16-letter words containing f, l, o, r, p, a
- peregrine falcon — a globally distributed falcon, Falco peregrinus, much used in falconry because of its swift flight: several subspecies are endangered.
- perforated ulcer — an ulcer that bursts through the stomach wall and leaks food and gastric juices into the abdominal cavity
- permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
- personal effects — belongings
- place of worship — religious house: church, temple
- plaster of paris — calcined gypsum in white, powdery form, used as a base for gypsum plasters, as an additive of lime plasters, and as a material for making fine and ornamental casts: characterized by its ability to set rapidly when mixed with water.
- platform-balance — a scale with a platform for holding the items to be weighed.
- polyvinyl formal — a colorless, water-insoluble, polyvinyl acetal produced from partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate and formaldehyde, used chiefly in the manufacture of lacquers.
- powerpc platform — (architecture, standard) (PPCP, PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform, formerly CHRP - Common Hardware Reference Platform) An open system standard, designed by IBM, intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies. The PReP standard specifies the PCI bus, but will also support ISA, MicroChannel and PCMCIA. PReP-compliant systems will be able to run the Macintosh OS, OS/2, WorkplaceOS, AIX, Solaris, Taligent and Windows NT. IBM systems will (of course) be PReP-compliant. Apple's first PowerPC Macintoshes will not be compliant, but future ones may be.
- pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)
- professionalisms — professional character, spirit, or methods.
- racial profiling — the use of personal characteristics or behavior patterns to make generalizations about a person, as in gender profiling.
- ramen profitable — If a startup business is ramen profitable, it is barely profitable, just enough to allow the founder to live on the cheapest diet.
- rape of the lock — a mock-epic poem (1712) by Alexander Pope.
- reflection plane — a plane through a crystal that divides the crystal into two halves that are mirror images of each other.
- seal of approval — royal stamp of endorsement
- self-approbation — approval; commendation.
- self-deprecation — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- self-deprecatory — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- self-deprivation — the act of depriving.
- self-exculpatory — intended to excuse oneself from blame or guilt
- self-explanatory — explaining itself; needing no explanation; obvious.
- self-preparation — a proceeding, measure, or provision by which one prepares for something: preparations for a journey.
- self-proclaiming — to announce or declare in an official or formal manner: to proclaim war.
- self-propagating — to cause (an organism) to multiply by any process of natural reproduction from the parent stock.
- semiprofessional — actively engaged in some field or sport for pay but on a part-time basis: semiprofessional baseball players.
- soapberry family — the plant family Sapindaceae, characterized by chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, or herbaceous vines having compound leaves, clustered flowers, and berrylike, fleshy, or capsular fruit, and including the balloon vine, golden rain tree, litchi, and soapberry.
- speak for itself — be self-evident
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- sulfanilyl group — the para form of the group C 6 H 6 NO 2 S–, derived from sulfanilic acid.
- throw for a loop — a portion of a cord, ribbon, etc., folded or doubled upon itself so as to leave an opening between the parts.
- to play for time — If you play for time, you try to make something happen more slowly, because you do not want it to happen or because you need time to think about what to do if it happens.
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- windfall profits — Windfall profits are excessive profits with a non-business cause such as a natural disaster.