17-letter words containing s, t, e, m
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- from side to side — movement: back and forth
- from the rooftops — If you shout something from the rooftops, you say it or announce it in a very public way.
- functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
- gamma-ray burster — a source of gamma-ray bursts
- garden apartments — a complex of low apartment buildings surrounded by lawn or landscaped areas
- gastroenterostomy — the making of a new passage between the stomach and the duodenum (gastroduodenostomy) or, especially, the jejunum (gastrojejunostomy)
- gastrojejunostomy — See under gastroenterostomy.
- general sarmiento — a city in E Argentina, a suburb of Buenos Aires.
- general semantics — a philosophical approach to language, developed by Alfred Korzybski, exploring the relationship between the form of language and its use and attempting to improve the capacity to express ideas.
- gentleman-at-arms — (in England) one of a guard of 40 gentlemen who attend the sovereign on state occasions.
- geomagnetic storm — magnetic storm.
- get (someone) off — to cause to experience euphoria, intoxication, an orgasm, etc.
- get someone going — to cause a person to be excited, angry, etc.
- gethsemane cheese — a semisoft, mild, yellow cheese from whole milk, made by Trappist monks.
- glymphatic system — Anatomy. the system or process by which cerebrospinal fluid moves through channels formed by glia, cleansing the mammalian brain of harmful waste.
- greek meets greek — equals meet
- grist to the mill — If you say that something is grist to the mill, you mean that it is useful for a particular purpose or helps support someone's point of view.
- gustavo a. madero — official name of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- hemiglossectomies — Plural form of hemiglossectomy.
- heterochlamydeous — (of a plant) having a perianth consisting of distinct sepals and petals
- heterochromosomes — Plural form of heterochromosome.
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
- holistic medicine — incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology.
- home improvements — improvements to one's home, such as new kitchens and bathrooms, central heating etc
- homeland security — national defence
- homogentisic acid — an intermediate compound in the metabolism of tyrosine and of phenylalanine, found in excess in the blood and urine of persons affected with alkaptonuria.
- hypocholesteremia — an abnormally low amount of cholesterol in the blood.
- image intensifier — any of various devices for amplifying the intensity of an optical image, sometimes used in conjunction with an image converter
- immediate version — child version
- immigrant workers — people who work in a country they arrived to in order to settle there
- immunofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or using immunofluorescence.
- immunosuppressant — (pharmacology) Capable of immunosuppression, immunosuppressive.
- imperialistically — In an imperialistic manner.
- impersonalization — to make impersonal: The dial system impersonalized the telephone.
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- implosive-therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impracticableness — The state of being impracticable; impracticability.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- imputation system — a former taxation system in which some, or all, of the corporation tax on a company was treated as a tax credit on account of the income tax paid by its shareholders on their dividends; discontinued from 1999
- in one's own time — outside paid working hours
- in the same canoe — of the same tribe
- incandescent lamp — a lamp that emits light due to the glowing of a heated material, especially the common device in which a tungsten filament enclosed within an evacuated glass bulb is rendered luminous by the passage of an electric current through it.
- incompatibilities — not compatible; unable to exist together in harmony: She asked for a divorce because they were utterly incompatible.
- incompressibility — The quality of being incompressible, of not compressing under pressure.
- indeterminateness — The quality of being indeterminate.
- insertion element — a section of DNA that is capable of becoming inserted into another chromosome