18-letter words containing s, e, o
- 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.
- customs inspection — an inspection carried out by a customs department
- cut one's eyeteeth — to become experienced or sophisticated
- cut one's teeth on — to use at an early age or stage
- 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.
- cytoarchitectonics — Cytoarchitecture.
- 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.
- dialytic telescope — a type of achromatic telescope with a second correcting lens
- diaminofluorescein — (organic compound) A fluorescein into which two amino groups have been substituted.
- diastereoisomerism — (chemistry) Any form of stereoisomerism other than enantiomerism.
- diatomaceous earth — an unconsolidated form of diatomite
- didaskaleinophobia — The fear of going to school.
- didot point system — a Continental system of measurement for type, based on a unit of 0.0148 inches (0.3759 mm).
- diethylstilbestrol — a nonsteroidal synthetic estrogen, C 18 H 20 O 2 , used in medicine chiefly in the treatment of menopausal symptoms and in animal feeds for chemical caponization: formerly used during pregnancy for the prevention of miscarriage but discontinued owing to its association with an increased risk of vaginal and cervical cancers in women having had fetal exposure. Abbreviation: DES.
- dig in one's heels — to refuse to give up or modify one's opinion, policy, attitude, etc., esp. when faced with opposition
- dig one's heels in — to refuse stubbornly to move or be persuaded
- digital switchover — the process of changing the method of transmitting television from analogue to digital format
- digital television — a television broadcasting technology in which signals are transmitted as a sequence of binary numbers.
- digital video disc — Digital Versatile Disc
- dihydrotachysterol — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble sterol, C 28 H 46 O, derived from ergosterol: used chiefly in the treatment of hypoparathyroidism.
- dimensionalisation — Alternative spelling of dimensionalization.
- dimensionalization — The process of dimensionalizing.
- dimethyl sulfoxide — DMSO.
- dimethylsulphoxide — a colourless odourless liquid substance used as a solvent and in medicine as an agent to improve the penetration of drugs applied to the skin. Formula: (CH3)2SO
- diphosphoglycerate — an ester of phosphoric acid and glyceric acid that occurs in the blood and that promotes the release of hemoglobin-bound oxygen.
- diplomatic service — diplomatic corps
- diplomatic shuttle — a series of diplomatic visits to other states made by an official, such as an ambassador or envoy
- directional signal — any of four signal lights on the front left, front right, rear left, and rear right of an automotive vehicle that, when actuated by the driver, flash in pairs on the side toward which a turn is to be made.
- disability pension — a pension paid to people who are unable to continue to work because of a disability