Terms starting with S

The international data framework behind a family of marine products, including vector charts, gridded bathymetry and water levels.

The international minimum standard for hydrographic surveys, setting uncertainty, detection and coverage limits by order.

The international data transfer standard behind most electronic navigational charts, built on objects and attributes.

The principal solar semidiurnal constituent, period exactly 12 hours, which beats with M2 to make springs and neaps.

A 94 lb bag of portland cement, used as shorthand for how much cement goes into each cubic yard. Shop talk

Block of a more active metal such as magnesium, zinc or aluminum that corrodes to protect connected steel.

Set of bends that carries conduit over a pipe or obstruction and back down to its original line.

The inch bolt strength system, chiefly Grades 2, 5 and 8, identified by radial lines on the head.

The verification system that checks nuclear material is not diverted from peaceful use to weapons.

The shared attitudes and behaviours in an organisation that give nuclear safety overriding priority.

Refractory layer behind the working lining that holds molten metal back if the working lining fails.

Shop slang for squinting instead of wearing eye protection, and jokingly for safety glasses themselves. Shop talk

The spring-loaded valve on a steam boiler that pops fully open to vent steam before pressure exceeds the boiler's rating.

A spring-loaded pressure relief valve for steam, gas or vapor that opens with a rapid full lift at set pressure.

An adhesive bead slumping or running down a vertical or overhead surface before it sets.

Brief drop in RMS supply voltage, usually to between 10 and 90 percent of nominal, lasting up to about a minute.

Pool or mass of iron left in a blast furnace hearth below the taphole, tapped or dug out at a reline. Shop talk

A pot of molten salt used to heat, quench or case harden parts by quick, even immersion.

An accelerated corrosion test that holds scribed coated panels in a warm salt fog for hundreds of hours.

Bags of sand laid on deployed geomembrane and other geosynthetics to hold them down against wind. Shop talk

Everyday word for abrasive blast cleaning, used even when no sand is involved. Shop talk

A material whose absorption drops at high intensity, used to start and sustain Q-switching or mode locking passively.

The state where liquid and vapor refrigerant coexist, so its temperature is locked to its pressure.

A soft foil or film tube of sealant loaded into a barrel gun, used instead of rigid cartridges on big jobs. Shop talk

Submerged arc welding: an arc buried under a blanket of granular flux, used for long, heavy welds.

A meet at a siding too short for the train that has to take it, so the two trains work past each other in stages. Shop talk

Chart pattern of gradual drift and a sudden reset, repeating with each maintenance cycle or consumable change. Shop talk

Smoothed best estimate of trajectory: the post-processed position and attitude file applied to multibeam data. Shop talk

Station blackout: complete loss of offsite and onsite AC power at a nuclear plant.

Stimulated Brillouin Scattering: narrow-linewidth light scattering backward off sound waves it creates in fiber.

Subscriber Connector: a square push-pull connector with a 2.5 mm ferrule, common in telecom and FTTH.

Supervisory control and data acquisition: the system that lets a control room watch and switch remote plant.

A hard mineral crust that forms on boiler heat transfer surfaces from calcium, magnesium and silica in the water.

The oxide crust that forms on steel heated in air or in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Thin patches of surface mortar coming off a slab, usually after freeze-thaw cycles with deicing salt.

Shop word for the small ridges a hob leaves across and along each tooth flank, visible as a fine texture. Shop talk

The arched pattern of light and shadow that downlights draw on a wall when mounted close to it. Shop talk

A joint where both parts are tapered to long matching slopes and bonded along the taper.

Self-consolidating concrete, a highly fluid mix that fills forms and wraps rebar under its own weight.

Stress corrosion cracking: brittle cracking caused by tensile stress acting together with a specific corrosive environment.

Standard cubic centimetres per minute: a mass flow unit for process gases, referred to 0 °C and 1 atm.

Shop slang for grease, grime, sludge or any gooey lubricant, whether doing its job or gumming things up. Shop talk

A spring-loaded valve core in a refrigerant service port, opened by the depressor in a gauge hose fitting.

Supplementary cementitious material: fly ash, slag cement or silica fume used alongside portland cement in a mix.

A horizontal packaged firetube boiler with a large internal furnace tube and two to four gas passes.

A rotary actuator mechanism that turns the straight push of a piston into a 90 degree shaft rotation through a slotted yoke.

Describes night vision at very low light levels, when only rod cells respond and color disappears.

The rapid automatic or manual insertion of all control rods to shut a reactor down in seconds.

A part that fails inspection and cannot be reworked, and the verb for rejecting or ruining one.

The surface quality rating for optics, given as two numbers such as 20-10 for the allowed scratches and pits.

The heated, floating plate assembly at the back of a paver that levels and pre-compacts the mat.

To strike off fresh concrete to the right height, or the straightedge, board or machine that does it.

An externally threaded fastener tightened by turning its head, into a tapped hole or a thread it makes itself.

Crew slang for the screed operator, who sets mat thickness, slope and width at the back of the paver. Shop talk

Dry pump that compresses gas between a fixed spiral and an orbiting spiral, with no oil in the gas path.

