16-letter words containing u, n, s, c
- paterson's curse — a purple-flowered noxious plant, Echium plantagineum, a close relative of viper's bugloss, naturalized in Australia and NZ where its harmfulness to livestock has prompted attempts to limit its spread
- 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
- personality cult — deliberately cultivated adulation of a person, esp a political leader
- photoluminescent — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- piscis austrinus — a small constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Aquarius and Grus and containing the first-magnitude star Fomalhaut
- 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.
- pleased as punch — the chief male character in a Punch-and-Judy show.
- pneumonoconiosis — pneumoconiosis.
- pocono mountains — ridge of the Appalachians, in E Pa.: resort area: c. 2,000 ft (610 m) high
- poitou-charentes — a region of W central France, on the Bay of Biscay: mainly low-lying
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
- principal clause — the main clause.
- process industry — business of treating raw materials
- production costs — the costs used in manufacturing a product
- prosecution case — the case brought against someone by a legal authority
- pseudo-scientist — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
- pseudocopulation — pollination of plants, esp orchids, by male insects while attempting to mate with flowers that resemble the female insect
- pseudoparenchyma — (in certain fungi and red algae) a compact mass of tissue, made up of interwoven hyphae or filaments, that superficially resembles plant tissue.
- pseudoscientific — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
- 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 transport — fare-paying travel
- punctuationalism — punctuated equilibrium.
- purchasing agent — a person who buys materials, supplies, equipment, etc., for a company.
- purchasing power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- put a sock in it — be quiet!
- quantum sufficit — as much as suffices; enough.
- quasi-scientific — of or relating to science or the sciences: scientific studies.
- queen's champion — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.
- queen's evidence — evidence for the crown given by an accused person against his or her alleged accomplices.
- question of fact — a question concerning the reality of an alleged event or circumstance in a trial by jury, usually determined by the jury.
- radius of action — the maximum distance that a ship, aircraft, or land vehicle can travel from its base and return without refuelling
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- recording studio — place where music is recorded
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- recursion theory — (theory) The study of problems that, in principle, cannot be solved by either computers or humans.
- reinsurance pool — the grouping of insurers that provide partial or complete insurance coverage to other insurers for (a risk on which a policy has already been issued)
- 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.
- research quantum — the standard by which the contribution to a university of individual academics is measured and on the basis of which universities receive government funding and academics are promoted
- research student — a student studying for a doctoral award, that is, a PhD or an MPhil
- reserve buoyancy — the difference between the volume of a hull below the designed waterline and the volume of the hull below the lowest opening incapable of being made watertight.
- reserve currency — any currency, as the U.S. dollar, used as a medium to settle international debts.
- residual current — an electric current that continues to flow in a device, etc when there is no voltage supply, due to electrons emitted by heat, etc
- resonant circuit — A resonant circuit combines an inductor and capacitor to make a circuit that responds to a frequency.
- risus sardonicus — fixed contraction of the facial muscles resulting in a peculiar distorted grin, caused esp by tetanus
- safety-conscious — conscious of being safe and preventing danger