17-letter words containing s, p, u, n
- keep one's end up — the last part or extremity, lengthwise, of anything that is longer than it is wide or broad: the end of a street; the end of a rope.
- least upper bound — an upper bound that is less than or equal to all the upper bounds of a particular set. 3 is the least upper bound of the set consisting of 1, 2, 3. Abbr.: lub.
- leizhou peninsula — a peninsula of SE China, in SW Guangdong province, separated from Hainan Island by Hainan Strait
- mercury poisoning — illness caused by exposure to mercury
- microencapsulated — Encapsulated using microencapsulation.
- micromanipulators — Plural form of micromanipulator.
- mississippi sound — an arm of the Gulf of Mexico, extending from Lake Borgne, SE Louisiana, to Mobile Bay, SW Alabama: part of the Intracoastal Waterway. About 100 miles (160 km) long.
- mount robson park — a national park in the Rocky Mountains of E British Columbia, Canada.
- multidisciplinary — composed of or combining several usually separate branches of learning or fields of expertise: a multidisciplinary study of the 18th century.
- multiple neuritis — polyneuritis.
- net present value — an assessment of the long-term profitability of a project made by adding together all the revenue it can be expected to achieve over its whole life and deducting all the costs involved, discounting both future costs and revenue at an appropriate rate
- neurophysiologist — the branch of physiology dealing with the functions of the nervous system.
- neuropsychiatrist — A medical doctor specializing in neuropsychiatry; a medical doctor dealing with disorders that have both neurological and psychiatric features.
- neuropsychologist — A neurologist or psychologist whose speciality is neuropsychology.
- newspaper cutting — clipping from a news publication
- nonproductiveness — The quality of being nonproductive.
- olympic mountains — a mountain range in NW Washington: part of the Coast Range. Highest peak: Mount Olympus, 2427 m (7965 ft)
- olympic peninsula — a large peninsula of W Washington
- opening arguments — the statements or arguments provided by lawyers at the beginning of a trial
- opportunistically — adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
- organ-pipe cactus — a treelike or columnar cactus, Lemaireocereus marginatus, of Mexico, having a central, erect spine surrounded by spreading spines in clusters of five to eight, and funnel-shaped, brownish-purple flowers.
- organophosphorous — Misspelling of organophosphorus.
- papanicolaou test — Pap test.
- parallel universe — Physics. any of a hypothetical collection of undetectable universes that are like our known universe but have branched off from our universe due to a quantum-level event. See also multiverse.
- paratungstic acid — an oxyacid acid of tungsten. Formula: H10W12O14
- parents anonymous — (in Britain) an association of local voluntary self-help groups offering help through an anonymous telephone service to parents who fear they will injure their children, or who have other problems in managing their children
- pasteur institute — an organization in Paris that was founded in 1887. It does research on micro-organisms and diseases
- pasteur treatment — Pasteur's method of preventing certain diseases, esp. rabies, by increasing the strength of successive inoculations with a specific weakened or attenuated virus
- penalty shoot-out — In football, a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.
- percussion bullet — a bullet that is exploded by percussion
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- performance drugs — the drugs that are taken illegally by athletes to enhance their sporting performance
- pernicious anemia — Pernicious anemia is a very severe blood disease.
- perpetual spinach — a variety of spinach that keeps producing edible leaves
- personal computer — a compact computer that uses a microprocessor and is designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC.
- personal equation — the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.
- perspicaciousness — having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.
- photoluminescence — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- physical pendulum — any apparatus consisting of a body of possibly irregular shape allowed to rotate freely about a horizontal axis on which it is pivoted (distinguished from simple pendulum).
- picture messaging — Picture messaging is the sending of photographs or pictures from one mobile phone to another.
- piece of business — business (def 10).
- pincushion cactus — any of various low-growing, spiny cacti of the genus Mammillaria.
- pincushion flower — scabious2 (def 1).
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- plastics industry — the industry that makes plastics
- ploughman's lunch — a light lunch consisting of bread and cheese, and sometimes pickled onions.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- plumbing fixtures — things such as pipes, sinks, toilets that are fixed in position in a building
- pluvius insurance — insurance against rain
- point of purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.