16-letter words containing a, u, n, i
- pneumonic plague — a form of plague characterized by lung involvement.
- pocono mountains — ridge of the Appalachians, in E Pa.: resort area: c. 2,000 ft (610 m) high
- poitou-charentes — a region of W central France, on the Bay of Biscay: mainly low-lying
- portuguese india — a former Portuguese overseas territory on the W coast of India, consisting of the districts of Gôa, Daman, and Diu: annexed by India December 1961. Capital: Gôa.
- praetorian guard — the bodyguard of a military commander, especially the imperial guard stationed in Rome.
- prerevolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- pressure flaking — a method of manufacturing a flint tool by pressing flakes from a stone core with a pointed implement, usually of wood tipped with antler or copper.
- preunderstanding — to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
- primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
- primary industry — an industry, as agriculture, forestry, or fishing, that deals in obtaining natural materials.
- principal clause — the main clause.
- print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
- private judgment — personal opinion formed independently of the expressed position of an institution, as in matters of religion or politics.
- private language — a language that is not merely secret or accidentally limited to one user, but that cannot in principle be communicated to another
- project guardian — (project, security) A project which grew out of the ARPA support for Multics and the sale of Multics systems to the US Air Force. The USAF wanted a system that could be used to handle more than one security classification of data at a time. They contracted with Honeywell and MITRE Corporation to figure out how to do this. Project Guardian led to the creation of the Access Isolation Mechanism, the forerunner of the B2 labeling and star property support in Multics. The DoD Orange Book was influenced by the experience in building secure systems gained in Project Guardian.
- prosecution case — the case brought against someone by a legal authority
- proto-algonquian — the unattested parent language from which the Algonquian languages are descended.
- proxima centauri — the nearest star to the sun at a distance of 4.3 light-years, part of the Alpha Centauri triple-star system located in the constellation Centaurus.
- pseudo-isidorian — of or relating to the collection of documents of the 9th century a.d. that consist chiefly of the Decretals, attributed to Isidore, archbishop of Seville, a.d. 600–36, and that were rejected as spurious in the 15th century.
- pseudocopulation — pollination of plants, esp orchids, by male insects while attempting to mate with flowers that resemble the female insect
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- publication date — the date on which a book or periodical is or is planned to be published.
- publicity agency — an advertising agency; a firm that gets publicity for people or products
- puddling-furnace — the act of a person or thing that puddles.
- pulse modulation — a type of modulation in which a train of pulses is used as the carrier wave, one or more of its parameters, such as amplitude, being modulated or modified in order to carry information
- punctuation mark — any of a group of conventional marks or characters used in punctuation, as the period, comma, semicolon, question mark, or dash.
- punctuationalism — punctuated equilibrium.
- punitive damages — law: penalty payment
- purchasing agent — a person who buys materials, supplies, equipment, etc., for a company.
- purchasing power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- purple gallinule — a purple, blue, green, and white gallinule, Porphyrula martinica, inhabiting warmer areas of the New World, having a bright red, yellow, and blue bill, and lemon-yellow legs and feet.
- purple sandpiper — a sandpiper, Calidris maritima, of arctic regions of the New and Old World, having in winter a slate-gray back with purplish reflections.
- put a sock in it — be quiet!
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- put in the shade — to appear better than (another); surpass
- put one's oar in — to interfere or interrupt
- qin shi huang di — Ch'in Shih Huang Ti.
- quadricentennial — of, relating to, or marking the completion of a period of four hundred years.
- quadrimillennial — Occurring every four thousand years.
- quantitativeness — The state or quality of being quantitative.
- quantum sufficit — as much as suffices; enough.
- quarter sessions — an English court of general criminal jurisdiction for crimes less than homicide, held quarterly.
- quarter-finalist — A quarter-finalist is a person or team that is competing in a quarter-final.
- quasi-equivalent — equal in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc.: His silence is equivalent to an admission of guilt.
- quasi-managerial — pertaining to management or a manager: managerial functions; the managerial class of society.
- quasi-scientific — of or relating to science or the sciences: scientific studies.
- quasi-stationary — a person or thing that is stationary.
- quatercentennial — pertaining to or marking a period of 400 years.
- queen's champion — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.