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16-letter words containing e, c, i, p

  • peano arithmetic — (mathematics)   Giuseppe Peano's system for representing natural numbers inductively using only two symbols, "0" (zero) and "S" (successor). This system could be expressed as a recursive data type with the following Haskell definition: data Peano = Zero | Succ Peano The number three, usually written "SSS0", would be Succ (Succ (Succ Zero)). Addition of Peano numbers can be expressed as a simple syntactic transformation: plus Zero n = n plus (Succ m) n = Succ (plus m n) (1995-03-28)
  • pectoralis major — the larger of the two large chest muscles that assist in movements of the shoulder and upper arm
  • pectoralis minor — the smaller of the two large chest muscles that assist in movements of the shoulder and upper arm
  • pelagic division — the biogeographic realm or zone that comprises the open seas and oceans, including water of all depths.
  • pelican crossing — place to cross road
  • 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.
  • pencil sharpener — tool for sharpening pencils to a point
  • pentatonic scale — a scale having five tones to an octave, as one having intervals that correspond to the five black keys of a piano octave.
  • percentage point — difference: one per cent
  • percussion drill — a drill that is operated by percussion
  • peregrine falcon — a globally distributed falcon, Falco peregrinus, much used in falconry because of its swift flight: several subspecies are endangered.
  • perfecting press — a rotary press for printing both sides of a sheet or web in one operation.
  • periodic decimal — repeating decimal.
  • periodic tenancy — the letting of a dwelling for a repeated short term, as by the week, month, or quarter, with no end date
  • permaculturalist — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
  • permanganic acid — an acid, HMnO 4 , known only in solution.
  • perpendicularity — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
  • personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
  • persulfuric acid — Also called Caro's acid, permonosulfuric acid, peroxymonosulfuric acid, peroxysulfuric acid. a white, crystalline solid, H 2 SO 5 , used as an oxidizing agent for certain organic compounds.
  • 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.
  • pharmacogenetics — the branch of pharmacology that examines the relation of genetic factors to variations in response to drugs.
  • pharmacogenomics — the study of human genetic variability in relation to drug action and its application to medical treatment
  • pharmacokinetics — the branch of pharmacology that studies the fate of pharmacological substances in the body, as their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
  • phase difference — the difference between two sinusoidally varying quantities that have the same frequency, measured either as an angle or a time
  • phase microscope — a microscope that utilizes the phase differences of light rays transmitted by different portions of an object to create an image in which the details of the object are distinct despite their near-uniformity of refractive index.
  • phenomenological — the study of phenomena.
  • photoelectricity — electricity induced by electromagnetic radiation, as in certain processes, as the photoelectric and photovoltaic effects, photoconductivity, and photoionization.
  • photoluminescent — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
  • photoperiodicity — the response, as affecting growth or reproduction, of an organism to the length of exposure to light in a 24-hour period.
  • phylogenetically — the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.
  • physical address — (memory management)   The address presented to a computer's main memory in a virtual memory system, in contrast to the virtual address which is the address generated by the CPU. A memory management unit translates virtual addresses into physical addresses.
  • physical fitness — good physical condition
  • physical science — any of the natural sciences dealing with inanimate matter or with energy, as physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
  • physical therapy — the treatment or management of physical disability, malfunction, or pain by exercise, massage, hydrotherapy, etc., without the use of medicines, surgery, or radiation.
  • pick up stompies — to come late to a conversation and so misunderstand what is being discussed
  • pico de sao tome — an island in the Gulf of Guinea, off the W coast of Gabon, just N of the equator: the larger component of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. 318 sq. mi. (824 sq. km).
  • picture moulding — the edge around a framed picture
  • picture postcard — postcard (def 1).
  • piece d'occasion — something prepared or used for a special occasion.
  • pierce's disease — a disease of grapes caused by a rickettsialike organism, characterized by dwarfing of vines, mottling of woody tissues, and plant death.
  • piezoelectricity — electricity, or electric polarity, produced by the piezoelectric effect.
  • pincers movement — a military maneuver in which both flanks of an enemy force are attacked with the aim of attaining complete encirclement.
  • pitch inspection — in inclement weather, a pre-match inspection of the playing surface in order to determine whether it is in good enough condition for the match to go ahead
  • pitch-cone angle — (in a bevel gear) the apex angle of the truncated cone (pitch cone) which forms the reference surface on which the teeth of a bevel gear are cut
  • pitching pennies — a gambling game in which pennies are tossed to a mark or against a wall, the winner being the person whose penny lands closest to the mark or wall.
  • pithecanthropine — of, belonging to, or resembling a former genus (Pithecanthropus, now classified as Homo erectus) of extinct early humans, who lived in Java, China, Europe, and Africa
  • pithecanthropoid — of, relating to, or resembling the former genus Pithecanthropus or one of its members.
  • place in the sun — (often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat: its mean distance from the earth is about 93 million miles (150 million km), its diameter about 864,000 miles (1.4 million km), and its mass about 330,000 times that of the earth; its period of surface rotation is about 26 days at its equator but longer at higher latitudes.
  • place of worship — religious house: church, temple
  • placement office — an office in a university that offers students careers advice and help to find employment
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