18-letter words containing i, p, r

thought experiment — Physics. a demonstration or calculation that is based on the postulates of a theory, as relativity, and that demonstrates or clarifies the consequences of the postulates.
threatened species — a species likely, in the near future, to become an endangered species within all or much of its range.
thrills and spills — If you refer to thrills and spills, you are referring to an experience which is exciting and full of surprises.
ticker-tape parade — a parade honoring a visiting dignitary, hero, or the like in which confetti, shredded newspapers, or the like are showered into the streets from buildings along the parade route.
tip of the iceberg — a large floating mass of ice, detached from a glacier and carried out to sea.
to cast aspersions — If you cast aspersions on someone or something, you suggest that they are not very good in some way.
to play favourites — to display favouritism
to scrape a living — If you say that someone scrapes a living or scratches a living, you mean that they manage to earn enough to live on, but it is very difficult. In American English, you say they scrape out a living or scratch out a living.
to speak your mind — If you speak your mind, you say firmly and honestly what you think about a situation, even if this may offend or upset people.
to spill your guts — if someone spills their guts, they tell you everything about something secret or private
torsion-free group — a group in which every element other than the identity has infinite order.
traditional option — an option that once purchased cannot be resold
traditional policy — a life assurance policy in which the policyholder's premiums are paid into a general fund and his or her investment benefits are calculated according to actuarial formulae
traditional weapon — a weapon having ceremonial tribal significance, such as an assegai or knobkerrie
transient response — A transient response of a circuit is a temporary change in the way that it behaves due to an external excitation, that will disappear with time.
transporter bridge — a bridge for carrying passengers and vehicles by means of a platform suspended from a trolley.
transylvanian alps — a mountain range in S Romania; a SW extension of the Carpathian Mountains. Highest peak: Mount Negoiu, 2548 m (8360 ft)
triphosphoric acid — the hypothetical acid H 5 P 3 O 10 , known chiefly by its salts.
under-compensation — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
under-depreciation — decrease in value due to wear and tear, decay, decline in price, etc.
unfair competition — acts done by a seller to confuse or deceive the public with intent to acquire a larger portion of the market, as by cutting prices below cost, misleading advertising, selling a spurious product under a false identity, etc.
unisys corporation — (company) The company formed in 1984-5 when Burroughs Corporation merged with Sperry Corporation. This was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined. Unisys is one of the largest providers of information services, technology, and software in the world. They employ about 49,000 people and do business in some 100 countries. In 1994 about 80 percent of revenue was derived from commercial information systems and services, with the remainder coming from electronic systems and services for the defense market. The defense business was sold to Loral in early 1995. Slightly more than half of Unisys's revenue is from business in the United States. They specialise in providing business-critical solutions, based on open information networks, for organisations that operate in transaction-intensive environments. These organisations include financial services companies, airlines, telecommunications companies, government agencies, and other commercial enterprises. In August 1994, quarterly sales were $1799M and profits $50M.
universal coupling — a coupling between rotating shafts set at an angle to one another, allowing for rotation in three planes.
up to one's tricks — If you say that someone is up to their tricks or up to their old tricks, you disapprove of them because they are behaving in the dishonest or deceitful way in which they typically behave.
upper middle class — wealthy, highly-educated people
upper palaeolithic — the latest of the three periods of the Palaeolithic, beginning about 40 000 bc and ending, in Europe, about 12 000 bc: characterized by the emergence of modern man, Homo sapiens
upper partial tone — overtone (def 1).
vectorcardiography — a method of determining the direction and magnitude of the electrical forces of the heart.
venture capitalist — funds invested or available for investment in a new or unproven business enterprise.
vermiform appendix — a narrow, blind tube protruding from the cecum, having no known useful function, in humans being 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long and situated in the lower right-hand part of the abdomen.
videotape recorder — a device for recording television programs on magnetic tape for delayed transmission or for storage.
vigoureux printing — a printing method in which worsted fibers are printed with the desired color while in sliver form and then processed into yarn, producing a mixed color in the spun yarn and woven fabric.
visiting professor — a professor from another institution invited to teach at a university or college for a limited period, usually for a semester or one academic year.
visitor's passport — (formerly, in Britain) a passport, valid for one year and for certain countries only, that could be purchased from post offices
vulcan nerve pinch — (jargon) (Or "three-finger salute", Vulcan death grip; from the old "Star Trek" TV series via Commodore Amiga hackers) The keyboard combination that forces a soft boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature). On an Amiga this is done with Ctrl/Right Amiga/Left Amiga; on IBM PCs and many microcomputers it is Ctrl/Alt/Del; on Suns, L1-A; on some Macintoshes, it is -! Silicon Graphics users are obviously the most dextrous however, as these machines use the five-finger combination: Left Shift/Left Ctrl/Left Alt/Keypad Divide/F12. Compare quadruple bucky.
warehouse capacity — the amount of storage space in a warehouse
weberian apparatus — (in certain fishes) a chain of small bones and ligaments connecting the inner ear with the air bladder.
wernicke's aphasia — a type of aphasia caused by a lesion in Wernicke's area of the brain and characterized by grammatical but more or less meaningless speech and an apparent inability to comprehend speech.
western hemisphere — the western part of the terrestrial globe, including North and South America, their islands, and the surrounding waters.
western isles pony — a breed of large pony, typically grey, with a dense waterproof coat. The only surviving variety is the Eriskay pony
whispering gallery — a space or gallery beneath a dome or broad arch in which low sounds produced at any of certain points are clearly audible at certain other distant points.
white iron pyrites — marcasite
white trumpet lily — a lily, Lilium longiflorum, of Japan, having fragrant, pure white, trumpet-shaped flowers nearly 7 inches (18 cm) in length.
wild passionflower — the maypop, Passiflora incarnata.
wildlife programme — (esp on television) a documentary whose subject is wild animals in their natural habitat or undomesticated fauna and flora generally
wilson's phalarope — a phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, that breeds in the prairie regions of North America and winters in Argentina and Chile.
wireless telephone — Now Rare. radiotelephony.
wireless telephony — Now Rare. radiotelephony.
withdrawal symptom — effects of stopping a drug
women at point sur — a narrative poem (1927) by Robinson Jeffers.

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