19-letter words containing p, i, l, a, s
- norfolk island pine — a coniferous evergreen tree, Araucaria heterophylla (or A. excelsa), having whorled branches and needlelike foliage, widely cultivated as a houseplant.
- old english pattern — a spoon pattern having a stem curving backward at the end.
- old spanish customs — irregular practices among a group of workers to gain increased financial allowances, reduced working hours, etc
- on pins and needles — a tingly, prickly sensation in a limb that is recovering from numbness.
- operational testing — (testing) A US DoD term for testing performed by the end-user on software in its normal operating environment.
- optical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)
- palaeoethnobotanist — someone who studies fossil seeds and grains to further archaeological knowledge, esp of the domestication of cereals
- paleoanthropologist — the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.
- palisade parenchyma — the upper layer of ground tissue in a leaf, consisting of elongated cells beneath and perpendicular to the upper epidermis and constituting the primary area of photosynthesis.
- parainfluenza virus — any of a group of viruses that cause respiratory infections with influenza-like symptoms, esp in children
- parallactic ellipse — the apparent ellipse, as seen against the background of more distant stars, described annually by a nearby star because of the earth's orbital motion around the sun. Compare parallax (def 2).
- parallel processing — extending in the same direction, equidistant at all points, and never converging or diverging: parallel rows of trees.
- paraphase amplifier — an amplifier that produces a push-pull output from a single input.
- particle dispersoid — A particle dispersoid is a suspension of solid particles in a gas.
- particle kinematics — Particle kinematics is the study of the movement of particles, without considering the forces that cause this movement.
- particle separation — a rule that moves the particle of a phrasal verb, thus deriving a sentence like He looked the answer up from a structure that also underlies He looked up the answer
- particular solution — a solution of a differential equation containing no arbitrary constants.
- pass someone's lips — to be eaten or drunk by someone
- pastoral counseling — the use of psychotherapeutic techniques by trained members of the clergy to assist parishioners who seek help for personal or emotional problems.
- peak listening time — the time at which the highest numbers of audiences are listening to the radio
- peninsular malaysia — part of Malaysia, on the Malay Peninsula: consists of the former Federated Malay States, the former Unfederated Malay States, and the former Straits Settlements. Capital: Kuala Lumpur. Pop: 17 144 322 (2000). Area: 131 587 sq km (50 806 sq miles)
- periodontal disease — any of various mixed bacterial infections that affect the soft tissues and bones supporting the teeth.
- peritoneal dialysis — a form of dialysis in which the peritoneum is used as an autogenous semipermeable membrane
- peroxysulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 1).
- persian gulf states — group of Arab sheikdoms along the Persian Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, & United Arab Emirates
- personal belongings — possessions; things that belong to someone
- personal stationery — headed notepaper
- phacoemulsification — the removal of a cataract by first liquefying the affected lens with ultrasonic vibrations and then extracting it by suction.
- phakoemulsification — the removal of a cataract by first liquefying the affected lens with ultrasonic vibrations and then extracting it by suction.
- philosophical logic — the branch of philosophy that studies the relationship between formal logic and ordinary language, esp the extent to which the former can be held accurately to represent the latter
- physical addressing — (networking) The low level addressing scheme used on Ethernet. The 48-bit destination Ethernet address in a packet is compared with the receiving node's Ethernet address. Compare IP address.
- physical impairment — A physical impairment is a condition in which a part of a person's body is damaged or is not working properly.
- physical sequential — (file format) (PS, QSAM, Queued Sequential Access Method) The simplest data set on an IBM mainframe. Sequential files can only be read or written from the beginning: they do not support random access.
- physically impaired — with reduced or weakened physical capacity
- pillars of hercules — the two promontories at the E end of the Strait of Gibraltar: the Rock of Gibraltar on the European side and the Jebel Musa on the African side; according to legend, formed by Hercules
- pinwheel escapement — a clock escapement in which two pallets, usually of unequal length, alternately engage and release pins set on the escape wheel perpendicular to its plane of rotation.
- pistol-handle knife — a table knife, especially of the 18th century, having a slightly curved handle resembling the grip of a flintlock pistol.
- planning permission — In Britain, planning permission is official permission that you must get from the local authority before building something new or adding something to an existing building.
- plastic deformation — In plastic deformation a material changes shape when a stress is applied to it and does not go back to its original state when the stress is removed.
- play footsie (with) — to touch feet or rub knees (with) in a caressing way, as under the table
- pointe-aux-trembles — a city in S Quebec, in E Canada, N of Montreal, on the St. Lawrence.
- police headquarters — building where police are stationed
- political scientist — A political scientist is someone who studies, writes, or lectures about political science.
- political-scientist — a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government.
- polyphosphoric acid — any one of a series of oxyacids of phosphorus with the general formula Hn+2PnO3n+1. The first member is pyrophosphoric acid (n = 2) and the series includes the highly polymeric metaphosphoric acid. The higher acids exist in an equilibrium mixture
- popular sovereignty — the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
- population genetics — the branch of genetics concerned with the hereditary makeup of populations.
- population pressure — the force exerted by a growing population upon its environment, resulting in dispersal or reduction of the population.
- port jackson willow — an Australian acacia tree, Acacia cyanophylla, introduced in the 19th century into South Africa, where it is now regarded as a pest
- positional notation — a type of numeration in which the position of a digit affects its value.