17-letter words containing p, a, t, i
- the south pacific — the part of the Pacific Ocean to the south of the equator
- the tabloid press — (considered as a whole) newspapers with pages about 30 cm (12 inches) by 40 cm (16 inches), usually characterized by an emphasis on photographs and a concise and often sensational style
- the-metamorphosis — a short story (1915) by Franz Kafka.
- thematic approach — teaching organized by theme rather than by school subject
- therapeutic index — the ratio between the dosage of a drug that causes a lethal effect and the dosage that causes a therapeutic effect.
- therapeutic touch — the laying on of hands by a healer
- thermal expansion — expansion caused by heat
- thermal pollution — a rise in the temperature of rivers or lakes that is injurious to water-dwelling life and is caused by the disposal of heated industrial waste water or water from the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.
- thiopental sodium — a barbiturate, C 11 H 18 N 2 NaO 2 S, used as an anesthetic in surgery and, in psychiatry, for narcoanalysis and to stimulate recall of past events.
- this can't happen — can't happen
- throat microphone — a microphone worn around the throat and actuated by vibrations of the larynx, used when background noise would obscure the sound of speech, as in an airplane cockpit.
- tiglath-pileser i — died 1102? b.c, king of Assyria c1115–1102?.
- tip the scales at — to weigh (a specified amount)
- to eat humble pie — If you eat humble pie, you speak or behave in a way which tells people that you admit you were wrong about something.
- to play it by ear — If you play it by ear, you decide what to say or do in a situation by responding to events rather than by following a plan which you have decided on in advance.
- to play the field — If someone plays the field, they have a number of different romantic or sexual relationships.
- to play with fire — If you say that someone is playing with fire, you mean that they are doing something dangerous that may result in great harm for them and cause many problems.
- topological group — a set that is a group and a topological space and for which the group operation and the map of an element to its inverse are continuous functions.
- topological space — a set with a collection of subsets or open sets satisfying the properties that the union of open sets is an open set, the intersection of two open sets is an open set, and the given set and the empty set are open sets.
- traffic policeman — a policeman controlling traffic, esp while stationed at an intersection, or enforcing traffic regulations
- trans-mississippi — across or beyond the Mississippi River.
- trapdoor function — a function defined from data by means of a mathematical procedure in such a way that it is easy to obtain the function when the data are known, but when the procedure and data are not known it becomes very difficult to determine the original data: used in cryptography, where the data are the characters of the plain text, or message, and the trapdoor function is the cryptogram.
- travelling people — Gypsies or other itinerant people: a term used esp by such people of themselves
- trick photography — photography that creates an illusion
- triskaidekaphobia — fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.
- tropical aquarium — an aquarium designed for the maintenance and breeding of tropical fish and kept at a suitably warm temperature.
- tropical maritime — a type of warm, wet air mass originating at low latitudes over ocean areas
- tropical medicine — the branch of medicine dealing with the study and treatment of diseases occurring in the tropics.
- twelve patriarchs — any of the sons of Jacob ((the twelve patriarchs),) from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.
- tympanic membrane — eardrum.
- ultrametamorphism — metamorphism during which the temperature of a rock exceeds its melting point.
- uncompassionately — having or showing compassion: a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
- unconformity trap — An unconformity trap is a hydrocarbon trap where the closure is made by an unconformity (= a formation of rock layers which represents a gap in the geological record).
- uncooperativeness — working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit.
- undercompensation — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- unify corporation — (company) Developers of the Unify relational database. At one time, before Sybase, they were a competitor of Oracle, et al.
- unpredictableness — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- unproportionately — proportioned; being in due proportion; proportional.
- unsympathetically — in a manner that is not characterized by feeling or showing sympathy
- up/raise the ante — If you up the ante or raise the ante, you increase your demands when you are in dispute or fighting for something.
- upper paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- urban exploration — a recreational activity in which people explore derelict urban structures such as abandoned sewers or underground railways or attempt to access areas which are closed to the public such as the roofs of skyscrapers
- utopian socialism — (sometimes initial capital letter) an economic system based on the premise that if capital voluntarily surrendered its ownership of the means of production to the state or the workers, unemployment and poverty would be abolished.
- vacant possession — ownership of an unoccupied house or property, any previous owner or tenant having departed
- vacuum aspiration — menstrual extraction.
- vanity publishing — the practice of the author of a book paying all or most of the costs of its publication
- varix lymphaticus — a similar condition affecting an artery or lymphatic vessel
- ventura publisher — Corel VENTURA
- vertical planning — the planning of education delivered in schools discussed between teachers of different classes or grades
- vice-presidential — relating to a person who ranks immediately below the chief executive or head of state of a republic