18-letter words containing p, i, r, a, o
- soda-lime feldspar — plagioclase.
- sodium-vapour lamp — a type of electric lamp consisting of a glass tube containing neon and sodium vapour at low pressure through which an electric current is passed to give an orange light. They are used in street lighting
- solitary sandpiper — a North American sandpiper, Tringa solitaria, of inland wetlands, having a brownish-gray, white-spotted back and whitish underparts.
- something to spare — a surplus of something
- special prosecutor — (formerly) an independent counsel.
- spectroheliography — the process of obtaining an image of the sun in light of a particular wavelength, such as calcium or hydrogen, showing the distribution of the element over the surface and in the solar atmosphere, using a spectroheliograph
- spectropolarimeter — an instrument for determining the extent to which plane-polarized light of various wavelengths is rotated by certain solutions, consisting of a combination of a spectroscope and a polarimeter.
- spectropolariscope — an instrument combining the functions of a spectroscope with those of a polariscope.
- sperry corporation — (company) The company which merged with the Burroughs Corporation to form Unisys Corporation. Divisions included Sperry Univac, Sperry Flight Systems, and others. Some of these were sold off after the merger.
- spherical geometry — the branch of geometry that deals with figures on spherical surfaces.
- spike-tooth harrow — a harrow equipped with straight teeth on horizontal bars, usually employed to smooth and level plowed soil or seedbeds for planting or sowing.
- spirits of ammonia — a 10% solution of ammonia in alcohol
- spread one's wings — to make full use of one's abilities
- statutory sick pay — the pay an employee is legally entitled to when sick
- subatomic particle — physics:
- subsidiary company — a company whose controlling interest is owned by another company.
- summary proceeding — a mode of trial authorized by statute to be held before a judge without the usual full hearing.
- super giant slalom — a slalom race in which the course is longer and has more widely spaced gates than in a giant slalom.
- superior vena cava — See under vena cava.
- supporting actress — an actress playing a supporting role
- supportive therapy — any treatment, such as the intravenous administration of certain fluids, designed to reinforce or sustain the physiological well-being of a patient
- supraorbital ridge — browridge.
- sustaining program — a radio or television program without a commercial sponsor.
- system-programming — a program, as an operating system, compiler, or utility program, that controls some aspect of the operation of a computer (opposed to application program).
- temporal summation — the act or process of summing.
- territory of papua — a former territory of Australia, consisting of SE New Guinea and adjacent islands: now part of Papua New Guinea
- the operative word — If you describe a word as the operative word, you want to draw attention to it because you think it is important or exactly true in a particular situation.
- the-cocktail-party — a play in verse (1950) by T. S. Eliot.
- thiosulphuric acid — an unstable acid known only in solutions and in the form of its salts. Formula: H2S2O3
- to cast aspersions — If you cast aspersions on someone or something, you suggest that they are not very good in some way.
- to play favourites — to display favouritism
- to scrape a living — If you say that someone scrapes a living or scratches a living, you mean that they manage to earn enough to live on, but it is very difficult. In American English, you say they scrape out a living or scratch out a living.
- to speak your mind — If you speak your mind, you say firmly and honestly what you think about a situation, even if this may offend or upset people.
- traditional option — an option that once purchased cannot be resold
- traditional policy — a life assurance policy in which the policyholder's premiums are paid into a general fund and his or her investment benefits are calculated according to actuarial formulae
- traditional weapon — a weapon having ceremonial tribal significance, such as an assegai or knobkerrie
- transient response — A transient response of a circuit is a temporary change in the way that it behaves due to an external excitation, that will disappear with time.
- transporter bridge — a bridge for carrying passengers and vehicles by means of a platform suspended from a trolley.
- triphosphoric acid — the hypothetical acid H 5 P 3 O 10 , known chiefly by its salts.
- under-compensation — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- under-depreciation — decrease in value due to wear and tear, decay, decline in price, etc.
- unfair competition — acts done by a seller to confuse or deceive the public with intent to acquire a larger portion of the market, as by cutting prices below cost, misleading advertising, selling a spurious product under a false identity, etc.
- unisys corporation — (company) The company formed in 1984-5 when Burroughs Corporation merged with Sperry Corporation. This was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined. Unisys is one of the largest providers of information services, technology, and software in the world. They employ about 49,000 people and do business in some 100 countries. In 1994 about 80 percent of revenue was derived from commercial information systems and services, with the remainder coming from electronic systems and services for the defense market. The defense business was sold to Loral in early 1995. Slightly more than half of Unisys's revenue is from business in the United States. They specialise in providing business-critical solutions, based on open information networks, for organisations that operate in transaction-intensive environments. These organisations include financial services companies, airlines, telecommunications companies, government agencies, and other commercial enterprises. In August 1994, quarterly sales were $1799M and profits $50M.
- universal coupling — a coupling between rotating shafts set at an angle to one another, allowing for rotation in three planes.
- upper palaeolithic — the latest of the three periods of the Palaeolithic, beginning about 40 000 bc and ending, in Europe, about 12 000 bc: characterized by the emergence of modern man, Homo sapiens
- upper partial tone — overtone (def 1).
- vectorcardiography — a method of determining the direction and magnitude of the electrical forces of the heart.
- vermiform appendix — a narrow, blind tube protruding from the cecum, having no known useful function, in humans being 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long and situated in the lower right-hand part of the abdomen.
- videotape recorder — a device for recording television programs on magnetic tape for delayed transmission or for storage.
- visitor's passport — (formerly, in Britain) a passport, valid for one year and for certain countries only, that could be purchased from post offices