16-letter words containing p, a, c, h
- 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).
- sulu archipelago — an island group in the SW Philippines, separating the Sulawesi Sea from the Sulu Sea. 1086 sq. mi. (2813 sq. km). Capital: Jolo.
- system on a chip — A system on a chip combines most of a system's elements on a single integrated circuit or chip.
- thalamencephalon — the diencephalon.
- the anthropocene — a proposed term for the present geological epoch (from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards), during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the environment
- the great escape — a film (1963) directed by John Sturges, written by James Clavell and W.R. Burnett, based on a book by Paul Brickhill, and starring Steve McQueen. It follows an attempt made by Allied prisoners of war to escape a German prisoner of war camp during World War II
- the long paddock — a stockroute or roadside area offering feed to sheep and cattle in dry times
- the-card-players — a painting (1892) by Paul Cézanne.
- thermoacidophile — any organism, especially a type of archaebacterium, that thrives in strongly acidic environments at high temperatures.
- 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.
- 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 pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- 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.
- trick photograph — a photograph that creates an illusion
- 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.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.
- underpitch vault — a construction having a central vault intersected by vaults of lower pitch.
- vapor channeling — Vapor channeling exists when vapor flow is distributed in an unequal way in a distillation vessel or stage.
- ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
- 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.
- watch this space — Journalists write 'Watch this space' in order to indicate in an informal way that they will be giving more information about something in the future.
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- yah-boo politics — adversarial politics in which politicians constantly deride their opponents and dismiss everything suggested by them