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20-letter words containing a, p, i, e

  • 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.
  • conservative baptist — a member of a Protestant denomination (Conservative Baptist Association of America) organized in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1948.
  • contact metamorphism — localized metamorphism resulting from the heat of an igneous intrusion.
  • contingency planning — planning for future events that seem less likely than others
  • conventional weapons — weapons which are not nuclear
  • conversation stopper — a comment that is so shocking or boring that people stop talking
  • coordination complex — one of a number of complex compounds in which an atom or group of atoms is bound to the central atom by a shared pair of electrons supplied by the coordinated group and not by the central atom
  • copulative asyndeton — a staccato effect produced by omitting copulative connectives between two or more items in a group, as in “Friends, Romans, countrymen.”.
  • corresponding angles — a pair of nonadjacent angles, one interior and one exterior, on the same side of a transversal: these paired angles are equal if the lines cut by the transversal are parallel
  • council-manager plan — (in the US) a system of local government with an elected legislative council and an appointed administrative manager
  • counterproliferation — Action intended to prevent an increase or spread in the possession of nuclear weapons.
  • craft apprenticeship — a period of training for a skilled trade in industry, such as for a plumber or electrician
  • craniosacral therapy — a form of therapy for various disorders in which the therapist manipulates the bones of the skull
  • crime and punishment — a novel (1866) by Feodor Dostoevsky.
  • criminal proceedings — action taken in a court to bring a criminal prosecution against someone
  • critical temperature — the temperature of a substance in its critical state. A gas can only be liquefied by pressure alone at temperatures below its critical temperature
  • darkfield microscope — kind of microscope
  • decompartmentalizing — Present participle of decompartmentalize.
  • defined benefit plan — A defined benefit plan is a type of pension plan that guarantees a lifetime income upon retirement based on the employee’s income and years of service.
  • dementia pugilistica — chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
  • demographic timebomb — a predicted shortage of school-leavers and consequently of available workers, caused by an earlier drop in the birth rate, resulting in an older workforce
  • denali national park — a national park in S central Alaska, including Denali (mountain). 3030 sq. mi. (7850 sq. km).
  • depreciation expense — A depreciation expense is the amount deducted from gross profit to allow for a reduction in the value of something because of its age or how much it has been used.
  • descriptive notation — a method of denoting the squares on the chessboard in which each player names the files from the pieces that stand on them at the opening and numbers the ranks away from himself
  • desmopressin acetate — a vasopressin analogue, C 46 H 64 N 14 O 12 S 2 , used in the treatment of diabetes insipidus.
  • developing-out paper — a sensitized printing paper requiring development in order to bring out the image. Abbreviation: D.O.P.
  • development planning — the planning of the development of an area of land
  • diabetic retinopathy — a disorder of the blood vessels of the retina occurring as a complication of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and often leading to blindness.
  • diammonium phosphate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound, (NH 4) 2 HPO 4 , used as fertilizer, in fire extinguishers, etc.
  • diamondback terrapin — any edible North American terrapin of the genus Malaclemys, esp M. terrapin, occurring in brackish and tidal waters and having diamond-shaped markings on the shell: family Emydidae
  • difference amplifier — A difference amplifier is a device that amplifies the difference between two inputs, rejecting any signals common to both.
  • differential pricing — a situation in which different prices are charged for the same product or service
  • digital lempel ziv 1 — (algorithm)   (DLZ1) A Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm which maps variable length input strings to variable length output symbols. During compression, the algorithm builds a dictionary of strings which is accessed by means of a hash table. Compression occurs when input data matches a string in the table and is replaced with the output symbol. DLZ1 is used on Digital Linear Tape.
  • digital media player — Digital Technology. a portable electronic device or a software program that plays and stores digital audio or video files in various formats.
  • diisobutyl phthalate — a clear, colorless liquid, C 14 H 26 O 4 , used chiefly as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose.
  • diophantine analysis — any of several methods for finding integral solutions for equations with more than one variable whose coefficients are integers.
  • diophantine equation — an equation involving more than one variable in which the coefficients of the variables are integers and for which integral solutions are sought.
  • diplomatic secretary — secretary (def 5).
  • diplomatic-secretary — secretary (def 5).
  • 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
  • dispersion hardening — the strengthening of an alloy as a result of the presence of fine particles in the lattice
  • displacement current — the rate of change, at any point in space, of electric displacement with time.
  • displacement tonnage — the number of long tons of water displaced by a vessel, light or load displacement being specified.
  • disproportionateness — The state or quality of being disproportionate or out of proportion.
  • disruptive discharge — the sudden, large increase in current through an insulating medium resulting from complete failure of the medium under electrostatic stress.
  • distributed practice — learning with reasonably long intervals between separate occasions of learning
  • dual in-line package — (hardware)   (DIL, DIP) The most common type of package for small and medium scale integrated circuits, with up to about 48 pins. The pins hang vertically from the two long edges of the rectangular package, spaced at intervals of 0.1 inch. The pins fit through holes in the circuit board to which they are soldered or into a socket.
  • duck-billed platypus — platypus.
  • eastern roman empire — the eastern of the two empires created by the division of the Roman Empire in 395 ad
  • ecological footprint — a mark left by the shod or unshod foot, as in earth or sand.
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