17-letter words containing a, p, e, r
- paleobiogeography — the study of the distribution of ancient plants and animals and their relation to ancient geographic features.
- paleoconservative — a person advocating an older, traditional type of conservatism, especially in politics.
- palette of narmer — a king of Egypt identified by modern scholars as the Menes of tradition and depicted as the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt on an ancient slate tablet (Narmer Palette or Palette of Narmer) c3200 b.c. with relief carvings on both sides.
- pan potentiometer — a control on a stereo sound mixing desk by means of which the relative levels in right- and left-hand channels can be adjusted and hence the apparent position of the recorded or broadcast sound source within the stereo panorama can be controlled
- parachute payment — a payment made to alleviate hardship resulting from a sudden loss of income
- paradise regained — an epic poem (1671) by John Milton.
- paradoxical sleep — REM sleep.
- parallel computer — parallel processor
- parallel universe — Physics. any of a hypothetical collection of undetectable universes that are like our known universe but have branched off from our universe due to a quantum-level event. See also multiverse.
- parallelogram law — Mathematics, Physics. a rule for adding two vectors, as forces (parallelogram of forces) by placing the point of application of one at the point of origin of the other and obtaining their sum by constructing the line connecting the two remaining end points, the sum being the diagonal of the parallelogram whose adjacent sides are the two vectors.
- paraperiodic acid — the crystalline compound H5IO6, an oxyacid of iodine
- parathyroidectomy — the excision of a parathyroid gland.
- paratyphoid fever — Also called paratyphoid fever. an infectious disease, similar in some of its symptoms to typhoid fever but usually milder, caused by any of several bacilli of the genus Salmonella other than S. typhi.
- parcplace systems — (company) A company spun-off from Xerox PARC that developed the original version of VisualWorks.
- parents anonymous — (in Britain) an association of local voluntary self-help groups offering help through an anonymous telephone service to parents who fear they will injure their children, or who have other problems in managing their children
- parker house roll — a soft dinner roll made by folding a flat disk of dough in half.
- parking attendant — a person who works for a traffic control agency and who issues tickets for parking violations
- parliamentary law — the body of rules, usages, and precedents that governs proceedings of legislative and deliberative assemblies.
- parmesan (cheese) — a very hard, dry cheese orig. of Italy, made from skimmed cow's milk and usually grated for sprinkling on pasta, soups, etc.
- parted per tierce — tierced.
- partially sighted — unable to see properly so that even with corrective aids normal activities are prevented or seriously hindered
- particle kinetics — Particle kinetics is the study of the movement of particles and the forces that cause this movement.
- particle velocity — the velocity of a point in a medium that is undergoing wave motion.
- parts of kesteven — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
- parts per million — the number of units (of a substance) present in a million units of another substance
- pascal's triangle — a triangular arrangement of the binomial coefficients of the expansion (x + y) n for positive integral values of n.
- passenger station — a station used by passengers
- passenger traffic — number of passengers
- passive restraint — a safety device, as an air bag or special seat belt, that is activated automatically to protect an automobile passenger at the moment of impact when a collision occurs.
- past life therapy — a form of hypnosis or meditation based on the belief that an individual's present problems are rooted in events that occurred before birth in this life
- pasteur institute — an organization in Paris that was founded in 1887. It does research on micro-organisms and diseases
- pasteur treatment — Pasteur's method of preventing certain diseases, esp. rabies, by increasing the strength of successive inoculations with a specific weakened or attenuated virus
- pastoral theology — the branch of theology dealing with the responsibilities of members of the clergy to the people under their care.
- pate de foie gras — See under foie gras.
- paternalistically — the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc., in the manner of a father dealing benevolently and often intrusively with his children: The employees objected to the paternalism of the old president.
- pauline privilege — (in canon law) the privilege given to converts to dissolve a marriage with an unbaptized spouse if either obstructs the religious practices of the other.
- paymaster general — a government minister responsible for making payments by government departments
- peach bark beetle — a bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris, that feeds on and nests in peach and other drupaceous trees.
- peaches and cream — If you say that a woman or a girl has a peaches and cream complexion, you mean that she has very clear, smooth, pale skin.
- peacock butterfly — a European nymphalid butterfly, Inachis io, having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
- peer of the realm — any of a class of peers in Great Britain and Ireland entitled by heredity to sit in the House of Lords.
- peloponnesian war — a war between Athens and Sparta, 431–404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.
- pentachlorophenol — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, C 6 Cl 5 OH, used chiefly in fungicides, disinfectants, and wood preservatives.
- pentylenetetrazol — a white, crystalline, bitter-tasting, water-soluble powder, C 6 H 1 0 N 4 , used as a respiratory and circulatory stimulant, especially in the treatment of barbiturate poisoning, and to induce a convulsive state in the treatment of certain mental diseases.
- per capita income — the total income of an area or country divided by the number of people in that area or country
- per procurationem — by one acting as an agent; by proxy.
- pere david's deer — a medium-sized, reddish-gray deer, Elaphurus davidianus, of which stocks were obtained in Peking in 1865 and brought to parks in Europe before the remaining Chinese deer were killed in 1900: the species is sustained in captivity.
- perforation gauge — a marked ruler used to measure the number of perforations per unit length along the borders of a stamp.
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- performance drugs — the drugs that are taken illegally by athletes to enhance their sporting performance