18-letter words containing a, v, o, t
- nonvolatile memory — computer memory that can retain stored information even when not powered, for example read-only memory
- northern transvaal — province of South Africa, in the N part: 47,599 sq mi (123,280 sq km); pop. 5,202,000; cap. Pietersburg
- not have the heart — If you want to do something but do not have the heart to do it, you do not do it because you know it will make someone unhappy or disappointed.
- not to have a clue — to be completely baffled
- nova scotia salmon — an Atlantic salmon, especially from the waters off Nova Scotia, cured in the local manner.
- objective idealism — a form of idealism asserting that the act of experiencing has a reality combining and transcending the natures of the object experienced and of the mind of the observer.
- objective modula-2 — (language) (Or "ObjM2") An extension to Modula-2 for Cocoa and GNUstep software development. Objective Modula-2 follows the Objective-C object model and retains the bracketed Smalltalk message passing syntax used in Objective-C. Classes written in ObjM2 can be used within ObjC and vice versa. ObjM2 also retains Modula-2's data encapsulation features, namely nested modules with explicit import and export lists. Due to the strict type checking in Modula-2, ObjM2 can be considered a much safer programming language than is ObjC, yet losing none of the capabilities of ObjC.
- offensive material — any published or broadcast content (such as articles, photographs, films, or websites) that is likely to be upsetting, insulting, or objectionable to some or most people
- one's native heath — the place of one's birth or childhood
- operation overlord — the codename for the Allied invasion (June 1944) of northern France
- optical disc drive — optical disk drive
- optical disk drive — (hardware) (Or "optical disc drive", "optical storage") A generic term for any device that reads and/or writes optical media, i.e. compact discs, DVDs and/or Blu-ray discs or future media that uses light (from a small laser) to read data off a removable, rotating disk. At least one such drive is commonly installed in most personal computers to allow them to play and/or record audio and video media and load and store data such as program installers. The floppy disk has been replaced by optical media due to its vastly greater capacity, e.g. 50,000 megabytes for a dual-layer blu-ray disc compared with 1.5 megabytes for a floppy (over 30,000 times as much).
- oral contraceptive — birth-control pill.
- ovariohysterectomy — Surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus.
- over and done with — If you say that something is over and done with, you mean that it is completely finished and you do not have to think about it any more.
- over-extrapolation — to infer (an unknown) from something that is known; conjecture.
- over-pronunciation — to pronounce (a word, syllable, etc.) in an exaggerated, affected, or excessively careful manner.
- overcapitalization — The state of being overcapitalized.
- overdraft facility — a facility (of a bank or building-society cheque account) that allows a withdrawal of money in excess of the account's credit balance
- overdraft interest — interest charged on money withdrawn in excess of the credit balance of a bank or building society account
- overgeneralization — the act or process of overgeneralizing.
- overhead projector — over one's head; aloft; up in the air or sky, especially near the zenith: There was a cloud overhead.
- overidentification — an act or instance of identifying; the state of being identified.
- overinterpretation — the act of interpreting; elucidation; explication: This writer's work demands interpretation.
- overnight telegram — a type of domestic telegram sent at a reduced rate with a minimum charge for 10 words or less and accepted until midnight for delivery the following day.
- overpressurization — pressure in excess of normal atmospheric pressure, as that caused by an explosion's shock wave or created in an accelerating airplane.
- overrepresentation — to give too much representation to; represent in numbers that are disproportionately high.
- overspecialization — excessive specialization, as in a field of study.
- parallel evolution — the independent development of closely corresponding adaptive features in two or more groups of organisms that occupy different but equivalent habitats, as marsupial mammals in Australia and placental mammals on other continents.
- partial evaluation — (compiler, algorithm) (Or "specialisation") An optimisation technique where the compiler evaluates some subexpressions at compile-time. For example, Partial evaluation might change the termination properties of the program if, for example, the expression (x * 0) was reduced to 0 it would terminate even if x (and thus x * 0) did not. It may be necessary to reorder an expression to partially evaluate it, e.g. f x y = (x + y) + 1 g z = f 3 z If we rewrite f: f x y = (x + 1) + y then the expression x+1 becomes a constant for the function g and we can say g z = f 3 z = (3 + 1) + z = 4 + z Partial evaluation of built-in functions applied to constant arguments is known as constant folding. See also full laziness.
- pave the way (for) — to prepare the way (for); facilitate the introduction (of)
- peak-to-peak value — Peak-to-peak value is the maximum voltage change occurring during one cycle of alternating voltage or current.
- physical inventory — To carry out a physical inventory is to count all the stock on hand.
- plenum ventilation — a system of mechanical ventilation in which fresh air is forced into the spaces to be ventilated from a chamber (plenum chamber) at a pressure slightly higher than atmospheric pressure, so as to expel foul air.
- pneumatic conveyor — a tube through which powdered or granular material, such as cement, grain, etc is transported by a flow of air
- positively charged — having a positive charge
- post-revolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- postviral syndrome — debilitating condition occurring as a sequel to viral illness
- pound the pavement — a paved road, highway, etc.
- prepositional verb — a combination of verb and preposition, often with idiomatic meaning, differing from other phrasal verbs in that an object must always follow the preposition, as take after in The children take after their mother.
- preservation order — In Britain, a preservation order is an official order that makes it illegal for anyone to alter or destroy something such as an old building or an area of countryside.
- provably difficult — The set or property of problems for which it can be proven that no polynomial-time algorithm exists, only exponential-time algorithms.
- provascular tissue — procambium.
- provision merchant — a person or company in the business of retailing food and other provisions
- psychogalvanometer — a type of galvanometer for detecting and measuring psychogalvanic currents.
- quality of service — (communications, networking) (QoS) The performance properties of a network service, possibly including throughput, transit delay, priority. Some protocols allow packets or streams to include QoS requirements.
- rabbit-foot clover — a plant, Trifolium arvense, having trifoliate leaves with narrow leaflets and fuzzy, cylindrical, grayish-pink flower heads.
- racially motivated — motivated by (the hate or prejudice of) someone's race
- radioactive dating — any method of determining the age of earth materials or objects of organic origin based on measurement of either short-lived radioactive elements or the amount of a long-lived radioactive element plus its decay product.
- radioactive series — a succession of elements initiated in the radioactive decay of a parent, as thorium or uranium, each of which decays into the next until a stable element, usually lead, is produced.