16-letter words containing p, a, b, s
- chuvash republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga valley: generally low-lying with undulating plains and large areas of forest. Capital: Cheboksary. Pop: 1 313 900 (2002). Area: 18 300 sq km (7064 sq miles)
- cops and robbers — a children's game in which a group of players imitate the behavior of police and of thieves, as in pursuing and capturing.
- cops-and-robbers — A cops-and-robbers film, television programme, or book is one whose story involves the police trying to catch criminals.
- cramp sb's style — If someone or something cramps your style, their presence or existence restricts your behavior in some way.
- cytotrophoblasts — Plural form of cytotrophoblast.
- desktop database — Macintosh file system
- disposable goods — consumer goods that are used up a short time after purchase, including perishables, newspapers, clothes, etc
- disreputableness — The state or quality of being disreputable or disgraceful; disreputability.
- drop a bombshell — If someone drops a bombshell, they give you a sudden piece of bad or unexpected news.
- eastern whipbird — an Australian whipbird, Psophodes olivaceus
- eclipsing binary — a variable star whose changes in brightness are caused by periodic eclipses of two stars in a binary system.
- expansion bottle — a tank collecting coolant from a radiator while an engine is heated, and from which the coolant returns to the radiator when the engine cools
- false beechdrops — either of two parasitic or saprophytic plants of the genus Monotropa, especially the tawny or reddish M. hypopithys (false beechdrops) of eastern North America.
- football special — a train service provided specially to transport football supporters to and from a match
- gapless playback — audio or visual playback without any interruptions or silence between tracks or scenes
- garbage disposal — A garbage disposal or a garbage disposal unit is a small machine in the kitchen sink that breaks down waste matter so that it does not block the sink.
- hayes-compatible — (communications) A description of a modem which understands the same set of commands as one made by Hayes.
- humanly possible — feasible, practical
- impenetrableness — The quality of being impenetrable.
- imperishableness — The characteristic or property of being imperishable.
- inapplicableness — The state or quality of being inapplicable; inapplicability.
- indispensability — absolutely necessary, essential, or requisite: an indispensable member of the staff.
- indisputableness — The property of being indisputable.
- inexplicableness — The state of being difficult to account for; the state of being inexplicable.
- inhospitableness — The quality of being inhospitable.
- japanese bobtail — any of a breed of domestic cat, originating in Japan, with a very short, fluffy tail, and a soft, silky coat often in three colors, white, black, and red
- john the baptist — the forerunner and baptizer of Jesus. Matt. 3.
- khakass republic — a constituent republic of S central Russia, formerly in Krasnoyarsk Territory: formed in 1930. Capital: Abakan. Pop: 546 100 (2002). Area: 61 900 sq km (23 855 sq miles)
- knapsack problem — the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
- leaps and bounds — You can use in leaps and bounds or by leaps and bounds to emphasize that someone or something is improving or increasing quickly and greatly.
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- lipstick lesbian — a lesbian who is feminine in manner or appearance; a femme.
- morris plan bank — a private banking organization, formerly common in the U.S., designed primarily to grant small loans to industrial workers.
- objective pascal — An extension of the PASCAL language which provides the possibility to use object-oriented programming constructs.
- observation post — a forward position, often on high ground, from which enemy activity can be observed and, particularly, from which artillery or mortar fire can be directed.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
- personal liberty — the liberty of an individual to do his or her will freely except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.
- philip of swabia — 1180?–1208, king of Germany and uncrowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1208 (son of Frederick I).
- pigs in blankets — small frankfurters wrapped in dough and baked, served as an appetizer
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- police constable — police officer
- poor boy sweater — a snug-fitting, pullover sweater with ribbing on both the body and sleeves, worn by girls and women.
- post-boost phase — the part of a multistage missile flight when the warheads are released.
- post-elizabethan — of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times: Elizabethan diplomacy; Elizabethan music.
- presence chamber — the special room in which a great personage, as a sovereign, receives guests, holds audiences, etc.
- presentation box — a specially designed and attractive box to hold a product, and make it look more impressive
- pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)