17-letter words containing a, c, e, t
- predatory pricing — If a company practises predatory pricing, it charges a much lower price for its products or services than its competitors in order to force them out of the market.
- prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
- prerogative court — a former ecclesiastical court in England and Ireland for the trial of certain testamentary cases.
- presentation copy — a copy of a book given by the publisher or author
- press association — an organization formed for the purpose of gathering news for transmittal to its members. Compare news agency.
- price maintenance — measures taken by manufacturers to maintain the price charged for their goods by resellers
- primary education — junior, elementary schooling
- primary structure — Biochemistry. the basic sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide or protein.
- private detective — a detective who is not a member of an official force but is employed by private parties.
- private education — education provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- private placement — a sale of an issue of securities by the issuing company directly to a limited number of investors, often only one or two large institutional investors, such as a bank or an insurance company (opposed to public offering): required to be cleared but not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- private secretary — a person who attends to the individual or confidential correspondence, files, etc., of a business executive, official, or the like.
- probability curve — a curve that describes the distribution of probability over the values of a random variable.
- probation officer — an officer who investigates and reports on the conduct of offenders who are free on probation.
- product placement — Product placement is a form of advertising in which a company has its product placed where it can be clearly seen during a film or television programme.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- project assurance — The process of specifying the support system: techniques, internal standards, measurements, tools, and training for a project; counselling the project team in the application of these elements and monitoring the adherence to the standards.
- promenade concert — a concert at which some of the audience stand rather than sit
- prostatic utricle — a small pouch near the prostate gland that opens into the urethra.
- protection factor — a figure representing the relative degree of protection from the sun's rays afforded by a particular sunscreen
- protection racket — a criminal activity in which money gangsters extort money from victims in exchange for freedom from molestation
- protective tariff — a tariff levied on imports to protect the domestic economy rather than to raise revenue
- protocol analyser — (communications, hardware, networking, testing, tool) Any device that captures and interprets the network traffic between two or more connected computer systems. The traffic can then be decoded so that it is possible to see what processes are occurring. By examining the flow of traffic, protocol analysers can be used to find out where problems (such as bottlenecks or the failure of a network device) are on a LAN. Advanced protocol analysers can also provide statistics on the traffic that can help to identify trends that may in future lead to further problems with the network.
- pseudo-democratic — pertaining to or of the nature of democracy or a democracy.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-humanistic — a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- psychotherapeutic — psychotherapy.
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- put into practice — If you put a belief or method into practice, you behave or act in accordance with it.
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- quadratic residue — a number x that is relatively prime to a given integer y and for which a number z exists whose square gives the same remainder as x when divided by y.
- quality assurance — a system for ensuring a desired level of quality in the development, production, or delivery of products and services: Quality assurance for nursing homes begins with a set of standards. Abbreviation: QA.
- quality paperback — a softbound book that is usually larger and more expensive than a mass market paperback and is sold primarily in bookstores as a trade book.
- quantum cell wire — (electronics, computing) (Or "quantum wire", "binary wire") Quantum cells arranged in a line to carry signals. Adjacent cells with the same orientation are at a low energy state and a change of orientation at one end of a quantum wire propagates along the wire, transmitting a signal. However, unlike conventional wire, since only the orientation of charge pairs changes, no current flows. Circuits created using quantum cell wires are referred to as Quantum-dot Wireless Digital Circuits, see quantum dot, Quantum-dot Cellular Automata.
- quantum chemistry — the application of quantum mechanics to the study of chemical phenomena.
- quantum mechanics — a theory of the mechanics of atoms, molecules, and other physical systems that are subject to the uncertainty principle. Abbreviation: QM.
- quarterback sneak — a play in which the quarterback charges into the middle of the line, usually immediately after receiving the ball from the center.
- quasi-competitive — of, pertaining to, involving, or decided by competition: competitive sports; a competitive examination.
- quasquicentennial — pertaining to or marking a period of 125 years.
- quatercentenaries — Plural form of quatercentenary.
- quattuordecillion — a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 45 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 84 zeros.
- quick on the draw — having fast reflexes
- racial harassment — persecution on the basis of race
- radiant emittance — radiant flux emitted per unit area.
- radiative capture — the capture of a particle, as a neutron, by a nucleus, inducing the emission of electromagnetic radiation, as a gamma ray.
- radioactive decay — decay (def 8).
- radioactive waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- rail detector car — a car equipped with special instruments and used to locate defects in rails.