23-letter words containing p, i, e, r, o

progressive cavity pump — A progressive cavity pump is a pump with an electric motor that rotates rods to make fluid in cavities move upward.
provocative maintenance — [Common ironic mutation of "preventive maintenance"] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a field servoid who doesn't know what he is doing; such "maintenance" often *induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine's remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amount of time. See also scratch monkey.
psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
public enemy number one — (not in official use) a criminal at the top of the FBI's list of the ten most wanted criminals.
public sector borrowing — government borrowing to fund the public sector
public-key cryptography — public-key encryption
puerto rican royal palm — a feather palm, Roystonea borinquena, of Puerto Rico and St. Croix, having leaves about 10 feet (3 meters) long and egg-shaped, yellowish-brown fruit.
put one's finger on sth — If you put your finger on something, for example a reason or problem, you see and identify exactly what it is.
put the record straight — to correct an error or misunderstanding
queenborough in sheppey — a town in SE England, in Kent: formed in 1968 by the amalgamation of Queenborough, Sheerness, and Sheppey. Pop: 3471 (2001)
real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
refinery waste disposal — Refinery waste disposal is the system for dealing with waste materials, especially hazardous ones, in a refinery.
refuse disposal service — a place or facility where rubbish and waste can be disposed
relative sunspot number — a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.
respectability politics — the set of beliefs holding that conformity to socially acceptable or mainstream standards of appearance and behavior will protect a member of a marginalized or minority group from prejudices and systemic injustices: Black respectability politics perpetuate the fiction of a meritocracy in public education.
respondent conditioning — conditioning (def 2).
response generalization — generalization (def 4b).
response-generalization — the act or process of generalizing.
retrolental fibroplasia — an unusual eye disease occurring in premature infants, usually from being given high concentrations of oxygen, which causes abnormal formation of fibrous tissue behind the lens and often results in blindness.
reverse polish notation — postfix notation
rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
saint christopher-nevis — St. Kitts-Nevis.
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.
separation of variables — a grouping of the terms of an ordinary differential equation so that associated with each differential is a factor consisting entirely of functions of the independent variable appearing in the differential.
silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
social democratic party — History/Historical. a political party in Germany advocating a form of social organization based on the economic and political ideology of Karl Marx.
social security payment — a payment of social security made to an individual
sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
software developers kit — (jargon, product) (SDK, or "Software Development Kit") Software provided by a software vendor to allow their products to be used with those of other software vendors.
somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
spirit of nitrous ether — ethyl nitrite spirit.
st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
statutory maternity pay — the maternity pay a woman is legally entitled to
stereoscopic microscope — a microscope that produces a three-dimensional image of an object by focusing on the object from slightly different positions in each of two lenses.
stereospecific catalyst — a catalyst for stereospecific chemical reactions
subscription television — pay television.
superposition principle — principle of superposition.
text processing utility — (language) (TPU) A DEC language for creation of text-processing interfaces, used to implement DEC's Extensible VAX Editor (EVE).
the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments
the data protection act — a United Kingdom act of parliament designed to ensure the proper handling of information stored about individuals on computers and entitling individuals to find out what information is stored about them
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
the teaching profession — the profession of a teacher
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 a straight face — If you manage to keep a straight face, you manage to look serious, although you want to laugh.
to keep a tight rein on — If you keep a tight rein on someone, you control them firmly.
to play for high stakes — to gamble on something very important
to win the popular vote — to get a majority as regards the votes cast by individual voters
transplantation antigen — a histocompatibility antigen identified by its effect on the rejection of transplanted cells or tissues.

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?