17-letter words containing s, p, u, n
- 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.
- portuguese guinea — former name of Guinea-Bissau.
- positive eugenics — the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
- post-resurrection — the act of rising from the dead.
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- potassium cyanide — a white, granular, water-soluble, poisonous powder, KCN, having a faint almondlike odor, used chiefly in metallurgy and photography.
- potassium nitrate — a crystalline compound, KNO 3 , produced by nitrification in soil, and used in gunpowders, fertilizers, and preservatives; saltpeter; niter.
- power supply unit — (hardware) (PSU) An electronic module that converts high voltage (110 or 240 VAC) alternating current mains electricity into smoothed direct current at the various differnt voltages required by the motherboard; internal peripheral devices, cheifly storage devices: hard disks, CD or DVD, floppy disks and external connections such as USB. A PSU needs a high enough power output rating to supply all the devices connected to it and should output as little as possible electrical noise, both on the output wires and as electromagnetic radiation. See also uninterruptable power supply.
- premiere danseuse — the leading female dancer in a ballet company.
- prescription drug — medication available only on doctor's instruction
- pressure drawdown — Pressure drawdown is the difference between the reservoir pressure and the flowing wellbore pressure, which drives fluids from the reservoir into the wellbore.
- pressure gradient — the change of pressure per unit distance
- pressurized cabin — the cabin of an aircraft in which the air has been pressurized
- previous question — a move that a vote be taken at once on a main question, used especially as a means of cutting off further debate.
- printing industry — the industry engaged in the business of producing printed matter
- prison population — all the people who are confined in prison
- production string — A production string is the series of pipes through which the oil or gas is brought up from the reservoir.
- production system — (programming) A production system consists of a collection of productions (rules), a working memory of facts and an algorithm, known as forward chaining, for producing new facts from old. A rule becomes eligible to "fire" when its conditions match some set of elements currently in working memory. A conflict resolution strategy determines which of several eligible rules (the conflict set) fires next. A condition is a list of symbols which represent constants, which must be matched exactly; variables which bind to the thing they match and "<> symbol" which matches a field not equal to symbol. Example production systems are OPS5, CLIPS, flex.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- professional foul — In football, if a player commits a professional foul, they deliberately do something which is against the rules in order to prevent another player from scoring a goal.
- project assurance — The process of specifying the support system: techniques, internal standards, measurements, tools, and training for a project; counselling the project team in the application of these elements and monitoring the adherence to the standards.
- prusso-danish war — a war of 1864 between Prussia and Denmark by which Denmark lost Schleswig-Holstein.
- pseudo-humanistic — a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
- pseudo-scientific — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- psycholinguistics — the study of the relationship between language and the cognitive or behavioral characteristics of those who use it.
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- public enterprise — economic activity by governmental organizations
- public television — a type of noncommercial, usually educational, television programming funded by the government, grants, viewers, and corporations. Compare educational television.
- publicity-seeking — eager to attract publicity
- pull one's weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- pulsejet (engine) — a jet engine without a compressor or turbine, in which intermittent combustion provides the thrust
- purdue university — http://purdue.edu/.
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- put on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- put on the gloves — to box
- put one's feet up — relax
- put one's hand to — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- put the kibosh on — nonsense.
- put the screws on — a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quasi-independent — not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
- quasiexperimental — (medicine) Describing a trial in which the assignment to a group is based upon an experimental condition.
- queen of puddings — a pudding made of moist but firm breadcrumb and custard mixture topped with jam and meringue
- reported question — A reported question is a question which is reported using a clause beginning with a word such as 'why' or 'whether', as in 'I asked her why she'd done it'.
- rescue operations — operations or organized procedures to bring people or a person out of danger, attack, harm, etc
- rhodope mountains — a mountain range in SE Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula extending along the border between Bulgaria and Greece. Highest peak: Golyam Perelik (Bulgaria), 2191 m (7188 ft)
- rocket propulsion — propulsion of an object by thrust developed by a rocket.