15-letter words containing s, o, m, a
- pontifical mass — (sometimes lowercase) Roman Catholic Church. a High Mass celebrated by a bishop or other prelate.
- pontine marshes — an area of W Italy, southeast of Rome: formerly malarial swamps, drained in 1932–34 after numerous attempts since 160 bc had failed
- posse comitatus — the body of persons that a peace officer of a county is empowered to call upon for assistance in preserving the peace, making arrests, and serving writs.
- post-millennial — of or relating to the period following the millennium.
- posthemorrhagic — occurring after a haemorrhage
- postman's knock — a children's party game in which a kiss is exchanged for a pretend letter
- poststimulation — occurring after stimulation
- poststimulatory — following stimulation
- power macintosh — Power Mac
- power save mode — (architecture) A feature of a component or subsystem designed to actively reduce its power consumption when not in use. Almost any electronic device might benefit from having a power save mode but the most common application is for portable computers which attempt to conserve battery life by incorporating power saving modes in the CPU, display, disks, printer, or other units.
- pre-romanticism — romantic spirit or tendency.
- preformationism — the belief in the theory of preformation
- preformationist — someone who advocates the theory of preformation
- presentationism — the doctrine that in perception, or in all forms of knowledge, there is an immediate awareness of the things perceived.
- preservationism — a person who advocates or promotes preservation, especially of wildlife, natural areas, or historical places.
- primary process — the generally unorganized mental activity characteristic of the unconscious and occurring in dreams, fantasies, and related processes.
- primary storage — main memory
- primordial soup — the seas and atmosphere as they existed on earth before the existence of life, consisting primarily of an oxygen-free gaseous mixture containing chiefly water, hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.
- primrose family — the plant family Primulaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants having simple, opposite, whorled, or basal leaves, flowers with a five-lobed corolla, and capsular fruit, and including cyclamen, loosestrife of the genus Lysimachia, pimpernel, primrose, and shooting star.
- prism binocular — Usually, prism binoculars. Optics. binocular (def 1).
- professionalism — professional character, spirit, or methods.
- programme music — music that is intended to depict or evoke a scene or idea
- programme notes — notes designed to act as guide to an audience listening to live (esp classical) music. They will inform about the sequence of music played and may give some information about the music
- proscenium arch — the arch separating the stage from the auditorium
- provost marshal — Army. an officer on the staff of a commander, charged with the maintaining of order and with other police functions within a command.
- proximity talks — a diplomatic process whereby an impartial representative acts as go-between for two opposing parties who are willing to attend the same conference but unwilling to meet face to face
- proxy statement — a statement containing information, frequently exhaustive, about a corporation, its officers, and any propositions to be voted on, sent to stockholders when their proxies are being solicited for an annual or a special stockholders' meeting.
- pseudo-academic — of or relating to a college, academy, school, or other educational institution, especially one for higher education: academic requirements.
- pseudo-bohemian — living a wandering or vagabond life, as a Gypsy.
- pseudo-chemical — of, used in, produced by, or concerned with chemistry or chemicals: a chemical formula; chemical agents.
- pseudo-dramatic — of or relating to the drama.
- pseudo-medieval — of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or in the style of the Middle Ages: medieval architecture. Compare Middle Ages.
- pseudo-military — of, for, or pertaining to the army or armed forces, often as distinguished from the navy: from civilian to military life.
- pseudo-romantic — of, relating to, or of the nature of romance; characteristic or suggestive of the world of romance: a romantic adventure.
- pseudocoelomate — having a pseudocoel.
- pseudomutuality — a relationship between two persons in which conflict of views or opinions is solved by simply ignoring it
- pusillanimously — lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid.
- put sb to shame — If someone puts you to shame, they make you feel ashamed because they do something much better than you do.
- quarrelsomeness — The quality of being quarrelsome; an argumentative nature. (from 17th c.).
- quasi-automatic — having the capability of starting, operating, moving, etc., independently: an automatic sprinkler system; an automatic car wash.
- question master — quizmaster.
- quotation marks — one of the marks used to indicate the beginning and end of a quotation, in English usually shown as “ at the beginning and ” at the end, or, for a quotation within a quotation, of single marks of this kind, as “He said, ‘I will go.’ ” Frequently, especially in Great Britain, single marks are used instead of double, the latter being then used for a quotation within a quotation.
- radar astronomy — the branch of astronomy that uses radar to map the surfaces of planetary bodies, as the moon and Venus, and to determine periods of rotation.
- radio astronomy — the branch of astronomy that utilizes extraterrestrial radiation in radio wavelengths rather than visible light for the study of the universe.
- ramrod straight — having a very straight figure
- random sampling — a method of selecting a sample (random sample) from a statistical population in such a way that every possible sample that could be selected has a predetermined probability of being selected.
- re-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- redemonstration — the act or circumstance of proving or being proved conclusively, as by reasoning or a show of evidence: a belief incapable of demonstration.
- relational dbms — relational database
- remand prisoner — a prisoner who is sent back into custody (or sometimes admitted to bail) to await trial or continuation of their trial