17-letter words containing l, p, s
- public television — a type of noncommercial, usually educational, television programming funded by the government, grants, viewers, and corporations. Compare educational television.
- publicity-seeking — eager to attract publicity
- pull one's weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- pulsejet (engine) — a jet engine without a compressor or turbine, in which intermittent combustion provides the thrust
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- purple of cassius — a purple pigment precipitated as a sol by the interaction of gold chloride and a solution of stannic acid and stannous chloride: used chiefly in the manufacture of ruby glass, ceramic glazes, and enamels.
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- push-pull circuit — a circuit using two similar electronic devices, such as matched valves, made to operate 180° out of phase with each other
- put on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- put on the gloves — to box
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- pyrosulfuric acid — a strong, crystalline acid, H2S2O7, prepared commercially as a heavy, oily, fuming liquid: used in making explosives and dyes, as a sulfating agent, etc.
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quasiexperimental — (medicine) Describing a trial in which the assignment to a group is based upon an experimental condition.
- recoil escapement — anchor escapement.
- reformed spelling — a revised orthography intended to simplify the spelling of English words, especially to eliminate unpronounced letters, as by substituting thru for through, tho for though, slo for slow, etc.
- refuse a proposal — If an insurer refuses a proposal, it does not agree to underwrite a risk proposed by a potential client.
- register spilling — (programming, compiler) (By analogy with spilling the contents of an overfull container) When a compiler is performing the register allocation phase of generating machine code and there are more live variables than the machine has registers and it has to transfer or "spill" some variables from registers to memory.
- rehospitalization — the act, process, or state of being hospitalized.
- res ipsa loquitur — the rule that an injury is due to the defendant's negligence when that which caused it was under his or her control or management and the injury would not have happened had proper management been observed.
- reza shah pahlavi — Muhammad Riza (or Reza) [ri-zah] /rɪˈzɑ/ (Show IPA), 1919–80, shah of Iran 1941–79; in exile after 1979 (son of Riza Shah Pahlavi).
- riza shah pahlavi — Pahlavi (def 2).
- rocket propulsion — propulsion of an object by thrust developed by a rocket.
- roseate spoonbill — a tropical New World spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, having rose-colored plumage and a bare head.
- russell's paradox — a paradox of set theory in which an object is defined in terms of a class of objects that contains the object being defined, resulting in a logical contradiction.
- sable island pony — a variety of wild pony found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
- san pedro channel — a strait between the mainland of SW California and Santa Catalina Island. About 20 miles (32 km) wide.
- scarlet pimpernel — a plant belonging to the genus Anagallis, of the primrose family, especially A. arvensis (scarlet pimpernel) having scarlet or white flowers that close at the approach of bad weather.
- schmidt telescope — a wide-angle reflecting telescope used primarily for astronomical photography, in which spherical aberration and coma are reduced to a minimum by means of a spherical mirror with a corrector plate near its focus.
- school playground — school's outdoor recreation area
- schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- scrophulariaceous — belonging to the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family of plants.
- self-appreciation — gratitude; thankful recognition: They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.
- self-depreciating — self-deprecating.
- self-emancipation — the act of emancipating.
- self-impregnating — to make pregnant; get with child or young.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- self-interpreting — to give or provide the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate: to interpret the hidden meaning of a parable.
- self-perpetuating — continuing oneself in office, rank, etc., beyond the normal limit.
- self-presentation — an act of presenting.
- self-preservation — preservation of oneself from harm or destruction.
- self-priming pump — A self-priming pump is a pump that will clear its passages of air and start pumping.
- self-purification — a natural process of purifying, as the ability of a body of water to rid itself of pollutants.
- self-reproduction — the act or process of reproducing.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- semi-experimental — pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment: an experimental science.
- semi-monopolistic — a person who has a monopoly.