17-letter words containing c, o, m, p
- pro forma invoice — an invoice issued before an order is placed or before the goods are delivered giving all the details and the cost of the goods
- product placement — Product placement is a form of advertising in which a company has its product placed where it can be clearly seen during a film or television programme.
- production number — a specialty number or routine, usually performed by the entire cast consisting of musicians, singers, dancers, stars, etc., of a musical comedy, vaudeville show, or the like.
- production system — (programming) A production system consists of a collection of productions (rules), a working memory of facts and an algorithm, known as forward chaining, for producing new facts from old. A rule becomes eligible to "fire" when its conditions match some set of elements currently in working memory. A conflict resolution strategy determines which of several eligible rules (the conflict set) fires next. A condition is a list of symbols which represent constants, which must be matched exactly; variables which bind to the thing they match and "<> symbol" which matches a field not equal to symbol. Example production systems are OPS5, CLIPS, flex.
- profile component — attainment targets in different subjects brought together for the general assessment of a pupil
- programmed camera — a camera with electronic facilities for setting both aperture and shutter speed automatically on the basis of a through-the-lens light value and a given film speed
- promenade concert — a concert at which some of the audience stand rather than sit
- protective system — protectionism (def 1).
- proton microscope — a powerful type of microscope that uses a beam of protons, giving high resolution and sharp contrast
- pseudo-democratic — pertaining to or of the nature of democracy or a democracy.
- pseudo-humanistic — a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- psychometric test — a test designed to test a person's mental state, personality and thought processes
- quantum computing — quantum computer
- quasi-competitive — of, pertaining to, involving, or decided by competition: competitive sports; a competitive examination.
- recoil escapement — anchor escapement.
- redemption center — a commercial establishment at which trading stamps of a specific brand may be exchanged for merchandise.
- repertory company — repertory (def 2).
- republic of yemen — Republic of, a country in S Arabia, formed in 1990 by the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. 207,000 sq. mi. (536,130 sq. km). Capital: Aden.
- ribbon microphone — a microphone that utilizes a metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field.
- sandwich compound — any of a class of organometallic compounds whose molecules have a metal atom or ion bound between two plane parallel organic rings
- scheme repository — A collection of free Scheme programs.
- schmidt telescope — a wide-angle reflecting telescope used primarily for astronomical photography, in which spherical aberration and coma are reduced to a minimum by means of a spherical mirror with a corrector plate near its focus.
- self-emancipation — the act of emancipating.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- semi-monopolistic — a person who has a monopoly.
- semisophisticated — somewhat sophisticated.
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- simple microscope — a microscope having a single lens.
- sound spectrogram — a graphic representation, produced by a sound spectrograph, of the frequency, intensity, duration, and variation with time of the resonance of a sound or series of sounds.
- south sea company — a British joint stock company that traded in South America in the 18th century. The South Sea Company took over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks, and a financial crash in 1720 (the South Sea Bubble)
- special committee — a committee, as of a legislative body, that is formed to examine and report on a specific bill or issue.
- spectromicroscope — a microscope with an attached spectroscope.
- spectrophotometer — an instrument for making photometric comparisons between parts of spectra.
- spectrophotometry — an instrument for making photometric comparisons between parts of spectra.
- spectroradiometer — an instrument for determining the radiant-energy distribution in a spectrum, combining the functions of a spectroscope with those of a radiometer.
- spectrum disorder — any of a group of disorders each having symptoms that occur on a continuum and certain features that are shared along its spectrum but that manifest in markedly different forms and degrees. See also autism spectrum disorder.
- spongy parenchyma — the lower layer of the ground tissue of a leaf, characteristically containing irregularly shaped cells with relatively few chloroplasts and large intercellular spaces.
- spore mother cell — a cell from which a spore is produced
- spot announcement — a brief radio or television announcement, usually an advertisement, made by an individual station during or after a network program.
- spring cankerworm — the striped, green caterpillar of any of several geometrid moths: a foliage pest of various fruit and shade trees, as Paleacrita vernata (spring cankerworm) and Alsophila pometaria (fall cankerworm)
- stand-up comedian — performer: tells jokes
- steamship company — a company which has a fleet of steamships
- stenothermophilic — growing best within a narrow temperature range.
- storm in a teacup — a violent fuss or disturbance over a trivial matter
- suction lipectomy — the removal of fatty tissue by making a small incision in the skin, loosening the fat layer, and withdrawing it by suction.
- superaerodynamics — the branch of aerodynamics that deals with gases at very low densities.
- supercolumniation — the placing of one order of columns above another.
- support mechanism — any formal system or method of providing support or assistance