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19-letter words containing s, t, a, i, c

  • national serviceman — a soldier undertaking compulsory military service
  • neats vs. scruffies — (artificial intelligence, jargon)   The label used to refer to one of the continuing holy wars in artificial intelligence research. This conflict tangles together two separate issues. One is the relationship between human reasoning and AI; "neats" tend to try to build systems that "reason" in some way identifiably similar to the way humans report themselves as doing, while "scruffies" profess not to care whether an algorithm resembles human reasoning in the least as long as it works. More importantly, neats tend to believe that logic is king, while scruffies favour looser, more ad-hoc methods driven by empirical knowledge. To a neat, scruffy methods appear promiscuous, successful only by accident and not productive of insights about how intelligence actually works; to a scruffy, neat methods appear to be hung up on formalism and irrelevant to the hard-to-capture "common sense" of living intelligences.
  • necessary condition — prerequisite
  • negative resistance — a characteristic of certain electronic components in which an increase in the applied voltage increases the resistance, producing a proportional decrease in current
  • newtonian mechanics — the branch of mechanics that is based on Newton's laws of motion and that is applicable to systems that are so large that Planck's constant can be regarded as negligibly small (distinguished from quantum mechanics).
  • newtonian telescope — a reflecting telescope in which a mirror or reflecting prism is mounted on the axis near the eyepiece so that the image may be viewed from outside the telescope tube at right angles to the axis.
  • no strings attached — without conditions
  • northwest ordinance — the act of Congress in 1787 providing for the government of the Northwest Territory and setting forth the steps by which its subdivisions might become states.
  • nuclear disarmament — the gradual reduction and eventual elimination of all nuclear weapons in the world
  • oil-catalyst slurry — Oil-catalyst slurry is a heavy aromatic by-product of a refinery's fluid catalytic cracking unit, that forms a small part of global fuel oil supply.
  • old spanish customs — irregular practices among a group of workers to gain increased financial allowances, reduced working hours, etc
  • olive-backed thrush — Swainson's thrush.
  • on no consideration — for no reason whatsoever; never
  • operations director — a director or senior manager who oversees the efficiency of business operations
  • operations research — the analysis, usually involving mathematical treatment, of a process, problem, or operation to determine its purpose and effectiveness and to gain maximum efficiency.
  • optical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)
  • orthopaedic surgeon — a surgeon specializing in the branch of surgery concerned with disorders of the spine and joints and the repair of deformities of these parts
  • orthopaedic surgery — surgery concerned with disorders of the spine and joints and the repair of deformities of these parts
  • oscillating circuit — a circuit producing electrical oscillations.
  • pancreatic fibrosis — cystic fibrosis.
  • parachute spinnaker — a very large spinnaker used on a racing yacht.
  • parallactic ellipse — the apparent ellipse, as seen against the background of more distant stars, described annually by a nearby star because of the earth's orbital motion around the sun. Compare parallax (def 2).
  • parasympathomimetic — having an effect similar to that produced when the parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated
  • participatory sport — a sport in which people take part, (as opposed to a spectator sport)
  • particle dispersoid — A particle dispersoid is a suspension of solid particles in a gas.
  • particle kinematics — Particle kinematics is the study of the movement of particles, without considering the forces that cause this movement.
  • particle separation — a rule that moves the particle of a phrasal verb, thus deriving a sentence like He looked the answer up from a structure that also underlies He looked up the answer
  • particular solution — a solution of a differential equation containing no arbitrary constants.
  • pastoral counseling — the use of psychotherapeutic techniques by trained members of the clergy to assist parishioners who seek help for personal or emotional problems.
  • pedestrian crossing — place to cross road
  • pedestrian precinct — A pedestrian precinct is a street or part of a town where vehicles are not allowed.
  • phacoemulsification — the removal of a cataract by first liquefying the affected lens with ultrasonic vibrations and then extracting it by suction.
  • phakoemulsification — the removal of a cataract by first liquefying the affected lens with ultrasonic vibrations and then extracting it by suction.
  • photoreconnaissance — reconnaissance using aerial photography.
  • physical impairment — A physical impairment is a condition in which a part of a person's body is damaged or is not working properly.
  • physical sequential — (file format)   (PS, QSAM, Queued Sequential Access Method) The simplest data set on an IBM mainframe. Sequential files can only be read or written from the beginning: they do not support random access.
  • physician assistant — a person trained and certified to perform various medical procedures under the supervision of a physician
  • piece de resistance — the principal dish of a meal.
  • piggyback investing — Piggyback investing is a situation in which a broker repeats a trade on his own behalf immediately after trading for an investor, because he thinks the investor may have inside information.
  • pinwheel escapement — a clock escapement in which two pallets, usually of unequal length, alternately engage and release pins set on the escape wheel perpendicular to its plane of rotation.
  • pirates of penzance — an operetta (1879) by Sir William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan.
  • pistachio ice cream — ice cream flavoured with pistachios
  • plastic deformation — In plastic deformation a material changes shape when a stress is applied to it and does not go back to its original state when the stress is removed.
  • pneumogastric nerve — the vagus nerve.
  • police headquarters — building where police are stationed
  • political scientist — A political scientist is someone who studies, writes, or lectures about political science.
  • political-scientist — a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government.
  • population genetics — the branch of genetics concerned with the hereditary makeup of populations.
  • port jackson willow — an Australian acacia tree, Acacia cyanophylla, introduced in the 19th century into South Africa, where it is now regarded as a pest
  • post-and-rail fence — a fence constructed of upright wooden posts with horizontal timber slotted through it
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