15-letter words containing s, e, r, u
- nuclear physics — the branch of physics that deals with the behavior, structure, and component parts of atomic nuclei.
- nuclear testing — the process of carrying out a test on a nuclear weapon to determine effectiveness, etc
- nuisance caller — someone who makes an unsolicited telephone call such as a prank call or a call for telemarketing purposes
- nuisance ground — a garbage dump.
- nursing studies — the study of nursing
- nutty professor — a professor or academic person who is eccentric or slightly crazy or unusual
- nyquist theorem — (communications) A theorem stating that when an analogue waveform is digitised, only the frequencies in the waveform below half the sampling frequency will be recorded. In order to reconstruct (interpolate) a signal from a sequence of samples, sufficient samples must be recorded to capture the peaks and troughs of the original waveform. If a waveform is sampled at less than twice its frequency the reconstructed waveform will effectively contribute only noise. This phenomenon is called "aliasing" (the high frequencies are "under an alias"). This is why the best digital audio is sampled at 44,000 Hz - twice the average upper limit of human hearing. The Nyquist Theorem is not specific to digitised signals (represented by discrete amplitude levels) but applies to any sampled signal (represented by discrete time values), not just sound.
- obstacle course — a military training area having obstacles, as hurdles, ditches, and walls, that must be surmounted or crossed in succession.
- obstructiveness — The characteristic of being obstructive.
- obtuse triangle — a triangle with one obtuse angle.
- odoriferousness — The quality of being odoriferous.
- off one's guard — to keep safe from harm or danger; protect; watch over: to guard the ruler.
- okhotsk current — a cold ocean current flowing SW from the Bering Sea, E of the Kurile Islands, along the E coast of Japan where it meets the Japan Current.
- on one's honour — on the pledge of one's word or good name
- on one's uppers — higher, as in place, position, pitch, or in a scale: the upper stories of a house; the upper register of a singer's voice.
- one's last hour — the time of one's death
- open university — higher education by correspondence
- opposite number — counterpart; equivalent: New members with an interest in folk art will find their opposite numbers in the association's directory.
- opprobriousness — The state or condition of being opprobrious.
- ordinal numbers — Also called ordinal numeral. any of the numbers that express degree, quality, or position in a series, as first, second, and third (distinguished from cardinal number).
- ordnance survey — mapmaking agency
- organomagnesium — pertaining to or noting an organic compound, especially an organic halide, containing magnesium linked to carbon.
- ostreiculturist — a person who breeds oysters
- outer barrister — a barrister belonging to the outer bar.
- outside caliper — a caliper whose legs turn inward so that it can measure outside dimensions, as the diameter of a rod.
- outside forward — one of two attacking players who usually play on the far side of the field; wing.
- over-enthusiasm — absorbing or controlling possession of the mind by any interest or pursuit; lively interest: He shows marked enthusiasm for his studies.
- over-scrupulous — excessively scrupulous.
- over-solicitous — too solicitous: oversolicitous concerning one's health.
- over-structured — excessively structured or organized.
- overconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- overstimulation — to rouse to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite: to stimulate his interest in mathematics.
- overthrust belt — an elongate area in which thick rock layers have been pushed over one another by compressional forces within the earth's crust.
- overzealousness — too zealous: overzealous for reform.
- oyster mushroom — oyster cap.
- parallel cousin — a cousin who is the child either of one's mother's sister or of one's father's brother.
- parti québécois — (in Canada) a political party in Quebec, formed in 1968 and originally advocating the separation of Quebec from the rest of the country
- passifloraceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Passifloraceae, a tropical and subtropical family of climbing plants including the passionflowers: the flowers have five petals and threadlike parts forming a dense mass (corona) around the central disc
- pastel-coloured — pale-coloured; in a shade such as pink or pale blue
- paurometabolous — designating or of a group of insect orders, as orthopterans or hemipterans, in which metamorphosis to the adult state from the juvenile state is gradual and without any sudden, radical change of body form
- pay as you earn — a method of paying tax in which the tax is taken off your wages before they are paid to you
- pearly nautilus — nautilus (def 1).
- pectoral muscle — muscle of the chest
- penal servitude — imprisonment together with hard labor.
- penshurst place — a 14th-century mansion near Tunbridge Wells in Kent: birthplace of Sir Philip Sidney; gardens laid out from 1560
- percussion lock — a gunlock on a firearm that fires by striking a percussion cap.
- percussion tool — a power driven tool which operates by striking rapid blows: the power may be electricity or compressed air
- perfunctoriness — performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial: perfunctory courtesy.
- pergamentaceous — (esp of plants) resembling parchment, whether in texture or composition