16-letter words containing s, u, o, l
- optical illusion — something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
- osculating plane — the plane containing the circle of curvature of a point on a given curve.
- outsmart oneself — to have one's efforts at cunning or cleverness result in one's own disadvantage
- over-speculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- padded shoulders — (on a garment) shoulders lined, stuffed, or filled out with soft material, esp in order to give them a higher or wider shape
- panel discussion — a formal discussion before an audience for which the topic, speakers, etc., have been selected in advance.
- parasol mushroom — a common edible field mushroom, Macrolepiota (Lepiota) procera, having a light-brown, scaly cap.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- parkerhouse roll — a yeast roll shaped by folding over a flat, round piece of buttered dough
- paulinus of nola — Saint. ?353–431 ad, Roman consul and Christian poet; bishop of Nola (409–431). Feast day: June 22
- pentothal sodium — thiopental sodium
- people smuggling — People smuggling or people trafficking is the practice of bringing immigrants into a country illegally.
- people's commune — a usually rural, Communist Chinese social and administrative unit of from 2000 to 4000 families combined for collective farming, fishing, mining, or industrial projects.
- percussion drill — a drill that is operated by percussion
- person of colour — a person who is not White
- personal pronoun — any one of the pronouns used to refer to the speaker, or to one or more to or about whom or which he or she is speaking, as, in English, I, we, you, he, she, it, they.
- personal tuition — private tuition
- personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
- phase modulation — radio transmission in which the carrier wave is modulated by changing its phase to transmit the amplitude and pitch of the signal.
- phosphoryl group — the trivalent group ≡P≡O.
- photoluminescent — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- pique oneself on — to be proud of
- poiseuille's law — the law that the velocity of a liquid flowing through a capillary is directly proportional to the pressure of the liquid and the fourth power of the radius of the capillary and is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the liquid and the length of the capillary.
- political asylum — asylum provided by one nation to refugees, especially political refugees, from another nation.
- print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
- pseudo-political — of, relating to, or concerned with politics: political writers.
- pseudo-realistic — interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical: a realistic estimate of costs; a realistic planner.
- pseudo-religious — of, relating to, or concerned with religion: a religious holiday.
- pseudo-spiritual — of, relating to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
- pseudocopulation — pollination of plants, esp orchids, by male insects while attempting to mate with flowers that resemble the female insect
- pseudohemophilia — a clotting disorder caused by abnormal factor VIII activity, and characterized by a prolonged bleeding time but without the delayed coagulation time of hemophilia.
- pseudohistorical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudoperipteral — having a freestanding colonnade at each end, with engaged columns at the sides.
- psychoimmunology — the branch of medicine studying the effects of psychological phenomena on the immune system; the intersection of psychology and immunology.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public schoolboy — a boy attending a public school, or a man who attended one
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- publishing house — a company that publishes books, pamphlets, engravings, or the like: a venerable publishing house in Boston.
- pullorum disease — a highly contagious, frequently fatal disease of young poultry caused by the bacterium Salmonella gallinarum (pullorum), transmitted by the infected hen during egg production, and characterized by weakness, loss of appetite, and diarrhea.
- pulse modulation — a type of modulation in which a train of pulses is used as the carrier wave, one or more of its parameters, such as amplitude, being modulated or modified in order to carry information
- punctuationalism — punctuated equilibrium.
- pusher propeller — a propeller located on the trailing edge of an aircraft wing.
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- put sth to sleep — If a sick or injured animal is put to sleep, it is killed by a vet in a way that does not cause it pain.
- quasi-commercial — of, relating to, or characteristic of commerce.
- quasi-compulsory — required; mandatory; obligatory: compulsory education.
- quasi-diplomatic — of, relating to, or engaged in diplomacy: diplomatic officials.
- quasi-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- questionableness — The state or condition of being questionable; dubiousness.