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16-letter words containing s, y, n, o, i

  • operating system — (operating system)   (OS) The low-level software which handles the interface to peripheral hardware, schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running. The OS may be split into a kernel which is always present and various system programs which use facilities provided by the kernel to perform higher-level house-keeping tasks, often acting as servers in a client-server relationship. Some would include a graphical user interface and window system as part of the OS, others would not. The operating system loader, BIOS, or other firmware required at boot time or when installing the operating system would generally not be considered part of the operating system, though this distinction is unclear in the case of a rommable operating system such as RISC OS. The facilities an operating system provides and its general design philosophy exert an extremely strong influence on programming style and on the technical cultures that grow up around the machines on which it runs. Example operating systems include 386BSD, AIX, AOS, Amoeba, Angel, Artemis microkernel, BeOS, Brazil, COS, CP/M, CTSS, Chorus, DACNOS, DOSEXEC 2, GCOS, GEORGE 3, GEOS, ITS, KAOS, Linux, LynxOS, MPV, MS-DOS, MVS, Mach, Macintosh operating system, Microsoft Windows, MINIX, Multics, Multipop-68, Novell NetWare, OS-9, OS/2, Pick, Plan 9, QNX, RISC OS, STING, System V, System/360, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, TRUSIX, TWENEX, TYMCOM-X, Thoth, Unix, VM/CMS, VMS, VRTX, VSTa, VxWorks, WAITS.
  • operating-system — the collection of software that directs a computer's operations, controlling and scheduling the execution of other programs, and managing storage, input/output, and communication resources. Abbreviation: OS.
  • opportunity cost — the money or other benefits lost when pursuing a particular course of action instead of a mutually-exclusive alternative: The company cannot afford the opportunity cost attached to policy decisions made by the current CEO.
  • opportunity shop — a shop selling second-hand goods for charitable funds
  • opposed-cylinder — (of an internal-combustion engine) having cylinders on opposite sides of the crankcase in the same plane
  • otolaryngologist — Otorhinolaryngologist.
  • ovshinsky effect — an effect that turns special types of glassy, thin films into semiconductors upon application of low voltage.
  • parts of lindsey — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
  • personal hygiene — bodily cleanliness
  • personal liberty — the liberty of an individual to do his or her will freely except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.
  • personal stylist — a person employed by a rich or famous client to offer advice on clothes, hairstyles, and other aspects of personal appearance
  • personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
  • personality test — an instrument, as a questionnaire or series of standardized tasks, used to measure personality characteristics or to discover personality disorders.
  • personality type — a cluster of personality traits commonly occurring together
  • pharmacodynamics — the branch of pharmacology dealing with the course of action, effect, and breakdown of drugs within the body.
  • photosensitivity — the quality of being photosensitive.
  • phototypesetting — Printing. photocomposition.
  • physiognomically — the face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character: a fierce physiognomy.
  • play off against — If you play people off against each other, you make them compete or argue, so that you gain some advantage.
  • play-action pass — a pass play designed to deceive the defense by appearing to be a running play, in which the quarterback fakes a hand-off to a back before throwing a forward pass.
  • policy statement — a declaration of the plans and intentions of an organization or government
  • polycondensation — formation of a polymer by chemical condensation with the elimination of a small molecule, such as water.
  • polyphonic prose — prose characterized by the use of poetic devices, as alliteration, assonance, rhyme, etc., and especially by an emphasis on rhythm not strictly metered.
  • poverty-stricken — suffering from poverty; extremely poor: poverty-stricken refugees.
  • primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
  • prison psychosis — a state of mental confusion, transitory or permanent, brought on by incarceration or by the anticipation of imprisonment.
  • proboscis monkey — a reddish, arboreal monkey, Nasalis larvatus, of Borneo, the male of which has a long, flexible nose: an endangered species.
  • process industry — business of treating raw materials
  • proficiency test — an exam which test how proficient or skilled someone is in a particular activity, field of study, language, etc
  • pseudo-dionysius — flourished c4th or 5th century a.d, author of a number of mystical works: identified, during the Middle Ages, with Dionysius the Areopagite.
  • psychoanalytical — a systematic structure of theories concerning the relation of conscious and unconscious psychological processes.
  • psychoimmunology — the branch of medicine studying the effects of psychological phenomena on the immune system; the intersection of psychology and immunology.
  • pyloric stenosis — an abnormal narrowing of the valve at the outlet from the stomach, preventing normal passage of food into the small intestine.
  • quasi-stationary — a person or thing that is stationary.
  • radioimmunoassay — a test procedure that integrates immunologic and radiolabeling techniques to measure minute quantities of a substance, as a protein, hormone, or drug, in a given sample of body fluid or tissue.
  • raise an eyebrow — If something causes you to raise an eyebrow or to raise your eyebrows, it causes you to feel surprised or disapproving.
  • recursion theory — (theory)   The study of problems that, in principle, cannot be solved by either computers or humans.
  • restriction play — a limited number of opening moves that are predetermined by their chance selection from an accepted list.
  • rhinopharyngitis — inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and pharynx.
  • royal commission — (in Britain) a body set up by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister to gather information about the operation of existing laws or to investigate any social, educational, or other matter. The commission has prescribed terms of reference and reports to the government on how any change might be achieved
  • safety-conscious — conscious of being safe and preventing danger
  • schneider trophy — a trophy for air racing between seaplanes of any nation, first presented by Jacques Schneider (1879–1928) in 1913; won outright by Britain in 1931
  • secondary tissue — tissue derived from cambium.
  • security council — the division of the United Nations charged with maintaining international peace, composed of five permanent members (U.S., Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China) and ten temporary members, each serving for two years.
  • sedimentary rock — rock formed from compacted minerals
  • self-sovereignty — the quality or state of being sovereign, or of having supreme power or authority.
  • shipping company — business that sends goods overseas
  • shooting gallery — a place equipped with targets and used for practice in shooting.
  • shopping trolley — A shopping trolley is a large metal basket on wheels which is provided by shops such as supermarkets for customers to use while they are in the shop.
  • shorthand typing — shorthand and typing
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