15-letter words containing a, d, i, p
- paget's disease — Pathology. a chronic disease characterized by episodic accelerated bone resorption and growth of abnormal replacement bone, causing bone pain, deformation, fractures, and osteosarcoma; osteitis deformans.
- paid-in capital — finance: payments from investors
- paid-in surplus — surplus paid in by purchasers of stock certificates sold at a premium.
- painted bunting — a brilliantly colored bunting, Passerina ciris, of the southern U.S.
- pair production — Physics. the simultaneous creation of a particle and its antiparticle by a nucleus or particle in an excited state, as when a photon is absorbed.
- palais de danse — a dance hall
- palindromically — a word, line, verse, number, sentence, etc., reading the same backward as forward, as Madam, I'm Adam or Poor Dan is in a droop.
- panzer division — an armored division of the German army, especially in World War II, consisting chiefly of tanks and organized for making rapid attacks.
- paphian goddess — Aphrodite, worshiped in Cyprus as the goddess of sexual love.
- paracel islands — a group of uninhabited islets and reefs in the N South China Sea, the subject of territorial claims by China and Vietnam
- paradise flower — a prickly vine, Solanum wendlandii, of the nightshade family, native to Costa Rica, having branched clusters of showy lilac-blue flowers.
- paradise valley — a town in SW Arizona.
- parallel-veined — having closely spaced longitudinal veins, as the leaves of most monocotyledonous plants.
- parallelopipeda — plural of parallelopipedon
- pars intermedia — a small, somewhat cherry-shaped double structure attached by a stalk to the base of the brain and constituting the master endocrine gland affecting all hormonal functions in the body, consisting of an anterior region ((anterior pituitary) or (adenohypophysis)) that develops embryonically from the roof of the mouth and that secretes growth hormone, LH, FSH, ACTH, TSH, and MSH, a posterior region ((posterior pituitary) or (neurohypophysis)) that develops from the back of the forebrain and that secretes the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin, and an intermediate part (pars intermedia) derived from the anterior region but joined to the posterior region, that secretes the hormone MSH in lower vertebrates.
- partial denture — an artificial replacement of one or several of the teeth (partial denture) or all of the teeth (full denture) of either or both jaws; dental prosthesis.
- partial product — the result obtained when a number is multiplied by one digit of a multiplier
- patent medicine — a medicine sold without a prescription in drugstores or by sales representatives, and usually protected by a trademark.
- paternity order — a court order which declares a child's paternity
- pay-and-display — denoting a car-parking system in which a motorist buys a permit to park for a specified period from a coin-operated machine and displays the permit on or near the windscreen of his or her car so that it can be seen by a parking attendant
- payment holiday — a break taken from paying ( a debt etc) back
- peak production — the maximum production
- pectoral girdle — (in vertebrates) a bony or cartilaginous arch supporting the forelimbs.
- pedagoguishness — the quality of being pedagoguish
- pedestrian mall — A pedestrian mall is the same as a pedestrian precinct.
- pelargonic acid — a colorless, oily, water-immiscible liquid, C 9 H 1 8 O 2 , occurring as an ester in a volatile oil in species of pelargonium: used chiefly in organic synthesis and in the manufacture of lacquers and plastics.
- penal servitude — imprisonment together with hard labor.
- penetration aid — a device or tactic, as the use of chaff or decoys or the maintaining of a low flight level, that helps an aircraft or missile to enter hostile air space.
- perchloric acid — a colorless, syrupy hygroscopic liquid, HClO 4 , an acid of chlorine containing one more oxygen atom than chloric acid: used chiefly as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- period-rotation — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
- perpendicularly — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
- personal friend — a person who is a friend, rather than a colleague or acquaintance
- phenazopyridine — a substance, C 1 1 H 1 2 ClN 5 , used as a lower urinary tract analgesic.
- phenylhydrazine — a yellow, poisonous liquid or low-melting solid, C 6 H 8 N 2 , used in chemical analysis and organic synthesis.
- phoenix islands — a group of eight coral islands in the central Pacific: administratively part of Kiribati. Area: 28 sq km (11 sq miles). The islands and surrounding waters form the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, the world's largest marine protected area. Area: 410 500 sq km (158 500 sq miles)
- phonocardiogram — the graphic record produced by a phonocardiograph.
- phosphoric acid — any of three acids, orthophosphoric acid, H 3 PO 4 , metaphosphoric acid, HPO 3 , or pyrophosphoric acid, H 4 P 2 O 7 , derived from phosphorus pentoxide, P 2 O 5 , and various amounts of water.
- photodissociate — to split or break up molecules as a result of the absorption of photons
- piano accordion — accordion (def 1).
- piano reduction — a musical score having the parts condensed or simplified in two staves, to render the music playable on the piano by one person.
- pick and choose — to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.
- pick-and-shovel — marked by drudgery; laborious: the pick-and-shovel work necessary to get a political campaign underway.
- pied flycatcher — a small black and white migratory bird of Europe and western Asia, Ficedula hypoleuca
- pine leaf aphid — any of various homopterous insects of the family Adelgidae, as Adelges abietis (spruce gall aphid) and Pineus pinifoliae (pine leaf aphid) that feed and form galls on conifers.
- pitcairn island — a small British island in the S Pacific, SE of Tuamotu Archipelago: settled 1790 by mutineers of the Bounty. 2 sq. mi. (5 sq. km).
- pituitary gland — a small, somewhat cherry-shaped double structure attached by a stalk to the base of the brain and constituting the master endocrine gland affecting all hormonal functions in the body, consisting of an anterior region ((anterior pituitary) or (adenohypophysis)) that develops embryonically from the roof of the mouth and that secretes growth hormone, LH, FSH, ACTH, TSH, and MSH, a posterior region ((posterior pituitary) or (neurohypophysis)) that develops from the back of the forebrain and that secretes the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin, and an intermediate part (pars intermedia) derived from the anterior region but joined to the posterior region, that secretes the hormone MSH in lower vertebrates.
- platinum blonde — a person, especially a girl or woman, whose hair is of a pale blond or silver color, usually colored artificially by bleaching or dyeing.
- platitudinarian — a person who frequently or habitually utters platitudes.
- platitudinously — in a platitudinal manner
- pleasant island — former name of Nauru.