14-letter words containing p, l, e, a
- antineoplastic — acting against tumours
- antipathetical — Antipathetic, with antipathy, without caring.
- antirepublican — opposed to the principles or practice of republicanism
- antiseptically — with the aid of antiseptics.
- apheliotropism — a tendency of certain plants to turn away from the sun; negative heliotropism
- apico-alveolar — articulated with the apex of the tongue touching or near the alveolar ridge, as (t), (z), (n), and (l)
- apocryphalness — the quality of being apocryphal
- apolipoprotein — any of a group of glycoproteins that form part of the structure of lipoproteins, some of which have been associated with Alzheimer's disease
- apologetically — containing an apology or excuse for a fault, failure, insult, injury, etc.: An apologetic letter to his creditors explained the delay.
- apoplectically — of or relating to apoplexy or stroke.
- aposematically — in an aposematic manner
- apothegmatical — Relating to, or in the manner of, an apothegm; sententious; pithy.
- apple islander — a native or inhabitant of Tasmania
- apple polisher — a sycophant; toady
- apple turnover — a pastry containing apple
- apple-polisher — to curry favor with someone, especially in an obsequious or flattering manner.
- appleton layer — the F region of the ionosphere
- applicableness — applying or capable of being applied; relevant; suitable; appropriate: an applicable rule; a solution that is applicable to the problem.
- appreciational — gratitude; thankful recognition: They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.
- appreciatively — feeling or showing appreciation: an appreciative audience at the concert.
- apprehensively — uneasy or fearful about something that might happen: apprehensive for the safety of the mountain climbers.
- arborsculpture — The art and craft technique of growing and shaping tree trunks.
- archencephalon — the primitive forebrain region of the embryo, anterior to the notochord, that gives rise to the midbrain and forebrain.
- archetypically — the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
- archiepiscopal — of or associated with an archbishop
- arctic redpoll — a finch, Carduelis hornemanni, of the family Fringillidae, which breeds in tundra birch forest
- area pellucida — the translucent central area of the blastoderm of birds and reptiles within which the embryo develops.
- arthroplasties — Plural form of arthroplasty.
- asphalt jungle — an expression used to refer to a city environment, which emphasizes its dangerous nature
- assault weapon — any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use. Compare assault rifle.
- assembly plant — An assembly plant is a factory where large items such as cars are put together, usually using parts which have been made in other factories.
- assembly point — a designated place where people have been told to wait after evacuating a building in the event of a fire or other emergency
- assemblyperson — a member of a legislative assembly, especially a member of the lower house of the legislature in certain states of the U.S.
- assisted place — a place at a private school reserved for a pupil from a family with a low income, with the fees paid by the government
- at one's peril — If you say that someone does something at their peril, you are warning them that they will probably suffer as a result of doing it.
- attemptability — the capability of being attempted or condition of being attemptable
- autopilot code — (jargon, humour) Code that was written by a programmer on "auto-pilot" who wasn't really thinking about what they were doing.
- autotetraploid — an individual or strain whose chromosome complement consists of four copies of a single genome due to doubling of an ancestral chromosome complement
- avoidance play — a play by the declarer designed to prevent a particular opponent from taking the lead.
- bachelor party — A bachelor party is a party for a man who is getting married very soon, to which only men are invited.
- back-pedalling — a retreat from or a retraction of a previously held view
- backflap hinge — Building Trades. flap (def 20a).
- balance spring — hairspring.
- ballast pocket — a depression that is formed beneath the ballast layer by penetration of ballast particles into the subgrade and that tends to collect moisture.
- ballet slipper — a heelless cloth or leather slipper worn by ballet dancers.
- balsam of peru — an aromatic balsam that is obtained from the tropical South American leguminous tree Myroxylon pereirae and is similar to balsam of Tolu
- baltimore chop — a batted ball that takes a high bounce upon hitting the ground on or immediately in front of home plate, often enabling the batter to reach first base safely.
- banana problem — (programming, humour) From the story of the little girl who said "I know how to spell "banana", but I don't know when to stop". Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare fencepost error). One may say "there is a banana problem" of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping elegance, creeping featuritis).
- baptismal name — Christian name (def 1).
- beauty parlour — A beauty parlour is a place where women can go to have beauty treatments, for example to have their hair, nails or make-up done.