15-letter words containing s, n, p
- 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
- perfectionistic — a person who adheres to or believes in perfectionism.
- performing arts — dance, drama, music
- perfunctoriness — performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial: perfunctory courtesy.
- pergamentaceous — (esp of plants) resembling parchment, whether in texture or composition
- permanent press — a process in which a fabric is chemically treated to make it wrinkle-resistant so as to require little or no ironing after washing.
- person of color — the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.
- personal column — The personal column in a newspaper or magazine contains messages for individual people and advertisements of a private nature.
- personal estate — movable property
- personal friend — a person who is a friend, rather than a colleague or acquaintance
- personal growth — development as an individual
- personal injury — injury to an individual
- personal stereo — A personal stereo is a small cassette or CD player with very light headphones, which people carry round so that they can listen to music while doing something else.
- personalization — to have marked with one's initials, name, or monogram: to personalize stationery.
- personification — the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
- peruvian balsam — Peru balsam.
- peter of amiens — c1050–1115, French monk: preacher of the first Crusade 1095–99.
- petit serjeanty — serjeanty in which the tenant renders services of an impersonal nature to the king, as providing him annually with an implement of war, as a lance or bow.
- phase-switching — a technique used in radio interferometry in which the signal from one of the two antennae is periodically reversed in phase before being multiplied by the signal from the other antenna
- pheasant coucal — a brown and black, red-eyed Australian bird, Centropus phasianinus, with a pheasantlike tail.
- phenakistoscope — an early form of a zoetrope in which figures are depicted in different poses around the edge of a disc. When the disc is spun, and the figures observed through the apertures around the edge of the disc, they appear to be moving
- phenomenalistic — the doctrine that phenomena are the only objects of knowledge or the only form of reality.
- phenomenologies — the study of phenomena.
- phenomenologist — the study of phenomena.
- phloem necrosis — a disease of the American elm caused by a mycoplasmalike organism, characterized by yellowing and necrosis of the foliage and yellowish-brown discoloration of the phloem.
- phoenix islands — a group of eight coral islands in the central Pacific: administratively part of Kiribati. Area: 28 sq km (11 sq miles). The islands and surrounding waters form the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, the world's largest marine protected area. Area: 410 500 sq km (158 500 sq miles)
- phosphocreatine — a compound, C 4 H 1 0 O 5 N 3 P, found chiefly in muscle, formed by the enzymatic interaction of an organic phosphate and creatine, the breakdown of which provides energy for muscle contraction.
- phosphor bronze — a bronze, composed of about 80 percent copper, 10 percent tin, 9 percent antimony, and 1 percent phosphorus, having great hardness and resistance to corrosion.
- phosphorescence — the property of being luminous at temperatures below incandescence, as from slow oxidation in the case of phosphorus or after exposure to light or other radiation.
- phosphorylation — to introduce the phosphoryl group into (an organic compound).
- photo-secession — an association of photographers founded in New York City in 1902 by Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen that advocated the development and public recognition of photography as a fine art.
- photojournalism — journalism in which photography dominates written copy, as in certain magazines.
- photosensitizer — a drug, food, or other chemical that increases sensitivity to light and other visible photons
- photosynthesize — to produce carbohydrates by photosynthesis: Plants with light green leaves don't photosynthesize as well as those with darker leaves.
- phototransistor — a transistor that amplifies current induced by photoconductivity.
- phrasemongering — the act of coining memorable phrases
- physical change — a usually reversible change in the physical properties of a substance, as size or shape: Freezing a liquid is a physical change.
- physicalization — to express in physical terms; give form or shape to: The dancers physicalized the mood of the music.
- pick and choose — to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.
- pick-and-shovel — marked by drudgery; laborious: the pick-and-shovel work necessary to get a political campaign underway.
- pickling onions — small onions suitable for pickling
- pictorial janus — K. Kahn, Xerox. Visual extension of Janus. Requires Strand88 and a PostScript interpreter.
- picturesqueness — visually charming or quaint, as if resembling or suitable for a painting: a picturesque fishing village.
- pigeon shooting — the act of hunting and shooting live pigeons
- pilsner glass's — a pale, light lager beer.
- pine tree state — Maine (used as a nickname).
- pink-shirt book — (publication) "The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC". The original cover featured a picture of Peter Norton with a silly smirk on his face, wearing a pink shirt. Perhaps in recognition of this usage, the current edition has a different picture of Norton wearing a pink shirt. See also book titles.
- pinkster flower — a wild azalea, Rhododendron periclymenoides, of the U.S., having pink or purplish flowers.
- pissing contest — Slang: Vulgar. a contentious argument; confrontation.