16-letter words containing p, r, a, t, o

thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
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.
thrombocytopenia — an abnormal decrease in the number of blood platelets.
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 coin a phrase — You say 'to coin a phrase' to show that you realize you are making a pun or using a cliché.
to compare notes — If you compare notes with someone on a particular subject, you talk to them and find out whether their opinion, information, or experience is the same as yours.
to get bad press — If someone or something gets bad press, they are criticized, especially in the newspapers, on television, or on radio. If they get good press, they are praised.
to keep a secret — If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.
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 rest in peace — If you express the wish that a dead person may rest in peace, you are showing respect and sympathy for him or her. 'Rest in peace' or 'RIP' is also sometimes written on gravestones.
top-of-the-range — de luxe, expensive
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.
transfer company — a company that transports people or luggage for a relatively short distance, as between terminals of two railroad lines.
transition point — Physics. a temperature at which a substance undergoes some abrupt change in its properties, as when it passes from the normal to the superconducting state.
transpeptidation — the process of transferring an amino acid or group of amino acids from one compound to another.
transport number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
trap-door spider — any of several burrowing spiders, of the family Ctenizidae, that construct a tubular nest with a hinged lid.
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
trick photograph — a photograph that creates an illusion
tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
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.
tropic of cancer — Geography. either of two corresponding parallels of latitude on the terrestrial globe, one (tropic of Cancer) about 23½° N, and the other (tropic of Capricorn) about 23½° S of the equator, being the boundaries of the Torrid Zone. the tropics, the regions lying between and near these parallels of latitude; the Torrid Zone and neighboring regions.
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.
trucking company — a company that transports goods by lorry
two-party system — a political system consisting chiefly of two major parties, more or less equal in strength.
two-pot screamer — a person easily influenced by alcohol
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.
ultramicroscopic — an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.
uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
unproportionally — having due proportion; corresponding.
up to one's ears — the organ of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, in humans consisting of an external ear that gathers sound vibrations, a middle ear in which the vibrations resonate against the tympanic membrane, and a fluid-filled internal ear that maintains balance and that conducts the tympanic vibrations to the auditory nerve, which transmits them as impulses to the brain.
upper atmosphere — the portion of the atmosphere above the troposphere.
upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
vest-pocket park — pocket park.
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
white propaganda — propaganda that comes from the source it claims to come from
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.
windfall profits — Windfall profits are excessive profits with a non-business cause such as a natural disaster.
writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty
x-ray photograph — a radiograph made with x-rays.
xenotransplanted — Transplanted by xenotransplantation.

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