To roughen a bonding surface lightly with an abrasive pad or paper to remove gloss and contamination. Shop talk

Sudden adhesive damage where tooth surfaces weld and tear apart because the oil film broke down.

Sudden, severe adhesive damage where the oil film fails and sliding surfaces locally weld and tear.

Standard Deviation of Color Matching: the step size used to state how closely light sources match in color.

A final pretreatment rinse that fills pores in the conversion coating and boosts corrosion resistance.

A material that fills a joint or gap to stop water and air, while accommodating movement.

Radioactive material permanently sealed in a capsule so it cannot escape under normal use.

A thin liquid resin brushed or soaked into a sprayed coating to fill its connected porosity.

Liquidtight flexible metal conduit: flexible steel conduit with a gray plastic jacket, used at motors and outdoors. Shop talk

Welding technician who makes and repairs geomembrane seams on a liner crew. Shop talk

Running an empty furnace at carburizing setpoint after a burnout so walls and fixtures soak up carbon first. Shop talk

The surface inside a valve that the closure member presses against to stop flow.

A rise in hardness when certain alloy steels are tempered around 500 to 600 °C, from fine alloy carbides.

Off-quality nonwoven sold at a discount instead of as prime, such as start-up material or off-spec rolls. Shop talk

The low-power laser whose output is amplified in a MOPA or amplifier chain, setting its timing and spectrum. Shop talk

Small hard lumps in the cured film from gelled or fused bits of powder rather than outside dirt. Shop talk

Seasonal energy efficiency ratio: an air conditioner's cooling output over a typical season divided by its electricity use.

Separation of coarse and fine aggregate, or of hot and cold mix, that leaves open, low-density spots in the mat.

Separation of coarse aggregate from the mortar in fresh concrete, leaving rock-heavy and paste-heavy zones.

A standing oscillation of water sloshing back and forth in a lake, bay or harbour at its natural period.

Arranging protection so only the device nearest a fault operates and the rest of the system stays in service.

An instrument's built-in routine that realigns its internal ranges against its own onboard reference. Shop talk

Castable designed to flow and level under its own weight, with no vibration needed.

Nickel or cobalt alloy with boron and silicon that fluxes its own oxides when fused after spraying.

A tightened nut or bolt turning loose by itself, usually because sideways slip in the joint lets it walk off.

Spectral broadening of an intense pulse caused by its own intensity changing the refractive index it travels through.

A tide with two high waters and two low waters of similar height in each lunar day.

Heat that changes the air's temperature, which you can read on a thermometer.

The factor that converts an input's uncertainty into its effect on the output, the partial derivative of the model.

Keeping two different soil layers, such as an aggregate base and a soft subgrade, from mixing under load.

A grid giving the height difference between the GNSS ellipsoid and chart datum across an area.

A multiplier applied to the required power when picking a gearbox, to cover shock and duty severity.

Extra cable coiled and stored at a vault, pole or panel so the fiber can be re-spliced or moved later.

A manually operated valve on a condensing unit or receiver that isolates refrigerant and provides a gauge port.

The direction a current flows toward (set) and its speed (drift).

Applying the train's air brakes and then releasing them, the basic sequence of every air brake test. Shop talk

A drop in water level below the predicted tide caused by winds blowing water away from the coast.

To leave a car or group of cars on a track short of the train's final destination. Shop talk

A headless screw, usually socket driven, whose point bears on a shaft to fix a pulley, collar or knob in place.

EMT connector or coupling that grips the tubing with a screw, used in dry indoor locations.

Shop phrase for adjusting pinion depth and backlash on a bevel or hypoid set until the contact pattern is right. Shop talk

To thicken and start to hold, the point where an adhesive stops being workable. Shop talk

A small rubber block under the bottom edge of the glass that carries its weight and keeps it off the frame.

An accident involving significant damage to the reactor core, with possible fuel melting and large releases.

Sulphur hexafluoride: a dense, highly insulating gas used to quench arcs in high-voltage switchgear.

Surface feet per minute: how fast the cutting edge moves across the work, the basis for spindle speed.

The exact color of a paper grade measured against its approved standard, for whites as well as tinted sheets.

Small dose of blue or violet dye used to cancel the yellow cast of a white sheet and steer its tint.

Weibull beta: the slope of a Weibull plot, which shows whether failures are early-life, random or wear-out.

Socket head cap screw: a round-headed, high-strength screw driven with a hex key into a tapped hole.

Seam test that pulls the two sheets apart in their own plane, loading the whole weld in shear.

Crew shorthand for one registered survey area and its data set, worked and reported as a single unit. Shop talk

Papermakers' word for the continuous paper web on the machine, and for the grade as a product. Shop talk

Waterproofing supplied in rolls of factory-made sheet with a controlled thickness, joined at overlapping laps.

The use-by window for a sealed container of adhesive, tied to the storage conditions on the label.

How long boxed powder stays sprayable and reactive when stored cool and dry.

A hydrostatic pressure test of the valve body and bonnet, run with the valve partly open, to prove the shell holds.

A protective action in which people stay indoors with doors and windows shut to reduce dose from a passing plume.

