16-letter words containing t, o, a, d, r
- de-concentration — to reduce the power or control of (a corporation, industry, etc.); decentralize.
- dear john letter — a letter from someone (esp to a man) breaking off a love affair
- dearborn heights — city in SE Mich.: suburb of Detroit: pop. 58,000
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- deflationary gap — a situation in which total spending in an economy is insufficient to buy all the output that can be produced with full employment
- dehydroascorbate — (organic compound) Any salt or ester of dehydroascorbic acid.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- demilitarisation — The removal of a military force, usually at the end of hostilities or as part of a treaty.
- demilitarization — to deprive of military character; free from militarism.
- demineralisation — Alternative spelling of demineralization.
- demineralization — to remove minerals from; deprive of mineral content.
- democratic party — (in the US) the older and more liberal of the two major political parties, so named since 1840
- demonstrableness — The quality of being demonstrable.
- denaturalization — The act or process of denaturalizing, of changing or destroying the quality (nature) of a thing.
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- department store — A department store is a large shop which sells many different kinds of goods.
- departure lounge — In an airport, the departure lounge is the place where passengers wait before they get onto their plane.
- depolymerisation — (chemistry) alternative spelling of depolymerization.
- depolymerization — (chemistry) The decomposition of a polymer into smaller fragments.
- depressurization — to remove the air pressure from (a pressurized compartment of an aircraft or spacecraft).
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- dermatologically — In a dermatological way.
- destroying angel — a white slender very poisonous basidiomycetous toadstool, Amanita virosa, having a pronounced volva, frilled, shaggy stalk, and sickly smell
- deterritorialize — (transitive) To subject to deterritorialization.
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- development area — (in Britain) an area suffering from high unemployment and economic depression, because of the decline of its main industries, that is given government help to establish new industries
- dew-point spread — the degrees of difference between the air temperature and the dew point
- dextromethorphan — (pharmaceutical drug) An antitussive drug (a cough suppressant) that is found in many over-the-counter cold and cough preparations.
- diacetylmorphine — heroin.
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- diastereoisomers — Plural form of diastereoisomer.
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.
- dictionary-maker — a person who compiles a dictionary
- diethyl carbinol — a colorless, liquid isomer of amyl alcohol, (CH3CH2)2CHOH, used in drugs and as a solvent
- digital computer — a computer that processes information in digital form.
- dihydroxyacetone — (organic compound) The compound CO(CH2OH)2 that has a number of industrial uses.
- dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
- dinosaurs mating — (humour) The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
- diphosphorylated — (biochemistry) phosphorylated with two units of phosphoric acid.
- diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
- direct democracy — to manage or guide by advice, helpful information, instruction, etc.: He directed the company through a difficult time.
- direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
- director general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
- director's chair — a lightweight folding armchair with transversely crossed legs and having a canvas seat and back panel, as traditionally used by motion-picture directors.
- director-general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.