O
American Library Association abbreviation of octavo, a book size (20-25 cm).
Entries starting with O
163 entries.
oatlage
Silage made from oats: oat silage.
OBC
Initialism of onboard credit.
OBD
nounAutomotive
Initialism of on-board diagnostic.
oberhefe
nounManufacturing
The yeast that forms at the top surface of the vat.
observation car
nounRail equipment
A railway passenger car made so as to facilitate seeing the scenery en route, sometimes with glass sides or with a kind of open balcony at the rear.
occupy
verbSurveying
To place the theodolite or total station at (a point).
OCR
nounConstruction
Initialism of one coat render.
octal data rate
A memory interface which performs eight bits per clock cycle per lane
octavo
A sheet of paper 7 to 10 inches (= 17.78 to 25.4 cm) high and 4.5 to 6 inches (= 11.43 to 15.24 cm) wide, the size varying with the large original sheet used to create it. It is made by folding the original sheet three times to produce eight leaves.
octode
A thermionic valve that has eight electrodes or similar elements
octodecimo
A size of a sheet of paper resulting from folding and cutting a sheet of paper into eighteenths (3.5", 4.5" x 4.9", 5.9").
OD
nounManufacturing
(of a pipe, tube, or shaft) Initialism of outer diameter or outside diameter.
oddment
A part of a book that is not a portion of the text, such as the title, index, etc. (usually plural).
odometer fraud
nounAutomotive
The illegal practice of rolling back an odometer to make it appear that a vehicle has lower mileage than it actually does.
odontograph
An instrument for marking or laying off the outlines of teeth of gear wheels.
OFDM
Initialism of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.
off time
The time interval when no current flows.
off-gas
nounManufacturing
Gas produced as a side effect of a chemical reaction, sometimes hazardous.
off-the-rack
adjectiveManufacturing
Ready-made in a range of standard sizes.
offbear
verbConstruction
To carry off from the moulding-table and place on the ground to dry.
offset
nounSurveying
A short distance measured at right angles from a line actually run to some point in an irregular boundary, or to some object.
offset time
In optical burst switching, the amount of time between the burst header and the control packet.
offside rule
A system that gives right-of-way at an intersection to traffic approaching from the side on which one is not driving.
offtake
The removal of oil (or an industrial chemical) from a storage facility.
OH
Initialism of observation helicopter.
OHLE
Initialism of overhead line equipment (overhead lines, and supporting infrastructure, that provide power to electric trains).
ohmic resistance
That portion of the apparent resistance or impedance of a circuit which depends only upon the dimensions of the conductors, their temperature, and the materials of which they are composed.
oil change
nounAutomotive
The process of draining old oil from an engine or gearbox and refilling it with fresh oil, often done at recommended intervals.
oil filter
A filter designed to remove contaminants from engine oil, transmission oil, lubricating oil, or hydraulic oil.
oil-canning
A moderate deformation or buckling of sheet material, particularly common with flat sheet metal surfaces.
OL
open line (open circuit, no continuity).
old rose
A rose belonging to any of the classes of cultivated roses in existence before the hybrid tea roses were developed.
old woman's tooth
nounCarpentry
A traditional hand-operated router.
Old World ROM
A Macintosh model that uses a read-only memory chip.
old-growth forest
A forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance.
oleo
A type of energy-absorbing landing gear strut in which sudden compression or extension of the strut causes a gas-filled chamber to push or pull a piston which forces oil through a small orifice, resulting in absorption of energy through viscous effects.
olla
An unglazed earthenware pot, buried to provide slow steady irrigation.
omnidirectional
adjectiveElectrical engineering
Having a ring-shaped radiation pattern, with equal radiation in all azimuthal directions.
OMS
Initialism of orbital manoeuvering system: NASA terminology for orbital maneuvering rockets.
on silent
adjectiveEnergy and utilities
A setting on an electronic device that prevents it from producing noise when it receives a call or a message, such as an alert or a notification.
on the bias
prep phraseManufacturing
Describing the method of cutting fabric diagonally across the grain (so as to make the clothing cling to the body)
on the floor
prep phraseAutomotive
Mounted on the floor of an automobile.
oncostman
Any workman who was paid a daily rate.
one engine in steam
A principle in railway signalling where only one train or locomotive is allowed to run on a section of single-track line, such as a branch line, at any one time.
one under
A person under a train; a person hit by a train after jumping or falling in front of it.
one-cold
A set of bits with only a single low (0) bit, with the remaining bits high (1).
one-hot
A set of bits with only a single high (1) bit, with the remaining bits low (0).
one-hour fuel
Vegetation with a high surface-to-mass ratio, able to dry out and become flammable within an hour of having been moist.
one-size-fits-all
adjectiveTextile production
Of a garment, designed to be worn with comfort by people with a wide range of sizes.
one-way
To use a disc harrow to turn the soil and kill weeds, in preparation for planting seeds.
one-way ticket
A ticket granting permission to travel to a place but not return.
online service provider
Any company, organization, or group that provides services over the Internet, including web hosting, Internet access, social media platforms, and cloud storage.
onsetter
A worker at the bottom of a mineshaft who exchanges the empty and full corves.
op-amp
A certain active circuit element useful in creating various kinds of amplifiers and filters.
opacity
A measure of relative impenetrability to electromagnetic radiation such as light.
opalite
nounConstruction
Opal glass, formed into tiles or bricks.
OPC
nounConstruction
Initialism of ordinary portland cement.
OPD
Initialism of overcurrent protective device.
open
A defect in an electrical circuit preventing current from flowing.