16-letter words containing p, o, g, r
- overcompensating — Present participle of overcompensate.
- overcomplicating — Present participle of overcomplicate.
- pacific sturgeon — a dark gray sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, inhabiting marine and fresh waters along the northwestern coast of North America, valued as a food and sport fish.
- packing fraction — Physics. a measure of the stability of an atomic nucleus, equal to 10 4 multiplied by the mass defect and divided by the mass number.
- parser generator — A program which takes a formal description of a grammar (e.g. in BNF) and outputs source code for a parser which will recognise valid strings obeying that grammar and perform associated actions. Unix's yacc is a well known example.
- part way through — mid-way; before the end
- partial ordering — a relation defined on a set, having the properties that each element is in relation to itself, the relation is transitive, and if two elements are in relation to each other, the two elements are equal.
- passenger pigeon — an extinct pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, once found in great numbers in North America, noted for its sustained migratory flights.
- past progressive — a verb form consisting of an auxiliary be in the past tense followed by a present participle and used especially to indicate that an action or event was incomplete or in progress at a point of reference in the past, as was sleeping in I was sleeping when the phone rang.
- patched-together — makeshift; roughly made from disparate elements
- pelican crossing — place to cross road
- pension mortgage — an arrangement whereby a person takes out a mortgage and pays the capital repayment instalments into a pension fund and the interest to the mortgagee. The loan is repaid out of the tax-free lump sum proceeds of the pension plan on the borrower's retirement
- percentage point — difference: one per cent
- peregrine falcon — a globally distributed falcon, Falco peregrinus, much used in falconry because of its swift flight: several subspecies are endangered.
- personal hygiene — bodily cleanliness
- personnel agency — an agency for placing employable persons in jobs; employment agency.
- petrol rationing — a scheme rationing the amount of petrol that an individual is allowed to purchase
- phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
- pharmacogenetics — the branch of pharmacology that examines the relation of genetic factors to variations in response to drugs.
- pharmacogenomics — the study of human genetic variability in relation to drug action and its application to medical treatment
- philoprogenitive — producing offspring, especially abundantly; prolific.
- philosopher king — the Platonic ideal of a ruler, philosophically trained and enlightened.
- philosopher-king — the Platonic ideal of a ruler, philosophically trained and enlightened.
- phonocardiograph — an instrument for graphically recording the sound of the heartbeat.
- phosphor fatigue — screen saver
- phosphoryl group — the trivalent group ≡P≡O.
- photochronograph — a device formerly used for taking a series of instantaneous photographs of a rapidly moving object.
- photograph album — bound book for photos
- photolithography — the technique or art of making photolithographs.
- photozincography — a type of photoengraving using a sensitized zinc plate.
- picture moulding — the edge around a framed picture
- platoon sergeant — the senior noncommissioned officer in a platoon, equivalent to sergeant first class.
- pneumatic trough — a trough filled with liquid, especially water, for collecting gases in bell jars or the like by displacement.
- point de hongrie — flame stitch.
- polarizing angle — the law that light will receive maximum polarization from a reflecting surface when it is incident to the surface at an angle (angle of polarization or polarizing angle) having a tangent equal to the index of refraction of the surface.
- polyhedral angle — a configuration consisting of the lateral faces of a polyhedron around one of its vertices. The portion of a pyramid including one of its points is such a configuration.
- pork scratchings — small pieces of crisply cooked pork crackling, eaten cold as an appetizer with drinks
- portrait gallery — a gallery where pictures are displayed
- portuguese india — a former Portuguese overseas territory on the W coast of India, consisting of the districts of Gôa, Daman, and Diu: annexed by India December 1961. Capital: Gôa.
- portuguese timor — former (1914-75) Portuguese territory in the Malay Archipelago
- posigrade rocket — an auxiliary rocket used to separate the sections of a multistage rocket, fired in the direction of flight.
- postremogeniture — a system of inheritance under which the estate of a deceased person goes to his youngest son. Also called ultimogeniture. Compare primogeniture (def 2).
- potential energy — the energy of a body or a system with respect to the position of the body or the arrangement of the particles of the system.
- poynting theorem — the theorem that the rate of flow of electromagnetic energy through unit area is equal to the Poynting vector, i.e. the cross product of the electric and magnetic field intensities
- praetorian guard — the bodyguard of a military commander, especially the imperial guard stationed in Rome.
- pragmatic theory — the theory of truth that the truth of a statement consists in its practical consequences, especially in its agreement with subsequent experience.
- pre-registration — the act of registering.
- prestidigitation — sleight of hand; legerdemain.
- process printing — a method of printing almost any color by using a limited number of separate color plates, as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, in combination.
- process theology — a form of theology that emphasizes the close relation of human beings, nature, and God.