ankle boot
nounManufacturing
A boot that rises up to the ankle.
Entries starting with A
215 entries.
anneal
verbMetallurgy
To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
anode
An electrode, of a cell or other electrically polarized device, through which a positive current of electricity flows inwards (and thus, electrons flow outwards). It can have either a positive or a negative voltage with respect to cathode of the same polarized device (depending on whether the device is a load or a source, respectively).
answering machine
A device that automatically records voicemails from unanswered telephone calls.
anti-knock index
nounAutomotive
A measurement of a fuel's ability to resist detonation, or engine knocking.
antibacklash
adjectiveMechanical engineering
Countering or preventing backlash (jarring reflex motion in machinery).
antiballoon
adjectiveManufacturing
Preventing the outward bulging of the material being worked on by a spinning frame.
antiballooner
A device that prevents the outward bulging of the material being worked on by a spinning frame.
anticoherer
A device, one form of which consists of a scratched deposit of silver on glass, used in connection with the receiving apparatus for reading wireless signals. The electric waves falling on this device increase its resistance several times.
antimetry
A property of an electrical network where the normalised impedance of one port is the reciprocal of another.
antique car
nounAutomotive
A car that is eligible for antique vehicle registration.
antisagging
adjectiveManufacturing
Combatting the tendency of paints and other coatings to sag.
Antron
nameManufacturing
A type of lightweight, strong, and highly durable brand of nylon textile fiber.
ao dai
A two panelled dress, worn by Vietnamese women as a national costume.
apex
The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
API donut
nounAutomotive
An information table found on cans of motor oil, conforming to U.S. standards, which indicates the weight (viscosity) and type of oil. The central circle provides the oil viscosity rating (ie. 10W50), while the upper annulus section provides the oil type (ie. SP).
apparatus
A vehicle used for emergency response.
apple seed
The seed of the fruit of the Malus domestica (apple) tree or other tree of the genus Malus.
AprilTag
nounRobotics
A type of tag consisting of a grid of black and white squares, used in robotics and computer vision applications.
apron flashing
nounConstruction
A flashing located at the juncture of the top of a sloped roof and a vertical wall, chimney or steeper-sloped roof.
aquafeed
Any feed for aquatic organisms as part of aquaculture.
arbiter
A component in circuitry that allocates scarce resources.
arc blast
An explosion produced by the extreme heat of an uncontrolled high-energy electric arc.
arc fault
An undesired and uncontrolled electric arc from one conductor through the air (or other gas) to a conductor at ground potential or a different voltage phase.
arc flash
The extremely intense light and heat produced by a high-energy electric arc.
arc-fault circuit interrupter
A type of circuit breaker that detects signs of potentially-dangerous arcing on downstream wiring and shuts off power to the affected branch circuit to reduce the risk of a fire.
archaeometallurgy
nounMetallurgy
The study of the prehistory of metal extraction and working
architectural concrete
nounConstruction
Concrete that is exposed to view because it forms part of a surface, and may therefore need special attention given to its appearance.
architectural panel
nounConstruction
A metal roof panel, typically a double standing seam or batten seam; usually requires solid decking underneath and relies of slope to shed water
architectural shingle
nounConstruction
An asphalt shingle that provides a three-dimensional appearance.
arcover
The unwanted arcing of electricity from one component to another, caused for example by the presence of contaminants.
arcwall machine
A mobile cutting machine that can cut horizontally into walls.
Armstrong oscillator
An electronic oscillator circuit which uses an inductor and capacitor to generate an oscillation.
as-built
nounConstruction
A drawing showing how a project was actually built as opposed to how it was intended to be built.
ashlaring
nounCarpentry
The short upright pieces between the floor beams and rafters in garrets.
Asian utility vehicle
Any of various motor vehicles that are tailored to East Asian and Southeast Asian markets and are variously similar to or identical with basic utility vehicles, sport utility vehicles, or minivans, depending on the instance.
ASIC
Acronym of application-specific integrated circuit.
aspect
nounRail equipment
The visual indication of railway signal as displayed to the driver. With three-aspect colour light signals this would be red, yellow or green, and on four-aspect signals, double-yellow also; a two-aspect signal displays red or green.
asphalt emulsion
nounConstruction
A mixture of asphalt particles and emulsifying agent, such as bentonite clay and water.
asphalt shingle
A shingle manufactured by coating a reinforcing material (felt or fibrous glass mat) with asphalt and having mineral granules on the side exposed to the weather.
assembly line
A system of workers and machinery in which a product is assembled in a series of consecutive operations; typically the product is conveyed by a continuously moving belt.
assholed
Rear-ended by another vehicle on the road.
astrobot
Robot designed to work in space.
asymmetric digital subscriber line
A communications system characterised by moderately high speeds, different in each direction.
ATF
nounAutomotive
Initialism of automatic transmission fluid.
ATM
Initialism of asynchronous transfer mode.
atomic gardening
The exposure of plants to radioactive sources, typically cobalt-60, in order to generate mutations that may prove to have useful properties.
attack time
The time between the instant that a signal at the input of a device or circuit exceeds the activation threshold of the device or circuit and the instant that the device or circuit reacts in a specified manner, or to a specified degree, to the input.
attenuate
verbManufacturing
Of a beer, to become less dense as a result of the conversion of sugar to alcohol.
attenuation
nounManufacturing
The proportion of sugar that is converted to ethanol by a yeast.
attenuative
adjectiveManufacturing
Of a yeast, capable of high attenuation, able to convert a high proportion of sugar to alcohol.
attire
nounManufacturing
One's dress; what one wears; one's clothes.
attle
Rubbish or refuse consisting of broken rock inholding little or no ore; especially, the worthless rock left over once the ore has been selected.
attoampere
An SI unit of electric current equal to 10⁻¹⁸ amperes. Symbol: aA
attogram
An SI unit of mass equal to 10⁻¹⁸ grams. Symbol: ag
attohertz
An SI unit of frequency equal to 10⁻¹⁸ hertz.
attojoule
An SI unit of energy, work, and heat equal to 10⁻¹⁸ joules. Symbol: aJ
attokatal
An SI unit of catalytic activity equal to 10⁻¹⁸ katals. Symbol: a
attolitre
An SI unit of fluid measure equal to 10⁻¹⁸ litres; alternative spelling of attoliter.
attometre
An SI unit of length equal to 10⁻¹⁸ metres. Symbol: am