Second Harmonic Generation: converting light to exactly double its frequency, half its wavelength, in a nonlinear crystal.

Material placed between a radiation source and people to absorb radiation and reduce dose rate.

Gas that protects the arc and molten weld from the surrounding air in GMAW, GTAW and gas-shielded FCAW.

Sudden, sustained step change in a process mean, often after a maintenance event, material change or recipe edit.

Radiation reaching a spot from a nearby source, through a gap or by scattering, rather than from what is being worked on. Shop talk

To lay overlapping panels with the upslope piece on top, so water sheds over the lap instead of into it. Shop talk

Overlapping layers so each upper piece lies over the one below, sending water down and out like roof shingles.

Small bundle of fibers that were never separated during pulping, seen as a splinter-like speck in paper.

A seabed area shallower than its surroundings that can endanger vessels; as a verb, to become shallower.

Favouring the shallower value whenever depths are generalised, so a chart never shows more water than exists.

A temporary track built around an obstruction, bridge job or wreck so trains can keep moving. Shop talk

To take a reading with a nuclear gauge or infrared gun, as in shooting density or shooting a load's temperature. Shop talk

To test a fiber with an OTDR, as in shoot the fiber or shoot it from both ends. Shop talk

To spray powder, as in shooting a part or shooting a color. Shop talk

Booth verb for spraying a coating onto a part or coupon. Shop talk

Someone who practically lives in the shop, on the clock or off, and is happiest at a machine. Shop talk

Unintended low-impedance path between conductors at different potentials, bypassing the load.

GMAW mode in which the wire touches the pool and shorts many times a second, giving a cool, controllable arc.

A burner starting and stopping far too often, with short run times that waste fuel and wear parts.

A compressor or system turning on and off too often, with run times too short to reach steady operation.

A concrete delivery smaller than the plant's minimum, which brings an extra per-yard or flat fee. Shop talk

Road or rail crossing casing pipe that has made metal contact with the carrier pipe and steals CP current. Shop talk

Small beads or lumps of polymer that failed to form fibers and sit embedded in a meltblown web. Shop talk

A single industrial radiography exposure, used to x-ray a weld with a gamma source or X-ray tube. Shop talk

A single laser pulse, especially from a high-energy or low-repetition-rate system. Shop talk

One full stroke of a manual grease gun, the everyday unit for how much grease goes in. Shop talk

Shop word for a radiograph of a weld, or the act of X-raying it, as in the weld got shot. Shop talk

Blasting gear roots with hard steel shot to build compressive stress and raise bending fatigue strength.

Concrete shot from a nozzle by compressed air and built up in layers on walls, slopes, pools and tunnels.

Wet-mix gunning: castable pumped through a hose and set instantly by accelerator added at the nozzle.

To push cars with the locomotive behind them, as opposed to pulling them. Shop talk

Localized bulging and sliding of the asphalt surface where traffic brakes, turns or accelerates.

Print on the back of a sheet, or on the page beneath, visible from the front because too much light passes through.

Sensible heat ratio: the share of a cooling load or coil capacity that is sensible rather than latent.

Shortening of a conduit run caused by an offset or saddle, which has to be added back when marking bends.

Precision low-resistance resistor in a CP circuit, used to measure current from the voltage across it.

How far subcritical a reactor would be with all rods inserted except the single most valuable one stuck out.

A rating of how much seat leakage a closed control valve is allowed, from Class I to Class VI.

International System of Units, the coherent set of seven base units on which all traceable measurement rests.

A sonar that images the seabed to either side of its track, revealing objects and textures by their echoes and shadows.

A track alongside the main line, connected at both ends, where trains meet or let others pass.

The SI unit for equivalent and effective dose, used to express radiation risk to people.

Process quality expressed as the number of standard deviations that fit between the mean and the nearest spec limit.

Describes a result unlikely to have come from chance alone at a stated risk level, which is not the same as important.

The convention of reporting uncertainty to one or two significant digits and rounding the result to match.

The rough amount of nuclear material judged enough to make one nuclear explosive device, used as a safeguards yardstick.

Brick of over 93 percent silica with high hot strength but sharp volume changes when cooled below red heat.

Ultrafine silica dust from silicon smelting that makes concrete much denser, stronger and less permeable.

Hard, highly conductive refractory used where abrasion, thermal shock and heat transfer all matter.

A sealant with a silicon-oxygen backbone, prized for UV resistance and high movement capability.

Printed ink layer on a board showing reference designators, outlines, polarity marks and logos.

A tray of flashing under a window or door with a raised back and ends, catching any water that gets past the unit.

Temporary geotextile fence along a slope or site edge that slows runoff and traps its sediment.

Common shop name for silver brazing alloys, even though they melt well above solder temperatures. Shop talk

For a safety valve to leak with an audible hiss or seep just below its set pressure, before it pops.

A decision rule that passes any item whose measured value lies inside the tolerance, leaving uncertainty out of the call.

Computing datums at a short-term station by comparing its record with a long-term control station over the same days.

A CNC control mode that runs one line of the program per press of cycle start, used to check moves.

