13-letter words containing v, a, r, e
- vannevar bush — (person) Dr. Vannevar Bush, 1890-1974. The man who invented hypertext, which he called memex, in the 1930s. Bush did his undergraduate work at Tufts College, where he later taught. His masters thesis (1913) included the invention of the Profile Tracer, used in surveying work to measure distances over uneven ground. In 1919, he joined MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering, where he stayed for twenty-five years. In 1932, he was appointed vice-president and dean. At this time, Bush worked on optical and photocomposition devices, as well as a machine for rapid selection from banks of microfilm. Further positions followed: president of the Carnegie Institute in Washington, DC (1939); chair of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (1939); director of Office of Scientific Research and Development. This last role was as presidential science advisor, which made him personally responsible for the 6,000 scientists involved in the war effort. During World War II, Bush worked on radar antenna profiles and the calculation of artillery firing tables. He proposed the development of an analogue computer, which later became the Rockefeller Differential Analyser. Bush is the pivotal figure in hypertext research. His ground-breaking 1945 paper, "As We May Think," speculated on how a machine might be created to assist human reasoning, and introduced the idea of an easily accessible, individually configurable storehouse of knowledge. This machine, which he dubbed "memex," in various ways anticipated hypermedia and the World Wide Web by nearly half a century.
- vapor barrier — a layer of material, as plastic film or foil, used to protect installed insulation by retarding the transmission of moisture from the interior environment.
- vapor tension — vapor pressure.
- vapourer moth — a tussock moth, Orgyia antiqua, of hedgerows and trees, the female of which is wingless and lays her eggs on her former cocoon
- vapourishness — the quality or state of being vapourish
- variabilities — apt or liable to vary or change; changeable: variable weather; variable moods.
- variable cost — a cost that varies with a change in the volume of output while remaining uniform on a per-unit basis, as cost of labor (distinguished from fixed cost).
- variable star — a star that varies markedly in brightness from time to time.
- variable type — type that can be varied to fit a page, screen, etc
- variable-rate — providing for changes in the interest rate, adjusted periodically in accordance with prevailing market conditions: a variable-rate mortgage.
- varicose vein — Varicose veins are swollen and painful veins in a person's legs, which sometimes require a medical operation.
- varied thrush — a plump thrush, Ixoreus naevius, of western North America, resembling a robin with a dark band across the chest.
- variety meats — processed meat, such as sausage, or offal
- variety store — a retail store, as a five-and-ten, carrying a large variety of goods, especially low-priced articles.
- vascularities — pertaining to, composed of, or provided with vessels or ducts that convey fluids, as blood, lymph, or sap.
- vaunt-courier — a person who goes in advance, as a herald.
- vectorization — the process of converting from a bitmap image to a vector representation
- vegetarianism — the beliefs or practices of a vegetarian.
- velvet carpet — a carpet or rug of pile weave resembling Wilton.
- venereal wart — a soft warty nodule of viral origin that occurs on the mucosal surfaces of the genitalia or around the anus, often in a cluster; condyloma acuminatum.
- venetian door — a doorway having a form similar to that of a Palladian window.
- venire facias — a writ directing the appropriate official to summon a jury.
- ventriloquial — of, relating to, or using ventriloquism.
- ventrolateral — of, relating to, or affecting the front and side.
- venus flytrap — firewall machine
- veraciousness — characterized by truthfulness; true, accurate, or honest in content: a veracious statement; a veracious account.
- verbalization — to express in words: He couldn't verbalize his feelings.
- verbigeration — the condition or instances of repeating the same word or sentence against one's will as a symptom of a psychiatric disorder
- verifiability — to prove the truth of, as by evidence or testimony; confirm; substantiate: Events verified his prediction.
- vermiculation — to work or ornament with wavy lines or markings resembling the form or tracks of a worm.
- vernacularism — a vernacular word or expression.
- vernacularist — someone who uses vernacular speech
- vernacularity — the quality or state of being vernacular
- vernacularize — to translate into the natural speech peculiar to a people.
- vernalization — to shorten the growth period of (a plant) by chilling or other special treatment of it, its seeds, or its bulbs.
- vernier scale — Also, vernier scale. a small, movable, graduated scale running parallel to the fixed graduated scale of a sextant, theodolite, barometer, etc., and used for measuring a fractional part of one of the divisions of the fixed scale.
- vernis martin — a finish for furniture, invented in France in the 18th century in imitation of Chinese lacquer.
- versification — the act of versifying.
- vertical file — a collection of pamphlets, pictures, clippings, or other materials stored upright, as in a filing cabinet or cabinets.
- verticillated — whorled
- vestal virgin — (in ancient Rome) one of four, later six, virgins consecrated to Vesta and to the tending of the sacred fire on her altar.
- vicar general — Roman Catholic Church. a priest deputized by a bishop to assist him in the administration of a diocese.
- vicar-general — Roman Catholic Church. a priest deputized by a bishop to assist him in the administration of a diocese.
- vicariousness — performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment.
- vice-chairman — a member of a committee, board, group, etc., designated as immediately subordinate to a chairman and serving as such in the latter's absence; a person who acts for and assists a chairman.
- victoria nile — a section of the upper Nile River in central Uganda between Lake Victoria and Lake Albert. 260 miles (418 km) long.
- victoriaville — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada.
- victory medal — a round bronze medal awarded to all those who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War I.
- vide ut supra — (used to direct a reader to a specified place in a text) see as above
- video library — video and dvd lending service