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18-letter words containing s, u, r, o

  • electrostatic unit — any unit that belongs to a system of electrical cgs units in which the electric constant is given the value of unity and is taken as a pure number
  • energy consumption — amount of energy used
  • engelbart, douglas — Douglas Engelbart
  • equinoctial spring — either of the two highest spring tides that occur at the equinoxes
  • euclid's algorithm — (algorithm)   (Or "Euclidean Algorithm") An algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two numbers. It relies on the identity gcd(a, b) = gcd(a-b, b) To find the GCD of two numbers by this algorithm, repeatedly replace the larger by subtracting the smaller from it until the two numbers are equal. E.g. 132, 168 -> 132, 36 -> 96, 36 -> 60, 36 -> 24, 36 -> 24, 12 -> 12, 12 so the GCD of 132 and 168 is 12. This algorithm requires only subtraction and comparison operations but can take a number of steps proportional to the difference between the initial numbers (e.g. gcd(1, 1001) will take 1000 steps).
  • evolution strategy — (ES) A kind of evolutionary algorithm where individuals (potential solutions) are encoded by a set of real-valued "object variables" (the individual's "genome"). For each object variable an individual also has a "strategy variable" which determines the degree of mutation to be applied to the corresponding object variable. The strategy variables also mutate, allowing the rate of mutation of the object variables to vary. An ES is characterised by the population size, the number of offspring produced in each generation and whether the new population is selected from parents and offspring or only from the offspring. ES were invented in 1963 by Ingo Rechenberg, Hans-Paul Schwefel at the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) while searching for the optimal shapes of bodies in a flow.
  • extemporaneousness — The degree or property of being extemporaneous.
  • fast-food industry — the industry surrounding fast-food restaurants
  • fibrocartilaginous — a type of cartilage having a large number of fibers.
  • first class module — (programming)   A module that is a first class data object of the programming language, e.g. a record containing functions. In a functional language, it is standard to have first class programs, so program building blocks can have the same status.
  • first duke of york — a member of the royal house of England that ruled from 1461 to 1485.
  • first-in first-out — (algorithm)   (FIFO, or "queue") A data structure or hardware buffer from which items are taken out in the same order they were put in. Also known as a "shelf" from the analogy with pushing items onto one end of a shelf so that they fall off the other. A FIFO is useful for buffering a stream of data between a sender and receiver which are not synchronised - i.e. not sending and receiving at exactly the same rate. Obviously if the rates differ by too much in one direction for too long then the FIFO will become either full (blocking the sender) or empty (blocking the receiver). A Unix pipe is a common example of a FIFO. A FIFO might be (but isn't ever?) called a LILO - last-in last-out. The opposite of a FIFO is a LIFO (last-in first-out) or "stack".
  • fissure of rolando — central sulcus.
  • fissure of sylvius — lateral fissure.
  • fitness instructor — physical trainer, exercise teacher
  • fixed-focus camera — a camera with an unadjustable focal length and with a relatively large depth of field.
  • flowers of sulphur — minute crystals of sulphur obtained by condensing sulphur vapour on a cold surface
  • fluorescent screen — a transparent screen coated on one side with a phosphor that fluoresces when exposed to X-rays or cathode rays
  • fluorodeoxyglucose — (carbohydrate) A fluorine analog of glucose that is used in positron emission tomography.
  • football supporter — a person who supports a particular football team
  • for the rest of us — (abuse)   (From the Macintosh slogan "The computer for the rest of us") 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced products. 2. Describes a program with a limited interface, deliberately limited capabilities, non-orthogonality, inability to compose primitives, or any other limitation designed to not "confuse" a naïve user. This places an upper bound on how far that user can go before the program begins to get in the way of the task instead of helping accomplish it. Used in reference to Macintosh software which doesn't provide obvious capabilities because it is thought that the poor luser might not be able to handle them. Becomes "the rest of *them*" when used in third-party reference; thus, "Yes, it is an attractive program, but it's designed for The Rest Of Them" means a program that superficially looks neat but has no depth beyond the surface flash. See also point-and-drool interface, user-friendly.
