18-letter words containing o, d, u, r
- pour cold water on — If someone pours cold water on a plan or idea, they criticize it so much that people lose their enthusiasm for it.
- predation pressure — the effect of predation upon a population, resulting in the decrease in size of that population.
- prefect of studies — a senior master in a Jesuit school or college
- prepare the ground — make conditions ready
- process scheduling — multitasking
- product acceptance — the verification or acceptance that a manufactured item meets required specifications or standards and is usable for its purpose
- product life cycle — the four stages (introduction, growth, maturity, and decline) into one of which the sales of a product fall during its market life
- production company — an organization which produces, films, plays, television or radio programmes
- production control — the planning and supervision of manufacturing activities to ensure that goods will be produced on time at the lowest possible cost.
- production manager — a supervisor of the budget, crew and other details in the production of a film or play
- productivity bonus — an extra payment made to workers for being more productive or yielding more favourable results than normal
- programme of study — the prescribed syllabus that pupils must be taught at each key stage in the National Curriculum
- prometheus unbound — a drama in verse (1820) by Shelley.
- protective custody — detention of a person by the police solely as protection against a possible attack or reprisal by someone.
- protocol data unit — (PDU) A packet of data passed across a network. The term implies a specific layer of the OSI seven layer model and a specific protocol.
- provably difficult — The set or property of problems for which it can be proven that no polynomial-time algorithm exists, only exponential-time algorithms.
- pseudo-anarchistic — a person who advocates or believes in anarchy or anarchism.
- pseudotuberculosis — an acute, sometimes fatal disease of rodents, birds, and other animals, including humans, caused by the bacterium Yersinia (Pasteurella) pseudotuberculosis, and characterized by the formation of nodules resembling those that result from tuberculosis.
- put heads together — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
- put your foot down — If someone puts their foot down, they use their authority in order to stop something happening.
- pyromucic aldehyde — furfural.
- pyrosulphuric acid — a fuming liquid acid made by adding sulphur trioxide to concentrated sulphuric acid. Formula: H2S2O7
- quadratic equation — an equation containing a single variable of degree 2. Its general form is ax 2 + bx + c = 0, where x is the variable and a, b, and c are constants (a ≠ 0).
- quarry-tiled floor — a floor covered with square or diamond-shaped unglazed floor tiles
- quartz-iodine lamp — a type of tungsten-halogen lamp containing small amounts of iodine and having a quartz envelope, operating at high temperature and producing an intense light for use in car headlamps, etc
- radiation exposure — exposure to radiant energy or to the particles emitted in the transfer of radiant energy, esp the particles and gamma rays emitted in nuclear decay; exposure to radioactive substances
- radiation pressure — the pressure exerted on a surface by electromagnetic radiation or by sound waves.
- radiocommunication — communication by means of radio waves
- radius of gyration — the distance from an axis at which the mass of a body may be assumed to be concentrated and at which the moment of inertia will be equal to the moment of inertia of the actual mass about the axis, equal to the square root of the quotient of the moment of inertia and the mass.
- ready when you are — If you say to someone 'Ready when you are', you are telling them that you are now ready to do something and that as soon as they are ready, you will do it.
- red mercuric oxide — a slightly crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous compound, HgO, occurring as a coarse, orange-red powder (red mercuric oxide) or as a fine, orange-yellow powder (yellow mercuric oxide) used chiefly as a pigment in paints and as an antiseptic in pharmaceuticals.
- red-spotted purple — any color having components of both red and blue, such as lavender, especially one deep in tone.
- reduction division — the first division of meiosis in which the number of chromosomes is reduced to half the original number.
- reduction strategy — (theory) An algorithm for deciding which redex(es) to reduce next. Different strategies have different termination properties in the presence of recursive functions or values. See string reduction, normal order reduction, applicative order reduction, parallel reduction
- regular hexahedron — a solid cube with six square faces
- reproduction proof — repro proof.
- return to the fold — come back home
- rheims-douay bible — Douay Bible.
- rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
- rufous hummingbird — a reddish-brown hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, of western North America.
- runge-kutta method — a numerical method, involving successive approximations, used to solve differential equations.
- russian federation — a republic extending from E Europe to N and W Asia. 6,593,000 sq. mi. (17,076,000 sq. km). Capital: Moscow.
- saturated solution — A saturated solution is a solution in which there is so much solute that if there was any more, it would not dissolve.
- scottish deerhound — one of a Scottish breed of large, tall hunting dogs having a medium-length, wiry, gray or reddish-fawn coat, originally developed for hunting and bringing down deer, and known as the royal dog of Scotland.
- second triumvirate — the coalition and joint rule of the Roman Empire by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian, begun in 43 bc
- second-degree burn — a burned place or area: a burn where fire had ripped through the forest.
- secondary consumer — (in the food chain) a carnivore that feeds only upon herbivores.
- secondary industry — manufacturing, services, etc.
- shift one's ground — to change one's argument or defense
- shop till you drop — If you shop till you drop, you do a large amount of shopping.