16-letter words containing p, a, i, l, o
- personality test — an instrument, as a questionnaire or series of standardized tasks, used to measure personality characteristics or to discover personality disorders.
- personality type — a cluster of personality traits commonly occurring together
- petrol rationing — a scheme rationing the amount of petrol that an individual is allowed to purchase
- phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
- phase modulation — radio transmission in which the carrier wave is modulated by changing its phase to transmit the amplitude and pitch of the signal.
- phenomenological — the study of phenomena.
- philanthropistic — a person who practices philanthropy.
- philip of swabia — 1180?–1208, king of Germany and uncrowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1208 (son of Frederick I).
- photocoagulation — a surgical technique using an intense beam of light from a laser or a xenon-arc bulb to seal blood vessels or coagulate tissue, used primarily in ophthalmology to repair detached retinas or to treat certain kinds of retinopathy.
- photolithography — the technique or art of making photolithographs.
- photopolarimeter — a polarimeter that uses a photocell.
- phylogenetically — the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.
- physiognomically — the face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character: a fierce physiognomy.
- pitch-cone angle — (in a bevel gear) the apex angle of the truncated cone (pitch cone) which forms the reference surface on which the teeth of a bevel gear are cut
- place of worship — religious house: church, temple
- placement office — an office in a university that offers students careers advice and help to find employment
- plain-spokenness — the quality or characteristic of being plain-spoken
- plainclothes man — a detective or police officer who wears civilian clothes while on duty
- plaster of paris — calcined gypsum in white, powdery form, used as a base for gypsum plasters, as an additive of lime plasters, and as a material for making fine and ornamental casts: characterized by its ability to set rapidly when mixed with water.
- play off against — If you play people off against each other, you make them compete or argue, so that you gain some advantage.
- play-action pass — a pass play designed to deceive the defense by appearing to be a running play, in which the quarterback fakes a hand-off to a back before throwing a forward pass.
- pneumonic plague — a form of plague characterized by lung involvement.
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- point of sailing — the bearing of a sailing vessel, considered with relation to the direction of the wind.
- poiseuille's law — the law that the velocity of a liquid flowing through a capillary is directly proportional to the pressure of the liquid and the fourth power of the radius of the capillary and is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the liquid and the length of the capillary.
- poisoned chalice — If you refer to a job or an opportunity as a poisoned chalice, you mean that it seems to be very attractive but you believe it will lead to failure.
- polar coordinate — Usually, polar coordinates. one of two coordinates used to locate a point in a plane by the length of its radius vector and the angle this vector makes with the polar axis (polar angle)
- polar opposition — the relation between a pair of antonyms that denote relatively higher and lower degrees of a quality with respect to an explicit or implicit norm rather than absolute values, as the relation between tall and short or light and dark, but not between true and false.
- polarizing angle — the law that light will receive maximum polarization from a reflecting surface when it is incident to the surface at an angle (angle of polarization or polarizing angle) having a tangent equal to the index of refraction of the surface.
- police constable — police officer
- policy statement — a declaration of the plans and intentions of an organization or government
- political asylum — asylum provided by one nation to refugees, especially political refugees, from another nation.
- political system — a coordinated set of principles, laws, ideas, and procedures relating to a particular form of government, or the form of government itself: Democracy is a political system in which citizens govern themselves.
- politicalization — to cause to be political; color with politics.
- polyacrylic acid — a polymer of acrylic acid used as a sizing agent in the manufacture of nylon and other synthetic textiles.
- polycondensation — formation of a polymer by chemical condensation with the elimination of a small molecule, such as water.
- polyvinyl acetal — any of the class of thermoplastic resins derived by the condensation of an aldehyde with polyvinyl alcohol.
- polyvinyl formal — a colorless, water-insoluble, polyvinyl acetal produced from partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate and formaldehyde, used chiefly in the manufacture of lacquers.
- porcelain enamel — a glass coating, made to adhere to a metal or another enamel by fusion.
- port phillip bay — a bay in SE Australia: the harbor of Melbourne. 31 miles (50 km) long; 25 miles (40 km) wide.
- portable airtime — (communications, wireless) A wireless, digital communications system enabling user-to-user voice communication, "quicknotes", and alphanumeric messaging.
- portrait gallery — a gallery where pictures are displayed
- post-apocalyptic — of or like an apocalypse; affording a revelation or prophecy.
- post-elizabethan — of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times: Elizabethan diplomacy; Elizabethan music.
- postencephalitic — inflammation of the substance of the brain.
- potemkin village — a pretentiously showy or imposing façade intended to mask or divert attention from an embarrassing or shabby fact or condition.
- potential energy — the energy of a body or a system with respect to the position of the body or the arrangement of the particles of the system.
- practical reason — (in Kantian ethics) reason applied to the problem of action and choice, especially in ethical matters.
- pre-solicitation — the act of soliciting.
- precontemplation — the act of contemplating; thoughtful observation.