16-letter words containing p, u, r, l
- over-speculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- padded shoulders — (on a garment) shoulders lined, stuffed, or filled out with soft material, esp in order to give them a higher or wider shape
- painted trillium — a North American trillium, Trillium undulatum, having white flowers streaked with pink or purple.
- palmer peninsula — former name of Antarctic Peninsula.
- palmtop computer — a computer that has a small screen and compressed keyboard and is small enough to be held in the hand, often used as a personal organizer
- palomar mountain — mountain in SW Calif., near San Diego: site of an astronomical observatory: 6,140 ft (1,871 m)
- papillary muscle — one of the small bundles of muscles attached to the ventricle walls and to the chordae tendineae that tighten these tendons during ventricular contraction.
- parasol mushroom — a common edible field mushroom, Macrolepiota (Lepiota) procera, having a light-brown, scaly cap.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- parkerhouse roll — a yeast roll shaped by folding over a flat, round piece of buttered dough
- partial function — A function which is not defined for all arguments of its input type. E.g. f(x) = 1/x if x /= 0. The opposite of a total function. In denotational semantics, a partial function f : D -> C may be represented as a total function ft : D' -> lift(C) where D' is a superset of D and ft x = f x if x in D ft x = bottom otherwise where lift(C) = C U bottom. Bottom (LaTeX \perp) denotes "undefined".
- partial pressure — the pressure that a gas in a mixture of gases would exert if it occupied the same volume as the mixture at the same temperature.
- peninsular state — Florida (used as a nickname).
- percussion drill — a drill that is operated by percussion
- perez de cuellar — Javier [hah-vyer] /hɑˈvyɛr/ (Show IPA), born 1920, Peruvian diplomat: secretary-general of the United Nations 1982–91; prime minister of Peru 2000–2001.
- perforated ulcer — an ulcer that bursts through the stomach wall and leaks food and gastric juices into the abdominal cavity
- permaculturalist — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- perpendicularity — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
- perpetual motion — the motion of a theoretical mechanism that, without any losses due to friction or other forms of dissipation of energy, would continue to operate indefinitely at the same rate without any external energy being applied to it.
- person of colour — a person who is not White
- personal pronoun — any one of the pronouns used to refer to the speaker, or to one or more to or about whom or which he or she is speaking, as, in English, I, we, you, he, she, it, they.
- personal tuition — private tuition
- personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
- persulfuric acid — Also called Caro's acid, permonosulfuric acid, peroxymonosulfuric acid, peroxysulfuric acid. a white, crystalline solid, H 2 SO 5 , used as an oxidizing agent for certain organic compounds.
- phosphoryl group — the trivalent group ≡P≡O.
- photograph album — bound book for photos
- picture moulding — the edge around a framed picture
- pilot production — sth produced on a trial basis
- pineal apparatus — a median outgrowth of the roof of the diencephalon in vertebrates that in some develops into the pineal eye and in others into the pineal gland.
- pit bull terrier — American Staffordshire terrier.
- planetary nebula — an expanding shell of thin ionized gas that is ejected from and surrounds a hot, dying star of about the same mass as the sun; the gas absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the central star and reemits it as visible light by the process of fluorescence.
- platinum-iridium — (standard) A standard, against which all others of the same category are measured. Usage: silly. The notion is that one of whatever it is has actually been cast in platinum-iridium alloy and placed in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris, as the bar defining the standard metre once was. "This garbage collection algorithm has been tested against the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris." Compare golden.
- pleasure steamer — a boat powered by steam, used for recreational purposes
- pleasure-seeking — always looking for pleasure
- plumber's helper — plunger (def 3).
- plutarch's lives — (Parallel Lives) a collection (a.d. 105–15) by Plutarch of short biographies of the leading political figures of ancient Greece and Rome.
- pourriture noble — noble rot.
- powerfully built — (of a person, esp a man) big and physically strong, with large muscles
- prerevolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- pressure flaking — a method of manufacturing a flint tool by pressing flakes from a stone core with a pointed implement, usually of wood tipped with antler or copper.
- pressure welding — the welding together of two objects by holding them together under pressure.
- principal clause — the main clause.
- print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
- private language — a language that is not merely secret or accidentally limited to one user, but that cannot in principle be communicated to another
- pro bono publico — for the public good or welfare.
- propylthiouracil — a white crystalline compound, C 7 H 1 0 N 2 OS, that interferes with the synthesis of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland: used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism.
- proto-algonquian — the unattested parent language from which the Algonquian languages are descended.
- pseudo-realistic — interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical: a realistic estimate of costs; a realistic planner.
- pseudo-religious — of, relating to, or concerned with religion: a religious holiday.
- pseudo-spiritual — of, relating to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.