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16-letter words containing n, a, c

  • panoramic camera — a still camera having a movable lens that horizontally scans a view while exposing a long photographic plate or strip of film.
  • panoramic screen — a very wide screen, as of a television, etc
  • pantothenic acid — a hydroxy acid, C 9 H 1 7 O 5 N, found in plant and animal tissues, rice, bran, etc., that is part of the B complex of vitamins and is essential for cell growth.
  • parochialization — a parochial character, spirit, or tendency; excessive narrowness of interests or view; provincialism.
  • partial fraction — one of the fractions into which a given fraction can be resolved, the sum of such simpler fractions being equal to the given fraction: Partial fractions of 5/(x2−x) are 5/(x−1) and −5/x.
  • partial function — A function which is not defined for all arguments of its input type. E.g. f(x) = 1/x if x /= 0. The opposite of a total function. In denotational semantics, a partial function f : D -> C may be represented as a total function ft : D' -> lift(C) where D' is a superset of D and ft x = f x if x in D ft x = bottom otherwise where lift(C) = C U bottom. Bottom (LaTeX \perp) denotes "undefined".
  • pascal's limacon — limaçon.
  • passport control — identity check at airport, etc.
  • paterson's curse — a purple-flowered noxious plant, Echium plantagineum, a close relative of viper's bugloss, naturalized in Australia and NZ where its harmfulness to livestock has prompted attempts to limit its spread
  • pattern matching — 1. A function is defined to take arguments of a particular type, form or value. When applying the function to its actual arguments it is necessary to match the type, form or value of the actual arguments against the formal arguments in some definition. For example, the function length [] = 0 length (x:xs) = 1 + length xs uses pattern matching in its argument to distinguish a null list from a non-null one. There are well known algorithm for translating pattern matching into conditional expressions such as "if" or "case". E.g. the above function could be transformed to 2. Descriptive of a type of language or utility such as awk or Perl which is suited to searching for strings or patterns in input data, usually using some kind of regular expression.
  • pattern practice — (in foreign-language learning) a technique for practicing a linguistic structure in which students repeat a sentence or other structure, each time substituting a new element, such as a new verb, as directed by the teacher, or transforming the original structure, as in changing a statement to a question.
  • pavillon chinois — crescent (def 6).
  • peace campaigner — someone who campaigns for peace or an end to conflict
  • peace conference — a conference where representatives of warring governments or countries sign a treaty to end conflict
  • peace initiative — the first or opening move in negotiating an end to conflict or negotiating peace
  • peano arithmetic — (mathematics)   Giuseppe Peano's system for representing natural numbers inductively using only two symbols, "0" (zero) and "S" (successor). This system could be expressed as a recursive data type with the following Haskell definition: data Peano = Zero | Succ Peano The number three, usually written "SSS0", would be Succ (Succ (Succ Zero)). Addition of Peano numbers can be expressed as a simple syntactic transformation: plus Zero n = n plus (Succ m) n = Succ (plus m n) (1995-03-28)
  • pectoralis minor — the smaller of the two large chest muscles that assist in movements of the shoulder and upper arm
  • pelagic division — the biogeographic realm or zone that comprises the open seas and oceans, including water of all depths.
  • pelican crossing — place to cross road
  • pencil and paper — An archaic information storage and transmission device that works by depositing smears of graphite on bleached wood pulp. More recent developments in paper-based technology include improved "write-once" update devices which use tiny rolling heads similar to mouse balls to deposit coloured pigment. All these devices require an operator skilled at so-called "handwriting" technique. These technologies are ubiquitous outside hackerdom, but nearly forgotten inside it. Most hackers had terrible handwriting to begin with, and years of keyboarding tend to have encouraged it to degrade further. Perhaps for this reason, hackers deprecate pencil-and-paper technology and often resist using it in any but the most trivial contexts.
  • pencil sharpener — tool for sharpening pencils to a point
  • pentatonic scale — a scale having five tones to an octave, as one having intervals that correspond to the five black keys of a piano octave.
  • percentage point — difference: one per cent
  • perchloromethane — carbon tetrachloride.
  • peregrine falcon — a globally distributed falcon, Falco peregrinus, much used in falconry because of its swift flight: several subspecies are endangered.
  • performance bond — contract bond.
  • performance test — a test requiring little or no use of language, the test materials being designed to elicit manual or behavioral responses rather than verbal ones.
  • periodic tenancy — the letting of a dwelling for a repeated short term, as by the week, month, or quarter, with no end date
  • permanganic acid — an acid, HMnO 4 , known only in solution.
  • perpendicularity — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
  • personal effects — belongings
  • personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
  • personnel agency — an agency for placing employable persons in jobs; employment agency.
  • peter pan collar — a close-fitting flat or rolled collar with rounded ends that meet in front of a high, round neckline.
  • phagocytic index — the average number of bacteria ingested per phagocyte in an incubated mixture of bacteria, phagocytes, and blood serum: used in determining the opsonic index.
  • phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
  • pharmacodynamics — the branch of pharmacology dealing with the course of action, effect, and breakdown of drugs within the body.
  • pharmacogenetics — the branch of pharmacology that examines the relation of genetic factors to variations in response to drugs.
  • pharmacogenomics — the study of human genetic variability in relation to drug action and its application to medical treatment
  • pharmacokinetics — the branch of pharmacology that studies the fate of pharmacological substances in the body, as their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
  • phase difference — the difference between two sinusoidally varying quantities that have the same frequency, measured either as an angle or a time
  • phenomenological — the study of phenomena.
  • philanthropistic — a person who practices philanthropy.
  • phonocardiograph — an instrument for graphically recording the sound of the heartbeat.
  • photochronograph — a device formerly used for taking a series of instantaneous photographs of a rapidly moving object.
  • photocoagulation — a surgical technique using an intense beam of light from a laser or a xenon-arc bulb to seal blood vessels or coagulate tissue, used primarily in ophthalmology to repair detached retinas or to treat certain kinds of retinopathy.
  • photozincography — a type of photoengraving using a sensitized zinc plate.
  • phylogenetically — the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.
  • physical fitness — good physical condition
  • physical science — any of the natural sciences dealing with inanimate matter or with energy, as physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
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