23-letter words containing u, n, d, e
- deterministic automaton — (theory) A finite-state automaton in which the overall course of the computation is completely determined by the program, the starting state, and the initial inputs. The class of problems solvable by such automata is the class P (see polynomial-time algorithm).
- dichlorodifluoromethane — a colourless nonflammable gas easily liquefied by pressure: used as a propellant in aerosols and fire extinguishers and as a refrigerant. Formula: CCl2F2
- digital subscriber line — (communications, protocol) (DSL, or Digital Subscriber Loop, xDSL - see below) A family of digital telecommunications protocols designed to allow high speed data communication over the existing copper telephone lines between end-users and telephone companies. When two conventional modems are connected through the telephone system (PSTN), it treats the communication the same as voice conversations. This has the advantage that there is no investment required from the telephone company (telco) but the disadvantage is that the bandwidth available for the communication is the same as that available for voice conversations, usually 64 kb/s (DS0) at most. The twisted-pair copper cables into individual homes or offices can usually carry significantly more than 64 kb/s but the telco needs to handle the signal as digital rather than analog. There are many implementation of the basic scheme, differing in the communication protocol used and providing varying service levels. The throughput of the communication can be anything from about 128 kb/s to over 8 Mb/s, the communication can be either symmetric or asymmetric (i.e. the available bandwidth may or may not be the same upstream and downstream). Equipment prices and service fees also vary considerably. The first technology based on DSL was ISDN, although ISDN is not often recognised as such nowadays. Since then a large number of other protocols have been developed, collectively referred to as xDSL, including HDSL, SDSL, ADSL, and VDSL. As yet none of these have reached very wide deployment but wider deployment is expected for 1998-1999.
- dionysius of alexandria — ("the Great") a.d. c190–265, patriarch of Alexandria 247?–265?.
- dishonourable discharge — dismissal from the US armed forces by a court martial as a result of serious misconduct
- disjunctive normal form — (DNF) A logical formula consisting of a disjunction of conjunctions where no conjunction contains a disjunction. E.g. the DNF of (A or B) and C is (A and C) or (B and C).
- distributive bargaining — a negotiation process aimed at reaching a compromise agreement over how resources may be allocated between the parties
- dressed up to the nines — If you say that someone is dressed up to the nines or dressed to the nines, you mean that they are wearing very smart or elegant clothes.
- drive sb round the bend — If you say that someone or something drives you round the bend, you mean that you dislike them and they annoy or upset you very much.
- drummond of hawthornden — William. 1585–1649, Scottish poet, historian, and royalist pamphleteer
- dsp32 assembly language — A high-level assembly language for the DSP32 Programmable DSP Chip.
- dual sensory impairment — the condition of being affected by sight and hearing loss
- duplication of the cube — the insoluble problem of constructing a cube having twice the volume of a given cube, using only a ruler and compass.
- earthquake-proof design — Earthquake-proof design is design which will not be badly damaged by earthquakes or tsunamis.
- eastern orthodox church — Orthodox Church (def 1).
- eating your own dogfood — eating one's own dogfood
- education correspondent — a journalist who reports news in the field of education or teaching
- ellipsoid of revolution — a geometric surface produced by rotating an ellipse about one of its two axes and having circular plane surfaces perpendicular to the axis of revolution
- encapsulated postscript — (EPS) An extension of the PostScript graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS is used for PostScript graphics files that are to be incorporated into other documents. An EPS file includes pragmas (special PostScript comments) giving information such as the bounding box, page number and fonts used. On some computers, EPS files include a low resolution version of the PostScript image. On the Macintosh this is in PICT format, while on the IBM PC it is in TIFF or Microsoft Windows metafile format.
- expert judgement models — (programming) A method of software estimation that is based on consultation with one or more experts that have experience with similar projects. An expert-consensus mechanism such as the Delphi Technique may be used to produce the estimate.
- extrinsic semiconductor — a semiconductor into which a doping agent has been introduced, giving it different electrical properties than the intrinsic semiconductor
- fiddle while rome burns — If you say that someone is fiddling while Rome burns, you mean that they are not dealing with a difficult or dangerous situation but instead are doing useless things or pretending that nothing is wrong.
- fifth marquis lansdowne — Henry Charles Keith, 5th Marquis of Lansdowne, Lansdowne, 5th Marquis of.
- fish in troubled waters — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- friction reducing agent — A friction reducing agent is an additive used to reduce friction exerted downhole on tools and pipes.
- fundamental interaction — any of the four basic interactions that occur in nature: the gravitational, electromagnetic, strong, and weak interactions
- grand duchess charlotte — Grand Duchess (Charlotte Aldegonde Elise Marie Wilhelmine) 1896–1985, sovereign of Luxembourg 1919–64.
- guillain-barre syndrome — an uncommon, usually self-limited form of polyneuritis, occurring after a viral illness or immunization and manifested by loss of muscle strength, loss of or altered sensation and sometimes paralysis.
- heaviside unit function — the function that is zero for any number less than zero and that is 1 for any number greater than or equal to zero.
- hortense de beauharnais — Beauharnais, Eugénie Hortense de.
- hunchback of notre dame — French Notre Dame de Paris. a novel (1831) by Victor Hugo.
- in dependent suspension — an automotive suspension system in which each wheel is attached to the frame independently, so that a road bump affecting one wheel has no effect on the others.
- in the neighbourhood of — In the neighbourhood of a number means approximately that number.
- in your stockinged feet — wearing stockings or socks but no shoes
- inland marine insurance — insurance chiefly covering risks to goods and means of transportation involved in the transporting of goods overland or by inland waterways.
- intrinsic semiconductor — an almost pure semiconductor to which no impurities have been added and in which the electron and hole densities are equal at thermal equilibrium
- islamic fundamentalists — Muslims who believe in, advocate or support a conservative adherence to literal or traditional interpretations of the Qu'ran and the Sunnah
- juan rodriguez cabrillo — Juan Rodríguez [rod-ree-ges] /rɒdˈri gɛs/ (Show IPA), (Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho) 1499?–1543, Spanish explorer, born in Portugal: discovered California.
- juvenile-onset diabetes — diabetes (def 3).
- keep sth under your hat — If you tell someone to keep a piece of information under their hat, you are asking them not to tell anyone else about it.
- l'apres-midi d'un faune — L'Après-midi d'un Faune.
- lead up the garden path — a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
- leave no stone unturned — the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
- lieutenant junior grade — a commissioned officer ranking above an ensign and below a lieutenant.
- light and shade surface — (in architectural shades and shadows) a surface in a plane tangent to the parallel rays from the theoretical light source, treated as a shade surface.
- locally euclidean space — a topological space in which each point has a neighborhood that is homeomorphic to an open set in a Euclidean space of specified dimension.
- lossy audio compression — (audio, compression) Any audio compression algorithm which does not retain every bit of data but only reproduces a signal that sounds more or less like the original. Examples are MP1, MP2, MP3, AAC.
- main distribution frame — (networking) (MDF) The network closet containing the main hub.
- maturity-onset diabetes — diabetes (def 4).
- mediterranean fruit fly — a small, black and white, irregularly banded two-winged fly, Ceratitis capitata, of many warm regions, that damages citrus and other succulent fruit crops by implanting eggs that hatch into maggots within the fruit.