17-letter words containing s, t, l, u
- percussion bullet — a bullet that is exploded by percussion
- 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.
- phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
- photoluminescence — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- plastics industry — the industry that makes plastics
- plateau's problem — the problem in the calculus of variations of finding the surface with the least area bounded by a given closed curve in space.
- 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
- postbaccalaureate — bachelor's degree.
- poststructuralism — a variation of structuralism, often seen as a critique, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts that structuralism uses to define society, language, etc.
- 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 oxalate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous solid, K 2 C 2 O 4 ⋅H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and in medical tests as an anticoagulant.
- potassium sulfate — a crystalline, water-soluble solid, K 2 SO 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, alums, and mineral water, and as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- poulter's measure — a metrical pattern using couplets having the first line in iambic hexameter, or 12 syllables, and the second in iambic heptameter, or 14 syllables.
- 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.
- pressure altitude — the altitude for a given pressure in a standard atmosphere, such as that registered by a pressure altimeter.
- primary qualities — any of the qualities inherent in an object, namely quantity, extent, figure, solidity, and motion or rest.
- prison population — all the people who are confined in prison
- procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- prostatic utricle — a small pouch near the prostate gland that opens into the urethra.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- 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 prosecutor — an officer charged with the conduct of criminal prosecution in the interest of the public.
- 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
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- push-pull circuit — a circuit using two similar electronic devices, such as matched valves, made to operate 180° out of phase with each other
- put on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- put on the gloves — to box
- quality assurance — a system for ensuring a desired level of quality in the development, production, or delivery of products and services: Quality assurance for nursing homes begins with a set of standards. Abbreviation: QA.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quasi-legislative — having the function of making laws: a legislative body.
- quasiexperimental — (medicine) Describing a trial in which the assignment to a group is based upon an experimental condition.
- quasquicentennial — pertaining to or marking a period of 125 years.
- reduce to silence — If someone or something reduces you to silence, they make you feel so upset or confused that you cannot speak.
- refuse collection — the collection of rubbish and waste, usually in a rubbish or refuse truck, before final disposal
- res ipsa loquitur — the rule that an injury is due to the defendant's negligence when that which caused it was under his or her control or management and the injury would not have happened had proper management been observed.
- revascularization — the restoration of the blood circulation of an organ or area, achieved by unblocking obstructed or disrupted blood vessels or by surgically implanting replacements.
- ringer's solution — an aqueous solution of the chlorides of sodium, potassium, and calcium in the same concentrations as normal body fluids, used chiefly in the laboratory for sustaining tissue.
- rocket propulsion — propulsion of an object by thrust developed by a rocket.