14-letter words containing a, p, t, e
- argus pheasant — either of two pheasants, Argusianus argus (great argus) or Rheinardia ocellata (crested argus), occurring in SE Asia and Indonesia. The males have very long tails marked with eyelike spots
- arms inspector — a person who carries out an arms inspection
- aromatherapist — An aromatherapist is a person who is qualified to practise aromatherapy.
- arteriographic — relating to arteriography
- arthroplasties — Plural form of arthroplasty.
- asphalt jungle — an expression used to refer to a city environment, which emphasizes its dangerous nature
- assault weapon — any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use. Compare assault rifle.
- assembly plant — An assembly plant is a factory where large items such as cars are put together, usually using parts which have been made in other factories.
- assembly point — a designated place where people have been told to wait after evacuating a building in the event of a fire or other emergency
- assisted place — a place at a private school reserved for a pupil from a family with a low income, with the fees paid by the government
- asthenospermia — (medicine) Loss or reduction in the strength or energy of sperm cells, hence infertility. Not always infertile many are subfertile.
- asthenospermic — (medicine) Characterised by or pertaining to asthenospermia, hence infertile.
- asthenospheric — relating to the asthenosphere
- astigmatoscope — an instrument for determining the presence and severity of astigmatism.
- astrocompasses — Plural form of astrocompass.
- at knife-point — under threat of being stabbed
- at one's peril — If you say that someone does something at their peril, you are warning them that they will probably suffer as a result of doing it.
- atomic-powered — powered by atomic energy
- attemptability — the capability of being attempted or condition of being attemptable
- attention span — the period of time during which someone's attention is held by something in particular
- autobiographer — a person who writes the story of his or her own life
- autopilot code — (jargon, humour) Code that was written by a programmer on "auto-pilot" who wasn't really thinking about what they were doing.
- autoresponders — Plural form of autoresponder.
- autotetraploid — an individual or strain whose chromosome complement consists of four copies of a single genome due to doubling of an ancestral chromosome complement
- aztec two-step — Montezuma's revenge
- bachelor party — A bachelor party is a party for a man who is getting married very soon, to which only men are invited.
- backstage pass — a document or badge that entitles the bearer to go backstage at an event, esp a pop concert
- bacteriophages — Plural form of bacteriophage.
- ballast pocket — a depression that is formed beneath the ballast layer by penetration of ballast particles into the subgrade and that tends to collect moisture.
- ballet slipper — a heelless cloth or leather slipper worn by ballet dancers.
- baltimore chop — a batted ball that takes a high bounce upon hitting the ground on or immediately in front of home plate, often enabling the batter to reach first base safely.
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- baptismal name — Christian name (def 1).
- barometrograph — barograph.
- base component — the system of rules in a transformational grammar that specify the deep structure of the language
- battery backup — A battery backup is a system in some power supplies that switches between a main power source and a battery.
- beauty pageant — A beauty pageant is the same as a beauty contest.
- beauty parlour — A beauty parlour is a place where women can go to have beauty treatments, for example to have their hair, nails or make-up done.
- beta-endorphin — a potent endorphin released by the anterior pituitary gland in response to pain, trauma, exercise, or other forms of stress.
- bisphosphonate — any drug of a class that inhibits the resorption of bone; used in treating certain bone disorders, esp osteoporosis
- black panthers — (in the US) a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end the political dominance of White people
- blepharoplasty — cosmetic surgery performed on the eyelid
- bletchley park — the Buckinghamshire estate which was the centre of British code-breaking operations during World War II
- blister-packed — presented in a blister pack
- blood platelet — any of the minute, disklike, colorless elements of the blood that are essential for normal clotting
- blotting paper — Blotting paper is thick soft paper that you use for soaking up and drying ink on a piece of paper.
- body corporate — a group of persons incorporated to carry out a specific enterprise
- bread poultice — a poultice made from breadcrumbs
- breaking point — If something or someone has reached breaking point, they have so many problems or difficulties that they can no longer cope with them, and may soon collapse or be unable to continue.
- breast implant — an object such as a sachet filled with gel introduced surgically into a woman's breast to enlarge it