0%

20-letter words containing y, s

  • computer typesetting — a system for the high-speed composition of type by a device driven by punched paper tape or magnetic tape that has been processed by a computer
  • connector conspiracy — (business, standard)   The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension, other designers) to come up with products that don't fit with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or expensive interface devices. The term probably came into prominence with the appearance of the DEC KL-10, none of whose connectors matched anything else. The KL-10 Massbus connector was actually *patented* by DEC, who reputedly refused to licence the design, thus effectively locking out competition for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This policy was a source of frustration for the owners of dying, obsolescent disk and tape drives. A related phenomenon is the invention of new screw heads so that only Designated Persons, possessing the magic screwdrivers, can remove covers and make repairs or install options. Older Apple Macintoshes took this one step further, requiring not only a hex wrench but a specialised case-cracking tool to open the box. With the advent of more open-systems computing this term has fallen somewhat into disuse. Compare backward combatability.
  • constituent assembly — A constituent assembly is a body of representatives that is elected to create or change their country's constitution.
  • construction company — a business enterprise concerned with the construction of buildings, bridges, etc
  • consultant physician — a physician who has attained the rank of consultant in a particular speciality
  • continuum hypothesis — the assertion that there is no set whose cardinality is greater than that of the integers and smaller than that of the reals
  • copulative asyndeton — a staccato effect produced by omitting copulative connectives between two or more items in a group, as in “Friends, Romans, countrymen.”.
  • craniosacral therapy — a form of therapy for various disorders in which the therapist manipulates the bones of the skull
  • criminal syndicalism — the doctrine of recourse to acts of violence or terrorism, or the advocacy of such acts, as a means of effecting economic or political change: proscribed by statute in many U.S. states.
  • cross-country skiing — the activity of skiing across open country for pleasure
  • crossword dictionary — a dictionary that lists common clues found in crossword puzzles with potential answer words. In books, the lists are usually sorted by the number of letters in the answer, while an online crossword dictionary, such as the Dictionary.com Crossword Solver, is able to analyze queries electronically, examining either the clue or the number and pattern of letters already filled in to arrive at suggested answers.
  • curry favour with sb — If one person tries to curry favour with another, they do things in order to try to gain their support or co-operation.
  • cycloidal propulsion — propulsion of a vessel by propellers of controllable pitch that steer as well as propel.
  • cylinder head gasket — (in an automobile engine) a gasket placed between the cylinder and the cylinder heads to avoid leaks of coolant and compression
  • cytosine arabinoside — cytarabine.
  • daylight saving time — Daylight Saving Time is a period of time in the summer when the clocks are set one hour forward, so that people can have extra light in the evening.
  • daylight-saving time — the civil time observed when daylight saving is adopted in a country or community.
  • deoxyribonucleotides — Plural form of deoxyribonucleotide.
  • descriptive geometry — the study of the projection of three-dimensional figures onto a plane surface
  • dewey decimal system — a frequently used system of library book classification and arrangement with ten main subject classes
  • diisobutyl phthalate — a clear, colorless liquid, C 14 H 26 O 4 , used chiefly as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose.
  • dimensional analysis — a method for comparing the dimensions of the physical quantities occurring in a problem to find relationships between the quantities without having to solve the problem completely. Compare dimension (def 6).
  • diophantine analysis — any of several methods for finding integral solutions for equations with more than one variable whose coefficients are integers.
  • diplomatic secretary — secretary (def 5).
  • diplomatic-secretary — secretary (def 5).
  • direct memory access — (architecture)   (DMA) A facility of some architectures which allows a peripheral to read and write memory without intervention by the CPU. DMA is a limited form of bus mastering.
  • directory assistance — a telephone company service that furnishes telephone directory information over the telephone.
  • directory user agent — (DUA) The software that accesses the X.500 Directory Service on behalf of the directory user. The directory user may be a person or another software element.
  • disability allowance — an amount of money paid by the government to people who are unable to work because of a disability. This is a general term or, in the UK, a shorter way of referring to what is officially called the Disability Living Allowance
  • disability insurance — insurance providing income to a policyholder who is disabled and cannot work.
  • disciplinary hearing — a hearing at which the conduct of a member of an organization, profession etc is examined and a punishment may be handed down
  • discretionary income — money for luxuries
  • doctor of philosophy — Also called doctorate. the highest degree awarded by a graduate school, usually to a person who has completed at least three years of graduate study and a dissertation approved by a board of professors.
  • double-aspect theory — a monistic theory that holds that mind and body are not distinct substances but merely different aspects of a single substance
  • drug delivery system — A drug delivery system is a system that is used as a medium or carrier for administering a pharmaceutical product to a patient.
  • drunk and disorderly — If someone is charged with being drunk and disorderly, they are charged with being drunk and behaving in a noisy, offensive, or violent way in public.
  • drunk mouse syndrome — (Also "mouse on drugs") A malady exhibited by the mouse pointing device of some computers. The typical symptom is for the mouse cursor on the screen to move in random directions and not in sync with the motion of the actual mouse. Can usually be corrected by unplugging the mouse and plugging it back again. Another recommended fix for optical mice is to rotate your mouse mat 90 degrees. At Xerox PARC in the 1970s, most people kept a can of copier cleaner (isopropyl alcohol) at their desks. When the steel ball on the mouse had picked up enough cruft to be unreliable, the mouse was doused in cleaner, which restored it for a while. However, this operation left a fine residue that accelerated the accumulation of cruft, so the dousings became more and more frequent. Finally, the mouse was declared "alcoholic" and sent to the clinic to be dried out in a CFC ultrasonic bath.
  • duck-billed platypus — platypus.
  • early modern english — the English language represented in printed documents of the period starting with Caxton (1476) and ending with Dryden (1700).
  • early sunday morning — a painting (1930) by Edward Hopper.
  • early warning system — Military. a network of radar installations designed to detect enemy aircraft or missiles in time for the effective deployment of defense systems.
  • early-warning system — Military. a network of radar installations designed to detect enemy aircraft or missiles in time for the effective deployment of defense systems.
  • electrohydrodynamics — (physics) the study of the dynamics of electrically conducting fluid.
  • electrophysiological — Of or pertaining to electrophysiology.
  • electroshock therapy — a form of shock therapy in which electric current is applied to the brain
  • eleusinian mysteries — a mystical religious festival, held in September at Eleusis in classical times, in which initiates celebrated Persephone, Demeter, and Dionysus
  • employee association — an organization, other than a trade union, whose members comprise employees of a single employing organization. The aims of the association may be social, recreational, or professional
  • employer's liability — an employer's legal responsibility to pay damages to an employee who has been injured or who has contracted an illness because of the work he or she does
  • entry qualifications — the qualifications people wishing to enter an organization, university, etc, have to have
  • erythema infectiosum — a mild infectious disease of childhood, caused by a virus, characterized by fever and a red rash spreading from the cheeks to the limbs and trunk
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?