nude:
nugry:
nuke:
number-crunching:
numbers:
NUXI problem:
nybble:
nyetwork:
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N /N/ quant.
1. A large and indeterminate number of objects: "There were N
bugs in that crock!" Also used in its original sense of a
variable name: "This crock has N bugs, as N goes to infinity."
(The true number of bugs is always at least N + 1; see Lubarsky's Law
of Cybernetic Entomology.) 2. A variable whose value is
inherited from the current context. For example, when a meal is
being ordered at a restaurant, N may be understood to mean
however many people there are at the table. From the remark "We'd
like to order N wonton soups and a family dinner for N - 1" you
can deduce that one person at the table wants to eat only soup,
even though you don't know how many people there are (see great-wall). 3. `Nth': adj. The
ordinal counterpart of N, senses 1 and 2. "Now for the Nth and
last time..." In the specific context "Nth-year
grad student", N is generally assumed to be at least 4, and is
usually 5 or more (see tenured graduate
student). See also random
numbers, two-to-the-N.