18-letter words containing s, e, o, d
- conditional access — the encryption of television programme transmissions so that only authorized subscribers with suitable decoding apparatus may have access to them
- connected subgraph — (mathematics) A connected graph consisting of a subset of the nodes and edges of some other graph.
- consecrated ground — ground that has been made or declared sacred or holy, and is therefore suitable for Christian burial
- conservation grade — relating to food produced using traditional methods where possible, and following strict specifications regarding animal feeds and welfare, the use of chemical fertilizers, wildlife conservation, and land management
- considered harmful — (programming, humour) A type of phrase based on the title of Edsger W. Dijkstra's famous note in the March 1968 Communications of the ACM, "Goto Statement Considered Harmful", which fired the first salvo in the structured programming wars. Amusingly, the ACM considered the resulting acrimony sufficiently harmful that it will (by policy) no longer print articles taking so assertive a position against a coding practice. In the ensuing decades, a large number of both serious papers and parodies bore titles of the form "X considered Y". The structured-programming wars eventually blew over with the realisation that both sides were wrong, but use of such titles has remained as a persistent minor in-joke.
- consolato del mare — a code of maritime law compiled in the Middle Ages: it drew upon ancient law and has influenced modern law.
- constitutionalized — Simple past tense and past participle of constitutionalize.
- contact dermatitis — dermatitis caused by direct contact with an irritating substance, as an allergen or chemical
- continental shield — any of the large, low-lying areas in the Earth's crust that are composed of Precambrian crystalline rocks
- controlled-release — A controlled-release drug or preparation is released into the body in specified amounts over a specified period of time.
- cordless telephone — a portable battery-powered telephone with a short-range radio link to a fixed base unit
- correspondent bank — A correspondent bank is a bank that provides services such as accepting deposits for another bank.
- corridors of power — the higher echelons of government, the Civil Service, etc, considered as the location of power and influence
- costume department — the department in a theatre or television company that is responsible for actors' costumes
- cot death syndrome — the unexplained sudden death of an infant during sleep
- couldn't care less — If you say that you couldn't care less about someone or something, you are emphasizing that you are not interested in them or worried about them. In American English, you can also say that you could care less, with the same meaning.
- countryside agency — (in England) a government agency that promotes the conservation and enjoyment of the countryside and aims to stimulate employment in rural areas
- creme de framboise — a liqueur flavored with raspberries.
- crested dog's-tail — a common wiry perennial grass, Cynosurus cristatus, of meadows and pasture
- crocodile-infested — full of crocodiles
- crookes dark space — the dark space between the cathode glow and the negative glow in a vacuum tube, occurring when the pressure is low.
- crookes radiometer — a type of radiometer consisting of an evacuated glass bulb containing a set of lightweight vanes, each blackened on one side. The vanes are mounted on a vertical axis and revolve when light, or other radiant energy, falls on them
- crude oil desalter — A crude oil desalter is equipment which removes inorganic salts from crude oil, using chemical or electrostatic separation.
- cursor dipped in x — (jargon) The metaphorical source of the electronic equivalent of a poisoned-pen letter. Derived from English metaphors of the form "pen dipped in X" (where X = e.g. "acid", "bile", "vitriol"). These map over neatly to this hackish usage (the cursor being what moves, leaving letters behind, when one is composing on-line). "Talk about a nastygram! He must've had his cursor dipped in acid when he wrote that one!"
- cushing's syndrome — a medical condition characterized by obesity, hypertension, excessive hair growth, etc., caused by an overactive adrenal gland or large doses of corticosteroids
- custodial sentence — a sentence given by a court that involves a term of imprisonment
- customs and excise — Customs and Excise is a British government department which is responsible for collecting taxes on imported and exported goods. Compare Customs Service.
- cut-and-waste code — (humour, programming) Code that someone found online (e.g. in a blog) and copied and pasted into a product. The result is usually a lot of wasted time trying to track down obscure bugs from code that may have made sense in the original context but not in the new one. Also known as blog-driven development.
- dangerous offender — an offender who is deemed by a court of law to be likely to engage in further violent conduct, and who thus becomes eligible for an indefinite prison sentence
- daytime television — television broadcasts that are shown during the daytime rather than in the evening
- dead as a doornail — completely dead
- deanthropomorphism — the ridding of philosophy or religion of anthropomorphic beliefs and doctrines.
- debt consolidation — the process of taking out a new loan (often secured on one's property) in order to pay off a number of existing debts
- dechristianization — The act of dechristianizing; the systematic removal of Christianity or Christian elements.
- decision procedure — a procedure, as an algorithm, for determining in a finite number of steps the validity of any of a certain class of propositions.
- deep-discount bond — a fixed-interest security that pays little or no interest but is issued at a substantial discount to its redemption value, thus largely substituting capital gain for income
- defense calculator — IBM 701
- degrees of freedom — the number of independent variables entering into a statistical measure or frequency distribution
- deinstitutionalize — to discharge (a patient) as from a mental institution
- deliver oneself of — to speak with deliberation or at length
- demorgan's theorem — (logic) A logical theorem which states that the complement of a conjunction is the disjunction of the complements or vice versa. In symbols: not (x and y) = (not x) or (not y) not (x or y) = (not x) and (not y) E.g. if it is not the case that I am tall and thin then I am either short or fat (or both). The theorem can be extended to combinations of more than two terms in the obvious way. The same laws also apply to sets, replacing logical complement with set complement, conjunction ("and") with set intersection, and disjunction ("or") with set union. A (C) programmer might use this to re-write if (!foo && !bar) ... as if (!(foo || bar)) ... thus saving one operator application (though an optimising compiler should do the same, leaving the programmer free to use whichever form seemed clearest).
- dendrochronologist — One who carries out dendrochronology.
- departmental store — a department store.
- depository library — a library designated by law to receive without charge all or a selection of the official publications of a government.
- derestriction sign — a circular white sign with a black diagonal band signifying the lifting of any other speed restriction
- desalination plant — a factory where salt is removed from salt water in order to make the water suitable for drinking and irrigation
- desktop publishing — Desktop publishing is the production of printed materials such as newspapers and magazines using a desktop computer and a laser printer, rather than using conventional printing methods. The abbreviation DTP is also used.
- development system — a computer system, including hardware and software, that is specifically designed to aid in the development of software and interfaces
- dia de los muertos — Day of the Dead.
- diagnostic testing — Diagnostic testing is the testing of a vehicle, or one of its systems or parts, in order to identify why it is not working properly.