19-letter words containing p, l, e, n, u
- perpetual debenture — a bond or debenture that can either never be redeemed or cannot be redeemed on demand
- perpetual inventory — a form of stock control in which running records are kept of all acquisitions and disposals
- persecution complex — an acute irrational fear that other people are plotting one's downfall and that they are responsible for one's failures
- persian gulf states — group of Arab sheikdoms along the Persian Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, & United Arab Emirates
- 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.
- phthalocyanine blue — a pigment used in painting, derived from copper phthalocyanine and characterized chiefly by its brilliant, dark-blue color and by permanence.
- 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.
- pneumoencephalogram — an encephalogram made after the replacement of the cerebrospinal fluid by air or gas, rarely used since the development of the CAT scanner.
- pointe-aux-trembles — a city in S Quebec, in E Canada, N of Montreal, on the St. Lawrence.
- 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.
- preproduction model — a prototype of a product before the product goes into full-scale production
- preproduction trial — a trial to test a prototype of a product before the product goes into full-scale production
- priority scheduling — (operating system) Processes scheduling in which the scheduler selects tasks to run based on their priority as opposed to, say, a simple round-robin. Priorities may be static or dynamic. Static priorities are assigned at the time of creation, while dynamic priorities are based on the processes' behaviour while in the system. For example, the scheduler may favour I/O-intensive tasks so that expensive requests can be issued as early as possible. A danger of priority scheduling is starvation, in which processes with lower priorities are not given the opportunity to run. In order to avoid starvation, in preemptive scheduling, the priority of a process is gradually reduced while it is running. Eventually, the priority of the running process will no longer be the highest, and the next process will start running. This method is called aging.
- procedural language — (language) Any programming language in which the programmer specifies an explicit sequences of steps to follow to produce a result (an algorithm). The term should not be confused with "imperative language" - a language that specifies explicit manipulation of state. An example (non-imperative) procedural language is LOGO, which specifies sequences of steps to perform but does not have an internal state. Other procedural languages include Basic, Pascal, C, and Modula-2. Both procedural and imperative languages are in contrast to declarative languages, in which the programmer specifies neither explicit steps nor explicit state manipulation.
- provably unsolvable — The set or property of problems for which no algorithm at all exists. E.g. the Halting Problem. See also provably difficult.
- pseudo-experimental — pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment: an experimental science.
- pseudo-intellectual — a person exhibiting intellectual pretensions that have no basis in sound scholarship.
- pseudo-professional — following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
- public intellectual — an intellectual, often a noted specialist in a particular field, who has become well-known to the general public for a willingness to comment on current affairs
- public-interest law — a branch of law that often utilizes class-action suits to protect the interest of a large group or of the public at large, as in matters relating to racial discrimination, air pollution, etc.
- pull in one's horns — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes.
- pull one's socks up — to make a determined effort, esp in order to regain control of a situation
- rap on the knuckles — a mild reprimand or light sentence
- reconceptualization — to form into a concept; make a concept of.
- reduction potential — (in a galvanic cell) the potential of the electrode at which reduction occurs.
- republic of ireland — John, 1838–1918, U.S. Roman Catholic clergyman and social reformer, born in Ireland: archbishop of St. Paul, Minn., 1888–1918.
- republic of vietnam — the name (from 1955–75) for South Vietnam, as an independent republic, following the division of the country in 1954 into North Vietnam and South Vietnam
- resplendent quetzal — See under quetzal (def 1).
- ruffini's corpuscle — an end organ of certain sensory neurons that branches out parallel to the skin and responds to steady pressure.
- samuel de champlain — Samuel de [sam-yoo-uh l duh;; French sa-my-el duh] /ˈsæm yu əl də;; French sa müˈɛl də/ (Show IPA), 1567–1635, French explorer in the Americas: founder of Quebec; first colonial governor 1633–35.
- sao paulo de luanda — Luanda.
- scale down (or up) — to reduce (or increase), often according to a fixed ratio or proportion
- set/put the seal on — If something sets or puts the seal on something, it makes it definite or confirms how it is going to be.
- sexual reproduction — reproduction involving the union of gametes.
- sexual stereotyping — the formation or promotion of a fixed general idea or image of how men and women will behave
- slugging percentage — a number expressing a player's average effectiveness in making extra-base hits, calculated by dividing the total number of bases (from all singles, doubles, triples, and home runs) by the number of official at bats
- southern crab apple — a tree, Malus angustifolia, of the eastern U.S., having oblong leaves, fragrant, pink or rose-colored flowers, and small, round, yellow-green fruit.
- specular reflection — Specular reflection is reflection of heat or light in which the angles of different parts of the surface are important.
- speculative fiction — a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements
- sphere of influence — any area in which one nation wields dominant power over another or others.
- subnuclear particle — any of the elementary particles, including those that do not exist in stable matter but appear as a result of high-energy collisions of other particles or nuclei.
- sun-and-planet gear — a planetary epicyclic gear train.
- supernatural virtue — one of the three graces: faith, hope, or charity, infused into the human intellect and will by a special grace of God.
- supplementary angle — either of two angles that added together produce an angle of 180°.
- supplementary story — follow-up (def 3b).
- surplus reinsurance — Surplus reinsurance is reinsurance of amounts over a specified amount of insurance.
- suspensory ligament — any of several tissues that suspend certain organs or parts of the body, especially the transparent, delicate web of fibrous tissue that supports the crystalline lens.