16-letter words containing p, t, i, l
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- still photograph — a photograph taken from a cinema film which is used for publicity purposes
- stinging capsule — a nematocyst.
- stomach stapling — Stomach stapling is an operation in which part of the stomach is removed in order to help a person to eat less and lose weight.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- stop-limit order — stop order.
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
- striped squirrel — any squirrel with stripes on its back, as a chipmunk.
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sugar plantation — a large area of land where sugar is grown
- sulphur trioxide — a white corrosive substance existing in three crystalline forms of which the stable (alpha-) form is usually obtained as silky needles. It is produced by the oxidation of sulphur dioxide, and is used in the sulphonation of organic compounds. Formula: SO3
- summer complaint — an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.
- superficialities — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- supernationalism — an extreme or fanatical loyalty or devotion to a nation.
- supranationalism — outside or beyond the authority of one national government, as a project or policy that is planned and controlled by a group of nations.
- susceptibilities — emotional sensibilities; feelings
- sustaining pedal — a pedal on a piano that when depressed with the foot raises the dampers and permits the strings to vibrate and sustain the tone.
- sweeten the pill — If someone does something to sweeten the pill or sugar the pill, they do it to make some unpleasant news or an unpleasant measure more acceptable.
- taimyr peninsula — a peninsula in the N Russian Federation in Asia, between the Kara and Laptev seas.
- tangential point — a point at which a geometric line, curve, plane, or curved surface touches another curve or surface but does not intersect it
- telescopic sight — a telescope mounted on a rifle, etc, used for sighting
- tent caterpillar — any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of orchard and shade trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web.
- terminal adaptor — (networking, hardware) (TA) Equipment used to adapt Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Basic Rate Interface (BRI) channels to existing terminal equipment standards such as EIA-232 and V.35. A Terminal Adaptor is typically packaged like a modem, either as a stand-alone unit or as an interface card that plugs into a computer or other communications equipment (such as a router or PBX). A Terminal Adaptor does not interoperate with a modem; it replaces it.
- the body politic — the people of a nation or the nation itself considered as a political entity; the state
- the devil to pay — Theology. (sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan. a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.
- the first couple — the US president and their spouse
- the mendip hills — a range of limestone hills in SW England, in N Somerset: includes the Cheddar Gorge and numerous caves. Highest point: 325 m (1068 ft)
- the public purse — money from or controlled by the government
- thermoacidophile — any organism, especially a type of archaebacterium, that thrives in strongly acidic environments at high temperatures.
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- three-point line — Basketball. a field goal worth three points, made from behind a specified line (three-point line)
- three-point play — a play in which a player sinks the free throw that was awarded when the player was fouled while scoring a basket.
- thrombophlebitis — the presence of a thrombus in a vein accompanied by inflammation of the vessel wall.
- tightrope walker — performer who walks on high wire
- to bite your lip — If you bite your lip or your tongue, you stop yourself from saying something that you want to say, because it would be the wrong thing to say in the circumstances.
- to play for time — If you play for time, you try to make something happen more slowly, because you do not want it to happen or because you need time to think about what to do if it happens.
- to put it mildly — to state it with or as if with restraint
- topical-sentence — a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.
- topless swimsuit — swimsuit which has no covering for the breasts
- 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.
- transalpine gaul — an ancient region in W Europe, including the modern areas of N Italy, France, Belgium, and the S Netherlands: consisted of two main divisions, one part S of the Alps (Cisalpine Gaul) and another part N of the Alps (Transalpine Gaul)
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- trapezoidal rule — a numerical method for evaluating the area between a curve and an axis by approximating the area with the areas of trapezoids.
- trial separation — an experimental period of living apart
- triphenylmethane — a colorless, crystalline, solid compound containing three benzene rings, C 19 H 16 , from which many dyes are derived.
- 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.
- tropical cyclone — a cyclone that originates over a tropical ocean area and can develop into the destructive storm known in the U.S. as a hurricane, in the western Pacific region as a typhoon, and elsewhere by other names. Compare extratropical cyclone, hurricane (def 1), willy-willy.
- twelvepenny nail — a nail that is 3 1/4 inches (8.25 cm) long.
- two-percent milk — Two-percent milk is milk from which some of the cream has been removed.