The design rule that a safety system must still do its job despite any one component failing.

Running a gear against a master at fixed center distance and measuring rotational error on one flank only.

To cut a thread on a lathe with a single-point tool over several passes, rather than with a die or tap. Shop talk

An echo sounder that measures one depth directly beneath the vessel on each ping, using a single vertical beam.

Optical fiber with a core so small that light travels in a single path, used for long-haul, metro, FTTH and campus backbones.

Water level values recorded every six minutes, the standard sampling interval at many tide stations. Shop talk

Angled brick or support course from which a sprung arch springs and pushes its thrust into the steelwork.

Crew name for the long averaging beam on a paver that gives the grade sensor a smoothed reference. Shop talk

A very light cut that just cleans up a surface or establishes size without removing much material. Shop talk

Tendency of alternating current to crowd toward the surface of a conductor as frequency rises.

How long after application a sealant forms a surface skin, which ends the window for tooling.

Strong, stout and well built, the highest praise for a tool, part or weld; also means really good. Shop talk

Layer of solidified metal and slag left stuck to a ladle, converter or furnace lining after emptying. Shop talk

The free play in couplers and draft gear that lets cars move a little toward or away from each other.

A quench too slow to make full martensite, leaving pearlite, bainite or ferrite and low hardness.

The short lull when a reversing current almost stops while it swaps between flood and ebb.

The glassy crust that forms on top of a stick, flux-cored or submerged arc weld and is chipped off.

Chemical dissolution and penetration of a refractory by molten slag, the main wear mode in metal processing.

Ground granulated blast-furnace slag, an ironmaking byproduct that replaces part of the portland cement in a mix.

Nonmetallic slag trapped inside a weld instead of floating out to the surface.

Band of a ladle or furnace lining where the slag layer floats on the metal, usually the fastest-wearing zone.

BOF practice of blowing nitrogen onto retained slag to plaster the converter lining with a protective coat.

A check valve banging shut after flow has already reversed, sending a pressure surge through the line. Shop talk

Rigid steel pipeline that carries pumped concrete from the pump to a distant or elevated pour area. Shop talk

Valve of sliding refractory plates under a ladle or tundish that controls the flow of molten steel.

Shop name for a sling psychrometer, or any handheld instrument used to read wet bulb and dry bulb. Shop talk

Shortfall between the speed of an induction motor's rotating field and the actual speed of its rotor.

Woven geotextile made from flat polypropylene tapes cut from extruded film, strong and cheap but a poor filter.

Cutting a wide nonwoven roll lengthwise into narrower rolls on a slitter-rewinder.

Very narrow strip of copper or soldermask in the artwork that can peel loose during fabrication. Shop talk

Shop word for too much play in a gear train or drive, felt as free movement before anything turns. Shop talk

The rate at which laser output power rises per unit of extra pump power above threshold.

A temporary speed restriction on a stretch of track because of its condition, heat or work in progress. Shop talk

Standard liters per minute: gas flow corrected to standard temperature and pressure.

Metal disc knocked or punched out of a box or panel, which ends up underfoot and in the bottom of every panel. Shop talk

Liquid refrigerant or oil being drawn into a compressor's cylinders, where it can't be compressed and causes damage. Shop talk

How far a cone-shaped sample of fresh concrete sags, the standard field measure of consistency.

Stone matrix asphalt: a gap-graded, binder-rich surface mix built on a stone-on-stone skeleton.

Industry nickname for an in-line inspection tool that rides through a pipeline recording its condition. Shop talk

Shielded metal arc welding: arc welding with a flux-coated consumable electrode, known in the shop as stick.

A wipe of a surface with filter paper, counted to measure how much removable contamination is present.

The slight bowing of the emitter line on a laser diode bar, which spoils fast-axis collimation.

Cross-track curling of multibeam swaths, up or down at the edges, caused by sound speed errors. Shop talk

An oil burner test that pulls flue gas through filter paper and grades the dark spot from 0 to 9.

First power-up of a new board, usually current-limited, to see whether anything overheats or burns. Shop talk

How flat a paper surface is at a fine scale, usually measured by air leaking between the sheet and a reference land.

Spunbond-meltblown-spunbond: a three-layer composite of strong spunbond outer layers around a meltblown barrier core.

Surface mount technology: soldering components onto pads on the board surface instead of through holes.

Corrugated plastic electrical tubing that bends by hand, nicknamed for its bright blue color. Shop talk

A loose dark film left on metal after alkaline etching or acid pickling that must come off before coating.

Pressroom word for the visual contrast between glossy printed areas and the surrounding paper. Shop talk

A quick, low-temperature temper given right after quenching to keep crack-prone parts from splitting. Shop talk

Approach a final dimension with smaller and smaller cuts, measuring between each, so you never go undersize. Shop talk

To hunt for helium escaping from a pressurized part by sweeping a sniffer probe slowly over joints and welds. Shop talk

Cement plant name for the mound of sticky clinker that builds up at the inlet of the clinker cooler. Shop talk

An oval aerial bracket, shaped like a snowshoe, used to store slack loops of fiber cable on the strand. Shop talk

The first stage of bolting, where the joint plies are pulled into firm contact before final tightening.

