23-letter words containing a, t, o, p, r

professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
profit and loss account — income account (def 2).
progressive cavity pump — A progressive cavity pump is a pump with an electric motor that rotates rods to make fluid in cavities move upward.
provocative maintenance — [Common ironic mutation of "preventive maintenance"] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a field servoid who doesn't know what he is doing; such "maintenance" often *induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine's remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amount of time. See also scratch monkey.
psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
public-key cryptography — public-key encryption
puerto rican royal palm — a feather palm, Roystonea borinquena, of Puerto Rico and St. Croix, having leaves about 10 feet (3 meters) long and egg-shaped, yellowish-brown fruit.
put the record straight — to correct an error or misunderstanding
put through one's paces — a rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc.: to walk at a brisk pace of five miles an hour.
quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
refinery waste disposal — Refinery waste disposal is the system for dealing with waste materials, especially hazardous ones, in a refinery.
relative sunspot number — a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.
respectability politics — the set of beliefs holding that conformity to socially acceptable or mainstream standards of appearance and behavior will protect a member of a marginalized or minority group from prejudices and systemic injustices: Black respectability politics perpetuate the fiction of a meritocracy in public education.
response generalization — generalization (def 4b).
response-generalization — the act or process of generalizing.
retrolental fibroplasia — an unusual eye disease occurring in premature infants, usually from being given high concentrations of oxygen, which causes abnormal formation of fibrous tissue behind the lens and often results in blindness.
reverse polish notation — postfix notation
rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
rub sb up the wrong way — If you rub someone up the wrong way in British English, or rub someone the wrong way in American English, you offend or annoy them without intending to.
saint christopher-nevis — St. Kitts-Nevis.
schizotypal personality — a personality disorder characterized by a group of symptoms similar to but less severe than schizophrenia, as odd behavior, peculiar thinking, and social isolation.
scottish national party — a political party advocating the independence of Scotland, founded in 1934
separation of variables — a grouping of the terms of an ordinary differential equation so that associated with each differential is a factor consisting entirely of functions of the independent variable appearing in the differential.
silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
social democratic party — History/Historical. a political party in Germany advocating a form of social organization based on the economic and political ideology of Karl Marx.
social security payment — a payment of social security made to an individual
sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
software developers kit — (jargon, product) (SDK, or "Software Development Kit") Software provided by a software vendor to allow their products to be used with those of other software vendors.
somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
statutory maternity pay — the maternity pay a woman is legally entitled to
stereospecific catalyst — a catalyst for stereospecific chemical reactions
structural anthropology — a school of anthropology founded by Claude Lévi-Strauss and based loosely on the principles of structural linguistics.
structural unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments
the data protection act — a United Kingdom act of parliament designed to ensure the proper handling of information stored about individuals on computers and entitling individuals to find out what information is stored about them
the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
the teaching profession — the profession of a teacher
there'll be hell to pay — If you say there'll be hell to pay, you are emphasizing that there will be serious trouble.
to have a police record — If you say that somebody has a police record, you mean that they have committed a crime or crimes and the police have a record of this.
to keep a straight face — If you manage to keep a straight face, you manage to look serious, although you want to laugh.
to keep a tight rein on — If you keep a tight rein on someone, you control them firmly.
to keep your nose clean — If you keep your nose clean, you behave well and stay out of trouble.
to pay through the nose — If you say that you paid through the nose for something, you are emphasizing that you had to pay what you consider too high a price for it.
to play for high stakes — to gamble on something very important

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