18-letter words containing p, o, v
- recovery operation — the process of locating and retrieving bodies, esp following an explosion or natural disaster
- redevelopment area — an urban area in which all or most of the buildings are demolished and rebuilt
- reverse psychology — (in nontechnical use) a method of getting another person to do what one wants by pretending not to want it or to want something else or something more.
- ribbon development — housing or commercial buildings built along a stretch of road.
- set priority level — (SPL) The way traditional Unix kernels implement mutual exclusion by running code at high interrupt priority levels and thus blocking lower level interrupts.
- silvery spleenwort — a fern, Diplazium pycnocarpon, of eastern North America, having fronds from 20 to 30 inches (50.8 to 76.2 cm) long on yellowish-green stalks.
- sodium-vapour lamp — a type of electric lamp consisting of a glass tube containing neon and sodium vapour at low pressure through which an electric current is passed to give an orange light. They are used in street lighting
- specific viscosity — a measure of the resistance to flow of a fluid, expressed as the ratio of the absolute viscosity of the fluid to that of a reference fluid (usually water in the case of liquids)
- split-level cooker — a cooker that is designed with a separate oven and hob so that they can be fitted wherever is most convenient in the kitchen
- super royal octavo — a book size, 63⁄4 by 101⁄4 inches
- superior vena cava — See under vena cava.
- supportive therapy — any treatment, such as the intravenous administration of certain fluids, designed to reinforce or sustain the physiological well-being of a patient
- surveyor's compass — an instrument used by surveyors for measuring azimuths.
- telephone receiver — a device, as in a telephone, that converts changes in an electric current into sound.
- television company — a company that broadcasts programmes by television
- the heavens opened — it started pouring with rain
- the operative word — If you describe a word as the operative word, you want to draw attention to it because you think it is important or exactly true in a particular situation.
- to play favourites — to display favouritism
- to scrape a living — If you say that someone scrapes a living or scratches a living, you mean that they manage to earn enough to live on, but it is very difficult. In American English, you say they scrape out a living or scratch out a living.
- transverse process — a process that projects from the sides of a vertebra.
- universal coupling — a coupling between rotating shafts set at an angle to one another, allowing for rotation in three planes.
- vanadium pentoxide — a yellow to red crystalline compound, V 2 O 5 , slightly soluble in water, used as a catalyst for organic reactions, in glass to absorb ultraviolet radiation, and as a photographic developer.
- vectorcardiography — a method of determining the direction and magnitude of the electrical forces of the heart.
- vermiform appendix — a narrow, blind tube protruding from the cecum, having no known useful function, in humans being 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long and situated in the lower right-hand part of the abdomen.
- video compact disc — (storage) (VCD) A storage format used for film distribution.
- videotape recorder — a device for recording television programs on magnetic tape for delayed transmission or for storage.
- vigoureux printing — a printing method in which worsted fibers are printed with the desired color while in sliver form and then processed into yarn, producing a mixed color in the spun yarn and woven fabric.
- visiting professor — a professor from another institution invited to teach at a university or college for a limited period, usually for a semester or one academic year.
- visitor's passport — (formerly, in Britain) a passport, valid for one year and for certain countries only, that could be purchased from post offices