To hold parts at a set temperature until they are evenly heated and the intended change is complete.

Letting an instrument, artifact or part sit in the lab environment until it reaches thermal equilibrium. Shop talk

Brick of standard length and thickness but half the width, such as 9 by 2.25 by 2.5 inches.

A woven wire mesh pulling grip that slips over a cable end and tightens as it is pulled. Shop talk

Knitted or nonwoven geotextile sleeve slipped over perforated drainpipe to keep soil out of the slots. Shop talk

An end connection where the pipe slides into a recessed socket and is joined by a fillet weld around the outside.

Shop and kiln builder name for insulating firebrick, light enough to carve with a hand saw. Shop talk

Vise or chuck jaws of aluminum or mild steel, machined in place to cradle a specific part.

Slow, throttled roughing from atmosphere that avoids stirring up particles and condensing moisture. Shop talk

A small area on a hardened surface that reads lower than the rest, usually from uneven quenching.

How strongly soil resists electric current, in ohm-cm, the main guide to soil corrosivity and anode design.

Mix of fine solder powder and flux printed onto pads to hold parts in place and form the joints in reflow.

Joining with a filler metal that melts below 450 °C, wetting the parts without melting them.

Thin polymer coating over a board's copper that leaves pads exposed and keeps solder where it belongs.

An electrically operated valve in which a coil pulls a plunger to open or close an orifice.

Dry film material such as graphite, molybdenum disulfide or PTFE that cuts friction without a liquid.

Invisible chloride, sulfate and nitrate contamination on steel that causes blistering and early coating failure.

Heating an alloy to dissolve its strengthening elements into one phase, then quenching to trap them there.

Joining plastics by softening their surfaces with a solvent cement so the two parts fuse into one.

Coated with soot on the fire side, from rich or poor combustion, so heat transfer and draft suffer. Shop talk

Free carbon depositing in a furnace or on parts when the atmosphere carries more carbon than it can hold.

Either the wafer-level electrical test that bins every die, or a 100 percent inspection that screens suspect parts. Shop talk

A single measured depth at a known position, or a depth figure printed on a chart.

Choosing which surveyed depths appear on a chart so the shoalest water is always shown.

Concrete so wet it runs like liquid, usually because too much water went into the truck. Shop talk

Grease that has broken down or been mixed with an incompatible type and turned runny. Shop talk

Operating conditions with wet hydrogen sulfide, which call for cracking-resistant materials and controls.

The amount, type, timing and chemical form of radioactive material released, or assumed released, in an accident.

Small glass or plastic spheres mixed into an adhesive to hold a set bondline thickness under clamp pressure.

A solid blank plate with a handle, slipped between flanges to positively isolate a line. Shop talk

A messy tangle of patch cords hanging in front of a rack, with no cable management or labeling. Shop talk

Chunks or flakes breaking away from a concrete surface or edge, often from corroding rebar beneath.

Large, irregular flakes broken out of a tooth surface, usually where pits have grown and joined.

Cracking off of pieces or layers from the hot face of a refractory lining.

Flakes or chunks of coating breaking away from the surface, typically under thermal cycling or impact.

Flaking of large chunks from a bearing race or gear tooth after fatigue cracks below the surface link up.

Concrete, brick or stone breaking off in flakes or chunks at the surface.

Checking tooth thickness by measuring across several teeth with a disc micrometer.

Holiday test for extrusion welds in which a high-voltage probe sparks through any gap to a buried conductive wire.

Friendly nickname for an electrician, used on jobsites by other trades, customers and electricians themselves. Shop talk

Droplets of metal thrown out of the arc that stick to the work and everything around it.

Statistical process control: using control charts and run rules to tell routine process noise from real changes.

Spectral Power Distribution: a graph of how much power a light source emits at each wavelength.

Shop clipping for a manufacturer's accuracy specification, the published limits an instrument should stay within. Shop talk

Specific, identifiable source of variation that is not part of the process's normal behavior and shows up as a chart signal.

A survey order for harbours and channels where under-keel clearance is critical, with full coverage and 1 m feature detection.

The probability that one particular measured item is out of tolerance, given its actual measured value.

Acceptance boundaries for a product characteristic set by design or customer requirements, labeled USL and LSL.

The grainy pattern of bright and dark spots seen when coherent laser light scatters off a rough surface.

A figure-8 shaped plate between two flanges with one solid end for isolation and one open ring for flow.

Instrument that measures reflectance across the visible spectrum and computes brightness, whiteness, opacity and color.

An instrument that measures light's power at each wavelength, from which color and photometric values are calculated.

A deep, water-filled pool at a reactor where used fuel is stored to cool and to shield its radiation.

Long holds near the lower critical temperature that turn carbides into small round particles.

Shop name for the small bevel gears inside a differential that let the two wheels turn at different speeds. Shop talk

Light that falls outside the area it is aimed at, onto walls, ceilings, audiences or neighbors. Shop talk

Flue gas escaping into the room from a draft hood or damper instead of going up the chimney.

