16-letter words containing p, r, e, d, s
- picture postcard — postcard (def 1).
- pierce's disease — a disease of grapes caused by a rickettsialike organism, characterized by dwarfing of vines, mottling of woody tissues, and plant death.
- play one's cards — to carry out one's plans; take action (esp in the phrase play one's cards right)
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- ponderosa (pine) — a yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) of W North America, valued for its timber
- 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.
- posigrade rocket — an auxiliary rocket used to separate the sections of a multistage rocket, fired in the direction of flight.
- possession order — (in Britain) a court order that entitles a landlord legally to evict a tenant or squatter and regain possession of the property
- postcode lottery — a situation in which the standard of medical care, education, etc, received by the public varies from area to area, depending on the funding policies of various health boards, local authorities, etc
- predispositional — the fact or condition of being predisposed: a predisposition to think optimistically.
- premier division — a football or soccer league division consisting of the top ten Scottish football teams
- prescription pad — a pad of prescriptions used by doctors, etc
- presence of mind — a calm state of mind that allows one to think clearly or act effectively in an emergency.
- preserved ginger — fresh ginger preserved in syrup and used in cooking, esp desserts
- pressure welding — the welding together of two objects by holding them together under pressure.
- pressure-treated — (of wood) treated with a chemical or chemicals applied under pressure to reduce such problems as insect infestation, decay, and rotting.
- pressurized suit — an airtight suit that can be inflated to maintain approximately normal atmospheric pressure on a person in space or at high altitudes.
- prestidigitation — sleight of hand; legerdemain.
- preunderstanding — to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
- prevost d'exiles — Antoine François [ahn-twan frahn-swa] /ɑ̃ˈtwan frɑ̃ˈswa/ (Show IPA), ("Abbé Prévost") 1697–1763, French novelist.
- price leadership — the setting of the price of a product or service by a dominant firm at a level that competitors can match, in order to avoid a price war
- pride oneself on — to be proud of
- printer's reader — a person employed to read proofs and indicate errors
- process industry — business of treating raw materials
- processed cheese — a mass-produced product made of one or more types of cheeses that have been heated and mixed with emulsifiers, colorings, flavorings, etc., primarily to retard spoilage and enhance spreadability at reduced cost.
- prometheus bound — a tragedy (c457 b.c.) by Aeschylus.
- promiscuous mode — (networking) Where a node on a network accepts all packets, regardless of their destination address.
- proteus syndrome — a condition caused by malfunction in cell growth, in which bone and flesh tissue overgrow in localized areas of the body
- pseudo-isidorian — of or relating to the collection of documents of the 9th century a.d. that consist chiefly of the Decretals, attributed to Isidore, archbishop of Seville, a.d. 600–36, and that were rejected as spurious in the 15th century.
- pseudo-patriotic — of, like, suitable for, or characteristic of a patriot.
- pseudo-realistic — interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical: a realistic estimate of costs; a realistic planner.
- pseudo-religious — of, relating to, or concerned with religion: a religious holiday.
- pseudo-spiritual — of, relating to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
- pseudohistorical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudoparenchyma — (in certain fungi and red algae) a compact mass of tissue, made up of interwoven hyphae or filaments, that superficially resembles plant tissue.
- pseudoperipteral — having a freestanding colonnade at each end, with engaged columns at the sides.
- pullorum disease — a highly contagious, frequently fatal disease of young poultry caused by the bacterium Salmonella gallinarum (pullorum), transmitted by the infected hen during egg production, and characterized by weakness, loss of appetite, and diarrhea.
- purple sandpiper — a sandpiper, Calidris maritima, of arctic regions of the New and Old World, having in winter a slate-gray back with purplish reflections.
- put to the sword — to kill with a sword or swords
- radiotransparent — transparent to radiation; invisible in x-ray photographs and under fluoroscopy (opposed to radiopaque).
- ramsden eyepiece — an eyepiece consisting of two plano-convex crown-glass lenses of equal focal length, placed with the convex sides facing each other and with a separation between the lenses of about two-thirds of the focal length of each.
- record separator — (character) (RS) ASCII character 30.
- rectified spirit — a constant-boiling mixture of ethanol and water, containing 95.6 per cent ethanol
- reprocessed wool — wool cloth respun and rewoven from the raveled fibers of unused cloth, such as the waste or clippings from a garment factory
- residence permit — permission allowing someone to legally reside in a country
- roadside repairs — repairs to a vehicle that has broken down on the road
- rochelle powders — (not in technical use) Seidlitz powders.
- schneider trophy — a trophy for air racing between seaplanes of any nation, first presented by Jacques Schneider (1879–1928) in 1913; won outright by Britain in 1931
- sculpture garden — a garden that showcases sculptures in landscaped surroundings
- secondary phloem — phloem derived from the cambium during secondary growth.