17-letter words containing p, e, l, t, o
- 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.
- thompson seedless — a yellow, seedless variety of grape used in producing raisins.
- thousandths-place — last in order of a series of a thousand.
- 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 little purpose — with little (or no) result or effect; pointlessly
- to lose your grip — If you lose your grip, you become less efficient and less confident, and less able to deal with things.
- 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.
- tolpuddle martyrs — six farm workers sentenced to transportation for seven years in 1834 for administering an unlawful oath to form a trade union in the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset
- 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
- travelling people — Gypsies or other itinerant people: a term used esp by such people of themselves
- 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.
- ultrametamorphism — metamorphism during which the temperature of a rock exceeds its melting point.
- uncompassionately — having or showing compassion: a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
- unemployment line — When people talk about the unemployment line, they are talking about the state of being unemployed, especially when saying how many people are unemployed.
- unemployment rate — percentage of population without jobs
- unproportionately — proportioned; being in due proportion; proportional.
- upper paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- urban development — the development or improvement of an urban area by building
- 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
- vitamin b complex — an important group of water-soluble vitamins containing vitamin B 1 , vitamin B 2 , etc.
- wave-cut platform — a flat surface at the base of a cliff formed by erosion by waves
- wearable computer — a small computer that is worn or carried on the body; a wearable computing device: a wrist-worn wearable computer with a head-mounted display.
- well-photographed — a picture produced by photography.
- well-proportioned — adjusted to proper proportion or relation.
- wild sweet potato — man-of-the-earth.
- winter heliotrope — a creeping perennial, Petasites fragrans, related to the butterbur, having lilac to heliotrope-coloured flowers smelling of vanilla: found chiefly on road verges
- wireless operator — a radio operator
- yield the palm to — to acknowledge the superiority of; admit to defeat by