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16-letter words containing a, l, m

  • periodic decimal — repeating decimal.
  • permaculturalist — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
  • permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
  • perpetual motion — the motion of a theoretical mechanism that, without any losses due to friction or other forms of dissipation of energy, would continue to operate indefinitely at the same rate without any external energy being applied to it.
  • phalansterianism — a system by which society would be reorganized into units comprising their own social and industrial elements; Fourierism.
  • phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
  • phase modulation — radio transmission in which the carrier wave is modulated by changing its phase to transmit the amplitude and pitch of the signal.
  • phenomenological — the study of phenomena.
  • phenylethylamine — an amine that occurs naturally as a neurotransmitter in the brain, has properties similar to those of amphetamine, is an antidepressant, and is found in chocolate. Formula: C8H11N
  • photograph album — bound book for photos
  • photopolarimeter — a polarimeter that uses a photocell.
  • physiognomically — the face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character: a fierce physiognomy.
  • placement office — an office in a university that offers students careers advice and help to find employment
  • plainclothes man — a detective or police officer who wears civilian clothes while on duty
  • platform-balance — a scale with a platform for holding the items to be weighed.
  • platinum-iridium — (standard)   A standard, against which all others of the same category are measured. Usage: silly. The notion is that one of whatever it is has actually been cast in platinum-iridium alloy and placed in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris, as the bar defining the standard metre once was. "This garbage collection algorithm has been tested against the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris." Compare golden.
  • pleasure steamer — a boat powered by steam, used for recreational purposes
  • plymouth company — a company, formed in England in 1606 to establish colonies in America and that founded a colony in Maine in 1607.
  • pneumonic plague — a form of plague characterized by lung involvement.
  • policy statement — a declaration of the plans and intentions of an organization or government
  • political asylum — asylum provided by one nation to refugees, especially political refugees, from another nation.
  • political system — a coordinated set of principles, laws, ideas, and procedures relating to a particular form of government, or the form of government itself: Democracy is a political system in which citizens govern themselves.
  • polyvinyl formal — a colorless, water-insoluble, polyvinyl acetal produced from partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate and formaldehyde, used chiefly in the manufacture of lacquers.
  • porcelain enamel — a glass coating, made to adhere to a metal or another enamel by fusion.
  • portable airtime — (communications, wireless)   A wireless, digital communications system enabling user-to-user voice communication, "quicknotes", and alphanumeric messaging.
  • potemkin village — a pretentiously showy or imposing façade intended to mask or divert attention from an embarrassing or shabby fact or condition.
  • powerpc platform — (architecture, standard)   (PPCP, PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform, formerly CHRP - Common Hardware Reference Platform) An open system standard, designed by IBM, intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies. The PReP standard specifies the PCI bus, but will also support ISA, MicroChannel and PCMCIA. PReP-compliant systems will be able to run the Macintosh OS, OS/2, WorkplaceOS, AIX, Solaris, Taligent and Windows NT. IBM systems will (of course) be PReP-compliant. Apple's first PowerPC Macintoshes will not be compliant, but future ones may be.
  • precontemplation — the act of contemplating; thoughtful observation.
  • premillennialism — the doctrine or belief that the Second Coming of Christ will precede the millennium.
  • premillennialize — to support or believe in premillennialism.
  • primary election — primary (def 15a).
  • primary electron — in thermionics, any of the electrons falling on a body, distinguished from those emitted by it
  • primary syphilis — the first stage of syphilis, characterized by the formation of a chancre at the site of infection.
  • print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
  • prismatic colors — the colors of the visible spectrum produced by passing white light through a prism; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
  • proenvironmental — the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu.
  • professionalisms — professional character, spirit, or methods.
  • programmatically — by using a computer program: You can set the value in each field programmatically with a simple algorithm. The background shapes can be programmatically drawn and animated.
  • programme seller — someone who sells written or printed lists of the events, performers, etc, in a theatre performance
  • promotional code — A promotional code is a code offered by retailers to customers who can use it to receive a discounted price when buying products online.
  • proslambanomenos — the lowest note of the scale in ancient Greek music
  • pseudohemophilia — a clotting disorder caused by abnormal factor VIII activity, and characterized by a prolonged bleeding time but without the delayed coagulation time of hemophilia.
  • ptolemaic system — a system elaborated by Ptolemy and subsequently modified by others, according to which the earth was the fixed center of the universe, with the heavenly bodies moving about it.
  • pullorum disease — a highly contagious, frequently fatal disease of young poultry caused by the bacterium Salmonella gallinarum (pullorum), transmitted by the infected hen during egg production, and characterized by weakness, loss of appetite, and diarrhea.
  • pulmonary artery — an artery conveying venous blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs.
  • pulse modulation — a type of modulation in which a train of pulses is used as the carrier wave, one or more of its parameters, such as amplitude, being modulated or modified in order to carry information
  • punctuationalism — punctuated equilibrium.
  • put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
  • pyramidal orchid — a chalk-loving orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, bearing a dense cone-shaped spike of purplish-pink flowers with a long curved spur
  • quadrimillennial — Occurring every four thousand years.
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