19-letter words containing r, a, t, l, e, o
- political geography — the branch of human geography that deals with the relationship between political processes and spatial structures (regions, territories, etc)
- politically correct — marked by or adhering to a typically progressive orthodoxy on issues involving especially ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or ecology: The actor’s comment about unattractive women was not politically correct. The CEO feels that people who care about being politically correct are overly sensitive. Abbreviations: PC, P.C.
- popular sovereignty — the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
- population pressure — the force exerted by a growing population upon its environment, resulting in dispersal or reduction of the population.
- post-and-rail fence — a fence constructed of upright wooden posts with horizontal timber slotted through it
- pre-order traversal — traversal
- preferential voting — a system of voting designed to permit the voter to indicate an order of preference for the candidates on the ballot.
- preproduction trial — a trial to test a prototype of a product before the product goes into full-scale production
- presentation skills — the set of techniques and skills required successfully to present oral information to others
- prismatic telescope — a telescope having an eyepiece at the side or top equipped with a reflecting prism, used for taking sights at steep angles.
- professionalization — to give a professional character or status to; make into or establish as a profession.
- property speculator — a person who takes part in property speculation
- pseudo-experimental — pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment: an experimental science.
- pyrenees-orientales — a department in S France. 1600 sq. mi. (4145 sq. km). Capital: Perpignan.
- quantum electronics — the application of quantum mechanics and quantum optics to the study and design of electronic devices
- queen's regulations — (in Britain and certain other Commonwealth countries when the sovereign is female) the code of conduct for members of the armed forces
- radiation potential — the potential in volts that must be applied to an atom or molecule to cause it to emit radiation at one of its characteristic frequencies.
- radioactive fallout — the settling to the ground of airborne particles ejected into the atmosphere from the earth by explosions, eruptions, forest fires, etc., especially such settling from nuclear explosions (radioactive fallout) Compare rainout.
- radiopharmaceutical — any of a number of radioactive drugs used diagnostically or therapeutically.
- rake over the coals — a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel. Compare anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite.
- rap on the knuckles — a mild reprimand or light sentence
- reciprocity failure — a failure of the two exposure variables, light intensity and exposure time, to behave in a reciprocal fashion at very high or very low values
- reconceptualization — to form into a concept; make a concept of.
- recurrence relation — (mathematics) An equation that defines each element of a sequence in terms of one or more earlier elements. E.g. The Fibonacci sequence, X[1] = 1 X[2] = 1 X[n] = X[n-1] + X[n-2] Some recurrence relations can be converted to "closed form" where X[n] is defined purely in terms of n, without reference to earlier elements.
- reduction potential — (in a galvanic cell) the potential of the electrode at which reduction occurs.
- reflux oesophagitis — inflammation of the gullet caused by regurgitation of stomach acids, producing heartburn: may be associated with a hiatus hernia
- register allocation — (compiler, algorithm) The phase of a compiler that determines which values will be placed in registers. Register allocation may be combined with register assignment. This problem can be shown to be isomorphic to graph colouring by relating values to nodes in the graph and registers to colours. Values (nodes) which must be valid simultaneously are linked by edges and cannot be stored in the same register (coloured the same). See also register dancing and register spilling.
- reindustrialization — the revitalization of an industry or industrial society through government aid and tax incentives, modernization of factories and machinery, etc.
- relational calculus — (database) An operational methodolgy, founded on predicate calculus, dealing with descripitive expressions that are equivalent to the operations of relational algebra. Codd's reduction algorithm can convert from relational calculus to relational algebra. Two forms of the relational calculus exist: the tuple calculus and the domain calculus.
- relational database — an electronic database comprising multiple files of related information, usually stored in tables of rows (records) and columns (fields), and allowing a link to be established between separate files that have a matching field, as a column of invoice numbers, so that the two files can be queried simultaneously by the user.
- relational language — (language) Any kind of programming language that specifies output in terms of some property and some arguments. For example, if Tom has two brothers, Dick and Harry, a relational language will respond to the query "Who is Tom's brother?" with either Dick or Harry. Notice that unlike functional languages, relational languages do not require a unique output for each predicate/argument pair. Prolog is the best known relational language.
- relative complement — the set of elements contained in a given set that are not elements of another specified set.
- relief organization — humanitarian group
- religious education — religion as school subject
- relocation expenses — Relocation expenses are a sum of money that a company pays to someone who moves to a new area in order to work for the company. The money is to help them pay for moving house.
- removable cartridge — a hard disk enclosed in a case that can be removed from the disk drive, having more storage than floppy disks.
- representationalism — Also called representative realism. Epistemology. the view that the objects of perception are ideas or sense data that represent external objects, especially the Lockean doctrine that the perceived idea represents exactly the primary qualities of the external object.
- republic of vietnam — the name (from 1955–75) for South Vietnam, as an independent republic, following the division of the country in 1954 into North Vietnam and South Vietnam
- research laboratory — place for scientific experimentation
- resorcinolphthalein — fluorescein.
- respiratory failure — a condition in which the respiratory system is unable to provide an adequate supply of oxygen or to remove carbon dioxide efficiently
- reticular formation — a network of neurons in the brainstem involved in consciousness, regulation of breathing, the transmission of sensory stimuli to higher brain centers, and the constantly shifting muscular activity that supports the body against gravity.
- reticuloendothelial — pertaining to, resembling, or involving cells of the reticuloendothelial system.
- reversible reaction — a reaction that, depending on ambient conditions, can proceed in either of two directions: the production of the reaction products from the reactants, or the production of the original reactants from the formed reaction products. Compare equilibrium (def 4).
- rhetorical question — a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply, as “What is so rare as a day in June?”.
- right circular cone — a cone whose surface is generated by lines joining a fixed point to the points of a circle, the fixed point lying on a perpendicular through the center of the circle.
- romanian tenderloin — a cut of beef consisting of the diaphragm muscle.
- roosevelt corollary — a corollary (1904) to the Monroe Doctrine, asserting that the U.S. might intervene in the affairs of an American republic threatened with seizure or intervention by a European country.
- royal correspondent — a journalist who reports on matters relating to royalty
- saddle-billed stork — a large stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, of West Africa, having a white and black body and a long, red and black bill.