23-letter words containing p, h, l
- mop (up) the floor with — to defeat decisively
- north ossetian republic — a constituent republic of S Russia, on the N slopes of the central Caucasus Mountains. Capital: Vladikavkaz. Pop: 709 900 (2002). Area: about 8000 sq km (3088 sq miles)
- not a hair out of place — If you say that someone has not a hair out of place, you are emphasizing that they are extremely smart and neatly dressed.
- occupational psychology — the study of human behaviour at work, including ergonomics, selection procedures, and the effects of stress
- parametric polymorphism — Polymorphism was first identified by Christopher Strachey in 1967 and developed by Hindley and Milner. For example we could specify that the argument of the "head" function was a list without specifying a type for the elements of the list. In Haskell we would write: head :: [a] -> a meaning head has type function from "list of a" to "a" where "a" is a type variable). This is known as parametric polymorphism. Polymorphic typing allows strong type checking as well as generic functions. ML in 1976 was the first language with polymorphic typing. See also generic type variable.
- particulate inheritance — the inheritance of discrete characters via genes that are independently expressed without the blending of characters from one generation to the next.
- pentachloronitrobenzene — a crystalline compound, C 6 Cl 5 NO 2 , used as an herbicide and insecticide. Abbreviation: PCNB.
- pentagonal dodecahedron — pyritohedron.
- pharmaceuticals company — a company specialising in developing and marketing pharmaceuticals
- philadelphia pepper pot — pepper pot (def 1).
- photoelectric magnitude — the magnitude of a star determined using a photometer plus a filter to select light or other radiation of the desired wavelength
- photoelectric threshold — the minimum frequency or maximum wavelength of incident radiation necessary to release photons from a given surface.
- phyletic classification — classification of organisms based on their assumed evolutionary histories and relationships.
- physical memory address — physical address
- physiological phonetics — the branch of phonetics that deals with the motive processes, anatomical measurements, spirometric properties, muscle and membrane tone, and kinetic aspects of the production of speech and with related aspects of the reception of speech.
- planetesimal hypothesis — one of the small celestial bodies that, according to one theory (planetesimal hypothesis) were fused together to form the planets of the solar system.
- polish lowland sheepdog — a strongly-built medium-sized sheepdog of a Polish breed with a long thick shaggy coat that covers the eyes
- polybrominated biphenyl — PBB.
- polymethyl methacrylate — polymerized methyl methacrylate.
- polytetrafluoroethylene — any polymer, plastic, or resin having the formula (C 2 F 4) n , prepared from tetrafluoroethylene, noted for its slippery, nonsticking properties, and used in the manufacture of gaskets, electrical insulation, tubing, candy molds, container linings, frying-pan coatings, etc.
- polyvinylidene chloride — a polymer of vinylidene chloride, used chiefly in the manufacture of saran.
- process hazard analysis — Process hazard analysis is calculating what might be a hazard in a process, how likely it is to happen, and what should be done if someone or something is exposed to this hazard.
- public-key cryptography — public-key encryption
- reverse polish notation — postfix notation
- schematic type variable — generic type variable
- schizotypal personality — a personality disorder characterized by a group of symptoms similar to but less severe than schizophrenia, as odd behavior, peculiar thinking, and social isolation.
- scottish national party — a political party advocating the independence of Scotland, founded in 1934
- slip between the cracks — to break without complete separation of parts; become fissured: The plate cracked when I dropped it, but it was still usable.
- sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
- speak the same language — to communicate with understanding because of common background, values, etc
- speak well/highly of sb — If you speak well of someone or speak highly of someone, you say good things about them. If you speak ill of someone, you criticize them.
- structural anthropology — a school of anthropology founded by Claude Lévi-Strauss and based loosely on the principles of structural linguistics.
- suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
- talk/speak of the devil — People say speak of the devil, or in British English talk of the devil, if someone they have just been talking about appears unexpectedly.
- the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
- the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
- there'll be hell to pay — If you say there'll be hell to pay, you are emphasizing that there will be serious trouble.
- to have a police record — If you say that somebody has a police record, you mean that they have committed a crime or crimes and the police have a record of this.
- to keep sth to yourself — If you keep something to yourself, you do not tell anyone else about it.
- to play for high stakes — to gamble on something very important
- to pluck up the courage — If you pluck up the courage to do something that you feel nervous about, you make an effort to be brave enough to do it.
- to take a leap of faith — to risk belief
- to win the popular vote — to get a majority as regards the votes cast by individual voters
- to wipe the slate clean — If you wipe the slate clean, you decide to forget previous mistakes, failures, or debts and to start again.
- trans-new guinea phylum — the largest grouping of the non-Austronesian languages of Papua and New Guinea and the surrounding regions