16-letter words containing d, i, n
- order in council — (in Britain and various other Commonwealth countries) a decree of the Cabinet, usually made under the authority of a statute: in theory a decree of the sovereign and Privy Council
- ordinary jubilee — the celebration of any of certain anniversaries, as the twenty-fifth (silver jubilee) fiftieth (golden jubilee) or sixtieth or seventy-fifth (diamond jubilee)
- organized labour — labour carried out by workers in trade unions, or the workers themselves
- oriental emerald — a green variety of corundum used as a gemstone
- ostend manifesto — a declaration (1854) issued from Ostend, Belgium, by the U.S. ministers to England, France, and Spain, stating that the U.S. would be justified in seizing Cuba if Spain did not sell it to the U.S.
- otherworldliness — The quality of being otherworldly.
- out of condition — If someone is out of condition, they are unhealthy and unfit, because they do not do enough exercise.
- out of your mind — If you say that someone is out of their mind, you mean that they are mad or very foolish.
- oxidation number — the state of an element or ion in a compound with regard to the electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound, expressed as a positive or negative number indicating the ionic charge of the element or ion.
- oxonium compound — a salt formed by the reaction of an acid with an organic compound containing a basic oxygen atom.
- paediatric nurse — a nurse who specializes in the care of children
- painted trillium — a North American trillium, Trillium undulatum, having white flowers streaked with pink or purple.
- panel discussion — a formal discussion before an audience for which the topic, speakers, etc., have been selected in advance.
- pantothenic acid — a hydroxy acid, C 9 H 1 7 O 5 N, found in plant and animal tissues, rice, bran, etc., that is part of the B complex of vitamins and is essential for cell growth.
- para-phenetidine — a colorless organic liquid, C 8 H 1 1 NO, used chiefly in its para form (para-phenetidine) in the synthesis of phenacetin, dyes, and other compounds.
- parallelepipedon — a prism with six faces, all parallelograms.
- partial ordering — a relation defined on a set, having the properties that each element is in relation to itself, the relation is transitive, and if two elements are in relation to each other, the two elements are equal.
- parts of lindsey — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- passage to india — a novel (1924) by E. M. Forster.
- pelagian islands — a group of Italian islands (Lampedusa, Linosa, and Lampione) in the Mediterranean, between Tunisia and Malta. Pop: 6066 (2004 est). Area: about 27 sq km (11 sq miles)
- pelagic division — the biogeographic realm or zone that comprises the open seas and oceans, including water of all depths.
- pencil and paper — An archaic information storage and transmission device that works by depositing smears of graphite on bleached wood pulp. More recent developments in paper-based technology include improved "write-once" update devices which use tiny rolling heads similar to mouse balls to deposit coloured pigment. All these devices require an operator skilled at so-called "handwriting" technique. These technologies are ubiquitous outside hackerdom, but nearly forgotten inside it. Most hackers had terrible handwriting to begin with, and years of keyboarding tend to have encouraged it to degrade further. Perhaps for this reason, hackers deprecate pencil-and-paper technology and often resist using it in any but the most trivial contexts.
- pension provider — the company or organization that makes provision for a person's pension
- pentothal sodium — thiopental sodium
- percussion drill — a drill that is operated by percussion
- period furniture — furniture that was made during a particular period in time
- periodic tenancy — the letting of a dwelling for a repeated short term, as by the week, month, or quarter, with no end date
- permanganic acid — an acid, HMnO 4 , known only in solution.
- perpendicularity — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
- personal details — details about a person such as their name and address
- phagocytic index — the average number of bacteria ingested per phagocyte in an incubated mixture of bacteria, phagocytes, and blood serum: used in determining the opsonic index.
- pharmacodynamics — the branch of pharmacology dealing with the course of action, effect, and breakdown of drugs within the body.
- phase difference — the difference between two sinusoidally varying quantities that have the same frequency, measured either as an angle or a time
- phase modulation — radio transmission in which the carrier wave is modulated by changing its phase to transmit the amplitude and pitch of the signal.
- phonocardiograph — an instrument for graphically recording the sound of the heartbeat.
- phytoremediation — a process of decontaminating soil or water by using plants and trees to absorb or break down pollutants.
- picture moulding — the edge around a framed picture
- piece d'occasion — something prepared or used for a special occasion.
- pilot production — sth produced on a trial basis
- pinot chardonnay — Chardonnay.
- pins and needles — a tingly, prickly sensation in a limb that is recovering from numbness.
- pithecanthropoid — of, relating to, or resembling the former genus Pithecanthropus or one of its members.
- platinum-iridium — (standard) A standard, against which all others of the same category are measured. Usage: silly. The notion is that one of whatever it is has actually been cast in platinum-iridium alloy and placed in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris, as the bar defining the standard metre once was. "This garbage collection algorithm has been tested against the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris." Compare golden.
- point de hongrie — flame stitch.
- poison sb's mind — If someone poisons your mind against another person, they make you dislike that person, usually by telling you things that are not true.
- poisoned chalice — If you refer to a job or an opportunity as a poisoned chalice, you mean that it seems to be very attractive but you believe it will lead to failure.
- polar coordinate — Usually, polar coordinates. one of two coordinates used to locate a point in a plane by the length of its radius vector and the angle this vector makes with the polar axis (polar angle)
- polycondensation — formation of a polymer by chemical condensation with the elimination of a small molecule, such as water.
- ponderosa (pine) — a yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) of W North America, valued for its timber