17-letter words containing p, r, o, s, t
- disruptive action — action performed by protestors, workers, etc that causes the disruption of a service
- dissipation trail — a clear rift left behind an aircraft flying through a thin cloud layer.
- dissociated press — [Play on "Associated Press"; perhaps inspired by a reference in the 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon "What's Up, Doc?"] An algorithm for transforming any text into potentially humorous garbage even more efficiently than by passing it through a marketroid. The algorithm starts by printing any N consecutive words (or letters) in the text. Then at every step it searches for any random occurrence in the original text of the last N words (or letters) already printed and then prints the next word or letter. Emacs has a handy command for this. Here is a short example of word-based Dissociated Press applied to an earlier version of the Jargon File: wart: A small, crocky feature that sticks out of an array (C has no checks for this). This is relatively benign and easy to spot if the phrase is bent so as to be not worth paying attention to the medium in question. Here is a short example of letter-based Dissociated Press applied to the same source: window sysIWYG: A bit was named aften /bee't*/ prefer to use the other guy's re, especially in every cast a chuckle on neithout getting into useful informash speech makes removing a featuring a move or usage actual abstractionsidered interj. Indeed spectace logic or problem! A hackish idle pastime is to apply letter-based Dissociated Press to a random body of text and vgrep the output in hopes of finding an interesting new word. (In the preceding example, "window sysIWYG" and "informash" show some promise.) Iterated applications of Dissociated Press usually yield better results. Similar techniques called "travesty generators" have been employed with considerable satirical effect to the utterances of Usenet flamers; see pseudo.
- doorstep salesman — a door-to-door salesman
- dramatis personae — (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.
- eastern townships — an area of central Canada, in S Quebec: consists of 11 townships south of the St Lawrence
- ectoparasiticides — Plural form of ectoparasiticide.
- electrodeposition — The deposition of a metal on a cathode during electrolysis; used as a method of purification.
- electrophysiology — The branch of physiology that deals with the electrical phenomena associated with nervous and other bodily activity.
- electropositivity — (uncountable) the condition of being electropositive.
- emission spectrum — the continuous spectrum or pattern of bright lines or bands seen when the electromagnetic radiation emitted by a substance is passed into a spectrometer. The spectrum is characteristic of the emitting substance and the type of excitation to which it is subjected
- enlarged prostate — disorder of male reproductive gland
- european standard — a specification to be used as a consistent rule or guideline in the manufacture or selling of a certain product or service traded within Europe
- extrasolar planet — any other celestial body revolving around a star, illuminated by light from that star
- factory inspector — a person who inspects factories
- fictitious person — a legal entity or artificial person, as a corporation.
- first performance — the first time that a play or concert is performed
- first-loss policy — an insurance policy for goods in which a total loss is extremely unlikely and the insurer agrees to provide cover for a sum less than the total value of the property
- fitness programme — a plan to help someone improve their health and physical condition
- flash photography — photography using a momentary flash of artificial light as a source of illumination.
- fluorescent strip — a fluorescent light in the form of a long strip
- for the most part — 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.
- forest enterprise — a British government department responsible for maintaining and expanding forests
- from soup to nuts — a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.
- from the rooftops — If you shout something from the rooftops, you say it or announce it in a very public way.
- gas chromatograph — a chromatograph used for the separation of volatile substances.
- go-faster stripes — (jargon) chrome. Mainstream in some parts of UK.
- graduated pension — the money that an employee receives after retirement if they have paid into the graduated pension scheme
- greater spearwort — a Eurasian ranunculaceous plant, Ranunculus lingua, which grows in wet places and has long narrow leaves and yellow flowers
- historiographical — the body of literature dealing with historical matters; histories collectively.
- home improvements — improvements to one's home, such as new kitchens and bathrooms, central heating etc
- hospital gangrene — Pathology. a contagious, often fatal gangrene, especially involving amputation stumps and war wounds, occurring usually in crowded, ill-kept hospitals, and caused by putrefactive bacteria.
- hot off the press — newspaper: freshly printed
- hot-and-sour soup — a spicy Chinese soup made with pork, chicken, beans, vinegar, etc., served hot
- housekeeping cart — A housekeeping cart is a large metal basket on wheels which is used by a cleaner in a hotel to move clean bed linen, towels, and cleaning equipment.
- http proxy server — (web) A proxy server for HTTP requests. Typically an HTTP proxy or "web proxy" accepts HTTP requests containing URLs with a special prefix. The proxy removes the prefix and looks for the resulting URL in its local cache (if it is a caching proxy). If found, it returns the document immediately, otherwise it fetches it from the remote server, saves a copy in its cache and returns it to the requester. The cache will usually have an expiry algorithm which flushes documents according to their age, size and access history. The purpose is to reduce the amount of data flowing over the proxy's Internet connection and to speed up clients' access to frequently requested pages, e.g. at an ISP or on a large company's firewall. The proxy may also reject requests where the URL or content matches certain conditions. The Apache HTTP server can be configured to act as a proxy server. Another popular software proxy is Squid.
- hydrotherapeutics — hydrotherapy.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- hyperpolarisation — Alternative spelling of hyperpolarization.
- hypocholesteremia — an abnormally low amount of cholesterol in the blood.
- hysteron proteron — a figure of speech in which the logical order of two elements in discourse is reversed, as in “bred and born” for “born and bred.”.
- immunosuppressant — (pharmacology) Capable of immunosuppression, immunosuppressive.
- impersonalization — to make impersonal: The dial system impersonalized the telephone.
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- implosive-therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- improvisationally — In an improvisational way.
- in the process of — If you are in the process of doing something, you have started to do it and are still doing it.
- in/into disrepair — If something is in disrepair or is in a state of disrepair, it is broken or in bad condition.