22-letter words containing p, u, n, i
- pull/bring sb up short — If something pulls you up short or brings you up short, it makes you suddenly stop what you are doing.
- pulmonary tuberculosis — tuberculosis of the lungs.
- punctuated equilibrium — theory of, Biology. a hypothesis holding that the evolution of species proceeds in a characteristic pattern of relative stability for long periods of time interspersed with much shorter periods during which many species become extinct and new species emerge. Also called punctuationalism. Compare gradualism (def 3).
- pushing up the daisies — dead and buried
- put sth to/on one side — If you put something to one side or put it on one side, you temporarily ignore it in order to concentrate on something else.
- put the frighteners on — to intimidate
- received pronunciation — the pronunciation of British English considered to have the widest geographical distribution and the fewest regional peculiarities, originally the pronunciation of educated speakers in southern England and traditionally that used in the public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge universities, adopted by many speakers elsewhere in England and widely used in broadcasting. Abbreviation: RP.
- reproduction furniture — furniture that is made in an imitation or copy of a past style
- reproductive isolation — the conditions, as physiological or behavioral differences or geographical barriers, that prevent potentially interbreeding populations from cross-fertilization.
- revolutions per minute — (unit) (rpm, rarely: rotations per minute) A unit of angular velocity equal to 1/60 of a revolution per second.
- rheumatoid spondylitis — ankylosing spondylitis.
- rocky mountain juniper — a juniper, Juniperus scopulorum, of western North America, that yields a soft, reddish wood used for making fences, pencils, etc., and that is also grown as an ornamental.
- sainte anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River: shrine and basilica.
- sainte-anne-de-beaupré — village in S Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence: site of a Rom. Catholic shrine (established 1658): pop. 3,000
- saturday night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
- saturday-night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
- scandinavian peninsula — large peninsula in N Europe, consisting of Norway & Sweden
- someone's number is up — someone's time to die or suffer punishment has arrived
- south african republic — former name of Transvaal.
- special interest group — (SIG) One of several technical areas, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery. Well-known SIGs include SIGPLAN (the Special Interest Group on Programming Languages), SIGARCH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics).
- special-interest group — Also called special interest. a body of persons, corporation, or industry that seeks or receives benefits or privileged treatment, especially through legislation.
- spelling pronunciation — a pronunciation based on spelling, usually a variant of the traditional pronunciation. The spelling pronunciation of waistcoat is [weyst-koht] /ˈweɪstˌkoʊt/ (Show IPA) rather than [wes-kuh t] /ˈwɛs kət/ (Show IPA).
- split-dollar insurance — life insurance in which someone helps pay the premiums for another, as when an employer contributes to the premiums of an employee's policy.
- split-screen technique — a cinematic device by which two or more complete images are projected simultaneously onto separate parts of the screen
- spontaneous combustion — the ignition of a substance or body from the rapid oxidation of its own constituents without heat from any external source.
- spontaneous generation — abiogenesis.
- sports injuries clinic — a medical clinic that specializes in treating sports injuries
- st-pierre and miquelon — group of islands in the Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, constituting a political unit of France: includes the islands of St-Pierre (c. 10 sq mi, 26 sq km) & Miquelon & several islets: 93 sq mi (241 sq km); pop. 6,000
- structured programming — the design and coding of programs by a methodology (top-down) that successively breaks problems into smaller, nested subunits.
- stuffing and stripping — (in marine transport) the packing and unpacking of containers
- subornation of perjury — the offense of bribing or otherwise persuading another to commit perjury.
- supplementary question — a question asked in Parliament by an MP during Questions to the Prime Minister
- temporary life annuity — an annuity that ceases upon the death of the annuitant or upon the expiration of a period of time, whichever occurs first.
- the houston ship canal — a canal linking Houston to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
- the pennsylvania dutch — a group of German-speaking people in E Pennsylvania, descended from 18th-century settlers from SW Germany and Switzerland
- the point of no return — If you say that you have reached the point of no return, you mean that you now have to continue with what you are doing and it is too late to stop.
- transition temperature — 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.
- transposing instrument — a musical instrument played at a pitch different from that indicated in the score.
- turbo-propeller engine — a jet engine with a turbine-driven propeller that produces the principal thrust, augmented by the thrust of the jet exhaust.
- unconditioned response — a reflex action innately elicited by a stimulus without the intervention of any learning process
- unemployment insurance — a government program that provides a limited number of payments to eligible workers who are involuntarily unemployed.
- united empire loyalist — any of the American colonists who settled in Canada during or after the War of American Independence because of loyalty to the British Crown
- universal postal union — an international organization, formed in Bern, Switzerland (1875), that administers and regulates international postal service. Abbreviation: UPU.
- universal product code — a bar code that indicates price, product classification, etc., and can be read electronically, as at checkout counters in supermarkets. Abbreviation: UPC.
- unprofessional conduct — activity that is contrary to the accepted code of conduct of a profession
- unsaturated production — Unsaturated production is the production of smaller, unsaturated hydrocarbons from saturated hydrocarbons, for example producing alkenes such as ethane and propene.
- upright vacuum cleaner — a vacuum cleaner that is tall rather than wide
- weigh anchor/up anchor — When the people on a boat weigh anchor or up anchor, they pull the anchor of the boat out of the water so that they can sail away.
- windows for workgroups — (operating system) (WFW, WFWG) A version of Windows 3.1 which works with a network. Although stand-alone 3.1 can be networked, the installation and configuration is much improved with Windows for Workgroups (3.1). Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was a significant upgrade to WFW 3.1, adding 32-bit file access, fax capability and higher performance.
- zero population growth — the maintenance of a population at a constant level by limiting the number of live births to that needed to replace the existing population.