  • forethoughtfulness — The condition of being forethoughtful.
  • fracture toughness — The fracture toughness of a material is how likely it is to resist fracture.
  • frederick douglass — Frederick, 1817–95, U.S. ex-slave, abolitionist, and orator.
  • frequency response — the effectiveness with which a circuit, device, or system processes and transmits signals fed into it, as a function of the signal frequency.
  • from the housetops — publicly and widely
  • front of the house — façade of residential building, house front
  • fuller rose beetle — a beetle, Pantomorus godmani, that feeds on the leaves of roses as well as on those of citrus and other fruit trees.
  • funding operations — the conversion of government floating stock or short-term debt into holdings of long-term bonds
  • funeral procession — ceremonial cortège at a burial
  • gamblers anonymous — an organization that holds group meetings to help people who are addicted to gambling
  • gamma distribution — a continuous two-parameter distribution from which the chi-square and exponential distributions are derived, written Gamma (α. β), where α and β are greater than zero, and defined in terms of the gamma function
  • gastroduodenostomy — See under gastroenterostomy.
  • geodetic surveying — the surveying of the earth's surface, making allowance for its curvature and giving an accurate framework for smaller-scale surveys
  • get one's irish up — of, relating to, or characteristic of Ireland, its inhabitants, or their language.
  • give someone curry — to assault (a person) verbally or physically
  • glomerulonephritis — a kidney disease affecting the capillaries of the glomeruli, characterized by albuminuria, edema, and hypertension.
  • gnu superoptimiser — (GSO) A function sequence generator that uses an exhaustive generate-and-test approach to find the shortest instruction sequence for a given function. Written by Torbjorn Granlund <[email protected]> and Tom Wood. You have to tell the superoptimiser which function and which CPU you want to get code for. This is useful for compiler writers. FTP superopt-2.2.tar.Z from a GNU archive site. Generates code for DEC Alpha, SPARC, Intel 80386, 88000, RS/6000, 68000, 29000 and Pyramid (SP, AP and XP).
  • going to jerusalem — musical chairs.
  • government housing — housing owned and managed by the federal or state government, which is rented out to tenants, esp as a form of affordable housing
  • governor's council — a council chosen to assist or inform a governor on legislative or executive matters.
  • grampian mountains — a mountain system of central Scotland, extending from the southwest to the northeast and separating the Highlands from the Lowlands. Highest peak: Ben Nevis, 1344 m (4408 ft)
  • granulation tissue — tissue formed in ulcers and in early wound healing and repair, composed largely of newly growing capillaries and so called from its irregular surface in open wounds; proud flesh.
  • grass-of-parnassus — any plant belonging to the genus Parnassia, of the saxifrage family, growing in marshy areas, having broad, smooth leaves and a single, pale flower.
  • greenhouse warming — the increase in the mean temperature of the earth attributed to the greenhouse effect
  • guidance counselor — advisor in schools
  • ha ha only serious — (SF fandom, originally as mutation of HHOK, "Ha Ha Only Kidding") A phrase (often seen abbreviated as HHOS) that aptly captures the flavour of much hacker discourse. Applied especially to parodies, absurdities, and ironic jokes that are both intended and perceived to contain a possibly disquieting amount of truth, or truths that are constructed on in-joke and self-parody. The Jargon File contains many examples of ha-ha-only-serious in both form and content. Indeed, the entirety of hacker culture is often perceived as ha-ha-only-serious by hackers themselves; to take it either too lightly or too seriously marks a person as an outsider, a wannabee, or in larval stage. For further enlightenment on this subject, consult any Zen master. See also AI koan.
  • hash house slinger — a person who serves in a cheap cafe
  • haud your wheesht! — be silent! hush!
  • head and shoulders — If you say that someone or something stands head and shoulders above other people or things, you mean that they are a lot better than them.
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