This page gathers the 9,098 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Engineering”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 61 of 91: from “precocked” to “Procrustean assignment”.
- precocked adj Of a firearm, especially striker-fired, having its firing mechanism partially or fully cocked prior to pulling the trigger.
- precomposed adj Describing a character that can also be represented an equivalent string of other characters (typically a letter and a diacritical mark).
- preconfigure verb To set up or configure a software system or hardware device with standard settings before selling or implementing it.
- precooler noun A device which cools the incoming airstream prior to its introduction into the combustion chamber or compressor.
- precount noun The period and procedures taken before a countdown.
- precursor adj Caused by the following symbol.
- predeclare verb To declare some source code element (such as a class) in advance of its full description, so that other preceding parts of the code can…
- predecoding noun The process of partially decoding machine instructions prior to their storage in the instruction cache, typically to identify instruction…
- predefined function noun Any of a set of subroutines that perform standard mathematical functions included in a programming language; either included in a program…
- predicate noun An operator, expression, or function that returns either true or false.
- predication noun The parallel execution of all possible outcomes of a branch instruction, all except one of which are discarded after the branch condition…
- predictive adj Describing a predictor.
- predictive text noun A system for inputting text on a device where individual buttons correspond to several characters that attempts to guess which word was…
- preemption noun The temporary interruption of a task without its cooperation and with the intention of resuming it at a later time.
- prefab noun A reusable object in a video game world.
- prefetch verb To load data or instructions in anticipation of their need
- prefiller noun In text processing systems, a pattern of text that is expected to occur before the portion of interest.
- prefix noun A set of digits placed before a telephone number, to indicate where the number is based, what type of phone number it is (landline, mobile…
- prefix coding noun A coding system that uses (typically variable-length) codes that are distinguished by their "prefix property", which requires that there is…
- preflight adj Serving to confirm that requests can be accepted, before sending an actual request.
- prefork verb To fork (a process) in advance, so that additional similar processes are immediately available if required later.
- prehard noun Bar stock that has been hardened prior to delivery.
- preimage attack noun An attack on a cryptographic hash function that is able to find a preimage for a hash; that is, it is able to determine (faster than by…
- preinstall adj Prior to installation.
- preload noun The internal application of stress to certain mechanical systems.
- prelude noun A standard module or library of subroutines and functions to be imported, generally by default, into a program.
- premaster verb To make a master copy of (data) on a hard disk before writing it to optical disc.
- premature optimization noun The act of wasting resources on optimising source code that does not represent a significant bottleneck.
- preorder adj Such that, recursively, the root is visited before the left and right subtrees.
- prepared statement noun A database query that has parameters which are replaced by values when it is executed, instead of the values being part of the statement…
- prepend verb To attach (an expression, phrase, etc.) to another, as a prefix.
- preplay adj Before play begins.
- preponderance noun The excess of weight of that part of a cannon behind the trunnions over that in front of them.
- preread noun An operation in which data is read in advance of its being needed.
- prescaler noun A counting circuit used to reduce a high-frequency electrical signal to a lower frequency by integer division.
- preseed noun A medium specially prepared for a seeding operation.
- preseeding noun a way to set answers to questions asked during the installation process, without having to manually enter the answers while the…
- preselection noun The process of a jury selecting entries to be shown in a competition when there are too many entries for the audience or schedule. The term…
- presence noun Synonym of room tone.
- presentation logic noun The logic that is concerned with the style or manner in which domain and business objects are displayed to users of the software.
- presenter noun A small handheld device used to remotely control a computerised slide show.
- presentity noun An entity (usually a human) which provides information about its presence (whether it is available and willing to communicate through…
- preset noun A kind of variable resistor designed to have its resistance set while building the circuit, and then left at that value.
- presheaf noun An abstract mathematical construct which associates data to the open sets of a topological space, generalizing the situation of functions…
- preshift noun A shift performed in advance.
- presignature noun An intermediate value used in forming a signature, unrelated to the contents of the message being signed.
- press verb To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it.
- pressure altimeter noun A device which measures the altitude by performing measurement of the ambient pressure and comparing it against a reference pressure at a…
- pressure altitude noun A measure of altitude inferred by the measurement of ambient pressure in differential with a reference pressure at a known altitude.
