23-letter words containing a, d, o, p, t
- lead replacement petrol — a less toxic fuel introduced in 2000 for cars requiring leaded petrol
- liquefied petroleum gas — a mixture of various petroleum gases, esp propane and butane, stored as a liquid under pressure and used as an engine fuel
- multimedia compact disc — (storage) (MMCD) A CD-ROM standard for storing 4.7 GB of data including video. MMCD is being developed by a large numer of computer manufacturers and is expected to be shipped in late 1996 or early 1997. Initially it will be aimed at the consumer market, then perhaps in CD-ROM format for computers, and maybe later on erasble CD.
- on-line data processing — the storing or processing of data on a computer using the internet
- painting and decorating — interior decoration
- parasexual reproduction — reproduction by recombination of genes from genetically dissimilar nuclei within binucleate or multinucleate cells, as in filamentous fungi.
- parkinson's law of data — "Data expands to fill the space available for storage"; buying more memory encourages the use of more memory-intensive techniques. It has been observed over the last 10 years that the memory usage of evolving systems tends to double roughly once every 18 months. Fortunately, memory density available for constant dollars also tends to double about once every 12 months (see Moore's Law); unfortunately, the laws of physics guarantee that the latter cannot continue indefinitely.
- parliamentary democracy — a system of government in which people elect representatives to a parliament to make laws, for example Canada and the UK
- partial differentiation — the process of finding one of the partial derivatives of a function of several variables.
- participatory democracy — individual participation by citizens in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, especially directly rather than through elected representatives.
- past one's sell-by date — If you say that someone or something is past their sell-by date, you mean they are no longer effective, interesting, or useful.
- patient confidentiality — the law that a doctor or medical practitioner cannot reveal anything said to them by their patients during consultation or treatment
- pentagonal dodecahedron — pyritohedron.
- percentage distribution — a frequency distribution is which individual frequencies are shown as a percentage of the total frequencies
- performance-related pay — salary based on individual assessment
- pest control department — the local government department responsible for controlling such pests as rats and mice
- philadelphia pepper pot — pepper pot (def 1).
- photoelectric magnitude — the magnitude of a star determined using a photometer plus a filter to select light or other radiation of the desired wavelength
- plain old documentation — (text) (pod, occasionally "POD") A simple markup language used to embed documentation, literate programming-style, in Perl programs. Pod readers and converters are part of the standard Perl distribution and the documentation provided with Perl is all in pod format.
- plan position indicator — a radarscope on which an object reflecting radar waves shows its bearing and distance from the radar detector by causing a spot of light to appear on a screen that represents a map of the area around the detector. Abbreviation: PPI.
- polybrominated biphenyl — PBB.
- portable object adapter — (architecture) (POA) Part of the CORBA architecture.
- positive discrimination — special opportunities
- postcode discrimination — discrimination on the basis of the area where someone lives, with relation to employment, credit rating, etc
- potassium acid tartrate — cream of tartar.
- precipitation hardening — a process in which alloys are strengthened by the formation, in their lattice, of a fine dispersion of one component when the metal is quenched from a high temperature and aged at an intermediate temperature
- presidential government — a system of government in which the powers of the president are constitutionally separate from those of the legislature.
- private limited company — a company whose shares can be bought by the public
- product differentiation — the real or illusory distinction between competing products in a market
- productivity bargaining — the process of reaching an agreement (productivity agreement) through collective bargaining whereby the employees of an organization agree to changes which are intended to improve productivity in return for an increase in pay or other benefits
- professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
- profit and loss account — income account (def 2).
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- publicly-quoted company — a company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange
- put the record straight — to correct an error or misunderstanding
- quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
- refinery waste disposal — Refinery waste disposal is the system for dealing with waste materials, especially hazardous ones, in a refinery.
- social democratic party — History/Historical. a political party in Germany advocating a form of social organization based on the economic and political ideology of Karl Marx.
- sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
- software developers kit — (jargon, product) (SDK, or "Software Development Kit") Software provided by a software vendor to allow their products to be used with those of other software vendors.
- somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
- specialite de la maison — the specialty of the house (used in referring to the most important dish served by a restaurant).
- spigot and socket joint — a joint between two pipes using male and female parts
- st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
- staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
- stand up and be counted — express opinion
- sustainable development — supporting economy via renewable resources
- talk/speak of the devil — People say speak of the devil, or in British English talk of the devil, if someone they have just been talking about appears unexpectedly.
- the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments