17-letter words containing a, p, r, o
- postbaccalaureate — bachelor's degree.
- poststructuralism — a variation of structuralism, often seen as a critique, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts that structuralism uses to define society, language, etc.
- posttranslational — Genetics, Biochemistry. occurring after the synthesis of a polypeptide chain.
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- potassium bromate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, KBrO 3 , used chiefly as an oxidizing agent and as an analytical reagent.
- potassium bromide — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, KBr, having a bitter saline taste: used chiefly in the manufacture of photographic papers and plates, in engraving, and in medicine as a sedative.
- potassium nitrate — a crystalline compound, KNO 3 , produced by nitrification in soil, and used in gunpowders, fertilizers, and preservatives; saltpeter; niter.
- potato leafhopper — any of various leafhoppers that are serious pests, damaging a wide variety of cultivated and wild plants, especially potatoes.
- potential divider — a resistor or series of resistors connected to a voltage source and used to provide voltages that are fractions of that of the source.
- poulter's measure — a metrical pattern using couplets having the first line in iambic hexameter, or 12 syllables, and the second in iambic heptameter, or 14 syllables.
- powder metallurgy — the art or science of manufacturing useful articles by compacting metal and other powders in a die, followed by sintering.
- power of attorney — a written document given by one person or party to another authorizing the latter to act for the former.
- prairie provinces — the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, which lie in the N Great Plains region of North America: the chief wheat and petroleum producing area of Canada
- pre-authorization — the act of authorizing.
- pre-communication — the act or process of communicating; fact of being communicated.
- pre-concentration — the act of concentrating; the state of being concentrated.
- pre-configuration — the relative disposition or arrangement of the parts or elements of a thing.
- pre-incorporation — the act of incorporating or the state of being incorporated.
- pre-investigation — the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
- pre-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
- pre-modifications — an act or instance of modifying.
- pre-qualification — a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
- pre-revolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- pre-technological — of or relating to technology; relating to science and industry.
- prealternate molt — the molt by which many birds replace only some and rarely all of the feathers assumed at the prebasic molt, usually occurring prior to breeding.
- precision casting — investment casting.
- predatory pricing — If a company practises predatory pricing, it charges a much lower price for its products or services than its competitors in order to force them out of the market.
- prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- premonstratensian — a member of a religious order founded at Prémontré in N France in 1120 by St Norbert (about 1080–1134)
- prerogative court — a former ecclesiastical court in England and Ireland for the trial of certain testamentary cases.
- presentation copy — a copy of a book given by the publisher or author
- presentationalism — a style of production in which the audience is addressed directly with songs, skits, exposition, etc., and no attempt is made at realism.
- press association — an organization formed for the purpose of gathering news for transmittal to its members. Compare news agency.
- pressure drawdown — Pressure drawdown is the difference between the reservoir pressure and the flowing wellbore pressure, which drives fluids from the reservoir into the wellbore.
- primary dentition — the deciduous dentition
- primary education — junior, elementary schooling
- primary intention — Logic. See under intention (def 5a).
- primary processes — the generally unorganized mental activity characteristic of the unconscious and occurring in dreams, fantasies, and related processes.
- primary-intention — an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
- prior probability — the probability assigned to a parameter or to an event in advance of any empirical evidence, often subjectively or on the assumption of the principle of indifference
- prismatic compass — a hand compass equipped with sights and prisms to permit aiming the instrument at a point and at the same time reading the compass direction of the point.
- prison population — all the people who are confined in prison
- private education — education provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- pro forma invoice — an invoice issued before an order is placed or before the goods are delivered giving all the details and the cost of the goods
- pro-environmental — the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu.
- probability curve — a curve that describes the distribution of probability over the values of a random variable.
- probation officer — an officer who investigates and reports on the conduct of offenders who are free on probation.
- procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.