15-letter words containing p, a, r, l
- deprovincialize — to make provincial in character.
- dermatoglyphics — the lines forming a skin pattern, esp on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet
- diaheliotropism — the tendency among plants to respond to the light of the sun by orienting their leaves perpendicular to the sun's rays, such that the upper surface of the leaves receives maximum light
- diastrophically — in a diastrophic fashion
- disciplinarians — Plural form of disciplinarian.
- disproportional — not in proportion; disproportionate.
- disreputability — The state of being disreputable.
- double jeopardy — the subjecting of a person to a second trial or punishment for the same offense for which the person has already been tried or punished.
- doublet pattern — a pattern, as on a fabric, in which a figure or group is duplicated in reverse order on the opposite side of a centerline.
- draw oneself up — to assume a straighter posture; stand or sit straight
- drop handlebars — aerodynamic handlebars that drop down and curve towards the rider at the ends rather than turning upwards as on conventional bicycles
- early-type star — any massive hot star of spectral type O, B, or A
- edgar allan poe — Edgar Allan, 1809–49, U.S. poet, short-story writer, and critic.
- edmund randolph — A(sa) Philip, 1889–1979, U.S. labor leader: president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters 1925–68.
- edriophthalmian — edriophthalmous
- edriophthalmous — (of certain crustaceans) having stalkless eyes
- edwards plateau — a highland area in SW Texas. 2000–5000 feet (600–1500 meters) high.
- egyptian clover — a Mediterranean clover, Trifolium alexandrinum, grown as a forage crop and to improve the soil in the southwestern US and the Nile valley
- electra complex — the sexual attachment of a female child to her father
- electra paradox — the supposed paradox that one may know something to be true of an object under one description but not another, as when Electra knew that Orestes was her brother but not that the man before her was her brother although he was Orestes. This shows the predicate "knows" to be intensional, that Electra's knowledge here is de dicto, and that the statement of it yields an opaque context
- electromyograph — A device used in electromyography to generate electromyograms.
- eleutherophobia — the fear of freedom
- encephalography — Any of various techniques for recording the structure or electrical activity of the brain.
- english sparrow — a small Eurasian weaverbird, Passer domesticus, now established in North America and Australia. It has a brown streaked plumage with grey underparts
- english speaker — a person who speaks English as a first, or second mother tongue
- engraving plate — a metal, usually steel, plate on which an image is engraved in order to be reproduced
- entrepreneurial — Characterized by the taking of financial risks in the hope of profit; enterprising.
- epeirogenically — in the manner of epeirogeny
- epicyclic train — a cluster of gears consisting of a central gearwheel with external teeth (the sun), a coaxial gearwheel of greater diameter with internal teeth (the annulus), and one or more planetary gears engaging with both of them to provide a large gear ratio in a compact space
- epsilon squared — (jargon) A quantity even smaller than epsilon, as small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal; completely negligible. If you buy a supercomputer for a million dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar terminal to go with it is epsilon, and the cost of the ten-dollar cable to connect them is epsilon squared. Compare lost in the underflow, lost in the noise.
- evaporated milk — concentrated dairy product
- experientialism — (philosophy) The theory that experience is the source of knowledge.
- experientialist — A proponent of experientialism.
- experimentalism — An experimental practice or tendency, especially in the arts.
- experimentalist — One who performs experiments.
- experimentalize — (transitive) To make experiments upon.
- external spline — any one of a series of narrow keys formed longitudinally around the circumference of a shaft that fit into corresponding grooves (internal splines) in a mating part: used to prevent movement between two parts, esp in transmitting torque
- facile princeps — an obvious leader
- fair employment — the policy or practice of employing people on the basis of their capabilities only, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.
- false pregnancy — physiological signs of pregnancy without conception; pseudocyesis.
- false pretences — fraud, deception
- false pretenses — If you do something under false pretenses, you do it when people do not know the truth about you and your intentions.
- familiar spirit — a supernatural spirit often assuming animal form, supposed to attend and aid a witch, wizard, etc
- family grouping — a system, used usually in the infant school, of grouping children of various ages together, esp for project work
- family practice — medical specialization in general practice, requiring training beyond that of general practice and leading to board certification.
- fillister plane — an adjustable plane for cutting rabbets, grooves, etc
- finger alphabet — a series of shapes made by the fingers that indicate letters of an alphabet and can be used in fingerspelling for the deaf
- flapping router — (networking) A router that transmits routing updates alternately advertising a destination network first via one route, then via a different route. Flapping routers are identified on more advanced protocol analysers such as the Network General (TM) Sniffer.
- flock wallpaper — a type of wallpaper with a raised pattern
- floral envelope — the calyx and corolla of a flower.