16-letter words containing o, c, t, p
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- thrombocytopenia — an abnormal decrease in the number of blood platelets.
- through-composed — having different music for each verse: a through-composed song. Compare strophic (def 2).
- to change places — If you change places with another person, you start being in their situation or role, and they start being in yours.
- to coin a phrase — You say 'to coin a phrase' to show that you realize you are making a pun or using a cliché.
- to compare notes — If you compare notes with someone on a particular subject, you talk to them and find out whether their opinion, information, or experience is the same as yours.
- to keep a secret — If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- to rest in peace — If you express the wish that a dead person may rest in peace, you are showing respect and sympathy for him or her. 'Rest in peace' or 'RIP' is also sometimes written on gravestones.
- topical-sentence — a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.
- topsail schooner — a sailing vessel fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts with square sails above the foresail, and often with a square sail before the foresail.
- transfer company — a company that transports people or luggage for a relatively short distance, as between terminals of two railroad lines.
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- trick photograph — a photograph that creates an illusion
- tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
- troop the colors — to parade the colors, or flag, before troops
- tropic of cancer — Geography. either of two corresponding parallels of latitude on the terrestrial globe, one (tropic of Cancer) about 23½° N, and the other (tropic of Capricorn) about 23½° S of the equator, being the boundaries of the Torrid Zone. the tropics, the regions lying between and near these parallels of latitude; the Torrid Zone and neighboring regions.
- tropical cyclone — a cyclone that originates over a tropical ocean area and can develop into the destructive storm known in the U.S. as a hurricane, in the western Pacific region as a typhoon, and elsewhere by other names. Compare extratropical cyclone, hurricane (def 1), willy-willy.
- trucking company — a company that transports goods by lorry
- two-percent milk — Two-percent milk is milk from which some of the cream has been removed.
- two-pot screamer — a person easily influenced by alcohol
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- ultramicroscopic — an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.
- unapologetically — containing an apology or excuse for a fault, failure, insult, injury, etc.: An apologetic letter to his creditors explained the delay.
- uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
- undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- underconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- united provinces — (used with a singular or plural verb) former name of Uttar Pradesh.
- up to one's neck — If you say that someone is in some sort of trouble or criminal activity up to their neck, you mean that they are deeply involved in it.
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
- vest-pocket park — pocket park.
- voice production — the use of the voice in order to create particular effects
- watch one's step — a movement made by lifting the foot and setting it down again in a new position, accompanied by a shifting of the weight of the body in the direction of the new position, as in walking, running, or dancing.
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- yah-boo politics — adversarial politics in which politicians constantly deride their opponents and dismiss everything suggested by them
- zenith telescope — a telescope mounted to point only at the zenith, used at some observatories for measuring time by the stars.