17-letter words containing p, a, r, n, o
- kastor and pollux — Castor and Pollux.
- keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
- lambda expression — (mathematics) A term in the lambda-calculus denoting an unnamed function (a "lambda abstraction"), a variable or a constant. The pure lambda-calculus has only functions and no constants.
- laplace transform — a map of a function, as a signal, defined especially for positive real values, as time greater than zero, into another domain where the function is represented as a sum of exponentials.
- larmor precession — the precession of charged particles, as electrons, placed in a magnetic field, the frequency of the precession (Larmor frequency) being equal to the electronic charge times the strength of the magnetic field divided by 4π times the mass.
- laryngopharyngeal — of, relating to, or involving the larynx and pharynx.
- least upper bound — an upper bound that is less than or equal to all the upper bounds of a particular set. 3 is the least upper bound of the set consisting of 1, 2, 3. Abbr.: lub.
- legal proceedings — court case
- lempert operation — fenestration (def 3c).
- level compensator — an automatic gain control device used in the receivers of telegraphic circuits.
- lincoln's sparrow — a North American sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, having a buff breast with black streaks.
- liquid propellant — a rocket propellant in liquid form.
- logic programming — (artificial intelligence, programming, language) A declarative, relational style of programming based on first-order logic. The original logic programming language was Prolog. The concept is based on Horn clauses. The programmer writes a "database" of "facts", e.g. wet(water). ("water is wet") and "rules", e.g. mortal(X) :- human(X). ("X is mortal is implied by X is human"). Facts and rules are collectively known as "clauses". The user supplies a "goal" which the system attempts to prove using "resolution" or "backward chaining". This involves matching the current goal against each fact or the left hand side of each rule using "unification". If the goal matches a fact, the goal succeeds; if it matches a rule then the process recurses, taking each sub-goal on the right hand side of the rule as the current goal. If all sub-goals succeed then the rule succeeds. Each time a possible clause is chosen, a "choice point" is created on a stack. If subsequent resolution fails then control eventually returns to the choice point and subsequent clauses are tried. This is known as "backtracking". Clauses may contain logic variables which take on any value necessary to make the fact or the left hand side of the rule match a goal. Unification binds these variables to the corresponding subterms of the goal. Such bindings are associated with the choice point at which the clause was chosen and are undone when backtracking reaches that choice point. The user is informed of the success or failure of his first goal and if it succeeds and contains variables he is told what values of those variables caused it to succeed. He can then ask for alternative solutions.
- logical operation — Boolean operation.
- lumpenproletariat — the lowest level of the proletariat comprising unskilled workers, vagrants, and criminals and characterized by a lack of class identification and solidarity.
- lymphangiographic — Relating to lymphangiography.
- manhattan project — U.S. History. the unofficial designation for the U.S. War Department's secret program, organized in 1942, to explore the isolation of radioactive isotopes and the production of an atomic bomb: initial research was conducted at Columbia University in Manhattan.
- manpower planning — a procedure used in organizations to balance future requirements for all levels of employee with the availability of such employees
- mariner's compass — a compass used for navigational purposes, consisting of a pivoted compass card in a gimbal-mounted, nonferrous metal bowl.
- mascarpone cheese — a very rich, white cream cheese of Italy
- matter of opinion — a point open to question; a debatable statement
- mean proportional — (between two numbers a and b) a number x for which a/x = x/b : The number 3 is a mean proportional between 1 and 9.
- meissen porcelain — Dresden china.
- metalloproteinase — (enzyme) Any of several proteinases that have a metal atom (often zinc) at their active centre.
- microencapsulated — Encapsulated using microencapsulation.
- micromanipulation — the technique of performing mechanical operations under high magnification through the use of specialized tools.
- micromanipulators — Plural form of micromanipulator.
- micropaleontology — the branch of paleontology dealing with the study of microscopic fossils.
- microphanerophyte — any shrub or tree having a height of 2 to 8 metres
- midmorning prayer — the third of the seven canonical hours; terce
- misappropriations — Plural form of misappropriation.
- misinterpretation — An instance of misinterpreting.
- misrepresentation — to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.
- mitre corporation — (body) A US federally funded R&D center, spun off in 1958 from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory (also an FFRDC). MITRE is a non-profit corporation chartered to do R&D in the public interest. MITRE were responsible for system engineering and implementation oversight of SAGE. MITRE does not stand for MIT Research and Engineering, though it could have.
- mode of transport — means of travel
- modern pentathlon — an athletic contest consisting of five different events: horse riding with jumps, fencing with electric épée, freestyle swimming, pistol shooting, and cross-country running
- mom and pop store — a small retail business, typically family-operated
- morphic resonance — the idea that, through a telepathic effect or sympathetic vibration, an event or act can lead to similar events or acts in the future or an idea conceived in one mind can then arise in another
- mount kirkpatrick — a mountain in Antarctica, in S Victoria Land in the Queen Alexandra Range. Height: 4528 m (14 856 ft)
- mount robson park — a national park in the Rocky Mountains of E British Columbia, Canada.
- neath port talbot — a county borough in S Wales, created from part of West Glamorgan in 1996. Administrative centre: Port Talbot. Pop: 135 300 (2003 est). Area: 439 sq km (169 sq miles)
- negative polarity — the grammatical character of a word or phrase, such as ever or any, that may normally be used only in a semantically or syntactically negative or interrogative context
- nephelometrically — By means of nephelometry.
- neuropathological — (medicine) Of, pertaining to, or arising from neuropathology, the pathology of nerve tissue.
- neuropharmacology — the branch of pharmacology concerned with the effects of drugs on the nervous system.
- neuropsychiatrist — A medical doctor specializing in neuropsychiatry; a medical doctor dealing with disorders that have both neurological and psychiatric features.
- non-profit-making — A non-profit-making organization or charity is not run with the intention of making a profit.
- non-proliferation — Non-proliferation is the limiting of the production and spread of something such as nuclear or chemical weapons.
- non-reciprocating — to give, feel, etc., in return.
- non-stereotypical — a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.