16-letter words containing p, u, t, b
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- limited-stop bus — a bus which only stops at a small number of predetermined stops, rather than on request
- obstreperousness — resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- onboard computer — onboard a vehicle, ship, plane, train or spacecraft
- operating budget — money allocated to a project
- outboard profile — an exterior side elevation of a vessel, showing all deck structures, rigging, fittings, etc.
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- patent ambiguity — uncertainty of meaning created by the obscure or ambiguous language appearing on the face of a written instrument.
- photograph album — bound book for photos
- pietermaritzburg — a province in the E part of the Republic of South Africa. 35,284 sq. mi. (91,886 sq. km). Capital: Pietermaritzburg.
- 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.
- potato tuberworm — the larva of the potato moth.
- pourriture noble — noble rot.
- powerfully built — (of a person, esp a man) big and physically strong, with large muscles
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- prometheus bound — a tragedy (c457 b.c.) by Aeschylus.
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- publication date — the date on which a book or periodical is or is planned to be published.
- publicity agency — an advertising agency; a firm that gets publicity for people or products
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- put sb/sth first — If you put someone or something first, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.
- republican party — one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.
- saint petersburg — Also called Russian Empire. Russian Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capital: St. Petersburg (1703–1917).
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- stalked puffball — a puffball-like mushroom of the genus Tulestoma, maturing in early winter.
- sub-postmistress — (in Britain) a woman who runs a sub-post office
- subsistence crop — a food plant which is grown by a farmer for consumption by himself and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- 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).
- susceptibilities — emotional sensibilities; feelings
- swamp buttonwood — the buttonbush.
- sweet pepperbush — a shrub, Clethra alnifolia, of the eastern and southern coastal U.S., having numerous erect clusters of white or pinkish flowers.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- telephone number — digits dialled to reach sb by phone
- the public purse — money from or controlled by the government
- 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 blow your top — If someone blows their top, they become very angry about something.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- transport number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
- tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- unpredictability — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- up to the elbows — deeply engaged (in work, etc.)
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- visible spectrum — the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that is normally visible, from 380 to 760 nm.