20-letter words containing p, t, e, r, o, i
- operation barbarossa — the codename for Hitler's invasion (1941) of Russia
- operational calculus — a method for solving a differential equation by treating differential operators as ordinary algebraic quantities, thus obtaining a simpler problem.
- operational database — (database) A database containing up-to-date, modifiable data, in contrast to a decision support database.
- operational strategy — a plan or set of plans for successfully running a business, etc
- operator overloading — overloading
- optical mark reading — the reading of marks by an optical device whereby the information can be stored in machine-readable form
- organization expense — the costs associated with organizing a business entity and bringing it into existence
- orthopaedic mattress — a specially firm mattress designed to help correct or ameliorate the discomfort of disorders of the spine and joints
- paint the town (red) — to go on a boisterous spree; carouse
- paper qualifications — qualifications gained through official examinations, etc, rather than through experience
- parallel of altitude — almucantar.
- parallel of latitude — parallel (def 9).
- parametric equations — one of two or more equations expressing the location of a point on a curve or surface by determining each coordinate separately.
- particle accelerator — accelerator (def 7).
- particle beam weapon — a weapon that fires particle beams into the atmosphere or space
- partitioned data set — (file format) (PDS) A data set on an IBM mainframe that contains members, each of which acts like a separate data set. Partitioned data sets are more space-efficient than individual data sets, because they can put more than one data set on a track. They are also used to hold libraries, with one function per member. The syntax for a member is NAME.OF.PDS(MEMBER) although some systems (such as Phoenix) could use NAME.OF.PDS:MEMBER Original PDSes were of fixed size, and needed frequent compression to recover space after deleting or changing members. Newer PDS/E Extended PDSes do not have this problem.
- peculiar institution — black slavery in the southern U.S. before the Civil War.
- pentobarbital sodium — a barbiturate drug used in medicine as a sedative and hypnotic. Formula: C11H17N2O3Na
- peremptory exception — a plea in bar of an action.
- periarteritis nodosa — polyarteritis.
- period of revolution — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
- periodontal membrane — the collagenous, fibrous connective tissue between the cementum of the tooth and the alveolus.
- peroxyacetyl nitrate — an unstable nitrogen compound, found in certain types of smog, that is an irritant, esp. to the eyes and to plants
- perpendicular gothic — the style of Gothic architecture in England during the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by tracery having vertical lines, a four-centred arch, and fan vaulting
- personality disorder — any of a group of mental disorders characterized by deeply ingrained maladaptive patterns of behavior and personality style, which are usually recognizable as early as adolescence and are often lifelong in duration.
- pest control officer — a person who gets rid of pests such as rats and mice
- philoprogenitiveness — producing offspring, especially abundantly; prolific.
- phosphorus pentoxide — a white, deliquescent, crystalline powder, P 2 O 5 , that, depending upon the amount of water it absorbs, forms orthophosphoric acid, metaphosphoric acid, or pyrophosphoric acid, produced by the burning of phosphorus in dry air: used in the preparation of phosphoric acids, as a drying and dehydrating agent, and in organic synthesis.
- photoelectric effect — the phenomenon in which the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, as light, of sufficiently high frequency by a surface, usually metallic, induces the emission of electrons from the surface.
- photogelatin process — collotype (def 1).
- phthalocyanine green — a pigment used in painting, derived from chlorinated copper phthalocyanine and characterized chiefly by its intense green color and permanence.
- physical 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)
- physical meteorology — the branch of meteorology dealing with the study of optical, electrical, acoustical, and thermodynamic phenomena in the atmosphere, including the physics of clouds and precipitation.
- piezoelectric effect — the property exhibited by some nonconducting crystals of becoming electrically polarized when mechanically strained and of becoming mechanically strained when an electric field is applied.
- planetary precession — the small component of the precession of the equinoxes contributed by the motion of the ecliptic, the change in orientation of the plane of the earth's orbit being produced by the gravitational attraction of the planets.
- polyconic projection — a conic projection in which the parallels are arcs of circles that are not concentric but are equally spaced along the central straight meridian, all other meridians being curves equally spaced along the parallels.
- poor man's something — a (cheaper) substitute for something
- population inversion — a condition of matter in which more electrons are in a high energy state than in a lower energy state, as is required for the operation of a laser.
- population parameter — a quantity or statistical measure that, for a given population, is fixed and that is used as the value of a variable in some general distribution or frequency function to make it descriptive of that population: The mean and variance of a population are population parameters.
- portfolio employment — the practice of working for several employers simultaneously rather than working full-time for a single employer
- positive electricity — the electricity present in a body or substance that has a deficiency of electrons, as the electricity developed on glass when rubbed with silk.
- post office protocol — (messaging, protocol) (POP) A protocol designed to allow single-user computers to retrieve electronic mail from a POP server via TCP/IP. The default port is 110. The POP server might be a computer with a permanent Internet connection whereas its clients might only connect to it occasionally, e.g. by modem. There are (in 1994) three versions: POP, POP2, and POP3. Later versions are NOT compatible with earlier ones.
- postal delivery zone — zone (def 10).
- postcode prescribing — the practice of prescribing more or less expensive and effective medical treatments to patients depending on where they live in a country, and which treatments their health board is willing and able to provide
- posted write-through — A cache with a posted write-through policy (e.g. Intel 80386) delays the write-back to main memory until the bus is not in use.
- postnatal depression — a form of clinical depression that occurs in mothers after the birth of a baby
- potassium bichromate — an orange-red, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous powder, K 2 Cr 2 O 7 , used chiefly in dyeing, photography, and as a laboratory reagent.
- potassium bitartrate — cream of tartar.
- potassium dichromate — an orange-red crystalline soluble solid substance that is a good oxidizing agent and is used in making chrome pigments and as a bleaching agent. Formula: K2Cr2O7
- potassium-bitartrate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 4 H 5 KO 6 , used chiefly as an ingredient in baking powders and in galvanic tinning of metals. Also called potassium bitartrate, potassium acid tartrate. Compare tartar (def 3).