- pressure suit noun A sealed, full-body garment, usually with an attachable helmet, which maintains air pressure or mechanical pressure around the body of an…
- pressure wire noun Any of a set of wires leading from various points of an electrical system to a central station, where a voltmeter indicates the potential…
- prestack noun The category c is called a prestack over a category C with a Grothendieck topology if it is fibered over C and for any object U of C and…
- prestate noun The state that exists before an operation.
- preswirl noun The deliberate imparting of a swirling motion to the incoming airflow, to reduce drag on the rotor blades.
- pretrigger adj Prior to the activation of a trigger.
- prettify verb Synonym of pretty-print.
- pretty adj Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
- pretty-print verb To display code in a pretty fashion, matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
- preview verb To show something in advance, a facility for viewing and checking a document or photo, or changes to it, before saving or printing it.
- preview-quality noun A type of resolution that is visible in icons, thumbnails, or previews of operations such as scans and printing.
- previewer noun A program that provides a preview of a document or other work.
- prewarm verb To initialize with the illusion of prior activity.
- prewarmed adj Initialized with the illusion of prior activity.
- prewrite noun A write operation that is buffered instead of being applied directly to the database.
- primage noun Droplets of water suspended in steam (especially in the cylinder of a steam engine).
- primary noun A radar return from an aircraft (or other object) produced solely by the reflection of the radar beam from the aircraft's skin, without…
- primary key noun In the design of a database table, the primary key (abbreviated PK) is selected among the non-empty set of candidate keys. The PK is a…
- primary rate interface noun an ISDN service delivered over T1, E1 or J1 datalines, with delivery of connections between 1472 kilobits per second and 1984 kilobits per…
- primary storage noun The volatile memory of a computer directly accessible by the central processing unit; the main memory together with cache memory (and…
- primary time noun The amount of time in which a pilot is actively controlling the aircraft, excluding time flown while instructing and evaluating.
- prime adj Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.
- prime implicant noun A group of related 1's (implicant) on a Karnaugh map which is not subsumed by any other implicant in the same map. Equivalently (in terms…
- priming noun A harmful condition in which water is carried over from the boiler of a steam locomotive.
- primitive noun A data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
- primitive recursion noun Recursion to a fixed depth.
- primitive type noun A data type provided by a programming language as a basic building block, such as integer, character or Boolean.
- principal noun The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a…
- principle of indifference noun A rule for assigning epistemic probabilities, according to which, in the absence of any relevant evidence, agents should distribute their…
- print verb To display a string on the terminal.
- printable adj Of a text character: having a visual representation, unlike the control characters.
- printed adj Written to a data file.
- printed circuit board noun A flat board that holds chips and other electronic components in layers that interconnect by means of copper pathways, often called traces.
- printer noun A device, usually attached to a computer, used to print text or images onto paper; an analogous device capable of producing…
- printer buffer noun A hardware or software device that stores a stream of data to be printed until a printer is ready to process it.
- prism noun A transparent block in the shape of a prism (sense 1), typically with triangular ends, used to reflect or refract light.
- prismatic coefficient noun The ratio between the total submerged volume of a ship's or boat's hull, on the one hand, and the product of the length of the submerged…
- private branch exchange noun A telecommunications switching system, physically located at a customer's place of business, that provides internal communication between…
- privatize verb To render (a variable, etc.) private in scope.
- privilege noun An ability to perform an action on the system that can be selectively granted or denied to users.
- probe noun A tube attached to an aircraft which can be fitted into the drogue from a tanker aircraft to allow for aerial refuelling.
- probe-and-drogue adj Pertaining to a method of aerial refuelling whereby a probe from the receiving aircraft fits into a trailing hose with drogue attachment…
- probvious adj Able to be shown to hold with very high confidence via heuristic arguments, but not formally provable.
- proc noun Abbreviation of procedure.
- procedural adj Generated by means of a procedure, rather than being designed.
- procedure noun A subroutine coded to perform a specific task, which is not permitted a return value when distinguished from a function.
- process noun An executable task or program.
- process-oriented adj Of or pertaining to a programming paradigm that separates the concerns of data structures and the concurrent processes that act upon them.
- processing noun The act of retrieving, storing, classifying, manipulating, transmitting etc. data, especially via computer techniques.
- processing unit noun An electrical component (digital circuit) that performs operations on an external data source, usually memory or some other data stream.
- Procrustean assignment noun A form of assignment to fixed-length string variables in which a shorter value is padded to the necessary length while a longer one is…