17-letter words containing m, o, i, r, a
- oyer and terminer — (in some U.S. states) any of various higher criminal courts.
- pair of compasses — compass (def 7)
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- pan potentiometer — a control on a stereo sound mixing desk by means of which the relative levels in right- and left-hand channels can be adjusted and hence the apparent position of the recorded or broadcast sound source within the stereo panorama can be controlled
- parathyroidectomy — the excision of a parathyroid gland.
- parts per million — the number of units (of a substance) present in a million units of another substance
- per capita income — the total income of an area or country divided by the number of people in that area or country
- per procurationem — by one acting as an agent; by proxy.
- permutation group — a mathematical group whose elements are permutations and in which the product of two permutations is the same permutation as is obtained by performing them in succession.
- pernicious anemia — Pernicious anemia is a very severe blood disease.
- pharmacologically — the science dealing with the preparation, uses, and especially the effects of drugs.
- phenylformic acid — benzoic acid.
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- police department — A police department is an official organization which is responsible for making sure that people obey the law.
- portfolio manager — a person employed by others to make investments for them
- poststructuralism — a variation of structuralism, often seen as a critique, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts that structuralism uses to define society, language, etc.
- potassium bromate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, KBrO 3 , used chiefly as an oxidizing agent and as an analytical reagent.
- potassium bromide — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, KBr, having a bitter saline taste: used chiefly in the manufacture of photographic papers and plates, in engraving, and in medicine as a sedative.
- potassium nitrate — a crystalline compound, KNO 3 , produced by nitrification in soil, and used in gunpowders, fertilizers, and preservatives; saltpeter; niter.
- pre-communication — the act or process of communicating; fact of being communicated.
- pre-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
- pre-modifications — an act or instance of modifying.
- premonstratensian — a member of a religious order founded at Prémontré in N France in 1120 by St Norbert (about 1080–1134)
- presentationalism — a style of production in which the audience is addressed directly with songs, skits, exposition, etc., and no attempt is made at realism.
- primary dentition — the deciduous dentition
- primary education — junior, elementary schooling
- primary intention — Logic. See under intention (def 5a).
- primary processes — the generally unorganized mental activity characteristic of the unconscious and occurring in dreams, fantasies, and related processes.
- primary-intention — an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
- prismatic compass — a hand compass equipped with sights and prisms to permit aiming the instrument at a point and at the same time reading the compass direction of the point.
- pro forma invoice — an invoice issued before an order is placed or before the goods are delivered giving all the details and the cost of the goods
- pro-environmental — the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu.
- professional army — an army of trained soldiers
- programming fluid — (jargon) (Or "wirewater") Coffee, unleaded coffee (decaffeinated), Cola, or any caffeinacious stimulant. Many hackers consider these essential for those all-night hacking runs.
- promotional event — occasion organized to market or advertise sth
- pronominalization — to replace (a noun or noun phrase) with a pronoun.
- pseudo-democratic — pertaining to or of the nature of democracy or a democracy.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- quadratic formula — the formula for determining theroots of a quadratic equation from its coefficients: .
- radial keratotomy — a surgical technique for correcting nearsightedness by making a series of spokelike incisions in the cornea to change its shape and focusing properties.
- radio alarm clock — an alarm clock which consists of a radio that can be set to play at a particular time
- radioluminescence — luminescence induced by nuclear radiation.
- radiometeorograph — a device for the automatic transmission by radio of the data from a set of meteorological instruments
- rat-tailed maggot — the aquatic larva of any of several syrphid flies of the genus Eristalis, that breathes through a long, thin tube at the posterior end of its body.
- read-write memory — a type of computer memory that you can write to as well as read from
- recoil escapement — anchor escapement.
- recursion formula — a formula for determining the next term of a sequence from one or more of the preceding terms.
- recursive acronym — (convention) A hackish (and especially MIT) tradition is to choose acronyms and abbreviations that refer humorously to themselves or to other acronyms or abbreviations. The classic examples were two MIT editors called EINE ("EINE Is Not Emacs") and ZWEI ("ZWEI Was EINE Initially"). More recently, there is a Scheme compiler called LIAR (Liar Imitates Apply Recursively), and GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix!" - and a company with the name CYGNUS, which expands to "Cygnus, Your GNU Support". See also mung.
- reduction formula — a formula, such as sin (90° ± A) = cos A, expressing the values of a trigonometric function of any angle greater than 90° in terms of a function of an acute angle
- relative majority — the excess of votes or seats won by the winner of an election over the runner-up when no candidate or party has more than 50 per cent