15-letter words containing p, i, s, a, n
- opus anglicanum — fine embroidery, esp of church vestments, produced in England c.1200–c.1350; characterized by the rich materials used, esp silver gilt thread
- outdoorsmanship — a person devoted to outdoor sports and recreational activities, as hiking, hunting, fishing, or camping.
- over-passionate — having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
- overemphasizing — Present participle of overemphasize.
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- pachymeningitis — inflammation of the dura mater of the brain and spinal cord
- pacific islands — a U.S. trust territory in the Pacific Ocean, comprising the Mariana, Marshall, and Caroline Islands: approved by the United Nations 1947; since 1976 constituents of the trusteeship have established or moved toward self-government. 717 sq. mi. (1857 sq. km).
- packing density — a measure of the amount of data that can be held by unit length of a storage medium, such as magnetic tape
- paid-in surplus — surplus paid in by purchasers of stock certificates sold at a premium.
- painter's colic — Pathology. lead poisoning causing intense intestinal pain.
- pairs champions — competitors in or winners of a pairs championship
- palaeomagnetism — the study of the fossil magnetism in rocks, used to determine the past configurations of the continents and to investigate the past shape and magnitude of the earth's magnetic field
- palaeomagnetist — a student of or expert in palaeomagnetism
- palais de danse — a dance hall
- pan-americanism — the idea or advocacy of a political alliance or union of all the countries of North, Central, and South America.
- panophthalmitis — the inflammation of all eye tissue
- panoramic sight — an artillery sight that can be rotated horizontally in a full circle.
- pantopragmatics — universal intervention in the affairs of others
- panzer division — an armored division of the German army, especially in World War II, consisting chiefly of tanks and organized for making rapid attacks.
- paphian goddess — Aphrodite, worshiped in Cyprus as the goddess of sexual love.
- paracel islands — a group of uninhabited islets and reefs in the N South China Sea, the subject of territorial claims by China and Vietnam
- paraffin series — methane series
- paralation lisp — Embeds the paralation model in Common LISP. Available from MIT Press, (800)356-0343.
- paralinguistics — the study of paralanguage.
- parallel cousin — a cousin who is the child either of one's mother's sister or of one's father's brother.
- parasiticalness — the condition or characteristic of being parasitic
- parish magazine — a magazine containing news and articles of interest to the people of a particular parish church or the local area
- parkinson's law — the statement, expressed facetiously as if a law of physics, that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.
- pars intermedia — a small, somewhat cherry-shaped double structure attached by a stalk to the base of the brain and constituting the master endocrine gland affecting all hormonal functions in the body, consisting of an anterior region ((anterior pituitary) or (adenohypophysis)) that develops embryonically from the roof of the mouth and that secretes growth hormone, LH, FSH, ACTH, TSH, and MSH, a posterior region ((posterior pituitary) or (neurohypophysis)) that develops from the back of the forebrain and that secretes the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin, and an intermediate part (pars intermedia) derived from the anterior region but joined to the posterior region, that secretes the hormone MSH in lower vertebrates.
- parthenogenesis — development of an egg without fertilization.
- passenger train — railway train that carries people
- passive smoking — the inhaling of cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke of others, especially by a nonsmoker in an enclosed area.
- past continuous — past progressive.
- pastoralization — to make pastoral or rural.
- pavement artist — sidewalk artist.
- pay-and-display — denoting a car-parking system in which a motorist buys a permit to park for a specified period from a coin-operated machine and displays the permit on or near the windscreen of his or her car so that it can be seen by a parking attendant
- peace offensive — an active program, policy, propaganda campaign, etc., by a national government for the purpose of terminating a war or period of hostility, lessening international tensions, or promoting peaceful cooperation with other nations.
- pearly nautilus — nautilus (def 1).
- pedagoguishness — the quality of being pedagoguish
- pedestrian mall — A pedestrian mall is the same as a pedestrian precinct.
- pematangsiantar — a city on NE Sumatra, in Indonesia.
- penal servitude — imprisonment together with hard labor.
- penetrativeness — the quality or condition of being penetrative
- performing arts — dance, drama, music
- personal friend — a person who is a friend, rather than a colleague or acquaintance
- personal injury — injury to an individual
- personalization — to have marked with one's initials, name, or monogram: to personalize stationery.
- personification — the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
- peruvian balsam — Peru balsam.
- peter of amiens — c1050–1115, French monk: preacher of the first Crusade 1095–99.