The Oxford Dictionary of New Words: A popular guide to words in ...

variations on the same theme: acid cloud, a term designed to
emphasize the fact that acidic gases could damage the
environment even without any precipitation; acid fallout, the
overall atmospheric effect of pollution; acid precipitation, the
name sometimes used for snow or hail of high acidity.
She has a list of favorite subjects, favorite serious
subjects--nuclear proliferation, acid rain,
unemployment, as well as racial bigotry and the
situation of women.
Alice Munro Progress of Love (1987), p. 190
Burning oil will contribute to the carbon dioxide
umbrella and the acid rain deposited on Europe.
Private Eye 1 Sept. 1989, p. 25
acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(Health and Fitness) see Aids
active adjective (Science and Technology)
Programmed so as to be able to monitor and adjust to different
situations or to carry out several different functions; smart,
intelligent°.
Etymology: A simple development of sense: the software enables
the device to act on the results of monitoring or on commands
from its user.
History and Usage: This sense of active became popular in the
naming of products which make use of developments in artificial
intelligence and microelectronics during the late eighties and
early nineties: for example, the Active Book, the trade mark of
a product designed to enable an executive to use facilities like
fax, telephone, dictaphone, etc. through a single portable
device; the active card, a smart card with its own keyboard and
display, enabling its user to discover the remaining balance,
request transactions, etc.; active optics, which makes use of
computer technology to correct light for the distortion placed
upon it as it passes through the atmosphere; active suspension,
a suspension system for cars in which the hydraulic activators