16-letter words containing p, s, r, o
- the gospel truth — the unquestionable truth
- the great powers — the states or nations of the world with the most economic, political and military strength
- the preconscious — preconscious mental activity
- the yellow press — (formerly) popular newspapers publishing sensational stories
- theatre workshop — a theatre company that is noted for the unconventional theatrical performances it puts on, especially with reference to a company based in the East End of London from 1953 to 1973 that was founded in 1945 by Joan Littlewood
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- thrombophlebitis — the presence of a thrombus in a vein accompanied by inflammation of the vessel wall.
- through-composed — having different music for each verse: a through-composed song. Compare strophic (def 2).
- 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 dip your toes — If you dip your toes into something or dip your toes into the waters of something, you start doing that thing slowly and carefully, because you are not sure whether it will be successful or whether you will like it.
- 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 put sth right — If you put something right, you correct something that was wrong or that was causing problems.
- 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.
- to stop short of — If someone stops short of doing something, they come close to doing it but do not actually do it.
- tongue depressor — a broad, thin piece of wood used by doctors to hold down the patient's tongue during an examination of the mouth and throat.
- top drive system — A top drive system is a system which includes a motor that turns the drill string, used instead of the kelly.
- 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.
- torsion pendulum — a pendulum the weight of which is rotated alternately in opposite directions through a horizontal plane by the torsion of the suspending rod or spring: used for clocks intended to run a long time between windings.
- 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.
- trial separation — an experimental period of living apart
- 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.
- troop the colors — to parade the colors, or flag, before troops
- turn upside down — invert
- 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.
- uncomprehensible — capable of being comprehended or understood; intelligible.
- uncompromisingly — not admitting of compromise or adjustment of differences; making no concessions; inaccessible to flexible bargaining; unyielding: an uncompromising attitude.
- under bare poles — (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set
- undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- underconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- unimpressionable — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- union membership — members of a trade union
- united provinces — (used with a singular or plural verb) former name of Uttar Pradesh.
- unpublished work — a literary work that has not been reproduced for sale or publicly distributed.
- unresponsiveness — responding especially readily and sympathetically to appeals, efforts, influences, etc.: a responsive government.
- unscrupulousness — not scrupulous; unrestrained by scruples; conscienceless; unprincipled.
- 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.