Key terms & definitions

Numerical data that can take any value within a range, such as reaction time.

A fibre forming a long, continuous length, rather than a short staple length.

Manufacture on a heavily automated production line intended to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Repeatedly reviewing and making small improvements to a product or production process to improve performance and reduce waste.

Manufacture in which reactants are supplied and product is removed continually while the process operates.

Manufacturing that runs continuously, often 24 hours a day, to supply a product in constant demand.

A quantity that can take any value within a range, such as length, time or mass.

A quantity that can take any value within a range, such as a mass or a length, rather than only separate values.

Removing and testing small samples repeatedly while a reaction is taking place.

A method in which small samples are repeatedly removed from a reaction mixture to monitor its progress.

An unbroken range of wavelengths and frequencies, rather than radiation at only a few separate values.

Sustained aerobic exercise at a constant rate, without rests, for a minimum of 20 minutes.

A numerical variable that can take any value within a range, such as time or temperature.

Variation in which phenotypes form a range between two extremes rather than separate categories.

Variation in which a characteristic can take a range of values, with many intermediate values.

A scale between two extremes. A skill can lie towards either end or somewhere between them.

A line joining points at the same height above sea level.

A low barrier of earth or stones built along a contour, across a slope, to slow runoff and retain soil and water.

The vertical difference in height between successive contour lines.

A line on a map joining points of equal height above sea level.

A wartime classification used by Union authorities for people escaping slavery, treating them as property taken from the enemy that would not be returned. The initial federal policy applied where their labour had supported the Confederacy.

A method used to prevent pregnancy.

Methods used to prevent pregnancy.

The use of a method or device to prevent pregnancy.

A method used to prevent pregnancy.

A method used to prevent pregnancy.

A method used to prevent pregnancy, allowing greater control over whether and when to have children.

The percentage of users who do not experience a pregnancy during a stated period while using a contraceptive method.

An oral contraceptive taken by women to prevent pregnancy.

A shortened word or combination of words in which an apostrophe marks omitted letters, such as ‘didn’t’ for ‘did not’.