21-letter words containing s, n
- coronal mass ejection — a cloud of particles ejected from the sun's surface during a solar flare
- corpus juris canonici — the official compilation of canon law published by authority of Gregory XIII in 1582, superseded by the Codex Juris Canonici in 1918
- corpuscular radiation — radiation consisting of atomic and subatomic particles, as alpha particles, beta particles, and neutrons.
- correspondence column — a section of a newspaper or magazine in which are printed readers' letters to the editor
- correspondence course — A correspondence course is a course in which you study at home, receiving your work by post and sending it back by post.
- correspondence school — an educational institution that offers tuition (correspondence courses) by post
- correspondence theory — the theory of truth that a statement is rendered true by the existence of a fact with corresponding elements and a similar structure.
- cosmological argument — one of the arguments that purport to prove the existence of God from empirical facts about the universe, esp the argument to the existence of a first cause
- cosmological constant — a term introduced by Einstein into his field equations of general relativity to permit a stationary, nonexpanding universe: it has since been abandoned in most models of the universe.
- cost control callback — (communications) A system where a computer automatically rejects incoming dial-up calls from certain telephone numbers and calls them back, with the result that the caller pays nothing for the connection. This differs from security callback in that it applies to certain phone numbers instead of to certain user names.
- cost-benefit analysis — an analysis that takes into account the costs of a project and its benefits to society, as well as the revenue it generates
- cottony-cushion scale — a small scale insect, Icerya purchasi, that is a pest of citrus trees in California: it is controlled by introducing an Australian ladybird, Rodolia cardinalis, into affected areas
- counsel of perfection — excellent but unrealizable advice
- count of monte cristo — a novel (1844–45) by Alexandre Dumas père.
- countably compact set — a set for which every cover consisting of a countable number of sets has a subcover consisting of a finite number of sets.
- counterdemonstrations — Plural form of counterdemonstration.
- court of common pleas — (formerly) a superior court exercising jurisdiction in civil actions between private citizens
- crankcase compression — Crankcase compression is the method of starting some smaller two-stroke engines, where the mixture charge is compressed in a sealed crankcase by the descending piston before passing to the combustion chamber.
- credit card insurance — Credit card insurance is coverage for situations in which someone fraudulently uses your credit card.
- credit life insurance — insurance guaranteeing payment of the unpaid portion of a loan if the debtor should die.
- criminal conversation — (formerly) a common law action brought by a husband by which he claimed damages against an adulterer
- crittenden compromise — a series of constitutional amendments proposed in Congress in 1860 to serve as a compromise between proslavery and antislavery factions, one of which would have permitted slavery in the territories south but not north of latitude 36°30′N.
- crool someone's pitch — to spoil an opportunity for someone
- cross-cousin marriage — marriage between the children of a brother and sister.
- customer satisfaction — When customers are pleased with the goods or services they have bought, you can refer to customer satisfaction.
- cut-through switching — (networking) The application of wormhole routing to packets in a packet switching system so that forwarding of a packet starts as soon as its destination is known, before the whole packet has arrived. Compare store and forward.
- dacryocystorhinostomy — A surgical procedure to restore the flow of tears into the nose from the lacrimal sac when the nasolacrimal duct does not function.
- darby and joan settee — a settee having a back resembling two chair backs.
- darken someone's door — to visit someone
- data set organization — (operating system, storage) (DSORG) An IBM term for file structure. These include PS physical sequential, DA direct access, IS indexed sequential, PO partitioned (a library). This system dates from OS/360, and breaks down beginning with VSAM and VTAM, where it is no longer applied. Sequential and indexed data sets can be accessed using either a "basic" or a "queued" "access method." For example a DSORG=PS file can use either BSAM (basic sequential access method) or QSAM (queued sequential access method). It can also be processed as a direct file using BDAM. Likewise a library can be processed using BPAM (basic partitioned access method), BSAM, QSAM, or BDAM. DSORG and access method are somewhat, but not completely, orthogonal. The "basic" access method deals with physical blocks rather than records, and usually provides more control over the specific device. Each I/O operation using the "basic" access method reads or writes a single block. A "basic" read or write starts an asynchronous I/O operation, and the programmer is responsible for waiting for completion and checking for errors. The "queued" access method deals with logical records and provides blocking and deblocking services. It is "queued" because it provides read-ahead and write-behind services. While a program is processing records in one input block, for example, QSAM may be reading one or more blocks ahead. Queued "get" or "put" operations are synchronous as far as the programmer is concerned. The operation is complete when the next logical record has been successfully processed. EXCP (Execute Channel Program) is a lower-level method of accessing data. IBM manuals usually named "Data Administration Guide", e.g. SC26-4505-1 for MVS/ESA DFP 3.1, provide more detail about data set organizations and access methods.
- de-ontological ethics — the branch of ethics dealing with right action and the nature of duty, without regard to the goodness or value of motives or the desirability of the ends of any act.
- death by misadventure — a possible verdict in a coroner's court, indicating that death was due to an accident not to a crimes or somebody's negligence
- decompression chamber — a chamber in which the pressure of air can be varied slowly for returning people from abnormal pressures to atmospheric pressure without inducing decompression sickness
- deep scattering layer — any of the stratified zones in the ocean which reflect sound during echo sounding, usually composed of marine organisms which migrate vertically from c. 250 to 800 m (c. 820 to 2,625 ft)
- delusions of grandeur — If someone has delusions of grandeur, they think and behave as if they are much more important or powerful than they really are.
- democratic centralism — the Leninist principle that policy should be decided centrally by officials, who are nominally democratically elected
- denominational school — a school associated with a particular religious denomination
- department of defense — the department of the U.S. federal government charged with ensuring that the military capacity of the U.S. is adequate to safeguard the national security. Abbreviation: DOD.
- department of justice — the department of the U.S. federal government charged with the responsibility for the enforcement of federal laws. Abbreviation: DOJ.
- deployment descriptor — (programming) (DD) A J2EE configuration file.
- deprovincialization's — to make provincial in character.
- designated employment — (in Britain) any of certain kinds of jobs reserved for handicapped workers under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944
- desire under the elms — a play (1924) by Eugene O'Neill.
- devil's walking-stick — Hercules'-club (sense 1)
- devil's-walking-stick — Hercules-club (def 2).
- diapason normal pitch — a standard of pitch in which A above middle C is established at 435 vibrations per second.
- differential calculus — the branch of mathematics that deals with differentials and derivatives.
- differential windlass — a pair of hoisting drums of different diameter turning at the same rate, such that a pulley suspended below them on a line wound on the larger drum and unwound from the smaller drum is raised with mechanical advantage.
- diffusion coefficient — the rate at which a diffusing substance is transported between opposite faces of a unit cube of a system when there is unit concentration difference between them
- disassortative mating — the reproductive pairing of individuals that have traits more dissimilar than would likely be the case if mating were random (contrasted with assortative mating).