15-letter words containing c, e, p, h, a
- parasympathetic — pertaining to that part of the autonomic nervous system consisting of nerves and ganglia that arise from the cranial and sacral regions and function in opposition to the sympathetic system, as in inhibiting heartbeat or contracting the pupil of the eye.
- parchment paper — a waterproof and grease-resistant paper produced by treating ordinary paper with concentrated sulfuric acid.
- parenthetically — of, pertaining to, noting, or of the nature of a parenthesis: several unnecessary parenthetic remarks.
- parhelic circle — a white, horizontal band passing through the sun, either incomplete or extending around the horizon, produced by the reflection of the sun's rays from the vertical faces of ice prisms in the atmosphere.
- parmesan cheese — of or from Parma, in northern Italy.
- parthenogenetic — development of an egg without fertilization.
- pass-the-parcel — a children's game in which a parcel with lots of wrappings is passed round while music plays; each time the music stops the person holding the parcel takes a layer of wrapping off
- passenger coach — a carriage in which passengers sit
- pat on the back — to strike lightly or gently with something flat, as with a paddle or the palm of the hand, usually in order to flatten, smooth, or shape: to pat dough into flat pastry forms.
- pavel petrovich — Paul I (def 2).
- peachblow glass — an American art glass made in various pale colors and sometimes having an underlayer of milk glass.
- peacock feather — a (distinctive and brightly coloured) feather from the peacock
- penshurst place — a 14th-century mansion near Tunbridge Wells in Kent: birthplace of Sir Philip Sidney; gardens laid out from 1560
- perchloric acid — a colorless, syrupy hygroscopic liquid, HClO 4 , an acid of chlorine containing one more oxygen atom than chloric acid: used chiefly as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- perchloroethane — hexachloroethane.
- perpetual check — a continuing series of checks resulting in a drawn game because they cannot be halted or evaded without resulting in checkmate or a serious disadvantage.
- pharmacotherapy — the treatment of disease through the administration of drugs.
- phase-switching — a technique used in radio interferometry in which the signal from one of the two antennae is periodically reversed in phase before being multiplied by the signal from the other antenna
- pheasant coucal — a brown and black, red-eyed Australian bird, Centropus phasianinus, with a pheasantlike tail.
- phenakistoscope — an early form of a zoetrope in which figures are depicted in different poses around the edge of a disc. When the disc is spun, and the figures observed through the apertures around the edge of the disc, they appear to be moving
- phenomenalistic — the doctrine that phenomena are the only objects of knowledge or the only form of reality.
- phonemicization — a grouping of phonemes
- phoneticization — the representation of speech in writing using a system in which individual symbols reflect speech sounds in a regular manner
- phosphocreatine — a compound, C 4 H 1 0 O 5 N 3 P, found chiefly in muscle, formed by the enzymatic interaction of an organic phosphate and creatine, the breakdown of which provides energy for muscle contraction.
- photodissociate — to split or break up molecules as a result of the absorption of photons
- photoelasticity — the phenomenon of double refraction of polarized light by a transparent substance under elastic stress, used to measure strain in elastic, transparent materials.
- photoexcitation — the creation of an increase in energy in atoms, molecules or ions caused by the absorption of a photon
- photomechanical — noting or pertaining to any of various processes for printing from plates or surfaces prepared by the aid of photography.
- photorefractive — of or relating to a change in the index of refraction by spatial variations of the light intensity, as in a laser.
- phrenologically — in a manner relating to phrenology
- physical change — a usually reversible change in the physical properties of a substance, as size or shape: Freezing a liquid is a physical change.
- physical memory — (memory management) The memory hardware (normally RAM) installed in a computer. The term is only used in contrast to virtual memory.
- physicochemical — physical and chemical: the physicochemical properties of an isomer.
- phytochemically — in a phytochemical manner
- phytopathogenic — of, possessing the properties of, or relating to a phytopathogen
- pick and choose — to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.
- pick up the tab — If you pick up the tab, you pay a bill on behalf of a group of people or provide the money that is needed for something.
- pick-and-shovel — marked by drudgery; laborious: the pick-and-shovel work necessary to get a political campaign underway.
- pied flycatcher — a small black and white migratory bird of Europe and western Asia, Ficedula hypoleuca
- pinball machine — the tablelike, usually coin-operated machine on which pinball is played.
- pinochet ugarte — Augusto [ou-goos-taw] /aʊˈgus tɔ/ (Show IPA), 1915–2006, Chilean army general and political leader: president 1973–90.
- pistachio green — a light or medium shade of yellow green.
- pitch blackness — extreme darkness; lack of light
- pithecanthropus — a former genus of extinct hominids whose members have now been assigned to the proposed species Homo erectus.
- plain chocolate — dark eating chocolate
- plainclothesman — a police officer, especially a detective, who wears ordinary civilian clothes while on duty.
- planter's punch — a punch made with rum, lime juice, sugar, and water or soda.
- pleochroic halo — a dark-colored, microscopic ring around a minute radioactive particle in certain mineral crystals, used in estimating the age of the rocks containing these crystals
- polychlorinated — having multiple chlorine atoms
- posthemorrhagic — occurring after a haemorrhage