15-letter words containing s, p, o, r, i
- operations room — a room from which all the operations of a military, police, or other disciplined activity are controlled
- opposite number — counterpart; equivalent: New members with an interest in folk art will find their opposite numbers in the association's directory.
- opposite prompt — the offstage area to the right as one faces the audience. Abbreviation: O.P.
- opprobriousness — The state or condition of being opprobrious.
- optical scanner — the process of interpreting data in printed, handwritten, bar-code, or other visual form by a device (optical scanner or reader) that scans and identifies the data.
- optical storage — optical disk drive
- optoelectronics — the branch of electronics dealing with devices that generate, transform, transmit, or sense optical, infrared, or ultraviolet radiation, as cathode-ray tubes, electroluminescent and liquid crystal displays, lasers, and solar cells.
- orthophosphoric — (chemistry) Describing the ordinary form of phosphoric acid and its derivatives.
- orthopsychiatry — an approach to psychiatry concerned with the study and treatment of behavioral disorders, especially of young people.
- outdoorsmanship — a person devoted to outdoor sports and recreational activities, as hiking, hunting, fishing, or camping.
- outside caliper — a caliper whose legs turn inward so that it can measure outside dimensions, as the diameter of a rod.
- over-capitalise — to fix the total amount of securities of a corporation in excess of the limits set by law or by sound financial policy.
- over-expressive — full of expression; meaningful: an expressive shrug.
- over-passionate — having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
- overcapitalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of overcapitalize.
- overconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- overemphasizing — Present participle of overemphasize.
- overpessimistic — excessively pessimistic or negative in outlook
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- ovoviviparously — in an ovoviviparous manner
- painter's colic — Pathology. lead poisoning causing intense intestinal pain.
- pairs champions — competitors in or winners of a pairs championship
- panoramic sight — an artillery sight that can be rotated horizontally in a full circle.
- pantopragmatics — universal intervention in the affairs of others
- panzer division — an armored division of the German army, especially in World War II, consisting chiefly of tanks and organized for making rapid attacks.
- paradise flower — a prickly vine, Solanum wendlandii, of the nightshade family, native to Costa Rica, having branched clusters of showy lilac-blue flowers.
- paralation lisp — Embeds the paralation model in Common LISP. Available from MIT Press, (800)356-0343.
- parallel cousin — a cousin who is the child either of one's mother's sister or of one's father's brother.
- parkinson's law — the statement, expressed facetiously as if a law of physics, that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.
- parthenogenesis — development of an egg without fertilization.
- 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
- passport office — an office which issues passports
- pastoralization — to make pastoral or rural.
- patria potestas — the power vested in the paterfamilias or head of the Roman family with respect to his wife, natural or adopted children, and agnatic descendants: title to family property is vested exclusively in the paterfamilias. Property acquired by a family member becomes family property, and no family member can enter into a transaction in his or her own right.
- pepin the short — ("Pepin the Short") died a.d. 768, king of the Franks 751–768 (father of Charlemagne).
- 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.
- periodic system — a system of classification of the elements based on the periodic law.
- perissosyllabic — (of a line of verse) containing more syllables than expected for the metre being used
- peroxysulphuric — as in peroxysulphuric acid
- personal friend — a person who is a friend, rather than a colleague or acquaintance
- personal injury — injury to an individual
- 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.
- peter of amiens — c1050–1115, French monk: preacher of the first Crusade 1095–99.
- petit bourgeois — a person who belongs to the petite bourgeoisie.