18-letter words containing p, a, l, o, t
- just (plain) folks — simple and unassuming; not snobbish
- killer application — a highly innovative, very powerful, or extremely useful computer application; esp one sufficiently important as to justify purchase of the equipment or software
- lake pontchartrain — a shallow lagoon in SE Louisiana, linked with the Gulf of Mexico by a narrow channel, the Rigolets: resort and fishing centre. Area: 1620 sq km (625 sq miles)
- lenticular process — a method for producing images with a three-dimensional effect by photographing on lenticulated film.
- limestone pavement — a horizontal surface of exposed limestone in which the joints have been enlarged, cutting the surface into roughly rectangular blocks
- lithostratigraphic — Of or pertaining to lithostratigraphy.
- little spotted cat — a small New World tiger cat, Felis tigrinus, ranging from Costa Rica to northern Argentina.
- logarithmic spiral — log r = aθ
- logical complement — (logic) In Boolean algebra, the logical complement or negation of a Boolean value is the opposite value, given by the following truth table: A | -A --+--- T | F F | T -A is also written as A with a bar over it or with a small vertical line hanging from the right-hand end of the "-" (LaTeX \neg) or as A'. In the C programming language, it is !A and in digital circuit design, /A.
- logical positivism — a philosophical movement that stresses the function of philosophy as a method of criticizing and analyzing science and that rejects all transcendental metaphysics, statements of fact being held to be meaningful only if they have verifiable consequences in experience and in statements of logic, mathematics, or philosophy itself, and with such statements of fact deriving their validity from the rules of language.
- logical positivist — an exponent or follower of logical positivism
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- long-stay car park — a car park (eg at an airport) where cars can be left for a long time
- lower palaeolithic — the earliest of the three sections of the Palaeolithic, beginning about 3 million years ago and ending about 70 000 bc with the emergence of Neanderthal man
- magnetic potential — a scalar quantity, analogous to the electric potential, defined at each point in a given magnetic field to be equal to the work done in bringing a unit north pole from infinity to the point.
- maksutov telescope — a reflecting telescope in which coma and spherical aberration are reduced to a minimum by a combination of a spherical mirror and a meniscus lens placed inside the radius of curvature of the mirror.
- maternity hospital — birthing facility
- may flower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- microencapsulation — the process of enclosing chemical substances in microcapsules.
- micrometer caliper — calipers with a micrometer screw, for extremely accurate measurement
- micrometer-caliper — any of various devices for measuring minute distances, angles, etc., as in connection with a telescope or microscope.
- micropalaeontology — the branch of palaeontology concerned with the study of microscopic fossils
- middle paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- military policeman — A military policeman is a member of the military police.
- mission specialist — the crew member of a space shuttle who is assigned primary responsibility for carrying out operations related to the payload of the shuttle.
- moccasin telegraph — the transmission of rumour or secret information; the grapevine
- molecular spectrum — the spectrum of light emitted or absorbed by a species of molecule.
- monophosphorylated — (biochemistry) phosphorylated with a single unit of phosphoric acid.
- morning-after pill — a contraceptive pill containing only an estrogen and used by women within a few hours after sexual intercourse.
- move the goalposts — to change the aims of an activity to ensure the desired results
- muscular dystrophy — a hereditary disease characterized by gradual wasting of the muscles with replacement by scar tissue and fat, sometimes also affecting the heart.
- myeloproliferative — (medicine) of or pertaining to the presence of an abnormal proliferation of myelopoietic cells (from bone marrow).
- napoleon bonaparte — Jérôme [juh-rohm;; French zhey-rohm] /dʒəˈroʊm;; French ʒeɪˈroʊm/ (Show IPA), 1784–1860, king of Westphalia 1807 (brother of Napoleon I).
- natural philosophy — natural science.
- nebular hypothesis — the theory that the solar system evolved from a mass of nebular matter: prominent in the 19th century following its precise formulation by Laplace.
- neurodevelopmental — Of or pertaining to the development of neurological pathways in the brain.
- neuroleptanalgesia — a semiconscious nonreactive state induced by certain drug combinations, as fentanyl with droperidol.
- neuroophthalmology — the branch of ophthalmology that deals with the optic nerve and other nervous system structures involved in vision.
- nobiliary particle — a preposition forming part of a title of nobility or surname, as French de or German von.
- nonpartisan league — a political organization of farmers, founded in North Dakota in 1915, and extending to many states west of the Mississippi, with the aim of influencing agricultural legislation in state legislatures.
- nonpreferentialism — of, relating to, or of the nature of preference: preferential policies.
- normally aspirated — A normally aspirated or naturally aspirated engine breathes air at atmospheric pressure.
- north polar region — the region of land and water surrounding the North Pole.
- not a hope in hell — If you say that someone has not got a hope in hell of doing something, you are emphasizing that they will not be able to do it.
- oblique-slip fault — a fault on which the movement is along both the strike and the dip of the fault
- occupational group — An occupational group is a category used by insurance companies to classify jobs according to how hazardous they are.
- octachlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) Either of twelve isomers of the polychlorinated biphenyl containing eight chlorine atoms.
- oedipus at colonus — a tragedy by Sophocles, written toward the end of his life and produced posthumously in 401? b.c.
- offset lithography — offset (def 6).
- on automatic pilot — If you are on automatic pilot or on autopilot, you are acting without thinking about what you are doing, usually because you have done it many times before.