18-letter words containing p, e, n, r
- disproportionately — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
- divine inspiration — insight provided by higher power
- dna fingerprinting — the use of a DNA probe for the identification of an individual, as for the matching of genes from a forensic sample with those of a criminal suspect.
- doctype decoration — (humour) When a web author adds a doctype declaration but doesn't bother to write valid HTML.
- dominican republic — a republic in the West Indies, occupying the E part of the island of Hispaniola. 19,129 sq. mi. (49,545 sq. km). Capital: Santo Domingo.
- dot matrix printer — (hardware, printer) A kind of printer with a vertical column of up to 48 small closely packed needles or "pins" each of which can be individually forced forward to press an ink ribbon against the paper. The print head is repeatedly scanned across the page and different combinations of needles activated at each point. Dot matrix printers are noisy compared to non-impact printers.
- dot-matrix printer — device: prints using matrix dots
- drainpipe trousers — trousers with very narrow legs
- drop in the bucket — a deep, cylindrical vessel, usually of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail, for collecting, carrying, or holding water, sand, fruit, etc.; pail.
- dry-powder inhaler — A dry-powder inhaler is a device that delivers medication to the lungs in the form of a dry powder.
- duchenne dystrophy — the most common form of muscular dystrophy, usually affecting only boys
- duty-free shopping — the making of duty-free purchases
- earnings per share — the net income of a corporation divided by the total number of shares of its common stock outstanding at a given time. Abbreviation: EPS.
- eastern hemisphere — the eastern part of the terrestrial globe, including Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.
- echoencephalograph — a device that employs reflected ultrasonic waves to examine the position of brain structures.
- eclipsing variable — a variable star whose changes in brightness are caused by periodic eclipses of two stars in a binary system.
- economic geography — a branch of geography that deals with the relation of physical and economic conditions to the production and utilization of raw materials and their manufacture into finished products.
- egg and spoon race — a novelty race in which contestants each carry an egg in a spoon to the finish line, the winner being the first to finish without dropping or breaking the egg.
- egg-and-spoon race — a race in which runners carry an egg balanced in a spoon
- eggshell porcelain — a type of very thin translucent porcelain originally made in China
- electric potential — the work required to transfer a unit positive electric charge from an infinite distance to a given point against an electric field
- electroacupuncture — the insertion into the body of one or more needles through which an electric current is passed
- electron telescope — an astronomical telescope with an attachment for converting the infrared radiation emitted from the surface of planets into a visible image
- electron transport — the metabolic process in mitochondria or chloroplasts, in which electrons are transferred in stages from energy-rich compounds to molecular oxygen with liberation of energy
- electronic receipt — An electronic receipt is one created in a computerized cash register, or by an online retailer. It will usually show the date and time, how payment is made, and other details of the sale.
- elizabeth petrovna — 1709-62; empress of Russia (1741-62): daughter of Peter I
- employment service — (in the United States) a government department established to collect and supply to the unemployed information about job vacancies and to employers information about availability of prospective workers
- endangered species — animal, plant becoming extinct
- energy consumption — amount of energy used
- entrepreneurialism — The spirit or state of acting in an entrepreneurial manner.
- epstein-barr virus — a virus belonging to the herpes family that causes infectious mononucleosis; it is also implicated in the development of Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease
- equine herpesvirus — a viral disease of horses that may cause respiratory signs, abortion, neonatal death, and paresis. A vaccine is available against this disease
- equinoctial spring — either of the two highest spring tides that occur at the equinoxes
- erectile impotence — impotence caused by the inability of the penis to become sufficiently firm to penetrate the vagina
- european community — an economic and political association of European States that came into being in 1967, when the legislative and executive bodies of the European Economic Community merged with those of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community: subsumed into the European Union in 1993
- evapotranspiration — The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
- examination script — a script with answers written on it by an examination candidate taking a written examination
- exchange programme — an arrangement in which people from different countries visit each other's country, perhaps to strengthen links between them or to improve foreign language skills
- exercise equipment — equipment that can be used for exercising, such as tread mills, rowing machines, etc
- expected frequency — the number of occasions on which an event may be presumed to occur on average in a given number of trials
- expressionlessness — The state of being without an expression.
- extemporaneousness — The degree or property of being extemporaneous.
- extermination camp — a camp where people are imprisoned and killed
- false imprisonment — the unlawful restraint of a person from exercising the right to freedom of movement.
- farewell-to-spring — a slender, showy plant, Clarkia amoena, of the evening primrose family, native to western North America, having satiny, cup-shaped, lilac-crimson or reddish-pink flowers and roundish fruit.
- feeping creaturism — /fee'ping kree"ch*r-izm/ A deliberate spoonerism for creeping featurism, meant to imply that the system or program in question has become a misshapen creature of hacks. This term isn"t really well defined, but it sounds so neat that most hackers have said or heard it. It is probably reinforced by an image of terminals prowling about in the dark making their customary noises.
- fermat's principle — Optics. the law that the path taken by a ray of light in going from one point to another point will be the path that requires the least time.
- forced development — the processing of underexposed photographic film to increase the image density
- fore-edge painting — a technique of painting a picture on the fore edge of a book, often in such a manner that only when the pages are slightly fanned the picture is revealed.
- free-range poultry — poultry kept in natural nonintensive conditions