15-letter words containing p, r, e, a, t, c
- out of practice — If you are out of practice at doing something, you have not had much experience of it recently, although you used to do it a lot or be quite good at it.
- outside caliper — a caliper whose legs turn inward so that it can measure outside dimensions, as the diameter of a rod.
- over-capitalise — to fix the total amount of securities of a corporation in excess of the limits set by law or by sound financial policy.
- over-compensate — to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
- over-particular — of or relating to a single or specific person, thing, group, class, occasion, etc., rather than to others or all; special rather than general: one's particular interests in books.
- overapplication — excessive application
- overcapitalized — Simple past tense and past participle of overcapitalize.
- overcapitalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of overcapitalize.
- overcompensated — to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
- overcompensates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of overcompensate.
- overexpectation — excessive expectation
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- painter's colic — Pathology. lead poisoning causing intense intestinal pain.
- palaeoanthropic — relating to palaeoanthropology
- palliative-care — medical care focused on improving the quality of life of patients with serious illnesses, as by treating symptoms and providing emotional support.
- paracetaldehyde — paraldehyde.
- parachute brake — a parachute opened horizontally from the tail of an airplane upon landing, used as an aid in braking. Also called parabrake. Compare drogue parachute (def 2).
- paraheliotropic — (of leaves) turning away from light; sun-avoiding
- parasiticalness — the condition or characteristic of being parasitic
- parasympathetic — pertaining to that part of the autonomic nervous system consisting of nerves and ganglia that arise from the cranial and sacral regions and function in opposition to the sympathetic system, as in inhibiting heartbeat or contracting the pupil of the eye.
- parchment paper — a waterproof and grease-resistant paper produced by treating ordinary paper with concentrated sulfuric acid.
- parent compound — a compound from which derivatives may be obtained.
- parenthetically — of, pertaining to, noting, or of the nature of a parenthesis: several unnecessary parenthetic remarks.
- part and parcel — a portion or division of a whole that is separate or distinct; piece, fragment, fraction, or section; constituent: the rear part of the house; to glue the two parts together.
- parthenogenetic — development of an egg without fertilization.
- parti québécois — (in Canada) a political party in Quebec, formed in 1968 and originally advocating the separation of Quebec from the rest of the country
- partial eclipse — astronomy
- participatively — to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake; share (usually followed by in): to participate in profits; to participate in a play.
- pass-the-parcel — a children's game in which a parcel with lots of wrappings is passed round while music plays; each time the music stops the person holding the parcel takes a layer of wrapping off
- passport office — an office which issues passports
- past participle — a participle with past, perfect, or passive meaning, as fallen, sung, defeated; perfect participle: used in English and other languages in forming the present perfect, pluperfect, and passive and as an adjective.
- pastel-coloured — pale-coloured; in a shade such as pink or pale blue
- pavel petrovich — Paul I (def 2).
- peacock feather — a (distinctive and brightly coloured) feather from the peacock
- peak production — the maximum production
- pectoral girdle — (in vertebrates) a bony or cartilaginous arch supporting the forelimbs.
- pectoral muscle — muscle of the chest
- penshurst place — a 14th-century mansion near Tunbridge Wells in Kent: birthplace of Sir Philip Sidney; gardens laid out from 1560
- perchloroethane — hexachloroethane.
- perfect cadence — a cadence in which the tonic chord has its root in both bass and soprano.
- performance art — a collaborative art form originating in the 1970s as a fusion of several artistic media, as painting, film, video, music, drama, and dance, and deriving in part from the 1960s performance happenings.
- pergamentaceous — (esp of plants) resembling parchment, whether in texture or composition
- perpetual check — a continuing series of checks resulting in a drawn game because they cannot be halted or evaded without resulting in checkmate or a serious disadvantage.
- personification — the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
- pharmacotherapy — the treatment of disease through the administration of drugs.
- phosphocreatine — a compound, C 4 H 1 0 O 5 N 3 P, found chiefly in muscle, formed by the enzymatic interaction of an organic phosphate and creatine, the breakdown of which provides energy for muscle contraction.
- photorefractive — of or relating to a change in the index of refraction by spatial variations of the light intensity, as in a laser.
- piano reduction — a musical score having the parts condensed or simplified in two staves, to render the music playable on the piano by one person.
- picture gallery — place where art is exhibited and sold
- picture library — A picture library is a collection of photographs that is held by a particular company or organization. Newspapers or publishers can pay to use the photographs in their publications.