16-letter words containing p, l, o, t
- the gospel truth — the unquestionable truth
- the long paddock — a stockroute or roadside area offering feed to sheep and cattle in dry times
- the open college — (in Britain) a college of art founded in 1987 for mature students studying foundation courses in arts and crafts by television programmes, written materials, and tutorials
- the yellow press — (formerly) popular newspapers publishing sensational stories
- thermoacidophile — any organism, especially a type of archaebacterium, that thrives in strongly acidic environments at high temperatures.
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- three-point line — Basketball. a field goal worth three points, made from behind a specified line (three-point line)
- three-point play — a play in which a player sinks the free throw that was awarded when the player was fouled while scoring a basket.
- thrombophlebitis — the presence of a thrombus in a vein accompanied by inflammation of the vessel wall.
- throw for a loop — a portion of a cord, ribbon, etc., folded or doubled upon itself so as to leave an opening between the parts.
- tightrope walker — performer who walks on high wire
- to bite your lip — If you bite your lip or your tongue, you stop yourself from saying something that you want to say, because it would be the wrong thing to say in the circumstances.
- to blow your top — If someone blows their top, they become very angry about something.
- to change places — If you change places with another person, you start being in their situation or role, and they start being in yours.
- to lose the plot — If someone loses the plot, they become confused and do not know what they should do.
- to play for time — If you play for time, you try to make something happen more slowly, because you do not want it to happen or because you need time to think about what to do if it happens.
- to play the fool — If you play the fool or act the fool, you behave in a playful, childish, and foolish way, usually in order to make other people laugh.
- to put it mildly — to state it with or as if with restraint
- to speak volumes — If something such as an action speaks volumes about a person or thing, it gives you a lot of information about them.
- topical-sentence — a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.
- topless swimsuit — swimsuit which has no covering for the breasts
- topsail schooner — a sailing vessel fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts with square sails above the foresail, and often with a square sail before the foresail.
- torsion pendulum — a pendulum the weight of which is rotated alternately in opposite directions through a horizontal plane by the torsion of the suspending rod or spring: used for clocks intended to run a long time between windings.
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- trapezoidal rule — a numerical method for evaluating the area between a curve and an axis by approximating the area with the areas of trapezoids.
- trial separation — an experimental period of living apart
- triple-expansion — noting a power source, especially a steam engine, using the same fluid at three successive stages of expansion to do work in three or more cylinders.
- troop the colors — to parade the colors, or flag, before troops
- tropical cyclone — a cyclone that originates over a tropical ocean area and can develop into the destructive storm known in the U.S. as a hurricane, in the western Pacific region as a typhoon, and elsewhere by other names. Compare extratropical cyclone, hurricane (def 1), willy-willy.
- two-body problem — the problem of calculating the motions of two bodies in space moving solely under the influence of their mutual gravitational attraction.
- two-percent milk — Two-percent milk is milk from which some of the cream has been removed.
- two-tailed pasha — a distinctive vanessid butterfly of S Europe, Charaxes jasius, having mottled brown wings with a yellow-orange margin and frilled hind edges
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- ultramicroscopic — an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.
- unapologetically — containing an apology or excuse for a fault, failure, insult, injury, etc.: An apologetic letter to his creditors explained the delay.
- under the plough — If an area of land is under the plough, it is used for growing crops. If land is brought or put under the plough, it is ploughed for the first time and is then used for growing crops.
- under-employment — employed at a job that does not fully use one's skills or abilities.
- unproportionally — having due proportion; corresponding.
- up to the elbows — deeply engaged (in work, etc.)
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- vegetable sponge — loofah (def 2).
- ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
- vitruvius pollio — Marcus, flourished 1st century b.c, Roman architect, engineer, and author.
- voluntary helper — a person who aids or assists in a specified function of one's own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- walk a tightrope — be in a precarious position
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- well-upholstered — (of a person) fat
- will-o'-the-wisp — ignis fatuus (def 1).
- willow ptarmigan — a ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus, of arctic and subarctic regions of the New and Old Worlds, having brown, mottled plumage in summer and white plumage in winter.