To send a board design out to be fabricated; each build round is a spin, as in the first spin. Shop talk

Of a turbo pump, to coast down from full speed after it is switched off, which takes many minutes on its own. Shop talk

Thin coating applied to fibers during manufacture to control friction, static and wettability in processing.

Magnesium aluminate mineral used in chrome-free basic bricks and slag-resistant ladle castables.

A fastener that just turns without tightening or loosening, because its thread, insert or captive nut gave up. Shop talk

Metal plate drilled with many small holes through which molten polymer is extruded into filaments.

A bevel gear with curved, oblique teeth that overlap in engagement for smoother, quieter right-angle drives.

A flange gasket made of a V-shaped metal strip wound with a soft filler, held between an outer ring and usually an inner ring.

Twisting of brick rings out of radial alignment inside a rotary kiln when the lining works loose. Shop talk

Describes a steam radiator vent that throws out water and steam instead of just air. Shop talk

Powder bursting out of the gun in clumps, leaving lumps and heavy spots on the part. Shop talk

A gun shedding blobs of molten buildup into the coating, leaving lumps known as spits. Shop talk

A single flattened, frozen droplet: the basic building block of a thermal spray coating.

Joint made when the end of one roll is attached to the start of the next to keep material running.

A sealed, re-enterable housing that protects fiber splices in outside plant, on poles, in vaults or buried.

A connector with a factory-polished fiber stub that is fusion spliced directly onto the field fiber.

A heat-shrink sleeve with a steel rod that is shrunk over a fusion splice to protect the bare glass.

The temperature difference between return and supply air across a coil, used as a quick health check. Shop talk

Brick of standard length and width but reduced thickness, used to adjust course heights.

A split, helical spring washer sold to stop loosening, though it does little once a joint is properly tightened.

Lot of wafers divided between two or more process conditions so the comparison shares the same incoming material. Shop talk

Extra survey lines run halfway between existing lines to tighten spacing over a shoal or suspicious spot. Shop talk

Bicomponent fiber built to split into much finer microfibers after it has been laid into a web.

A passive optical device that divides the light from one fiber among several output fibers.

Winding a narrow strip back and forth across a wide core, like thread on a spool, to pack very long lengths.

Caulker's word for a tooling tool, often an actual bent spoon or a spoon-shaped steel blade. Shop talk

To place a car at an exact location, such as an industry's loading door, pit or rack. Shop talk

Spraying a self-fluxing alloy, then remelting it with a torch, induction or furnace so it fuses to the part.

The angle between the spray jet and the surface, ideally 90 degrees for the densest coating.

How much feedstock goes through the gun per unit time, usually in grams per minute or pounds per hour.

GMAW mode in which a stream of fine droplets sprays across the arc, giving high deposition and deep fusion.

A repeat finishing pass at the same setting to remove the material left behind by tool spring. Shop talk

Describes a single-acting actuator that uses air to move one way and a spring to move back and fail safe.

A tide of larger than average range, occurring around new and full moon when Sun and Moon pull in line.

Nonwoven of continuous filaments extruded, air-drawn and laid on a belt, then usually bonded by a hot calender.

Fabric bonded by hydroentangling, and the usual trade name for the whole process family.

Describes webs made by extruding polymer into filaments and laying them down directly in one continuous line.

Collective term for spunbond and meltblown processes and the composite fabrics made by combining them.

A short dead-end track branching off to serve an industry or to store cars. Shop talk

A cylindrical gear with straight teeth parallel to its axis, the simplest gear for parallel shafts.

The lowering of a vessel in the water as it moves, which must be added to sonar depths at survey speed.

The excess adhesive that oozes out along the joint edges at clamp-up, read as proof the joint is full.

Bead of molten polymer pressed out along the edge of a fusion seam by the welder's rollers. Shop talk

Control-room shorthand for an animal-caused fault, typically a squirrel or bird bridging live parts. Shop talk

Shop name for a direct tension indicator filled with colored silicone that squirts out when the bolt is tight. Shop talk

Sulfate-reducing bacteria: oxygen-free microbes that make hydrogen sulfide and drive much MIC.

Structural silicone glazing, where glass is held to its frame by silicone instead of exterior caps or stops.

The ability of an instrument or standard to hold its calibrated values as the weeks and months pass.

Improving how soft ground or an aggregate base carries traffic by adding geogrids or geotextiles.

Shop name for the whole column of high vacuum pump, valves, trap and backing line that pumps a chamber. Shop talk

The buoyancy-driven airflow that pushes warm air out the top of a building and pulls outdoor air in at the bottom.

The temperature of the flue gas as it leaves the boiler, a direct measure of how much heat is going up the chimney.

An intermodal train carrying shipping containers stacked two high in well cars. Shop talk

Slang for a weld bead with even, tight ripples that look like a row of overlapping coins. Shop talk

Ordered arrangement of copper layers, cores and prepregs that makes up a multilayer board, with each thickness.

A set of tide staff readings taken alongside the gauge to check that the gauge is still reading true. Shop talk

The pause at the top or bottom of the tide, when the level hangs nearly still before turning.

