14-letter words containing s, p, e, i
- patresfamilias — a plural of paterfamilias.
- pay for itself — If something that you buy or invest in pays for itself after a period of time, the money you gain from it, or save because you have it, is greater than the amount you originally spent or invested.
- pay television — a commercial service that broadcasts or provides television programs to viewers who pay a monthly charge or a per-program fee.
- peace activist — someone who advocates for peace or an end to conflicts
- peacock's tail — a handsome brown seaweed, Padina pavonia (though coloured yellow-olive, red, and green) whose fan-shaped fronds have concentric bands of iridescent hairs
- peano's axioms — a collection of axioms concerning the properties of the set of all positive integers, including the principle of mathematical induction.
- pectinesterase — an enzyme present in plants, and some bacteria and fungi, which hydrolyses pectin
- pedanticalness — ostentatious in one's learning.
- pedestal basin — a wash-hand basin supported by a pedestal
- pedestrianized — A pedestrianized area has been made into an area that is intended for pedestrians, not vehicles.
- peel-and-stick — ready to be applied after peeling off the backing to expose an adhesive surface: peel-and-stick labels.
- pembroke pines — a city in SE Florida, near Fort Lauderdale.
- peninsular war — the war (1808–14) fought in the Iberian Peninsula by British, Portuguese, and Spanish forces against the French, resulting in the defeat of the French: part of the Napoleonic Wars
- pension scheme — savings fund for retirement
- pentadactylism — the state of having five digits on each limb
- pentecostarion — a service book of offices for the period from Easter to the Sunday after Pentecost.
- perceptiveness — having or showing keenness of insight, understanding, or intuition: a perceptive analysis of the problems involved.
- percussion cap — a small metallic cap or cup containing fulminating powder, formerly exploded by percussion to fire the charge of small arms.
- peremptoriness — leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal; imperative: a peremptory command.
- perez esquivel — Adolfo [uh-dol-foh;; Spanish ah-th awl-faw] /əˈdɒl foʊ;; Spanish ɑˈðɔl fɔ/ (Show IPA), born 1931, Argentine sculptor and human rights activist: Nobel prize 1980.
- perfectibilism — the belief in the perfectibility of human nature
- perfectibilist — (predominantly in relation to the Illuminati) a person who believes that a given thing, usually human nature, is perfectible
- perfectiveness — the state or quality of being perfective
- perfidiousness — deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful: a perfidious lover.
- period costume — the attire typical of a particular period in time
- peripateticism — walking or traveling about; itinerant.
- peritoneoscopy — an endoscopy examining the peritoneal cavity
- peritrichously — in a peritrichous manner; in a fashion characteristic of a peritrichous organism
- permaculturist — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- permissibility — that can be permitted; allowable: a permissible amount of sentimentality under the circumstances; Such behavior is not permissible!
- permissiveness — habitually or characteristically accepting or tolerant of something, as social behavior or linguistic usage, that others might disapprove or forbid.
- persian blinds — persiennes
- persian carpet — a handwoven carpet or rug produced in Iran and characterized by fine warp and filling yarns, a usually tight, even pile made with the Sehna knot, and a variety of floral, foliate, animal, and avian designs woven in rich, harmonious colors.
- persian empire — Persia (def 1).
- persian violet — any of several plants belonging to the genus Exacum, native to the Old World, as E. affine, having glossy, ovate leaves, and fragrant, bluish flowers: cultivated as a houseplant.
- persian walnut — English walnut.
- personal chair — a professorship awarded in recognition of academic achievement
- persuasiveness — able, fitted, or intended to persuade: a very persuasive argument.
- pertinaciously — holding tenaciously to a purpose, course of action, or opinion; resolute.
- peso boliviano — a nickel-clad steel coin, paper money, and monetary unit of Bolivia, equal to 100 centavos: replaced the boliviano in 1963.
- petrochemicals — substances, such as acetone or ethanol, obtained from petroleum or natural gas
- petrochemistry — the branch of chemistry dealing with petroleum or its products.
- petrol station — A petrol station is a garage by the side of the road where petrol is sold and put into vehicles.
- petrophysicist — a person who studies, or is an expert in, petrophysics
- phallocentrism — a doctrine or belief centered on the phallus, especially a belief in the superiority of the male sex.
- phase velocity — the velocity with which a simple harmonic wave is propagated, equal to the wavelength divided by the period of vibration.
- phase-wrapping — (MIT) wrap around.
- phenolic resin — any of the class of thermosetting resins formed by the condensation of phenol, or of a phenol derivative, with an aldehyde, especially formaldehyde: used chiefly in the manufacture of paints and plastics and as adhesives for sandpaper and plywood.
- phenosafranine — safranine (def 2).
- philippine sea — part of the NW Pacific Ocean, east and north of the Philippines