15-letter words containing c, h, e, p
- nuclear physics — the branch of physics that deals with the behavior, structure, and component parts of atomic nuclei.
- nucleophilicity — (uncountable) The condition of being nucleophilic.
- off one's chump — insane; crazy
- one-two (punch) — a sequence of two quick punches, esp. a jab with the left hand followed at once by a hard blow with the right
- ophthalmoscopes — Plural form of ophthalmoscope.
- orthopaedic bed — a specially firm bed designed to help correct or ameliorate the discomfort of disorders of the spine and joints
- orthopaedically — in an orthopaedic manner
- pachymeningitis — inflammation of the dura mater of the brain and spinal cord
- package holiday — a holiday arranged by a travel company in which your travel and accommodation are booked for you
- packet-switched — packet switching
- palaeoanthropic — relating to palaeoanthropology
- paleoencephalon — paleencephalon.
- paleogeophysics — (used with a plural verb) inferred geophysical conditions or processes of designated periods of the geologic past.
- paleolithic man — any of the prehistoric populations of humans, as the Cro-Magnon, living in the late Pliocene and the Pleistocene epochs.
- paracetaldehyde — paraldehyde.
- parachute brake — a parachute opened horizontally from the tail of an airplane upon landing, used as an aid in braking. Also called parabrake. Compare drogue parachute (def 2).
- paraheliotropic — (of leaves) turning away from light; sun-avoiding
- 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.
- peroxysulphuric — as in peroxysulphuric acid
- 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.
- phenylketonuric — an inherited disease due to faulty metabolism of phenylalanine, characterized by phenylketones in the urine and usually first noted by signs of mental retardation in infancy.
- phlebosclerosis — sclerosis, or hardening, of the walls of veins.
- phloem necrosis — a disease of the American elm caused by a mycoplasmalike organism, characterized by yellowing and necrosis of the foliage and yellowish-brown discoloration of the phloem.
- 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.
- phosphorescence — the property of being luminous at temperatures below incandescence, as from slow oxidation in the case of phosphorus or after exposure to light or other radiation.
- photo-secession — an association of photographers founded in New York City in 1902 by Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen that advocated the development and public recognition of photography as a fine art.
- photoconductive — of, relating to, or exhibiting photoconductivity.
- 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.