15-letter words containing a, p, e, s, t
- opinionatedness — The state or condition of being opinionated.
- optical scanner — the process of interpreting data in printed, handwritten, bar-code, or other visual form by a device (optical scanner or reader) that scans and identifies the data.
- optical storage — optical disk drive
- organophosphate — Biochemistry. any of a variety of organic compounds that contain phosphorus and often have intense neurotoxic activity: originally developed as nerve gases, now widely used as insecticides and fire retardants.
- outside caliper — a caliper whose legs turn inward so that it can measure outside dimensions, as the diameter of a rod.
- over-capitalise — to fix the total amount of securities of a corporation in excess of the limits set by law or by sound financial policy.
- over-compensate — to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
- over-passionate — having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
- overcapitalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of overcapitalize.
- overcompensated — to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
- overcompensates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of overcompensate.
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- pachymeningitis — inflammation of the dura mater of the brain and spinal cord
- packet-switched — packet switching
- packing density — a measure of the amount of data that can be held by unit length of a storage medium, such as magnetic tape
- 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.
- painter's colic — Pathology. lead poisoning causing intense intestinal pain.
- 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
- panhandle state — West Virginia (used as a nickname).
- parasiticalness — the condition or characteristic of being parasitic
- parasympathetic — pertaining to that part of the autonomic nervous system consisting of nerves and ganglia that arise from the cranial and sacral regions and function in opposition to the sympathetic system, as in inhibiting heartbeat or contracting the pupil of the eye.
- parish register — the register of the christenings, marriages, and burials in a parish.
- 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.
- parthenogenesis — development of an egg without fertilization.
- parti québécois — (in Canada) a political party in Quebec, formed in 1968 and originally advocating the separation of Quebec from the rest of the country
- partial eclipse — astronomy
- partners---desk — a desk constructed so that two people may work at it face-to-face, as one having a kneehole and drawers on two fronts.
- pass-the-parcel — a children's game in which a parcel with lots of wrappings is passed round while music plays; each time the music stops the person holding the parcel takes a layer of wrapping off
- passenger train — railway train that carries people
- passport holder — a person who has a passport
- passport office — an office which issues passports
- past participle — a participle with past, perfect, or passive meaning, as fallen, sung, defeated; perfect participle: used in English and other languages in forming the present perfect, pluperfect, and passive and as an adjective.
- pastel-coloured — pale-coloured; in a shade such as pink or pale blue
- pastoral letter — pastoral (defs 11, 12).
- pastoral prayer — the main prayer in a church service.
- patria potestas — the power vested in the paterfamilias or head of the Roman family with respect to his wife, natural or adopted children, and agnatic descendants: title to family property is vested exclusively in the paterfamilias. Property acquired by a family member becomes family property, and no family member can enter into a transaction in his or her own right.
- paurometabolous — designating or of a group of insect orders, as orthopterans or hemipterans, in which metamorphosis to the adult state from the juvenile state is gradual and without any sudden, radical change of body form
- pavement artist — sidewalk artist.
- pearly nautilus — nautilus (def 1).
- pectoral muscle — muscle of the chest
- pedestrian mall — A pedestrian mall is the same as a pedestrian precinct.
- pematangsiantar — a city on NE Sumatra, in Indonesia.
- penal servitude — imprisonment together with hard labor.
- penetrativeness — the quality or condition of being penetrative
- penshurst place — a 14th-century mansion near Tunbridge Wells in Kent: birthplace of Sir Philip Sidney; gardens laid out from 1560
- pepper-and-salt — composed of a fine mixture of black with white: pepper-and-salt hair.
- performing arts — dance, drama, music
- pergamentaceous — (esp of plants) resembling parchment, whether in texture or composition
- permanent press — a process in which a fabric is chemically treated to make it wrinkle-resistant so as to require little or no ironing after washing.