23-letter words containing e, m, p, n
- polybrominated biphenyl — PBB.
- positive bending moment — a bending moment that produces concave bending at the middle of a simple supported beam
- positive discrimination — special opportunities
- postcode discrimination — discrimination on the basis of the area where someone lives, with relation to employment, credit rating, etc
- potassium monophosphate — any of the three orthophosphates of potassium ((potassium monophosphate) (K 2 HPO 4), (potassium diphosphate) (KH 2 PO 4), and (tripotassium phosphate) (K 3 PO 4) )
- presidential government — a system of government in which the powers of the president are constitutionally separate from those of the legislature.
- private limited company — a company whose shares can be bought by the public
- process gas compression — Process gas compression is a procedure for pressurizing and circulating gas through a process by compressing it in a cylinder, to enhance conditions for chemical reaction.
- professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
- program design language — Any of a large class of formal and profoundly useless pseudo-languages in which management forces one to design programs. Too often, management expects PDL descriptions to be maintained in parallel with the code, imposing massive overhead of little or no benefit. See also flow chart.
- programmer brain damage — (humour) (PBD) A classification of a bug which was obviously introduced by an incompetent or short-sighted programmer. Compare UBD. See also brain-damaged.
- provocative maintenance — [Common ironic mutation of "preventive maintenance"] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a field servoid who doesn't know what he is doing; such "maintenance" often *induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine's remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amount of time. See also scratch monkey.
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- public enemy number one — (not in official use) a criminal at the top of the FBI's list of the ten most wanted criminals.
- publicly-quoted company — a company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange
- puerto rican royal palm — a feather palm, Roystonea borinquena, of Puerto Rico and St. Croix, having leaves about 10 feet (3 meters) long and egg-shaped, yellowish-brown fruit.
- put the bite on someone — to ask someone for money
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
- relative sunspot number — a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.
- rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
- silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
- slum clearance campaign — a campaign to rehouse those people who live in a slum area, and to prepare the area for demolition and rebuilding
- snap someone's head off — to cut, wound, or tear with the teeth: She bit the apple greedily. The lion bit his trainer.
- social security payment — a payment of social security made to an individual
- somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
- sparkling mineral water — Sparkling mineral water is mineral water that is slightly carbonated.
- speak the same language — to communicate with understanding because of common background, values, etc
- specialite de la maison — the specialty of the house (used in referring to the most important dish served by a restaurant).
- st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
- statutory maternity pay — the maternity pay a woman is legally entitled to
- structural unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
- supplementary insurance — Supplementary insurance is insurance coverage that is purchased in addition to an insurance policy to provide additional benefits or coverage.
- suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
- sustainable development — supporting economy via renewable resources
- the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
- the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
- the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
- thompson submachine gun — a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.
- to clap eyes on someone — To clap eyes on someone or something, or set or lay eyes on them, means to see them.
- to clip someone's wings — If you say that something or someone clips your wings, you mean that they restrict your freedom to do what you want.
- to keep someone company — If you keep someone company, you spend time with them and stop them feeling lonely or bored.
- to send someone packing — If you send someone packing, you make them go away.
- trans-new guinea phylum — the largest grouping of the non-Austronesian languages of Papua and New Guinea and the surrounding regions
- visual display terminal — video display terminal. Abbreviation: VDT.
- volumetric displacement — the volume of air per revolution that passes through a mechanical pump when the pressure at the intake and the exhaust is the same as that of the atmosphere
- war manpower commission — the board (1942–45) that regulated the most efficient use of labor during World War II. Abbreviation: WMC.
- weak accumulation point — accumulation point.
- whet someone's appetite — If someone or something whets your appetite for a particular thing, they increase your desire to have it or know about it, especially by giving you an idea of what it is like.