17-letter words containing s, a, l, t
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- point reyes lilac — a prostrate shrub, Ceanothus gloriosus, of southern California, having leathery, roundish leaves and purplish or deep-blue flowers.
- polar coordinates — Usually, polar coordinates. one of two coordinates used to locate a point in a plane by the length of its radius vector and the angle this vector makes with the polar axis (polar angle)
- polioencephalitis — a disease characterized by inflammation of the gray matter of the brain.
- political science — a social science dealing with political institutions and with the principles and conduct of government.
- positive polarity — the grammatical characteristic of a word or phrase, such as delicious or rather, that may normally only be used in a semantically or syntactically positive or affirmative context
- post-and-rail tea — (in the 19th century) a coarse tea in which floating particles resembled a post-and-rail fence
- post-depositional — removal from an office or position.
- postal stationery — an envelope, postal card, wrapper, or aérogramme, with the stamp printed directly on the paper.
- postbaccalaureate — bachelor's degree.
- postmillennialism — the doctrine or belief that the second coming of Christ will follow the millennium.
- poststructuralism — a variation of structuralism, often seen as a critique, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts that structuralism uses to define society, language, etc.
- posttranslational — Genetics, Biochemistry. occurring after the synthesis of a polypeptide chain.
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- potassium oxalate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous solid, K 2 C 2 O 4 ⋅H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and in medical tests as an anticoagulant.
- potassium sulfate — a crystalline, water-soluble solid, K 2 SO 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, alums, and mineral water, and as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- poulter's measure — a metrical pattern using couplets having the first line in iambic hexameter, or 12 syllables, and the second in iambic heptameter, or 14 syllables.
- prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- presentationalism — a style of production in which the audience is addressed directly with songs, skits, exposition, etc., and no attempt is made at realism.
- pressure altitude — the altitude for a given pressure in a standard atmosphere, such as that registered by a pressure altimeter.
- primary qualities — any of the qualities inherent in an object, namely quantity, extent, figure, solidity, and motion or rest.
- prime ministerial — of or relating to the head of a parliamentary government
- prison population — all the people who are confined in prison
- procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- prostatic utricle — a small pouch near the prostate gland that opens into the urethra.
- protocol analyser — (communications, hardware, networking, testing, tool) Any device that captures and interprets the network traffic between two or more connected computer systems. The traffic can then be decoded so that it is possible to see what processes are occurring. By examining the flow of traffic, protocol analysers can be used to find out where problems (such as bottlenecks or the failure of a network device) are on a LAN. Advanced protocol analysers can also provide statistics on the traffic that can help to identify trends that may in future lead to further problems with the network.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- put on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- quality assurance — a system for ensuring a desired level of quality in the development, production, or delivery of products and services: Quality assurance for nursing homes begins with a set of standards. Abbreviation: QA.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quasi-legislative — having the function of making laws: a legislative body.
- quasiexperimental — (medicine) Describing a trial in which the assignment to a group is based upon an experimental condition.
- quasquicentennial — pertaining to or marking a period of 125 years.
- racial harassment — persecution on the basis of race
- rattle one's dags — to hurry up
- real-estate agent — a person who sells houses, buildings, and land
- recoil escapement — anchor escapement.
- recreationalist's — recreationist.
- recrystallization — to become crystallized again.
- rectangle slinger — polygon pusher
- rehospitalization — the act, process, or state of being hospitalized.
- relativistic mass — the mass of a body in motion relative to the observer: it is equal to the rest mass multiplied by a factor that is greater than 1 and that increases as the magnitude of the velocity increases.
- res ipsa loquitur — the rule that an injury is due to the defendant's negligence when that which caused it was under his or her control or management and the injury would not have happened had proper management been observed.