13-letter words containing p, a, c
- autoprojector — (theory) A self-applicable partial evaluator.
- bacillophobia — The fear of microbes. Also known as germaphobia.
- back clipping — a word formed by omitting the last part of the form from which it is derived.
- back pressure — the pressure that opposes the motion of a piston on its exhaust stroke in an internal-combustion engine
- back-slapping — Back-slapping is noisy, cheerful behaviour which people use in order to show affection or appreciation to each other.
- back-up light — a light on the rear of a motor vehicle to warn others that the vehicle is being reversed
- backdoor play — an offensive tactic whereby a player breaks away from a defender to receive a pass near the baseline in order to make a quick layup.
- backing group — a group of musicians providing an instrumental or vocal accompaniment for a pop singer
- backpedalling — to retard the forward motion by pressing backward on the pedal, especially of a bicycle with coaster brakes.
- backspace key — a key on a typewriter or computer keyboard that makes the carriage or cursor move backwards one space
- bacteriophage — a virus that is parasitic in a bacterium and multiplies within its host, which is destroyed when the new viruses are released
- bacteriophagy — the action of a bacteriophage
- bacterioscopy — the examination of bacteria with a microscope.
- badminton cup — a long refreshing drink of claret with soda water and sugar
- balanced step — any of a series of staircase winders so planned that they are nearly as wide at the inside of the stair as the adjacent fliers.
- balch springs — a town in NE Texas.
- balsam capivi — copaiba.
- balsam spruce — either of two North American coniferous trees of the genus Picea, P. pungens (the blue spruce) or P. engelmanni
- band spectrum — a spectrum consisting of a number of bands of closely spaced lines that are associated with emission or absorption of radiation by molecules
- bargain price — a low price
- baroreceptors — Plural form of baroreceptor.
- basic plumage — the plumage assumed by an adult bird at its complete, usually annual, molt.
- basic process — Military. basic training. a soldier or airman receiving basic training.
- batch-process — to perform batch processing on (files)
- bell purchase — a tackle consisting of two standing single blocks, two running single blocks, a fall, and a runner, so arranged that it gives a mechanical advantage of six, neglecting friction.
- benthopelagic — relating to species living at the bottom of the sea
- berber carpet — a type of plain coloured carpeting, usually cream, oatmeal or light brown
- best practice — Best practice is the way of running a business or providing a service that is recognized as correct or most effective.
- beta particle — a high-speed electron or positron emitted by a nucleus during radioactive decay or nuclear fission
- beta receptor — a receptor, found on the surface of some cells of the sympathetic nervous system, that is stimulated by certain adrenergic substances: such stimulation results in certain physiological responses, such as acceleration of the action of the heart and dilatation of the arteries supplying heart and skeletal muscles
- beta-receptor — a site on a cell, as of the heart, that, upon interaction with epinephrine or norepinephrine, controls heartbeat and heart contractability, vasodilation, smooth muscle inhibition, and other physiological processes.
- bibliographic — a complete or selective list of works compiled upon some common principle, as authorship, subject, place of publication, or printer.
- biocompatible — not rejected by the body
- biphasic pill — a drug with two dosage levels over the period taken, as an oral contraceptive.
- bird of peace — a dove.
- black crappie — a dark, spotted crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
- black panther — (in the US) a member of a militant Black political party (1965–82) founded to end the political dominance of White people
- black pudding — Black pudding is a thick sausage which has a black skin and is made from pork fat and pig's blood.
- blaise pascal — Blaise [bleyz;; French blez] /bleɪz;; French blɛz/ (Show IPA), 1623–62, French philosopher and mathematician.
- block capital — a sans-serif letter with lines of uniform weight.
- blue copperas — a salt, copper sulfate, CuSO 4 ⋅5H 2 O, occurring naturally as large transparent, deep-blue triclinic crystals, appearing in its anhydrous state as a white powder: used chiefly as a mordant, insecticide, fungicide, and in engraving.
- boycott apple — (legal) Some time before 1989, Apple Computer, Inc. started a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, claiming they had breeched Apple's copyright on the look and feel of the Macintosh user interface. In December 1989, Xerox failed to sue Apple Computer, claiming that the software for Apple's Lisa computer and Macintosh Finder, both copyrighted in 1987, were derived from two Xerox programs: Smalltalk, developed in the mid-1970s and Star, copyrighted in 1981. Apple wanted to stop people from writing any program that worked even vaguely like a Macintosh. If such look and feel lawsuits succeed they could put an end to free software that could substitute for commercial software. In the weeks after the suit was filed, Usenet reverberated with condemnation for Apple. GNU supporters Richard Stallman, John Gilmore and Paul Rubin decided to take action against Apple. Apple's reputation as a force for progress came from having made better computers; but The League for Programming Freedom believed that Apple wanted to make all non-Apple computers worse. They therefore campaigned to discourage people from using Apple products or working for Apple or any other company threatening similar obstructionist tactics (e.g. Lotus and Xerox). Because of this boycott the Free Software Foundation for a long time didn't support Macintosh Unix in their software. In 1995, the LPF and the FSF decided to end the boycott.
- brachypterous — having very short or incompletely developed wings
- brachytherapy — a form of radiotherapy in which sealed sources of radioactive material are inserted temporarily into body cavities or directly into tumours
- bracket creep — an advance into a higher income tax bracket resulting from an increase in nominal income: the higher taxes, when combined with the effects of inflation, may produce a decline in real income
- brain-picking — the act of obtaining information or ideas by questioning another person.
- breast pocket — The breast pocket of a man's coat or jacket is a pocket, usually on the inside, next to his chest.
- breeches part — a male role played by an actress.
- broca-aphasia — a type of aphasia caused by a lesion in Broca's area of the brain, characterized by misarticulated speech and lack of grammatical morphemes.
- bronchography — radiography of the bronchial tubes after the introduction of a radiopaque medium into the bronchi