16-letter words containing p, a, n, s
- post-renaissance — the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world.
- post-romanticism — romantic spirit or tendency.
- postencephalitic — inflammation of the substance of the brain.
- postfix notation — (language) (Or "Reverse Polish Notation", RPN) One of the possible orderings of functions and operands: in postfix notation the functions are preceded by all their operands. For example, what may normally be written as "1+2" becomes "1 2 +". Postfix notation is well suited for stack based architectures but modern compilers reduced this advantage considerably. The best-known language with postfix syntax is FORTH. Some Hewlett-Packard calculators use it, e.g. HP-25, HP-29C, HP-41C, HP-23SII. Compare: infix notation, prefix notation.
- practical reason — (in Kantian ethics) reason applied to the problem of action and choice, especially in ethical matters.
- practice session — a period of training that takes place over a set period of time, for example an hour or several hours
- prairie schooner — a type of covered wagon, similar to but smaller than the Conestoga wagon, used by pioneers in crossing the prairies and plains of North America.
- pre-conversation — informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken words; oral communication between persons; talk; colloquy.
- pre-registration — the act of registering.
- pre-solicitation — the act of soliciting.
- precast concrete — ready-formed cement mixture
- precinct station — a police station for police responsible for a district of a city
- predispositional — the fact or condition of being predisposed: a predisposition to think optimistically.
- preference share — a share of preferred stock.
- premillennialism — the doctrine or belief that the Second Coming of Christ will precede the millennium.
- prescription pad — a pad of prescriptions used by doctors, etc
- presence chamber — the special room in which a great personage, as a sovereign, receives guests, holds audiences, etc.
- presentation box — a specially designed and attractive box to hold a product, and make it look more impressive
- prespecification — the act of specifying.
- pressure flaking — a method of manufacturing a flint tool by pressing flakes from a stone core with a pointed implement, usually of wood tipped with antler or copper.
- prestidigitation — sleight of hand; legerdemain.
- preunderstanding — to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
- pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)
- price comparison — Price comparison is comparing the price of the same product in different outlets.
- primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
- primary industry — an industry, as agriculture, forestry, or fishing, that deals in obtaining natural materials.
- primrose jasmine — an evergreen shrub, Jasminum mesnyi, of China, having thick, shiny leaflets and yellow flowers with a darker eye.
- prince's feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
- prince's-feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
- principal clause — the main clause.
- print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
- printer's reader — a person employed to read proofs and indicate errors
- pro-abolitionist — (especially prior to the Civil War) a person who advocated or supported the abolition of slavery in the U.S.
- processing plant — a factory where raw materials are treated or prepared by a special method, esp one where food is treated in order to preserve it
- professionalisms — professional character, spirit, or methods.
- prognostic chart — a chart showing the predicted state of the atmosphere for a given time in the future.
- progress payment — an instalment of a larger payment made to a contractor for work carried out up to a specified stage of the job
- proposal writing — Extension of Fortran for proposal writing.
- prosecution case — the case brought against someone by a legal authority
- proslambanomenos — the lowest note of the scale in ancient Greek music
- protestant ethic — work ethic.
- provost sergeant — the senior noncommissioned officer of a prison or other confinement facility whose chief duty is the supervision of prisoners and of the military police unit.
- pseudo-isidorian — of or relating to the collection of documents of the 9th century a.d. that consist chiefly of the Decretals, attributed to Isidore, archbishop of Seville, a.d. 600–36, and that were rejected as spurious in the 15th century.
- pseudocopulation — pollination of plants, esp orchids, by male insects while attempting to mate with flowers that resemble the female insect
- pseudoparenchyma — (in certain fungi and red algae) a compact mass of tissue, made up of interwoven hyphae or filaments, that superficially resembles plant tissue.
- psychic distance — the degree of emotional detachment maintained toward a person, group of people, event, etc.
- psychoanalytical — a systematic structure of theories concerning the relation of conscious and unconscious psychological processes.
- 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
- pulse modulation — a type of modulation in which a train of pulses is used as the carrier wave, one or more of its parameters, such as amplitude, being modulated or modified in order to carry information