16-letter words containing p, a, b, u
- 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)
- 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
- mari el republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga basin. Capital: Yoshkar-Ola. Pop: 728 000 (2002). Area: 23 200 sq km (8955 sq miles)
- onboard computer — onboard a vehicle, ship, plane, train or spacecraft
- operating budget — money allocated to a project
- outboard profile — an exterior side elevation of a vessel, showing all deck structures, rigging, fittings, etc.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- patent ambiguity — uncertainty of meaning created by the obscure or ambiguous language appearing on the face of a written instrument.
- photograph album — bound book for photos
- pietermaritzburg — a province in the E part of the Republic of South Africa. 35,284 sq. mi. (91,886 sq. km). Capital: Pietermaritzburg.
- planetary nebula — an expanding shell of thin ionized gas that is ejected from and surrounds a hot, dying star of about the same mass as the sun; the gas absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the central star and reemits it as visible light by the process of fluorescence.
- potato tuberworm — the larva of the potato moth.
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- publication date — the date on which a book or periodical is or is planned to be published.
- publicity agency — an advertising agency; a firm that gets publicity for people or products
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- query by example — (database, language) (QBE) A user-friendly query language developed by Moshé Zloof of IBM in 1975.
- republican party — one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.
- republican river — a river flowing E from E Colorado through Nebraska and Kansas into the Kansas River. 422 miles (680 km) long.
- saint petersburg — Also called Russian Empire. Russian Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capital: St. Petersburg (1703–1917).
- schaumburg-lippe — a former state in NW Germany.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- spanish bluebell — a bulbous plant, Endymion hispanicus, of the lily family, native to Spain and Portugal, having blue, white, or pink, bell-shaped flowers.
- stalked puffball — a puffball-like mushroom of the genus Tulestoma, maturing in early winter.
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- swamp buttonwood — the buttonbush.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- transport number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
- tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.
- under bare poles — (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set
- unimpressionable — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- unpredictability — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- world bank group — the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, and the International Development Association, whose headquarters are all in Washington
- writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty