16-letter words containing g, a, s, t
- pension mortgage — an arrangement whereby a person takes out a mortgage and pays the capital repayment instalments into a pension fund and the interest to the mortgagee. The loan is repaid out of the tax-free lump sum proceeds of the pension plan on the borrower's retirement
- phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
- pharmacogenetics — the branch of pharmacology that examines the relation of genetic factors to variations in response to drugs.
- phosphor fatigue — screen saver
- pigs in blankets — small frankfurters wrapped in dough and baked, served as an appetizer
- platoon sergeant — the senior noncommissioned officer in a platoon, equivalent to sergeant first class.
- play off against — If you play people off against each other, you make them compete or argue, so that you gain some advantage.
- point of sailing — the bearing of a sailing vessel, considered with relation to the direction of the wind.
- pork scratchings — small pieces of crisply cooked pork crackling, eaten cold as an appetizer with drinks
- portuguese india — a former Portuguese overseas territory on the W coast of India, consisting of the districts of Gôa, Daman, and Diu: annexed by India December 1961. Capital: Gôa.
- posigrade rocket — an auxiliary rocket used to separate the sections of a multistage rocket, fired in the direction of flight.
- pre-registration — the act of registering.
- prestidigitation — sleight of hand; legerdemain.
- preunderstanding — to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
- processing plant — a factory where raw materials are treated or prepared by a special method, esp one where food is treated in order to preserve it
- prognostic chart — a chart showing the predicted state of the atmosphere for a given time in the future.
- progress payment — an instalment of a larger payment made to a contractor for work carried out up to a specified stage of the job
- proof of postage — a document, such as a receipt, etc, that proves that you have posted or mailed something
- proposal writing — Extension of Fortran for proposal writing.
- provost sergeant — the senior noncommissioned officer of a prison or other confinement facility whose chief duty is the supervision of prisoners and of the military police unit.
- psychogeriatrics — the psychology of old age.
- punitive damages — law: penalty payment
- purchasing agent — a person who buys materials, supplies, equipment, etc., for a company.
- put out to grass — If you say that someone is being put out to grass, you mean they are no longer being employed because they are considered to be too old or no longer useful.
- quasi-legitimate — according to law; lawful: the property's legitimate owner.
- radio evangelist — a Christian minister who devotes time to preaching on the radio
- rattle so's cage — If someone rattles your cage, they do something which is intended to make you feel nervous.
- rattlesnake flag — any of a number of U.S. flags that bear a picture of a rattlesnake and the motto “Don't Tread on Me,” especially those used during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.
- regional ileitis — a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes scarring and thickening of the intestinal walls and frequently leads to obstruction.
- register dancing — Many older processor architectures suffer from a serious shortage of general-purpose registers. This is especially a problem for compiler-writers, because their generated code needs places to store temporaries for things like intermediate values in expression evaluation. Some designs with this problem, like the Intel 80x86, do have a handful of special-purpose registers that can be pressed into service, providing suitable care is taken to avoid unpleasant side effects on the state of the processor: while the special-purpose register is being used to hold an intermediate value, a delicate minuet is required in which the previous value of the register is saved and then restored just before the official function (and value) of the special-purpose register is again needed.
- register tonnage — the volume of a vessel, especially the net tonnage as measured officially and registered for purposes of taxation.
- registered share — a stock registered to the owner's name
- registration fee — a fee paid to register, enrol or sign up for (a course, etc)
- releasing factor — a substance usually of hypothalamic origin that triggers the release of a particular hormone from an endocrine gland.
- reporting clause — A reporting clause is a clause which indicates that you are talking about what someone said or thought. For example, in 'She said that she was hungry', 'She said' is a reporting clause.
- reverse mortgage — a type of home mortgage under which an elderly homeowner is allowed a long-term loan in the form of monthly payments against his or her paid-off equity as collateral, repayable when the home is eventually sold. Abbreviation: RAM.
- rhinopharyngitis — inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and pharynx.
- rigid designator — an expression that identifies the same individual in every possible world: for example, "Shakespeare" is a rigid designator since it is possible that Shakespeare might not have been a playwright but not that he might not have been Shakespeare
- ring the changes — to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one's name; to change one's opinion; to change the course of history.
- run a tight ship — a vessel, especially a large oceangoing one propelled by sails or engines.
- saddle stitching — to sew, bind, or decorate with a saddle stitch.
- saint petersburg — Also called Russian Empire. Russian Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capital: St. Petersburg (1703–1917).
- saint-john-night — Midsummer Eve.
- saint-ulmo-light — St. Elmo's fire.
- sangre de cristo — a mountain range in S Colorado and N New Mexico: a part of the Rocky Mountains. Highest peak, Blanca Peak, 14,390 feet (4385 meters).
- santa fe springs — a city in SW California, near Los Angeles: oil wells.
- santiago de cuba — a region in Ecuador, E of the Andes: the border long disputed by Peru.
- saratoga springs — a city in E New York: health resort; horse races.
- savage's station — a locality in E Virginia, near Richmond: Civil War battle in 1862.
- sawn-off shotgun — A sawn-off shotgun is a shotgun on which the barrel has been cut short. Guns like this are often used by criminals because they can be easily hidden.