polynomial-time algorithm
<complexity> A known algorithm (or Turing Machine) that is guaranteed to terminate within a number of steps which is a polynomial function of the size of the problem.
See also computational complexity, exponential time, nondeterministic polynomial-time (NP), NP-complete.
Nearby terms:
polymorphism « polynomial « polynomial-time « polynomial-time algorithm » polyvinyl chloride » POM » Ponder
