16-letter words containing p, i, c, r, a
- spraying machine — a device for spraying large volumes of liquid, such as insecticide onto crops
- spreader-ditcher — a machine for shaping and cleaning roadbeds and ditches and for freeing tracks of ice and snow by plowing and digging.
- spreading center — a linear zone in the sea floor along which magma rises and from which adjacent crustal plates are moving apart.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- stage production — a play or show which is performed on stage
- standing cypress — a plant, Ipomopsis rubra, of the southern U.S., having feathery leaves and clusters of red and yellow flowers.
- start-up capital — capital used to set up a new business
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- storage capacity — amount of room or space
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sulu archipelago — an island group in the SW Philippines, separating the Sulawesi Sea from the Sulu Sea. 1086 sq. mi. (2813 sq. km). Capital: Jolo.
- summer complaint — an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.
- superfecundation — the fertilization of two or more ova discharged at the same ovulation by successive acts of sexual intercourse.
- superficialities — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- superunification — a theory intended to describe the electromagnetic force, the strong force, the weak force, and gravity as a single, unified force.
- supporting actor — performer: not lead
- surface-printing — planography.
- tax depreciation — Tax depreciation is depreciation in a company's internal financial records that is different from the amount that is used for the internal books.
- tent caterpillar — any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of orchard and shade trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web.
- thermoacidophile — any organism, especially a type of archaebacterium, that thrives in strongly acidic environments at high temperatures.
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- thrombocytopenia — an abnormal decrease in the number of blood platelets.
- to coin a phrase — You say 'to coin a phrase' to show that you realize you are making a pun or using a cliché.
- to rest in peace — If you express the wish that a dead person may rest in peace, you are showing respect and sympathy for him or her. 'Rest in peace' or 'RIP' is also sometimes written on gravestones.
- topsail schooner — a sailing vessel fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts with square sails above the foresail, and often with a square sail before the foresail.
- transfer pricing — the setting of a price for the transfer of raw materials, components, products, or services between the trading units of a large organization
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- trick photograph — a photograph that creates an illusion
- tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
- tropic of cancer — Geography. either of two corresponding parallels of latitude on the terrestrial globe, one (tropic of Cancer) about 23½° N, and the other (tropic of Capricorn) about 23½° S of the equator, being the boundaries of the Torrid Zone. the tropics, the regions lying between and near these parallels of latitude; the Torrid Zone and neighboring regions.
- tropical cyclone — a cyclone that originates over a tropical ocean area and can develop into the destructive storm known in the U.S. as a hurricane, in the western Pacific region as a typhoon, and elsewhere by other names. Compare extratropical cyclone, hurricane (def 1), willy-willy.
- trucking company — a company that transports goods by lorry
- ultracrepidarian — noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise: The play provides a classic, simplistic portrayal of an ultracrepidarian mother-in-law.
- ultramicroscopic — an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.
- uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
- undercapitalized — having insufficient capital for the efficient operation of a commercial enterprise
- underpitch vault — a construction having a central vault intersected by vaults of lower pitch.
- unparticularized — to make particular.
- unpredictability — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- vapor channeling — Vapor channeling exists when vapor flow is distributed in an unequal way in a distillation vessel or stage.
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
- videodisc player — an electronic device for playing videodiscs through a television set.
- virginia cowslip — a perennial woodland plant (Mertensia virginica) of the borage family, native to E North America and having clusters of blue or purple, bell-shaped flowers
- virginia creeper — a climbing plant, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, of the grape family, native to North America, having palmate leaves, usually with five leaflets, and bluish-black berries.
- virtual particle — an elementary particle of transitory existence that does not appear as a free particle in a particular situation but that can transmit a force from one particle to another.