The usual measure of scatter in a set of values, the square root of the average squared deviation from the mean.

Typical distance of individual values from their mean, the basic measure of spread, written as sigma or s.

CIE model of average human color vision, defined for a 2-degree or a 10-degree field of view.

Uncertainty expressed as one standard deviation, the common currency for combining uncertainty components.

The distance from the gun exit to the surface being sprayed, which sets how hot and fast particles arrive.

Fibers cut to a fixed, finite length, as opposed to continuous filament, used in carded, airlaid and wetlaid webs.

Describes an evaporator not getting enough refrigerant, so part of the coil runs warm and superheat is high. Shop talk

A joint left short of adhesive, with bare patches or voids where the glue soaked in, squeezed out or never reached.

The vertical distance from the waterline down to the transducer face while the vessel is at rest.

A disposable nozzle full of fixed baffles that mixes two adhesive components as they are pushed through.

The pressure air exerts outward on duct walls, the resistance a fan works against, measured in inches of water column.

A tape test that hangs a weight from a bonded strip and records how long it holds before sliding off.

An arbitrary fixed zero set below the lowest expected water at a station, used to record raw water levels.

An automatic valve that drains condensate and air out of steam lines and equipment while holding steam back.

The rod that carries motion from the handwheel, lever or actuator through the bonnet to the closure member.

Thin laser-cut metal sheet used to print solder paste onto board pads before parts are placed.

The marked clean spot at the exit of a contaminated area where workers remove protective clothing and step out. Shop talk

Voltage between a person's feet across the ground surface near an earth fault or an earthed structure.

One full 10-foot length of conduit, the unit crews count pipe in. Shop talk

Jerky motion where sliding parts alternately grab and jump because static friction beats sliding friction.

The length of wire or electrode extending past the contact tip or cup, which changes current and heat.

Static friction that makes a control valve stick, then jump, instead of moving smoothly with its signal. Shop talk

Describes a supply with low source impedance, so its voltage barely moves when load or fault current changes. Shop talk

An upright tube fed through a narrow bottom intake, filtering out waves so the gauge inside sees only the slow tide.

Emission of a photon by an excited atom, triggered by an incoming photon and identical to it in color, phase and direction.

An internal concrete vibrator, or specifically the vibrating head on the end of its flexible shaft. Shop talk

Lead that drops from a pole-top fuse cutout to a transformer's primary bushing, in lineman and service talk. Shop talk

Shop name for the immersion vibrator head pushed into fresh castable to consolidate it. Shop talk

Shop name for the electrode holder that grips a stick rod and carries welding current to it. Shop talk

Bonding a fiber web or layers of yarn by knitting rows of chain stitches through them.

Radiation effects, chiefly cancer, whose probability rises with dose but whose severity does not.

A paint, paste or plating applied to areas of a part that must not carburize or nitride.

A rise of water above the predicted tide caused by a storm's winds and low pressure.

The full water level reached in a storm: astronomical tide and storm surge added together.

Silyl-terminated polyether, a moisture-curing hybrid sealant that is paintable, weather-resistant and free of isocyanates.

The standard rectangular firebrick, 9 by 4.5 by 2.5 inches in US sizing, used as the counting unit for brickwork.

The galvanized steel messenger wire strung between poles that supports aerial fiber cable.

A threaded or sweat elbow with one male and one female end, so it screws straight into another fitting. Shop talk

Brittle cracking of polyethylene geomembranes under long-term tension well below their yield strength.

Heating a part below its transformation range to relax residual stress from welding, machining or forming.

Plot of friction against viscosity times speed over load, showing the boundary, mixed and full-film regimes.

To start the arc in a discharge lamp; restrike is relighting it after it has gone out.

Hygiene test time for a set dose of liquid to pass through a topsheet into the absorbent pad underneath.

Penetration of ink or its oil vehicle through a sheet far enough to darken or stain the reverse side.

A straight, narrow bead run along the joint without weaving, the opposite of a weave bead.

Line name for the thin perforated metal jet strip that forms the water jets in a hydroentangling injector. Shop talk

To remove cured powder from a rejected part or rack so it can be recoated. Shop talk

Removing a failed or worn coating completely and applying a new one, a standard repair and rework. Shop talk

The three-step fiber prep routine done before every splice or splice-on connector. Shop talk

To seal the flange of a flashing or fixture to the surrounding membrane with an overlapping strip of tape or sheet. Shop talk

Tensile test in which the full width of a narrow strip is clamped and pulled to break.

Extra coat brushed onto edges, welds, bolts and corners to build thickness where spray runs thin.

Visible bands or ridges across a coating caused by uneven overlap between passes. Shop talk

Loss of the binder's bond to the aggregate surface, caused by moisture working into the mix.

The way moving or rotating objects look stopped, slowed or multiplied under light that flickers.

To run an automated valve through its full travel to prove it moves, seats and reports position correctly.

A fast-curing two-part methacrylate adhesive that bonds metals, plastics and composites with little surface prep.

Ninety-degree bend that brings conduit straight up from a floor or out from a wall to a set height.

A headless rod threaded at both ends or along its full length, used with nuts or screwed into a tapped hole.

