18-letter words containing p, o, u, l, a
- hyposulfurous acid — an acid, H 2 S 2 O 4 , next in a series below sulfurous acid, known only in solution or in the form of its salts.
- immunopharmacology — the branch of pharmacology concerned with the immune system
- input/output table — a table of all the inputs and outputs of the industries of an economy
- iron (ii) sulphate — an iron salt with a saline taste, usually obtained as greenish crystals of the heptahydrate, which are converted to the white monohydrate above 100°C: used in inks, tanning, water purification, and in the treatment of anaemia. Formula: FeSO4
- juan ponce de leon — Juan [hwahn] /ʰwɑn/ (Show IPA), c1460–1521, Spanish explorer.
- just (plain) folks — simple and unassuming; not snobbish
- krause's corpuscle — any of numerous encapsulated nerve endings occurring in the skin and mucous membranes, functioning as sensory cold receptors.
- lenticular process — a method for producing images with a three-dimensional effect by photographing on lenticulated film.
- louisiana purchase — a treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
- lubber grasshopper — plains grasshopper.
- maksutov telescope — a reflecting telescope in which coma and spherical aberration are reduced to a minimum by a combination of a spherical mirror and a meniscus lens placed inside the radius of curvature of the mirror.
- marsilius of padua — c1280–1343? Italian scholar and political theorist.
- mercury-vapor lamp — a lamp producing a light with a high actinic and ultraviolet content by means of an electric arc in mercury vapor.
- mergui archipelago — a group of over 200 islands in the Andaman Sea, off the Tenasserim coast of S Myanmar: mountainous and forested
- microencapsulation — the process of enclosing chemical substances in microcapsules.
- molecular spectrum — the spectrum of light emitted or absorbed by a species of molecule.
- mordovian republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga basin. Capital: Saransk. Pop: 888 700 (2002). Area: 26 200 sq km (10 110 sq miles)
- mucopolysaccharide — (formerly) glycosaminoglycan.
- muscular dystrophy — a hereditary disease characterized by gradual wasting of the muscles with replacement by scar tissue and fat, sometimes also affecting the heart.
- natural philosophy — natural science.
- nebular hypothesis — the theory that the solar system evolved from a mass of nebular matter: prominent in the 19th century following its precise formulation by Laplace.
- neurodevelopmental — Of or pertaining to the development of neurological pathways in the brain.
- neuroleptanalgesia — a semiconscious nonreactive state induced by certain drug combinations, as fentanyl with droperidol.
- neuroophthalmology — the branch of ophthalmology that deals with the optic nerve and other nervous system structures involved in vision.
- neurophysiological — the branch of physiology dealing with the functions of the nervous system.
- neuropsychological — Of or pertaining to neuropsychology, the relation or combination of brain and mind.
- nonpartisan league — a political organization of farmers, founded in North Dakota in 1915, and extending to many states west of the Mississippi, with the aim of influencing agricultural legislation in state legislatures.
- oblique-slip fault — a fault on which the movement is along both the strike and the dip of the fault
- occupational group — An occupational group is a category used by insurance companies to classify jobs according to how hazardous they are.
- oedipus at colonus — a tragedy by Sophocles, written toward the end of his life and produced posthumously in 401? b.c.
- on automatic pilot — If you are on automatic pilot or on autopilot, you are acting without thinking about what you are doing, usually because you have done it many times before.
- optical soundtrack — the final soundtrack on a motion picture, which appears as a band of black and white serrations along a strip of film to the left of the composite print. Light is shined through the serrations and is converted to audible sound.
- optimum population — a population that is sufficiently large to provide an adequate workforce with minimal unemployment
- pacinian corpuscle — (sometimes lowercase) a microscopic, onionlike body consisting of layers of connective tissue wrapped around a nerve ending, located in the deep layers of skin, tendons, etc., and functioning as a sensory receptor of pressure and vibration.
- parallel computing — parallel processing
- parallel evolution — the independent development of closely corresponding adaptive features in two or more groups of organisms that occupy different but equivalent habitats, as marsupial mammals in Australia and placental mammals on other continents.
- parallel reduction — A form of applicative order reduction in which all redexes in an expression are reduced simultaneously. Variants include parallel outermost reduction and lenient reduction. See normal order reduction.
- parallelogram rule — a rule for finding the resultant of two vectors by constructing a parallelogram with two adjacent sides representing the magnitudes and directions of the vectors, the diagonal through the point of intersection of the vectors representing their resultant
- partial evaluation — (compiler, algorithm) (Or "specialisation") An optimisation technique where the compiler evaluates some subexpressions at compile-time. For example, Partial evaluation might change the termination properties of the program if, for example, the expression (x * 0) was reduced to 0 it would terminate even if x (and thus x * 0) did not. It may be necessary to reorder an expression to partially evaluate it, e.g. f x y = (x + y) + 1 g z = f 3 z If we rewrite f: f x y = (x + 1) + y then the expression x+1 becomes a constant for the function g and we can say g z = f 3 z = (3 + 1) + z = 4 + z Partial evaluation of built-in functions applied to constant arguments is known as constant folding. See also full laziness.
- passing modulation — a modulation of a temporary nature.
- passive vocabulary — all the words, collectively, that a person can understand
- peak-to-peak value — Peak-to-peak value is the maximum voltage change occurring during one cycle of alternating voltage or current.
- peano's postulates — a collection of axioms concerning the properties of the set of all positive integers, including the principle of mathematical induction.
- percussion flaking — a method of forming a flint tool by striking flakes from a stone core with another stone or a piece of bone or wood.
- perlocutionary act — the action of affecting someone by uttering certain words
- personal bodyguard — a person employed to protect a particular person
- personal insurance — insurance on personal risk, such as car insurance, health insurance or loss of earnings insurance
- physical education — systematic instruction in sports, exercises, and hygiene given as part of a school or college program.
- phytohemagglutinin — a lectin, obtained from the red kidney bean, that binds to the membranes of T cells and stimulates metabolic activity, cell division, etc.
- play cat and mouse — Also called cat and rat. a children's game in which players in a circle keep a player from moving into or out of the circle and permit a second player to move into or out of the circle to escape the pursuing first player.