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17-letter words containing p, l, e, a, t

  • pastoral theology — the branch of theology dealing with the responsibilities of members of the clergy to the people under their care.
  • paternalistically — the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc., in the manner of a father dealing benevolently and often intrusively with his children: The employees objected to the paternalism of the old president.
  • paymaster general — a government minister responsible for making payments by government departments
  • peach bark beetle — a bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris, that feeds on and nests in peach and other drupaceous trees.
  • peacock butterfly — a European nymphalid butterfly, Inachis io, having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
  • pebbleweave cloth — an irregularly textured material made from twisted yarn
  • peer of the realm — any of a class of peers in Great Britain and Ireland entitled by heredity to sit in the House of Lords.
  • penalty shoot-out — In football, a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.
  • penitential psalm — any of the Psalms (the 6th, 32nd, 38th, 51st, 102nd, 130th, and 143rd) that give expression to feelings of penitence and that are used in various Christian liturgical services.
  • pentachlorophenol — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, C 6 Cl 5 OH, used chiefly in fungicides, disinfectants, and wood preservatives.
  • pentylenetetrazol — a white, crystalline, bitter-tasting, water-soluble powder, C 6 H 1 0 N 4 , used as a respiratory and circulatory stimulant, especially in the treatment of barbiturate poisoning, and to induce a convulsive state in the treatment of certain mental diseases.
  • perpetual spinach — a variety of spinach that keeps producing edible leaves
  • personal computer — a compact computer that uses a microprocessor and is designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC.
  • personal distance — personal space.
  • personal equation — the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.
  • personal property — an estate or property consisting of movable articles both corporeal, as furniture or jewelry, or incorporeal, as stocks or bonds (distinguished from real property).
  • personality clash — friction between two people who have different personalities or points of view
  • peterloo massacre — an incident at St Peter's Fields, Manchester, in 1819 in which a radical meeting was broken up by a cavalry charge, resulting in about 500 injuries and 11 deaths
  • petrol filler cap — a small cover that goes over the hole in a vehicle into which you put petrol
  • phenethyl alcohol — a colorless, viscous, slightly water-soluble liquid, C 8 H 1 0 O, having a faint roselike odor: used chiefly in perfumery.
  • phenyl isocyanate — a liquid reagent, C 7 H 5 NO, having an unpleasant, irritating odor: used chiefly for identifying alcohols and amines.
  • phenylacetic acid — a white crystalline, aromatic acid, C 8 H 8 O 2 , used in the manufacture of penicillin and in perfumes.
  • phonetic alphabet — an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.
  • photovoltaic cell — a photocell in which an electromotive force is generated by a photovoltaic effect.
  • phumiphon aduldet — (Phumiphon Aduldet; Bhumibol Adulyadej) born 1927, king of Thailand since 1946.
  • pile on the agony — to exaggerate one's distress for sympathy or greater effect
  • pillar-and-breast — room-and-pillar.
  • pipeline capacity — The pipeline capacity is the volume of oil or gas which is needed to maintain a full pipeline.
  • plastic explosive — a puttylike substance that contains an explosive charge, and is detonated by fuse or by remote control: used especially by terrorists and in guerrilla warfare.
  • plateau's problem — the problem in the calculus of variations of finding the surface with the least area bounded by a given closed curve in space.
  • platinic chloride — chloroplatinic acid.
  • play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
  • plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
  • pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
  • pocket calculator — an electronic calculator small enough to be carried on one's person.
  • point reyes lilac — a prostrate shrub, Ceanothus gloriosus, of southern California, having leathery, roundish leaves and purplish or deep-blue flowers.
  • polar continental — a type of cold, dry air mass originating at high latitudes over land areas
  • polar coordinates — Usually, polar coordinates. one of two coordinates used to locate a point in a plane by the length of its radius vector and the angle this vector makes with the polar axis (polar angle)
  • polarizing filter — a camera lens filter used to control the plane of polarization of light entering the lens.
  • police department — A police department is an official organization which is responsible for making sure that people obey the law.
  • polioencephalitis — a disease characterized by inflammation of the gray matter of the brain.
  • political economy — a social science dealing with political policies and economic processes, their interrelations, and their influence on social institutions.
  • political liberty — the right to express oneself freely and effectually regarding the conduct, makeup, and principles of the government under which one lives.
  • political refugee — a person who has fled from a homeland because of political persecution.
  • political science — a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government.
  • polyacrylonitrile — a polymer of acrylonitrile used in the manufacture of Orlon and other synthetic textiles.
  • polyvinyl acetate — a colorless, odorless, nontoxic, transparent, thermoplastic, water-insoluble resin used as an adhesive in certain paints and as an intermediate in the synthesis of polyvinyl acetal and polyvinyl alcohol.
  • popular etymology — folk etymology.
  • portable computer — (computer)   (Commonly, "laptop") A portable personal computer you can carry with one hand. Some laptops run so hot that it would be quite uncomforable to actually use them on your lap for long. The term "notebook" is often used to describe these, though it also implies a low weight (less than 2kg). A "luggable" is one you could carry in one hand but is so heavy you wouldn't want to. One that can by easily operated while held in one hand is a "palmtop". The computer considered by most historians to be the first true portable computer was the Osborne 1 but see the link below for other contenders.
  • portfolio manager — a person employed by others to make investments for them
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