15-letter words containing o, p, e, r
- pseudo-romantic — of, relating to, or of the nature of romance; characteristic or suggestive of the world of romance: a romantic adventure.
- pseudoarthrosis — a joint formed by fibrous tissue bridging the gap between the two fragments of bone of an old fracture that have not united
- pseudoephedrine — a dextrorotatory, isomeric compound, C 1 0 H 1 5 NO, used as a nasal decongestant.
- pseudonephritis — a condition, thought to be benign, in which microscopic amounts of blood and protein are present in the urine, occurring commonly among athletes after strenuous exercise.
- pseudoparalysis — the inability to move a part of the body owing to factors, as pain, other than those causing actual paralysis.
- pseudopregnancy — Pathology, Veterinary Pathology. false pregnancy.
- pseudotripteral — having an arrangement of columns suggesting a tripteral structure but without the inner colonnades.
- psion organiser — (computer) A popular pocket computer from the UK Company Psion plc. The organiser uses a graphical user interface with windows, menus, icons and dialog boxes. There have been several versions so far: Series3a, Series3, HC, MC, OrgII.
- psychochemistry — the treatment of mental illnesses by drugs
- psychogeriatric — the psychology of old age.
- psychotherapist — the treatment of psychological disorders or maladjustments by a professional technique, as psychoanalysis, group therapy, or behavioral therapy.
- pubic directory — [NYU] (also "pube directory" /pyoob' d*-rek't*-ree/) The "pub" (public) directory on a machine that allows FTP access. So called because it is the default location for SEX (software exchange).
- public offering — a sale of a new issue of securities to the general public through a managing underwriter (opposed to private placement): required to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- public property — Public property is land and other assets that belong to the general public and not to a private owner.
- puerto ayacucho — a city in S Venezuela, on the Orinoco River.
- puerto vallarta — a city in W Mexico.
- pulmobranchiate — possessing a pulmobranch
- pulmonary valve — a semilunar valve between the pulmonary artery and the right ventricle of the heart that prevents the blood from flowing back into the right ventricle.
- purified cotton — bleached and sterilized cotton from which the gross impurities, such as the seeds and waxy matter, have been removed: used for surgical dressings, tampons, etc
- purple foxglove — a medicinal plant, Digitalis purpurea, of western Europe, having finger-shaped, spotted, purple flowers and leaves from which digitalis is obtained.
- purposelessness — having no purpose or apparent meaning.
- put a damper on — To put a damper on something means to have an effect on it which stops it being as enjoyable or as successful as it should be.
- put on the ritz — ostentatious or pretentious display.
- put one over on — to get (someone) to accept or believe a claim, excuse, etc, by deception
- put years on sb — If you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has put years on someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much older.
- pyrocrystalline — crystallized from a molten magma or highly heated solution.
- pyroelectricity — electrification or electrical polarity produced in certain crystals by temperature changes.
- pyrometric bead — (in a kiln) a ball of material that indicates by changing color that a certain temperature has been reached.
- pyrometric cone — (in a kiln) a triangular piece of material that indicates by bending or melting that a certain temperature has been reached.
- pyrotechnically — in a pyrotechnical manner
- quarter pounder — A quarter pounder is a hamburger that weighs four ounces before it is cooked. Four ounces is a quarter of a pound.
- queen's proctor — a British judiciary officer who may intervene in probate, nullity, or divorce actions when collusion, suppression of evidence, or other irregularities are alleged.
- query expansion — (information science) Adding search terms to a user's search. Query expansion is the process of a search engine adding search terms to a user's weighted search. The intent is to improve precision and/or recall. The additional terms may be taken from a thesaurus. For example a search for "car" may be expanded to: car cars auto autos automobile automobiles. The additional terms may also be taken from documents that the user has specified as being relevant; this is the basis for the "more like this" feature of some search engines. The extra terms can have positive or negative weights.
- question period — a period of time set aside each day for members of parliament to question government ministers
- radar telescope — (in radar astronomy) a very large radar antenna used to study planetary bodies in the solar system.
- radio programme — something that is broadcast on radio
- radio telephone — A radio telephone is a telephone which carries sound by sending radio signals rather than by using wires. Radio telephones are often used in cars.
- radio telescope — a system consisting of an antenna, either parabolic or dipolar, used to gather radio waves emitted by celestial sources and bring them to a receiver placed in the focus.
- radio-telephone — a telephone in which sound or speech is transmitted by means of radio waves instead of through wires or cables.
- radioprotection — protection against radiation
- radioprotective — giving protection against the effects of radiation
- radiotelegraphy — the constructing or operating of radiotelegraphs.
- rake's progress — a series of paintings and engravings by William Hogarth.
- rape of lucrece — a narrative poem (1594) by Shakespeare.
- raw-pack method — cold pack (def 2).
- re-presentation — the act of representing.
- real programmer — (job, humour) (From the book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche") A variety of hacker possessed of a flippant attitude toward complexity that is arrogant even when justified by experience. The archetypal "Real Programmer" likes to program on the bare metal and is very good at it, remembers the binary op codes for every machine he has ever programmed, thinks that high-level languages are sissy, and uses a debugger to edit his code because full-screen editors are for wimps. Real Programmers aren't satisfied with code that hasn't been bummed into a state of tenseness just short of rupture. Real Programmers never use comments or write documentation: "If it was hard to write", says the Real Programmer, "it should be hard to understand." Real Programmers can make machines do things that were never in their spec sheets; in fact, they are seldom really happy unless doing so. A Real Programmer's code can awe with its fiendish brilliance, even as its crockishness appals. Real Programmers live on junk food and coffee, hang line-printer art on their walls, and terrify the crap out of other programmers - because someday, somebody else might have to try to understand their code in order to change it. Their successors generally consider it a Good Thing that there aren't many Real Programmers around any more. For a famous (and somewhat more positive) portrait of a Real Programmer, see "The Story of Mel". The term itself was popularised by a 1983 Datamation article "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" by Ed Post, still circulating on Usenet and Internet in on-line form.
- reapportionment — the act of redistributing or changing the apportionment of something.
- reappropriation — the act of appropriating.
- rear projection — the projection of filmed action or stills on a translucent screen in front of which actors are lit and filmed: used to simulate an outdoor or location background in the studio.