A bell-shaped distribution with heavier tails than the normal, used to set coverage factors when data are limited.

To load components onto a bare board, by hand or machine; a stuffed board is an assembled one. Shop talk

A low-frequency sonar that penetrates the seabed to image buried layers and objects beneath the bottom.

Chilling hardened steel well below room temperature to turn retained austenite into martensite.

How many degrees liquid refrigerant is below its condensing temperature at the same pressure.

Native or prepared soil surface on which a pavement, aggregate base or liner system is built.

A location whose tides are predicted by applying time and height corrections to a nearby reference station.

A joint failure where the bonded material itself breaks before the adhesive or the interface gives.

The joint face itself breaking, so sealant comes away with a skin of concrete, coating or EIFS still attached.

The temperature of the part being coated, usually held below about 150 °C during spraying.

Shop name for a concave root on pipe, where the inside of the weld sits below the pipe wall. Shop talk

Shop name for water-soluble cutting coolant, the milky mix of oil concentrate and water. Shop talk

Heavy oxidation on the back of a stainless or titanium weld that leaves a rough, grainy crust like sugar. Shop talk

Homemade cord with a male plug on both ends, used to backfeed a house from a generator. Shop talk

Shop name for a portable, enclosed wire feeder carried out to the work on a long lead. Shop talk

Deterioration of concrete by sulfates from soil, groundwater or seawater reacting with the cement paste.

Cracking of hard steel under tension in wet hydrogen sulfide service, a form of hydrogen embrittlement.

A sideways buckle in welded rail caused by heat, which can throw the track out of line under a train. Shop talk

Popular name for high tide flooding that arrives in fine weather, with no rain or storm in sight. Shop talk

Everyday name for cyanoacrylate instant adhesive, used on the floor for any CA grade. Shop talk

Off-machine stack of alternating steel and resilient filled rolls that gives paper high gloss and smoothness.

Extremely broad, spatially coherent white-light spectrum created by sending intense pulses through a nonlinear fiber.

Describing polyester powders built with weather-stable acids that hold gloss and color several times longer outdoors.

The amount the outer rail of a curve is raised above the inner rail, measured in inches.

Polishing ground gear teeth to a mirror-like finish, chemically assisted, to cut friction and surface fatigue.

How many degrees refrigerant vapor is above its boiling point at the pressure it is at.

The performance-based system for grading binders and designing asphalt mixes around climate and traffic.

A measure of how strongly a solid surface attracts liquids, which decides whether an adhesive can wet it.

Final coating on exposed copper pads that stops them oxidising and decides how well they solder.

A thick slab of granite or cast iron, lapped flat, that every height check and layout line is measured from.

The speed of sound right at the sonar face, measured continuously so the multibeam can steer its beams.

How fast the part surface moves past the gun, set by part rotation and robot traverse.

Device that clamps transient overvoltages by diverting surge current to earth, then returns to insulating.

A small survey boat fitted with sonar and positioning gear, often lowered from a mother ship for inshore work.

A portable instrument used to measure radiation dose rates or detect contamination in the field.

A geosynthetic's ability to make it through shipping, placement and compaction without being damaged.

Sound velocity profile: how the speed of sound changes with depth through the water, measured to correct sonar depths.

A forged reducing nipple that steps a small bore line down one or more sizes, with threaded, plain or beveled ends.

An evaporative cooler that blows outdoor air through wet pads, cooling it by evaporation and adding moisture. Shop talk

The strip of seabed measured or imaged across the track on one line of a multibeam or side-scan survey.

To join copper pipe and fittings with a torch and filler metal drawn into the joint by capillary action. Shop talk

Painter slang for the induction time a freshly mixed epoxy must stand before it is applied. Shop talk

Flue gas moisture condensing on the cold fireside of a boiler during startup and dripping into the combustion chamber. Shop talk

Long-radius conduit elbow, common in underground PVC runs, that makes pulling big or long cables easier. Shop talk

A search that drags a wire or bar at a set depth to prove an area clear of obstructions to that depth.

To rotate an indicator in the spindle around a bore, boss or circle to find its center or check alignment. Shop talk

A quick, light blast pass to refresh a prepared surface or clean overspray without cutting deep. Shop talk

Region of factor settings where every response meets its target at once, found by overlaying response contour plots. Shop talk

Short-lived rise in RMS voltage above normal, often seen on the healthy phases during an earth fault.

Test of how much a sample of bentonite from a GCL swells in water, an indicator of its sealing quality.

Designer slang for a plane so riddled with via clearance holes that its copper is barely continuous. Shop talk

Conductor that carries switched power from a switch to the light or load it controls.

The list telling a yard or local crew which cars to move and where each one goes.

The pair of movable, tapered rails in a turnout that steer wheels onto one route or the other.

Assemblies of breakers, switches, fuses, busbars and enclosures that control and protect power circuits.

Written step-by-step sequence of operations used to isolate or restore equipment safely.

Clipped shop word for synthetic oil or grease, as in syn gear oil or full syn. Shop talk

Error component that pushes every repeat reading the same way, or follows a pattern you can predict and correct.