17-letter words containing e, o, l
- osculating circle — circle of curvature.
- out at the elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
- out in left field — Baseball. the area of the outfield to the left of center field, as viewed from home plate. the position of the player covering this area.
- out of all reason — unreasonable
- outline agreement — a contract, etc, setting out the preliminary terms or guidelines for an agreement; a preliminary agreement
- overhead lighting — lighting which throws light downwards by being situated on the ceiling or having a downward shade, etc
- overreach oneself — to fail because of trying to do more than one can
- oystershell scale — a scale insect, Lepidosaphes ulmi, having a scale shaped like the shell of an oyster, which infests various deciduous trees and shrubs.
- palace revolution — a challenge to or overthrow of a sovereign or other leader by members of the ruling family or group.
- palaeoarchaeology — the branch of archaeology concerned with the earliest fossil remains
- palaeoclimatology — the study of climates of the geological past
- palaeoethnobotany — the study of fossil seeds and grains to further archaeological knowledge, esp of the domestication of cereals
- paleoanthropology — the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- paleobiogeography — the study of the distribution of ancient plants and animals and their relation to ancient geographic features.
- paleoconservative — a person advocating an older, traditional type of conservatism, especially in politics.
- palette of narmer — a king of Egypt identified by modern scholars as the Menes of tradition and depicted as the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt on an ancient slate tablet (Narmer Palette or Palette of Narmer) c3200 b.c. with relief carvings on both sides.
- panama canal zone — Canal Zone.
- papanicolaou test — Pap test.
- paradoxical sleep — REM sleep.
- parallel computer — parallel processor
- parallelogram law — Mathematics, Physics. a rule for adding two vectors, as forces (parallelogram of forces) by placing the point of application of one at the point of origin of the other and obtaining their sum by constructing the line connecting the two remaining end points, the sum being the diagonal of the parallelogram whose adjacent sides are the two vectors.
- parker house roll — a soft dinner roll made by folding a flat disk of dough in half.
- particle velocity — the velocity of a point in a medium that is undergoing wave motion.
- parts per million — the number of units (of a substance) present in a million units of another substance
- pastoral theology — the branch of theology dealing with the responsibilities of members of the clergy to the people under their care.
- peacock butterfly — a European nymphalid butterfly, Inachis io, having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
- pebbleweave cloth — an irregularly textured material made from twisted yarn
- peer of the realm — any of a class of peers in Great Britain and Ireland entitled by heredity to sit in the House of Lords.
- peloponnesian war — a war between Athens and Sparta, 431–404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.
- penalty shoot-out — In football, a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.
- pentachlorophenol — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, C 6 Cl 5 OH, used chiefly in fungicides, disinfectants, and wood preservatives.
- pentylenetetrazol — a white, crystalline, bitter-tasting, water-soluble powder, C 6 H 1 0 N 4 , used as a respiratory and circulatory stimulant, especially in the treatment of barbiturate poisoning, and to induce a convulsive state in the treatment of certain mental diseases.
- perchloroethylene — tetrachloroethylene.
- percussion bullet — a bullet that is exploded by percussion
- peridot of ceylon — a honey-colored tourmaline, used as a gem: not a true peridot.
- period-revolution — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
- periodical cicada — seventeen-year locust.
- peripheral vision — all that is visible to the eye outside the central area of focus; side vision.
- personal computer — a compact computer that uses a microprocessor and is designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC.
- personal distance — personal space.
- personal equation — the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.
- personal property — an estate or property consisting of movable articles both corporeal, as furniture or jewelry, or incorporeal, as stocks or bonds (distinguished from real property).
- personality clash — friction between two people who have different personalities or points of view
- personnel carrier — a vehicle used for transporting troops
- personnel manager — head of Human Resources department
- personnel officer — a worker responsible for recruiting employees and dealing with matters relating to them
- peterloo massacre — an incident at St Peter's Fields, Manchester, in 1819 in which a radical meeting was broken up by a cavalry charge, resulting in about 500 injuries and 11 deaths
- petrol filler cap — a small cover that goes over the hole in a vehicle into which you put petrol
- phenethyl alcohol — a colorless, viscous, slightly water-soluble liquid, C 8 H 1 0 O, having a faint roselike odor: used chiefly in perfumery.