17-letter words containing u, n, m, s, i, c
- production system — (programming) A production system consists of a collection of productions (rules), a working memory of facts and an algorithm, known as forward chaining, for producing new facts from old. A rule becomes eligible to "fire" when its conditions match some set of elements currently in working memory. A conflict resolution strategy determines which of several eligible rules (the conflict set) fires next. A condition is a list of symbols which represent constants, which must be matched exactly; variables which bind to the thing they match and "<> symbol" which matches a field not equal to symbol. Example production systems are OPS5, CLIPS, flex.
- pseudo-humanistic — a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
- quantum chemistry — the application of quantum mechanics to the study of chemical phenomena.
- quantum mechanics — a theory of the mechanics of atoms, molecules, and other physical systems that are subject to the uncertainty principle. Abbreviation: QM.
- radioluminescence — luminescence induced by nuclear radiation.
- reconstructionism — a 20th-century movement among U.S. Jews, founded by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, advocating that Judaism, being a culture and way of life as well as a religion, is in sum a religious civilization requiring constant adaptation to contemporary conditions so that Jews can identify more readily and meaningfully with the Jewish community.
- recursion formula — a formula for determining the next term of a sequence from one or more of the preceding terms.
- recursive acronym — (convention) A hackish (and especially MIT) tradition is to choose acronyms and abbreviations that refer humorously to themselves or to other acronyms or abbreviations. The classic examples were two MIT editors called EINE ("EINE Is Not Emacs") and ZWEI ("ZWEI Was EINE Initially"). More recently, there is a Scheme compiler called LIAR (Liar Imitates Apply Recursively), and GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix!" - and a company with the name CYGNUS, which expands to "Cygnus, Your GNU Support". See also mung.
- sanctimoniousness — making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.: They resented his sanctimonious comments on immorality in America.
- sandwich compound — any of a class of organometallic compounds whose molecules have a metal atom or ion bound between two plane parallel organic rings
- sawatch mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains, in central Colo.: highest peak, Elbert
- semi-manufactured — the making of goods or wares by manual labor or by machinery, especially on a large scale: the manufacture of television sets.
- silk manufacturer — a person or business that is involved in the manufacture of silk thread and fabric
- smoothing circuit — a circuit used to remove ripple from the output of a direct current power supply
- spectrum analysis — the determination of the constitution or condition of bodies and substances by means of the spectra they produce.
- square centimeter — a unit of area measurement equal to a square measuring one centimeter on each side. 2 , sq. cm. Abbreviation: cm.
- stand-up comedian — performer: tells jokes
- storm in a teacup — a violent fuss or disturbance over a trivial matter
- stretch limousine — a limousine that has been lengthened to provide extra seating accommodation and more legroom
- suction lipectomy — the removal of fatty tissue by making a small incision in the skin, loosening the fat layer, and withdrawing it by suction.
- superaerodynamics — the branch of aerodynamics that deals with gases at very low densities.
- supercolumniation — the placing of one order of columns above another.
- support mechanism — any formal system or method of providing support or assistance
- symbolic language — a specialized language dependent upon the use of symbols for communication and created for the purpose of achieving greater exactitude, as in symbolic logic or mathematics.
- taconic mountains — a mountain range in SE New York, W Massachusetts, and SW Vermont, a highly eroded part of the Appalachian system. Highest peak, Mount Equinox, in Vermont 3816 feet (1163 meters).
- tertiary consumer — a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.
- triboluminescence — luminescence produced by friction, usually within a crystalline substance.
- uncircumscribable — to draw a line around; encircle: to circumscribe a city on a map.
- uncle tom's cabin — an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
- uncompassionately — having or showing compassion: a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
- undercompensation — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- unsympathetically — in a manner that is not characterized by feeling or showing sympathy
- utopian socialism — (sometimes initial capital letter) an economic system based on the premise that if capital voluntarily surrendered its ownership of the means of production to the state or the workers, unemployment and poverty would be abolished.
- vacuum aspiration — menstrual extraction.
- wimshurst machine — a device for the production of electric charge by electrostatic induction, consisting of two oppositely rotating glass or mica disks carrying metal strips upon which charges are induced and subsequently removed by contact with metallic combs.