for preformated text, 
, 
 .. 
 for headings. Most systems will ignore the case of tags and attributes but lower case should be used for compatibility with XHTML. The web Consortium (W3C) is the international standards body for HTML. See also weblint.  
 immediate-release coating — An immediate-release coating is a tablet coating that breaks down immediately in the body. 
 
 immigration border patrol — (in the US) a law enforcement agency responsible for issues regarding border laws and immigration 
 
 implicit function theorem — a theorem that gives conditions under which a function written in implicit form can be written in explicit form. 
 
 improved mercury autocode — (language)   (IMP) A version of Autocode used to program the Edinburgh Multi Access System (EMAS), one of the first operating systems written in a high-level language, apparently predating Unix. Luis Damas' Prolog interpreter in IMP for EMAS led to C-Prolog. 
 
 infinite impulse response — (electronics, DSP)   A type of digital signal filter, in which every sample of output is the weighted sum of past and current samples of input, using all past samples, but the weights of past samples are an inverse function of the sample age, approaching zero for old samples. 
 
 instrumental conditioning — conditioning (def 1). 
 
 intercommunication system — a communication system within a building, ship, airplane, local area, etc., with a loudspeaker or receiver for listening and a microphone for speaking at each of two or more points. 
 
 intermediate vector boson — one of the three particles that are believed to transmit the weak force: the positively charged W particle, the negatively charged W particle, and the neutral Z 0 particle. 
 
 intermittent claudication — pain and cramp in the calf muscles, aggravated by walking and caused by an insufficient supply of blood 
 
 international atomic time — a system of measuring time based on atomic clocks that measure the second as the basic unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Abbreviation: IAT. 
 
 international match point — a unit of scoring in contract bridge tournaments held in Europe. Abbreviation: IMP. 
 
 interstate highway system — a network of U.S. highways connecting the 48 contiguous states and most of the cities with populations above 50,000, begun in the 1950s and estimated to carry about a fifth of the nation's traffic. 
 
 java run-time environment — (language)   (JRE) The part of the Java Development Kit required to run Java programs. The JRE consists of the Java Virtual Machine, the Java platform core classes and supporting files. It does not include the compiler, debugger or other tools present in the JDK. The JRE is the smallest set of executables and files that constitute the standard Java platform. 
 
 jean-maurice-Émile baudot — (person)   (1845-1903) The inventor of the Baudot code. Baudot joined the French Post & Telegraph Administration in 1869 as a telegraph operator. In his own time he developed a code for sending several messages at once. In 1874 Baudot patented his first printing telegraph where signals were translated onto paper tape. The Baudot code was adopted first in France and then by other nations for  and  transmissions. The unit of transmission speed, baud, is named after him. 
 
 khakass autonomous region — an autonomous region in the Russian Federation, in S Siberia. 19,161 sq. mi. (49,627 sq. km). Capital: Abakan. 
 
 knock-for-knock agreement — an agreement between vehicle insurers that in the event of an accident each will pay for the damage to the vehicle insured with him without attempting to establish blame for the accident 
 
 konigsberg bridge problem — a mathematical problem in graph theory, solved by Leonhard Euler, to show that it is impossible to cross all seven bridges of the Prussian city of Königsberg in a continuous path without recrossing any bridge. 
 
 leaf distribution limited — A UK connectivity software supplier which also provides SERVELAN, a country-wide Internet access service. E-mail: <[email protected]>. Address: 7 Elmwood, Chineham Business Park, Crockford Lane, BASINGSTOKE RG24 0WG. Telephone: +44 (1256) 707 777. Fax: +44 (1256) 707 555. 
 
 letter of acknowledgement — a letter that you receive from someone, telling you that something you have sent to them has arrived 
 
 letters of administration — a formal document nominating a specified person to take over, administer, and dispose of an estate when there is no executor to carry out the testator's will 
 
 limited-slip differential — an automotive differential that can transfer power from a wheel that has lost traction to one that has not. 
 
 lowest common denominator — least common denominator. 
 
 magnetic character reader — a device that automatically scans and interprets characters printed with magnetic ink. It operates by the process of magnetic character recognition 
 
 magnetic resonance imager — a device which uses a noninvasive medical diagnostic technique in which the absorption and transmission of high-frequency radio waves are analysed as they irradiate the hydrogen atoms in water molecules and other tissue components placed in a strong magnetic field 
 
 magnetohydromagnetic wave — Physics. Alfvén wave. 
 
 maintenance of membership — an arrangement or agreement between an employer and a labor union by which employees who are members of the union at the time the agreement is made, or who subsequently join, must either remain members until the agreement expires, or be discharged. 
 
 make bricks without straw — a block of clay hardened by drying in the sun or burning in a kiln, and used for building, paving, etc.: traditionally, in the U.S., a rectangle 2.25 × 3.75 × 8 inches (5.7 × 9.5 × 20.3 cm), red, brown, or yellow in color. 
 
 make one's blood run cold — the fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of human beings and other vertebrates, in humans consisting of plasma in which the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended. 
 
 make short work of sb/sth — If you make short work of someone or something, you deal with them or defeat them very quickly. 
 
 marcus aurelius antoninus — Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 marcus-valerius-martialis — (Marcus Valerius Martialis) a.d. 43?–104? Roman epigrammatist, born in Spain. 
 
 massacre of the innocents — the slaughter of all the young male children of Bethlehem at Herod's command in an attempt to destroy Jesus (Matthew 2:16–18) 
 
 medical officer of health — a person appointed by a local or national authority to be in charge of its health policy 
 
 memorandum of association — a document giving details such as the company's name, the purpose of the company, and the address of its registered office that is legally required when incorporating a company in certain countries such as the UK 
 
 mens sana in corpore sano — a sound mind in a sound body 
 
 message passing interface — (communications, protocol)   A de facto standard for communication among the nodes running a parallel program on a distributed memory system. MPI is a library of routines that can be called from Fortran and C programs. MPI's advantage over older message passing libraries is that it is both portable (because MPI has been implemented for almost every distributed memory architecture) and fast (because each implementation is optimised for the hardware it runs on). 
 
 metal oxide semiconductor — a three-layer sandwich of a metal, an insulator (usually an oxide of the substrate), and a semiconductor substrate, used in integrated circuits. Abbreviation: MOS. 
 
 metal-free phthalocyanine — phthalocyanine (def 1). 
 
 methylrosaniline chloride — gentian violet. 
 
 metropolitan area network — (MAN) A data network intended to serve an area the size of a large city. Such networks are being implemented by innovative techniques, such as running optical fibre through subway tunnels. A popular example of a MAN is SMDS. See also Local Area Network, Wide Area Network. 
 
 mount kenya national park — a national park in Kenya, located in the regions of Mount Kenya that are above 3200 m (10 500 ft); now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the park covers 1420 sq km (548 sq miles) 
 
 multi-scene control board — preset board.