15-letter words containing a, g, m, l
- onomasiological — the study of the means of expressing a given concept.
- ophthalmologist — a doctor of medicine specializing in ophthalmology.
- ophthalmoplegia — Paralysis of the muscles within or surrounding the eye.
- optical pumping — a method for increasing the number of atoms or molecules occupying higher energy levels by irradiating them with light of the proper frequencies to raise them to those levels.
- opus anglicanum — fine embroidery, esp of church vestments, produced in England c.1200–c.1350; characterized by the rich materials used, esp silver gilt thread
- orange milkweed — butterfly weed (def 1).
- organomercurial — an organic compound containing mercury
- palaeolimnology — the study of ancient lake ecologies
- palaeomagnetism — the study of the fossil magnetism in rocks, used to determine the past configurations of the continents and to investigate the past shape and magnitude of the earth's magnetic field
- palaeomagnetist — a student of or expert in palaeomagnetism
- pharmacological — the science dealing with the preparation, uses, and especially the effects of drugs.
- phonogramically — in a phonogramic manner
- photofluorogram — a recording on photographic film of images produced by a fluoroscopic examination.
- pilgrim fathers — the Pilgrims (of Plymouth Colony)
- pilgrimage site — a shrine or other sacred place that people travel to as an act of religious devotion
- plagiostomatous — plagiostome
- plant agreement — a collective agreement at plant level within industry
- plethysmography — the tracking of changes measured in bodily volume
- plug compatible — of or relating to computers or peripheral devices that are functionally equivalent to, and may be substituted for, other models.
- plug-compatible — of or relating to computers or peripheral devices that are functionally equivalent to, and may be substituted for, other models.
- plumbaginaceous — belonging to the Plumbaginaceae, the leadwort family of plants.
- plural marriage — (broadly) any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities and including, for example, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, plural marriage, and arranged marriage: Anthropologists say that some type of marriage has been found in every known human society since ancient times. See Word Story at the current entry.
- polynomial ring — the set of all polynomials in an indeterminate variable with coefficients that are elements of a given ring.
- polysomnography — a record of a person's sleep pattern, breathing, heart activity, and limb movements during sleep. Abbreviation: PSG.
- poultry farming — breeding and keeping fowl
- pragmaticalness — the quality of being pragmatical or meddlesome
- primary sealing — Primary sealing is devices used for sealing tanks, to reduce emissions, often made of foam.
- programmability — capable of being programmed.
- pyramid selling — Pyramid selling is a method of selling in which one person buys a supply of a particular product direct from the manufacturer and then sells it to a number of other people at an increased price. These people sell it on to others in a similar way, but eventually the final buyers are only able to sell the product for less than they paid for it.
- qualifying exam — any examination that one needs to pass in order to begin or continue with a course of study
- radioimmunology — the study of biological substances or processes with the aid of antigens or antibodies labeled with a radioactive isotope.
- random sampling — a method of selecting a sample (random sample) from a statistical population in such a way that every possible sample that could be selected has a predetermined probability of being selected.
- real programmer — (job, humour) (From the book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche") A variety of hacker possessed of a flippant attitude toward complexity that is arrogant even when justified by experience. The archetypal "Real Programmer" likes to program on the bare metal and is very good at it, remembers the binary op codes for every machine he has ever programmed, thinks that high-level languages are sissy, and uses a debugger to edit his code because full-screen editors are for wimps. Real Programmers aren't satisfied with code that hasn't been bummed into a state of tenseness just short of rupture. Real Programmers never use comments or write documentation: "If it was hard to write", says the Real Programmer, "it should be hard to understand." Real Programmers can make machines do things that were never in their spec sheets; in fact, they are seldom really happy unless doing so. A Real Programmer's code can awe with its fiendish brilliance, even as its crockishness appals. Real Programmers live on junk food and coffee, hang line-printer art on their walls, and terrify the crap out of other programmers - because someday, somebody else might have to try to understand their code in order to change it. Their successors generally consider it a Good Thing that there aren't many Real Programmers around any more. For a famous (and somewhat more positive) portrait of a Real Programmer, see "The Story of Mel". The term itself was popularised by a 1983 Datamation article "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" by Ed Post, still circulating on Usenet and Internet in on-line form.
- refamiliarizing — to make (onself or another) well-acquainted or conversant with something.
- regimental band — a band made up of a military formation varying in size from a battalion to a number of battalions
- registered mail — prepaid first-class mail that has been recorded at a post office prior to delivery for safeguarding against loss, theft, or damage during transmission.
- regular premium — A regular premium is money paid to buy insurance coverage in installments at particular time intervals, such as monthly or annually.
- regulation time — the standard duration of a sports game, before the addition of any extra time to determine a winner, etc
- remonstratingly — in an remonstrating or dissenting manner
- right of asylum — the right of alien fugitives to protection or nonextradition in a country or its embassy.
- ringtail monkey — a Central and South American monkey, Cebus capucinus, having a prehensile tail and hair on the head resembling a cowl.
- rolling meadows — a city in NE Illinois, near Chicago.
- saguia el hamra — the N part of Western Sahara.
- school-gate mum — a young family-oriented working mother, considered by political parties as forming a significant part of the electorate
- self-immolating — of, relating to, or tending toward self-immolation.
- self-management — the act or manner of managing; handling, direction, or control.
- semilogarithmic — (of graphing) having one scale logarithmic and the other arithmetic or of uniform gradation.
- serial marriage — a form of monogamy characterized by several successive, short-term marriages over the course of a lifetime.
- serial monogamy — a form of monogamy characterized by several successive, short-term marriages over the course of a lifetime.
- siege mentality — a state of mind whereby one believes that one is being constantly attacked, oppressed, or isolated.