17-letter words containing p, n, e
- application layer — (networking) The top layer of the OSI seven layer model. This layer handles issues like network transparency, resource allocation and problem partitioning. The application layer is concerned with the user's view of the network (e.g. formatting electronic mail messages). The presentation layer provides the application layer with a familiar local representation of data independent of the format used on the network.
- appointed actuary — An appointed actuary is an actuary appointed by a life insurance company, whose main role is to carry out a regular valuation of the reserves held to pay future policy benefits.
- arsenic poisoning — poisoning by arsenic
- artificial person — a human being, whether an adult or child: The table seats four persons.
- arunachal pradesh — a state in NE India, formed in 1986 from the former Union Territory. Capital: Itanagar. Pop: 1 091 117 (2001). Area: 83 743 sq km (32 648 sq miles)
- asperger syndrome — a developmental disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often, a narrow set of interests, but not involving delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: now considered one of the autism spectrum disorders.
- astral projection — the departure of the astral body from the physical body, in order to travel to the astral plane
- at a snail's pace — If you say that someone does something at a snail's pace, you are emphasizing that they are doing it very slowly, usually when you think it would be better if they did it much more quickly.
- at one fell swoop — to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey.
- at one's disposal — If you have something at your disposal, you are able to use it whenever you want, and for whatever purpose you want. If you say that you are at someone's disposal, you mean that you are willing to help them in any way you can.
- at one's own pace — If you do something at your own pace, you do it at a speed that is comfortable for you.
- at the expense of — If you achieve something at the expense of someone, you do it in a way which might cause them some harm or disadvantage.
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- australian kelpie — one of an Australian breed of medium-sized sheepherding dogs having a short, harsh, straight coat in a combination of colors that can include black, red, tan, fawn, chocolate, or smoke blue, probably developed by crossbreeding between the border collie and dingo.
- australopithecine — any of various extinct apelike primates of the genus Australopithecus and related genera, remains of which have been discovered in southern and E Africa. Some species are estimated to be over 4.5 million years old
- background report — a report on someone or something that sheds light on their background, esp a report on the background of a person convicted of a crime before they are sentenced by a judge
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- banana phenomenon — banana problem
- bangalore torpedo — an explosive device in a long metal tube, used to blow gaps in barbed-wire barriers
- banking principle — the principle that bank notes are a form of credit and should be issued freely in order to maintain an elastic currency.
- bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
- be sitting pretty — If you say that someone is sitting pretty, you mean that they are in a good, safe, or comfortable position.
- beat to the punch — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in striking a blow
- belleville spring — a spring having the form of a washer or dished disk with an open center, used for cushioning heavy loads with short motion.
- bent out of shape — very angry, upset, or agitated
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- beyond redemption — If you say that someone or something is beyond redemption, you mean that they are so bad it is unlikely that anything can be done to improve them.
- biological parent — a parent who has conceived (biological mother) or sired (biological father) rather than adopted a child and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child.
- biological weapon — a weapon which uses a biological agent to harm people and other living organisms
- bjarne stroustrup — (person) The father of C++ and author of the C++ bible.
- blowout preventer — A blowout preventer is a valve that can be closed when there is uncontrolled flow of fluids.
- blowpipe analysis — a type of chemical analysis in which the intensely hot flame of a blowpipe vaporizes a mineral or other substance with a characteristically colored flame and a unique odor, so as to identify chemical elements in a substance
- body center plate — one of a pair of plates that fit together and support the body of a car on a truck, while allowing the truck to rotate with respect to the body. One plate (body center plate) is attached to the underside of the car body and the other (truck center plate) is part of the car truck.
- book depreciation — Book depreciation is depreciation in a company's internal financial records that is different from the amount that is used for taxes.
- boolean operation — any operation in which each of the operands and the result take one of two values.
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- bottom-up testing — (programming) An integration testing technique that tests the low-level components first using test drivers for those components that have not yet been developed to call the low-level components for test. Compare bottom-up implementation.
- branch prediction — (processor, algorithm) A technique used in some processors with instruction prefetch to guess whether a conditional branch will be taken or not and prefetch code from the appropriate location. When a branch instruction is executed, its address and that of the next instruction executed (the chosen destination of the branch) are stored in the Branch Target Buffer. This information is used to predict which way the instruction will branch the next time it is executed so that instruction prefetch can continue. When the prediction is correct (and it is over 90% of the time), executing a branch does not cause a pipeline break. Some later CPUs simply prefetch both paths instead of trying to predict which way the branch will go. An extension of the idea of branch prediction is speculative execution.
- brazilian peridot — a light yellowish-green tourmaline used as a gem: not a true peridot.
- bring up the rear — to be at the back in a procession, race, etc
- brocot escapement — a type of anchor escapement.
- buckingham palace — the London residence of the British sovereign: built in 1703, rebuilt by John Nash in 1821–36 and partially redesigned in the early 20th century
- burton-upon-trent — a town in W central England, in E Staffordshire: famous for brewing. Pop: 43 784 (2001)
- business envelope — an envelope into which standard-size (81⁄2″ × 11″) letterhead stationery can be put with only two folds
- butternut pumpkin — a variety of pumpkin, eaten as vegetable
- by return of post — by the next mail in the opposite direction
- california privet — a privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, of the olive family, native to Japan, having glossy, oval leaves and long clusters of white flowers, widely used for hedges in the U.S.
- call-and-response — a form of interaction between a speaker and one or more listeners, in which every utterance of the speaker elicits a verbal or non-verbal response from the listener or listeners
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site