19-letter words containing p, r, e, s, t, l
- nonrepresentational — not resembling or portraying any object in physical nature: a nonrepresentational painting.
- old english pattern — a spoon pattern having a stem curving backward at the end.
- operational testing — (testing) A US DoD term for testing performed by the end-user on software in its normal operating environment.
- optical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)
- optimising compiler — (programming, tool) compiler which attempts to analyse the code it produces and to produce more efficient code by performing program transformation such as branch elimination, partial evaluation, or peep-hole optimisation. Contrast pessimising compiler.
- paleoanthropologist — the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.
- palomar observatory — an astronomical observatory situated on Palomar Mountain in S California, having a 200-inch (508-cm) reflecting telescope and a 48-inch (122-cm) Schmidt telescope.
- parallactic ellipse — the apparent ellipse, as seen against the background of more distant stars, described annually by a nearby star because of the earth's orbital motion around the sun. Compare parallax (def 2).
- particle dispersoid — A particle dispersoid is a suspension of solid particles in a gas.
- particle kinematics — Particle kinematics is the study of the movement of particles, without considering the forces that cause this movement.
- particle separation — a rule that moves the particle of a phrasal verb, thus deriving a sentence like He looked the answer up from a structure that also underlies He looked up the answer
- pastoral counseling — the use of psychotherapeutic techniques by trained members of the clergy to assist parishioners who seek help for personal or emotional problems.
- periodontal disease — any of various mixed bacterial infections that affect the soft tissues and bones supporting the teeth.
- peritoneal dialysis — a form of dialysis in which the peritoneum is used as an autogenous semipermeable membrane
- persecution complex — an acute irrational fear that other people are plotting one's downfall and that they are responsible for one's failures
- persian gulf states — group of Arab sheikdoms along the Persian Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, & United Arab Emirates
- personal stationery — headed notepaper
- personal watercraft — a jet-propelled boat ridden like a motorcycle.
- philosopher's stone — a substance sought by alchemists that would be capable of transmuting baser metals into gold or silver and of prolonging life.
- philosophers' stone — a substance sought by alchemists that would be capable of transmuting baser metals into gold or silver and of prolonging life.
- physical impairment — A physical impairment is a condition in which a part of a person's body is damaged or is not working properly.
- plastic deformation — In plastic deformation a material changes shape when a stress is applied to it and does not go back to its original state when the stress is removed.
- pointe-aux-trembles — a city in S Quebec, in E Canada, N of Montreal, on the St. Lawrence.
- police headquarters — building where police are stationed
- polytene chromosome — a giant, cross-banded chromosome that results from multiple replication of its genetic material with the duplicated chromatin strands remaining closely associated.
- popular sovereignty — the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
- population pressure — the force exerted by a growing population upon its environment, resulting in dispersal or reduction of the population.
- portobello mushroom — a dark mushroom, strong in flavor, having a broad, flat cap that is often grilled and eaten
- post office problem — (algorithm) Given a set of points (in N dimensions), find another point which minimises the sum of the distances from that point to each of the others.
- post-and-rail fence — a fence constructed of upright wooden posts with horizontal timber slotted through it
- post-polio syndrome — Pathology. muscle weakness occurring several decades after recovery from a polio infection, caused by fatiguing of collateral nerve axons developed during physical rehabilitation.
- prairie rattlesnake — a rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis viridis, of the prairies of western North America.
- pre-order traversal — traversal
- presentation skills — the set of techniques and skills required successfully to present oral information to others
- priority scheduling — (operating system) Processes scheduling in which the scheduler selects tasks to run based on their priority as opposed to, say, a simple round-robin. Priorities may be static or dynamic. Static priorities are assigned at the time of creation, while dynamic priorities are based on the processes' behaviour while in the system. For example, the scheduler may favour I/O-intensive tasks so that expensive requests can be issued as early as possible. A danger of priority scheduling is starvation, in which processes with lower priorities are not given the opportunity to run. In order to avoid starvation, in preemptive scheduling, the priority of a process is gradually reduced while it is running. Eventually, the priority of the running process will no longer be the highest, and the next process will start running. This method is called aging.
- prismatic telescope — a telescope having an eyepiece at the side or top equipped with a reflecting prism, used for taking sights at steep angles.
- private first class — a soldier ranking above a private and below a corporal or specialist fourth class in the U.S. Army, and above a private and below a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps.
- professionalization — to give a professional character or status to; make into or establish as a profession.
- property settlement — an agreement between a divorcing husband and wife covering the division of their assets
- property speculator — a person who takes part in property speculation
- pseudo-experimental — pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment: an experimental science.
- public-interest law — a branch of law that often utilizes class-action suits to protect the interest of a large group or of the public at large, as in matters relating to racial discrimination, air pollution, etc.
- pyrenees-orientales — a department in S France. 1600 sq. mi. (4145 sq. km). Capital: Perpignan.
- rap on the knuckles — a mild reprimand or light sentence
- reflux oesophagitis — inflammation of the gullet caused by regurgitation of stomach acids, producing heartburn: may be associated with a hiatus hernia
- relocation expenses — Relocation expenses are a sum of money that a company pays to someone who moves to a new area in order to work for the company. The money is to help them pay for moving house.
- representationalism — Also called representative realism. Epistemology. the view that the objects of perception are ideas or sense data that represent external objects, especially the Lockean doctrine that the perceived idea represents exactly the primary qualities of the external object.
- republic of letters — the collective body of literary people.
- resorcinolphthalein — fluorescein.
- respiratory failure — a condition in which the respiratory system is unable to provide an adequate supply of oxygen or to remove carbon dioxide efficiently