13-letter words containing s, u, p
- nerve impulse — a progressive wave of electric and chemical activity along a nerve fiber that stimulates or inhibits the action of a muscle, gland, or other nerve cell.
- neuropeptides — Plural form of neuropeptide.
- neurosyphilis — Syphilis that involves the central nervous system.
- newgroup wars — /n[y]oo'groop worz/ [Usenet] The salvos of dueling "newgroup" and "rmgroup" messages sometimes exchanged by persons on opposite sides of a dispute over whether a newsgroup should be created net-wide, or (even more frequently) whether an obsolete one should be removed. These usually settle out within a week or two as it becomes clear whether the group has a natural constituency (usually, it doesn't). At times, especially in the completely anarchic alt hierarchy, the names of newsgroups themselves become a form of comment or humour; e.g. the spinoff of alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork from alt.tv.muppets in early 1990, or any number of specialised abuse groups named after particularly notorious flamers, e.g. alt.weemba.
- nitroprusside — (inorganic chemistry) Any salt, of the hypothetical nitroprussic acid, that contains a pentacyanonitrosylferrate anion.
- nitroso group — the univalent group O=N–.
- noncompulsory — Not compulsory.
- nondiapausing — lacking a diapause
- nondisruptive — causing, tending to cause, or caused by disruption; disrupting: the disruptive effect of their rioting.
- nonpunishable — Not punishable; of an act, for which no punishment has been authorized; of a person, beyond the reach of punishment.
- nonunion shop — a shop or business in which the employer fixes terms and conditions of employment unilaterally without recognizing or dealing with a union.
- norway spruce — a European spruce, Picea abies, having shiny, dark-green needles, grown as an ornamental.
- nucleocapsids — Plural form of nucleocapsid.
- nucleoplasmic — Of or pertaining to nucleoplasm.
- nurseryperson — A nurseryman or nurserywoman.
- nymphaeaceous — belonging to the Nymphaeaceae, the water lily family of plants.
- ombudsmanship — The position or office of an ombudsman.
- ombudspersons — Plural form of ombudsperson.
- one-upmanship — the art or practice of achieving, demonstrating, or assuming superiority in one's rivalry with a friend or opponent by obtaining privilege, status, status symbols, etc.: the one-upmanship of getting into the president's car pool.
- onus probandi — the burden of proof.
- open and shut — immediately obvious upon consideration; easily decided: an open-and-shut case of murder.
- open question — question: invites long answer
- open universe — a model of the universe in which the universe expands forever because there is not enough mass to counteract the expansion by means of gravitational attraction.
- open-and-shut — immediately obvious upon consideration; easily decided: an open-and-shut case of murder.
- opening hours — Opening hours are the times during which a shop, bank, library, or bar is open for business.
- opossum block — (in New Zealand) a block of bush allocated to a licensed opossum trapper
- opportuneness — The state or condition of being opportune.
- opportunistic — adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
- opportunities — Plural form of opportunity.
- opprobriously — In an opprobrious manner.
- optical mouse — (hardware) Any kind of mouse that uses visible light or infrared to detect changes in its position.
- optical sound — sound recorded on and subsequently played back from an optical or photographic soundtrack, as opposed to a magnetic soundtrack.
- ostreophagous — oyster-eating
- outperformers — Plural form of outperformer.
- outprocessing — to end a military tour of duty, accompanied by necessary paperwork: All enlisted soldiers out-process as a class.
- outspokenness — The quality of being outspoken; bluntness; frankness; candour.
- outwash plain — Geology. a broad, sloping landform built of coalesced deposits of outwash.
- overspeculate — to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often followed by on, upon, or a clause).
- ovoviviparous — producing eggs that are hatched within the body, so that the young are born alive but without placental attachment, as certain reptiles or fishes.
- packing house — A packing house is a company that processes and packs food, especially meat, to be sold.
- pamlico sound — a sound between the North Carolina mainland and coastal islands.
- pan-teutonism — Pan-Germanism.
- pantagruelism — (in Rabelais' Pantagruel) the huge son of Gargantua, represented as dealing with serious matters in a spirit of broad and somewhat cynical good humor.
- papaveraceous — belonging to the Papaveraceae, the poppy family of plants.
- paper-pushing — a person who has a routine desk job.
- papillomatous — a benign tumor of the skin or mucous membrane consisting of hypertrophied epithelial tissue, as a wart.
- paradigm plus — A configurable object-oriented CASE tool from Proto Soft.
- paradise duck — a large duck, Casarca variegata, of New Zealand, having a brightly coloured plumage
- paramenstruum — the four days before and first four days of menstruation
- paramyxovirus — any of various RNA-containing viruses that are similar to but larger than the myxoviruses, including the viruses that cause mumps, measles, parainfluenza, and Newcastle disease.