16-letter words containing t, u, p, l
- perpendicularity — vertical; straight up and down; upright.
- perpetual motion — the motion of a theoretical mechanism that, without any losses due to friction or other forms of dissipation of energy, would continue to operate indefinitely at the same rate without any external energy being applied to it.
- 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.
- photocoagulation — a surgical technique using an intense beam of light from a laser or a xenon-arc bulb to seal blood vessels or coagulate tissue, used primarily in ophthalmology to repair detached retinas or to treat certain kinds of retinopathy.
- photograph album — bound book for photos
- photoluminescent — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- picture moulding — the edge around a framed picture
- pigeon guillemot — a black or brown-speckled seabird of the genus Cepphus, of northern seas, having a sharply pointed black bill, red legs, and white wing patches, as C. grylle (black guillemot) of the North Atlantic and the similar C. columba (pigeon guillemot) of the North Pacific.
- pilot production — sth produced on a trial basis
- pineal apparatus — a median outgrowth of the roof of the diencephalon in vertebrates that in some develops into the pineal eye and in others into the pineal gland.
- pit bull terrier — American Staffordshire terrier.
- place in the sun — (often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat: its mean distance from the earth is about 93 million miles (150 million km), its diameter about 864,000 miles (1.4 million km), and its mass about 330,000 times that of the earth; its period of surface rotation is about 26 days at its equator but longer at higher latitudes.
- planetary nebula — an expanding shell of thin ionized gas that is ejected from and surrounds a hot, dying star of about the same mass as the sun; the gas absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the central star and reemits it as visible light by the process of fluorescence.
- platinum-iridium — (standard) A standard, against which all others of the same category are measured. Usage: silly. The notion is that one of whatever it is has actually been cast in platinum-iridium alloy and placed in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris, as the bar defining the standard metre once was. "This garbage collection algorithm has been tested against the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris." Compare golden.
- pleasure steamer — a boat powered by steam, used for recreational purposes
- plutarch's lives — (Parallel Lives) a collection (a.d. 105–15) by Plutarch of short biographies of the leading political figures of ancient Greece and Rome.
- plymouth company — a company, formed in England in 1606 to establish colonies in America and that founded a colony in Maine in 1607.
- political asylum — asylum provided by one nation to refugees, especially political refugees, from another nation.
- pourriture noble — noble rot.
- powerfully built — (of a person, esp a man) big and physically strong, with large muscles
- prerevolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
- private language — a language that is not merely secret or accidentally limited to one user, but that cannot in principle be communicated to another
- propylthiouracil — a white crystalline compound, C 7 H 1 0 N 2 OS, that interferes with the synthesis of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland: used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism.
- proto-algonquian — the unattested parent language from which the Algonquian languages are descended.
- 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-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
- 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.
- 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 transport — fare-paying travel
- publication date — the date on which a book or periodical is or is planned to be published.
- publicity agency — an advertising agency; a firm that gets publicity for people or products
- pull the plug on — a piece of wood or other material used to stop up a hole or aperture, to fill a gap, or to act as a wedge.
- pull the strings — be in control
- pulmonary artery — an artery conveying venous blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs.
- 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.
- pure watercolour — water-soluble pigment, applied in transparent washes and without the admixture of white pigment in the lighter tones
- 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-diplomatic — of, relating to, or engaged in diplomacy: diplomatic officials.
- reconceptualized — to form into a concept; make a concept of.
- redemption value — the price at which the issuing company may choose to repurchase a security before its maturity date
- relative pronoun — one of the pronouns who, whom, which, what, their compounds with -ever or -soever, or that used as the subordinating word to introduce a subordinate clause, especially such a pronoun referring to an antecedent.
- reporting clause — A reporting clause is a clause which indicates that you are talking about what someone said or thought. For example, in 'She said that she was hungry', 'She said' is a reporting clause.