20-letter words containing b, r, i, t, p
- potassium bichromate — an orange-red, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous powder, K 2 Cr 2 O 7 , used chiefly in dyeing, photography, and as a laboratory reagent.
- potassium bitartrate — cream of tartar.
- potassium-bitartrate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 4 H 5 KO 6 , used chiefly as an ingredient in baking powders and in galvanic tinning of metals. Also called potassium bitartrate, potassium acid tartrate. Compare tartar (def 3).
- prepatellar bursitis — inflammation and swelling of the bursa in front of the kneecap, caused esp by constant kneeling on a hard surface
- prime number theorem — the theorem that the number of prime numbers less than or equal to a given number is approximately equal to the given number divided by its natural logarithm.
- proactive inhibition — the tendency for earlier memories to interfere with the retrieval of material learned later
- probability function — the function the values of which are probabilities of the distinct outcomes of a discrete random variable
- prohibited substance — a substance, such as a drug, etc, that is banned or forbidden by law or other authority
- public administrator — an official of a city, county, or state government.
- public lending right — (in Britain) an act of Parliament that directs compensation to an author for the library loan of his or her book.
- relative probability — a measure or estimate of the degree of confidence one may have in the occurrence of an event, defined as the limit of the proportion observed in a sample as the sample size tends to infinity
- sailor's breastplate — a knot consisting of three overlapping loops formed by a single rope passed alternately over and under itself at crossings.
- semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
- special boat service — a unit of the Royal Marines specializing in reconnaissance and sabotage
- spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
- spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
- splice the mainbrace — to issue and partake of an extra allocation of alcoholic spirits
- spontaneous abortion — miscarriage (def 1).
- spontaneous-abortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
- spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
- step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
- subscription edition — an edition of one or more volumes for which a number of prospective purchasers place orders, usually in advance of publication.
- subscription library — a commercial lending library
- switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
- telephone subscriber — a person who subscribes to a telephone service
- therapeutic abortion — abortion performed when a woman's pregnancy endangers her health.
- to bring up the rear — If a person or vehicle is bringing up the rear, they are the last person or vehicle in a moving line of them.
- to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
- tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
- tubing head pressure — The tubing head pressure is the pressure on the tubing, which is measured at the wellhead.
- united arab republic — a name given the union of Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961; after that, the official name of Egypt alone until 1971. Abbreviation: U.A.R.
- upper income bracket — a grouping of the highest earning tax payers
- war production board — the board (1942–45) that supervised and regulated the production and sale of matériel essential to the logistics of World War II. Abbreviation: WPB, W.P.B.
- white people problem — a fairly minor problem, complaint, etc., associated with a relatively high standard of living; a first world problem.