15-letter words containing p, u, a, l
- perpendicularly — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
- perpetual check — a continuing series of checks resulting in a drawn game because they cannot be halted or evaded without resulting in checkmate or a serious disadvantage.
- personal column — The personal column in a newspaper or magazine contains messages for individual people and advertisements of a private nature.
- personal injury — injury to an individual
- peruvian balsam — Peru balsam.
- pheasant coucal — a brown and black, red-eyed Australian bird, Centropus phasianinus, with a pheasantlike tail.
- phenylketonuria — an inherited disease due to faulty metabolism of phenylalanine, characterized by phenylketones in the urine and usually first noted by signs of mental retardation in infancy.
- photofluorogram — a recording on photographic film of images produced by a fluoroscopic examination.
- photojournalism — journalism in which photography dominates written copy, as in certain magazines.
- pictorial janus — K. Kahn, Xerox. Visual extension of Janus. Requires Strand88 and a PostScript interpreter.
- picture gallery — place where art is exhibited and sold
- picture library — A picture library is a collection of photographs that is held by a particular company or organization. Newspapers or publishers can pay to use the photographs in their publications.
- pierrot lunaire — a cycle of 21 songs (1912) for voice and instruments, by Arnold Schönberg, written in Sprechgesang style and set to poems of Albert Giraud in German translation.
- pig, run like a — To run very slowly on given hardware, said of software. Distinct from hog.
- pineapple juice — fruit drink: nectar of pineapple
- pituitary gland — a small, somewhat cherry-shaped double structure attached by a stalk to the base of the brain and constituting the master endocrine gland affecting all hormonal functions in the body, consisting of an anterior region ((anterior pituitary) or (adenohypophysis)) that develops embryonically from the roof of the mouth and that secretes growth hormone, LH, FSH, ACTH, TSH, and MSH, a posterior region ((posterior pituitary) or (neurohypophysis)) that develops from the back of the forebrain and that secretes the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin, and an intermediate part (pars intermedia) derived from the anterior region but joined to the posterior region, that secretes the hormone MSH in lower vertebrates.
- plagiostomatous — plagiostome
- plane surveying — the surveying of areas of limited size, making no corrections for the earth's curvature
- plantaginaceous — relating to or belonging to the family Plantaginaceae
- planter's punch — a punch made with rum, lime juice, sugar, and water or soda.
- plastic surgeon — doctor who performs cosmetic surgery
- plastic surgery — the branch of surgery dealing with the repair or replacement of malformed, injured, or lost organs or tissues of the body, chiefly by the transplant of living tissues.
- platinum blonde — a person, especially a girl or woman, whose hair is of a pale blond or silver color, usually colored artificially by bleaching or dyeing.
- platitudinarian — a person who frequently or habitually utters platitudes.
- platitudinously — in a platitudinal manner
- play favourites — to display favouritism
- please yourself — You say 'please yourself' to indicate in a rather rude way that you do not mind or care whether the person you are talking to does a particular thing or not.
- pleasure cruise — a trip in a boat for recreational purposes
- pleasure-loving — enjoying pleasure
- pleasure-seeker — someone who always wants to have pleasure
- pleuropneumonia — pleurisy conjoined with pneumonia.
- plug compatible — of or relating to computers or peripheral devices that are functionally equivalent to, and may be substituted for, other models.
- plug-compatible — of or relating to computers or peripheral devices that are functionally equivalent to, and may be substituted for, other models.
- plumbaginaceous — belonging to the Plumbaginaceae, the leadwort family of plants.
- plumber's snake — snake (def 3a).
- plural marriage — (broadly) any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities and including, for example, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, plural marriage, and arranged marriage: Anthropologists say that some type of marriage has been found in every known human society since ancient times. See Word Story at the current entry.
- pluralistically — from a pluralistic point of view
- pneumatic drill — a percussive power drill powered by compressed air
- poke mullock at — to ridicule
- policy issuance — Policy issuance is the process of creating an insurance policy and providing it to the policyholder.
- polyunsaturated — of or noting a class of animal or vegetable fats, especially plant oils, whose molecules consist of carbon chains with many double bonds unsaturated by hydrogen atoms and that are associated with a low cholesterol content of the blood.
- popeye catalufa — See under catalufa.
- popular culture — cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people.
- portugal laurel — Prunus lusitanica; type of cherry
- post-industrial — of, relating to, or characteristic of an era following industrialization: The economy of the postindustrial society is based on the provision of services rather than on the manufacture of goods.
- postdevaluation — the period following the devaluation of a currency
- postinoculation — the act or process of inoculating.
- poststimulation — occurring after stimulation
- poststimulatory — following stimulation
- postulationally — in a postulational manner