12-letter words containing r, e, p, l, t
- photopolymer — a polymer or plastic that undergoes a change in physical or chemical properties when exposed to light.
- photorealism — a style of painting flourishing in the 1970s, especially in the U.S., England, and France, and depicting commonplace scenes or ordinary people, with a meticulously detailed realism, flat images, and barely discernible brushwork that suggests and often is based on or incorporates an actual photograph.
- phrenologist — a psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.
- phylacteries — Judaism. either of two small, black, leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses 4–9 of Deut. 6, 13–21 of Deut. 11, and 1–16 of Ex. 13: one is attached with straps to the left arm and the other to the forehead during weekday morning prayers by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men.
- pictorialize — to make pictorial; illustrate or represent with or as if with pictures.
- picture mold — a molding near a ceiling from which pictures can be suspended.
- picture rail — bar from which pictures are hung
- pilot burner — pilot light (def 1).
- pilot ladder — Jacob's ladder (def 2a).
- pisciculture — the breeding, rearing, and transplantation of fish by artificial means.
- pitch circle — an imaginary circle within the profiles of the teeth of a gear, such that it rotates against a similar circle rotating at the same rate on a meshing gear.
- placentiform — shaped like a placenta, with a flat rounded form
- plain turkey — a bustard
- plane strain — Plane strain is a two-dimensional state of strain in which all the shape changes of a material happen on a single plane.
- plane stress — Plane stress is a two-dimensional state of stress in which all stress is applied in a single plane.
- planet earth — the world
- plant-cutter — any of several South American, passerine birds of the family Phytotomidae, superficially resembling grosbeaks but having serrated edges on the bill that aid in cutting leaves and other plant food.
- plaster cast — any piece of sculpture reproduced in plaster of Paris.
- plasterboard — a material used for insulating or covering walls, or as a lath, consisting of paper-covered sheets of gypsum and felt.
- plasteriness — the state of being made of or resembling plaster
- plate armour — armour made of thin metal plates, which superseded mail during the 14th century
- plate girder — an iron or steel beam built up from plates and shapes welded or riveted together, usually including a plate or plates for a web, four angle irons forming two flanges, and a pair of plates to reinforce the flanges.
- plate warmer — a device for warming plates
- platform bed — a bed, originating in Scandinavia in the 1930s, consisting of a simple shallow box for holding a mattress situated on a slightly recessed pedestal.
- play therapy — a form of psychotherapy used chiefly with children, in which patients act out situations in play that are expressive of their emotional problems, conflicts, etc.
- plecopterous — relating to the order Plecoptera or stoneflies
- pleiotropism — the condition of a gene affecting more than one characteristic of the phenotype
- pluriliteral — (in Hebrew grammar) containing more than three letters in the root
- poikilotherm — an organism with poikilothermic qualities
- polar vortex — a whirling mass of very cold air that sits over the North or South Pole: A displaced polar vortex is causing Arctic temperatures across the United States.
- pole vaulter — A pole vaulter is an athlete who performs the pole vault.
- police court — an inferior court with summary jurisdiction for the trial of persons accused of any of certain minor offenses, and with power to examine those charged with more serious offenses and hold them for trial in a superior court or for a grand jury.
- poliorcetics — the science of siegecraft
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- poll watcher — a representative of a political party or of an organization running a candidate who is assigned to the polls on an election day to watch for violations of the laws that regulate voting, campaigning, etc.
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polyneuritis — inflammation of several nerves at the same time; multiple neuritis.
- polyoestrous — polyestrous.
- polyurethane — a thermoplastic polymer containing the group NHCOO: used for padding and insulation in furniture, clothing, and packaging, and in the manufacture of resins for adhesives, elastomers, and fillers.
- poodle skirt — 1950s-style woman's circular skirt
- popular vote — the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the electoral college. Compare electoral vote.
- porcelainite — Mineralogy. mullite.
- porcellanite — hard and dense rock resembling unglazed porcelain
- port alberni — a port in SW British Columbia, in SW Canada, on the E central part of Vancouver Island, on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.
- port angeles — a city in NW Washington, on the Juan de Fuca Strait.
- portal frame — a frame, usually of steel, consisting of two uprights and a cross beam at the top: the simplest structural unit in a framed building or a doorway
- portentously — of the nature of a portent; momentous.
- porthole die — a die having several openings for the extrusion of separate parts of an object later formed by the welding or fusing together of these parts.
- porto alegre — a state in S Brazil. 107,923 sq. mi. (279,520 sq. km). Capital: Pôrto Alegre.
- porto amelia — former name of Pemba (def 2).