16-letter words containing p, u, t, r, e
- to dip your toes — If you dip your toes into something or dip your toes into the waters of something, you start doing that thing slowly and carefully, because you are not sure whether it will be successful or whether you will like it.
- tongue depressor — a broad, thin piece of wood used by doctors to hold down the patient's tongue during an examination of the mouth and throat.
- 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 number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
- trapezoidal rule — a numerical method for evaluating the area between a curve and an axis by approximating the area with the areas of trapezoids.
- turn up the heat — to increase the intensity of activity, coercion, etc
- turn upside down — invert
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- ultracrepidarian — noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise: The play provides a classic, simplistic portrayal of an ultracrepidarian mother-in-law.
- uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
- under the plough — If an area of land is under the plough, it is used for growing crops. If land is brought or put under the plough, it is ploughed for the first time and is then used for growing crops.
- under-employment — employed at a job that does not fully use one's skills or abilities.
- undercapitalized — having insufficient capital for the efficient operation of a commercial enterprise
- undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- underconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- underpitch vault — a construction having a central vault intersected by vaults of lower pitch.
- underrepresented — to give inadequate representation to; represent in numbers that are disproportionately low.
- united provinces — (used with a singular or plural verb) former name of Uttar Pradesh.
- unparticularized — to make particular.
- unpredictability — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- unrepresentative — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- up to one's ears — the organ of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, in humans consisting of an external ear that gathers sound vibrations, a middle ear in which the vibrations resonate against the tympanic membrane, and a fluid-filled internal ear that maintains balance and that conducts the tympanic vibrations to the auditory nerve, which transmits them as impulses to the brain.
- up with the lark — up early in the morning
- upper atmosphere — the portion of the atmosphere above the troposphere.
- upper palatinate — See under Palatinate (def 1).
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- ventriculography — radiography of the ventricles of the heart after injection of a contrast medium
- virtual particle — an elementary particle of transitory existence that does not appear as a free particle in a particular situation but that can transmit a force from one particle to another.
- visible spectrum — the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that is normally visible, from 380 to 760 nm.
- voice production — the use of the voice in order to create particular effects
- voluntary helper — a person who aids or assists in a specified function of one's own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- washing-up water — water used for washing dishes
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- water lily tulip — a showy tulip, Tulipa kaufmanniana, of Turkestan, having spreading, white or pale-yellow flowers with yellow centers streaked with red.
- well-upholstered — (of a person) fat
- whited sepulcher — an evil person who feigns goodness; hypocrite. Matt. 23:27.
- whited sepulchre — hypocrite
- with due respect — with deserved esteem
- writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty