18-letter words containing t, c, e, l
- helicopter gunship — military attack helicopter
- helicopter station — a place where helicopters are kept in readiness for use
- helmholtz function — the thermodynamic function of a system that is equal to its internal energy minus the product of its absolute temperature and entropy: A decrease in the function is equal to the maximum amount of work available during a reversible isothermal process.
- historical geology — the branch of geology dealing with the history of the earth.
- historical present — the present tense used in narrating a past event as if happening at the time of narration.
- hot-water cylinder — a vertical cylindrical tank for storing hot water, esp an insulated one made of copper used in a domestic hot-water system
- hotel receptionist — a person who looks after guests when they first arrive at a hotel, checking them in, giving them their keys, etc
- htmlcommentbox.com — (web) A service for adding a comment box to any web page, allowing visitors to leave comments and the site owner to review them.
- hydrogen electrode — a standard reference electrode with a potential of zero, used in pH measurements, consisting of a platinum-black surface covered with hydrogen bubbles.
- hyper-intellectual — appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
- hyper-metaphorical — a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”. Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def 1).
- hypercholesteremia — Alternative spelling of hypercholesteraemia.
- hypernationalistic — a person devoted to nationalism.
- hysterical reasons — (Or "hysterical raisins") A variant on the stock phrase "for historical reasons", indicating specifically that something must be done in some stupid way for backward compatibility, and moreover that the feature it must be compatible with was the result of a bad design in the first place. "All IBM PC video adaptors have to support MDA text mode for hysterical reasons." Compare bug-for-bug compatible.
- ignition interlock — interlock (def 10).
- imploded consonant — a consonant which is pronounced with or by implosion
- in black and white — without colour
- in complete flower — a flower without one or more of the normal parts, as carpels, sepals, petals, pistils, or stamens.
- in compliance with — in accordance with
- in terrorem clause — a clause in a will stating that a beneficiary who contests the will shall lose his or her legacy.
- in the first place — firstly
- incidental charges — Incidental charges are costs of items and services that are not part of the main bill.
- incidental damages — law: incurred by contract breach
- incommensurability — not commensurable; having no common basis, measure, or standard of comparison.
- inconsequentiality — of little or no importance; insignificant; trivial.
- incremental backup — (operating system) A kind of backup that copies all files which have changed since the date of the previous backup. The first backup of a file system should include all files - a "full backup". Call this level 0. The next backup could also be a full level 0 backup but it is usually much quicker to do a level 1 backup which will include only those files which have changed since the level 0 backup. Together the level 0 and level 1 backups will include the latest version of every file. Level 1 backups can be made until, say, the backup tape is nearly full, after which we can switch to level 2. Each level includes those files which have changed since the last backup at a lower level. The more levels you use, the longer it will take to restore the latest version of a file (or all files) if you don't know when it was last modified. Compare differential backup.
- indefinite article — an article, as English a, an, that denotes class membership of the noun it modifies without particularizing it.
- independent clause — a clause that can stand alone as a sentence, containing a subject and a predicate with a finite verb, as I was there in the sentence I was there when he arrived.
- independent school — (in Britain) a school that is neither financed nor controlled by the government or local authorities
- indestructibleness — The quality of being indestructible.
- indolebutyric acid — a white or yellowish, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, C 12 H 13 O 2 N, a plant hormone similar to indoleacetic acid and used for the same purposes.
- inductive coupling — the coupling between two electric circuits through inductances linked by a common changing magnetic field.
- inductive relation — A relation R between domains D and E is inductive if for all chains d1 .. dn in D and e1 .. en in E,
- industrial vehicle — a vehicle designed for use in industry
- infertility clinic — a clinic which helps people who are having problems conceiving
- intelligence agent — a person who works for an intelligence agency; a spy
- intelligence corps — a military department that gathers and analyzes information
- intensional object — the object of a propositional attitude that may or may not exist, as in Robert is dreaming of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This must be an intensional (or opaque) context, for otherwise, since there is no pot of gold, Robert would be dreaming of nothing
- intercartilaginous — (anatomy) Within cartilage.
- interchangeability — (of two things) capable of being put or used in the place of each other: interchangeable symbols.
- interface analysis — (testing) A software test which checks the interfaces between program elements for consistency and adherence to predefined rules or axioms.
- interlacing arcade — an arcade, especially a blind one, composed of arches (interlacing arches) so arranged and cut that each arch seems to intersect and be intersected by one or more other arches.
- internal secretion — a secretion, esp a hormone, that is absorbed directly into the blood
- international code — a code used at sea by the navies of certain nations, using a series of flags representing digits from zero through nine.
- interstellar space — astronomy: space between the stars
- involuntary muscle — muscle: contracts involuntarily
- isoamyl salicylate — a colorless, sometimes slightly yellow, synthetic oil, C 12 H 16 O 3 , having an orchidlike odor: used in perfumery.
- isothermal process — a process that takes place without change in temperature.
- jack of all trades — a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
- jack-in-the-pulpit — A North American plant, Arisaema triphyllum, of the arum family, having an upright spadix arched over by a green or striped purplish-brown spathe.