into a form that can be read by a computer, so that the data can then be entered into the computer
- debut appearance — debut
- decapitalization — to deprive of capital; discourage capital formation; withdraw capital from: The government decapitalized industry with harsh tax policies.
- deep in the past — long ago
- deflationary gap — a situation in which total spending in an economy is insufficient to buy all the output that can be produced with full employment
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- department store — A department store is a large shop which sells many different kinds of goods.
- departmentalized — Simple past tense and past participle of departmentalize.
- departmentalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of departmentalize.
- departure lounge — In an airport, the departure lounge is the place where passengers wait before they get onto their plane.
- departure signal — a piece of equipment beside a railway which indicates to train drivers whether they should depart or not
- dependent clause — a clause that cannot function syntactically as a complete sentence by itself but has a nominal, adjectival, or adverbial function within a larger sentence; subordinate clause (Ex.: She will visit us if she can.)
- depleted uranium — Depleted uranium is a type of uranium that is used in some bombs.
- depoliticization — The act or process of depoliticizing.
- depolymerisation — (chemistry) alternative spelling of depolymerization.
- depolymerization — (chemistry) The decomposition of a polymer into smaller fragments.
- depressurization — to remove the air pressure from (a pressurized compartment of an aircraft or spacecraft).
- development area — (in Britain) an area suffering from high unemployment and economic depression, because of the decline of its main industries, that is given government help to establish new industries
- development bank — A development bank is a bank that provides money for projects in poor countries or areas.
- developmentalism — An economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods.
- developmentalist — an expert in or advocate of developmental psychology.
- developmentation — (proscribed, chiefly, US, and, humorous) Development.
- dew-point spread — the degrees of difference between the air temperature and the dew point
- dextromethorphan — (pharmaceutical drug) An antitussive drug (a cough suppressant) that is found in many over-the-counter cold and cough preparations.
- diacetylmorphine — heroin.
- digital envelope — (cryptography)
- diphthongisation — The process by which a single vowel sound (monophthong) shifts to a two-vowel vocalization (diphthong).
- diphthongization — to change into or pronounce as a diphthong.
- disappearing act — magic trick
- disincorporation — to remove from an incorporated state or status.
- dispersing agent — a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to prevent settling or clumping
- displacement ton — a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater.
- display standard — (hardware, standard) IBM and others have introduced a bewildering plethora of graphics and text display standards for IBM PCs. The standards are mostly implemented by plugging in a video display board (or "graphics adaptor") and connecting the appropriate monitor to it. Each new standard subsumes its predecessors. For example, an EGA board can also do CGA and MDA. With the PS/2, IBM introduced the VGA standard and built it into the main system board motherboard. VGA is also available as a plug-in board for PCs from third-party vendors. Also with the PS/2, IBM introduced the 8514 high-resolution graphics standard. An 8514 adaptor board plugs into the PS/2, providing a dual-monitor capability. Graphics software had to support the major IBM graphics standards and many non-IBM, proprietary standards for displays. Either software vendors provided display drivers or display vendors provided drivers for the software package. In either case, switching software or switching display systems was fraught with compatibility problems. More colours are available from third-party vendors for some display types. See also MDA, CGA, EGA, PGA, Hercules, MCGA, VGA, SVGA, 8514, VESA.
- display terminal — Visual Display Unit
- disproportionate — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.