16-letter words containing u, n, s, e, a
- poitou-charentes — a region of W central France, on the Bay of Biscay: mainly low-lying
- portuguese india — a former Portuguese overseas territory on the W coast of India, consisting of the districts of Gôa, Daman, and Diu: annexed by India December 1961. Capital: Gôa.
- pressure flaking — a method of manufacturing a flint tool by pressing flakes from a stone core with a pointed implement, usually of wood tipped with antler or copper.
- preunderstanding — to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
- primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
- principal clause — the main clause.
- prosecution case — the case brought against someone by a legal authority
- pseudo-isidorian — of or relating to the collection of documents of the 9th century a.d. that consist chiefly of the Decretals, attributed to Isidore, archbishop of Seville, a.d. 600–36, and that were rejected as spurious in the 15th century.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- punitive damages — law: penalty payment
- 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.
- purple sandpiper — a sandpiper, Calidris maritima, of arctic regions of the New and Old World, having in winter a slate-gray back with purplish reflections.
- put in the shade — to appear better than (another); surpass
- put one's oar in — to interfere or interrupt
- quantitativeness — The state or quality of being quantitative.
- quarter sessions — an English court of general criminal jurisdiction for crimes less than homicide, held quarterly.
- quarter-finalist — A quarter-finalist is a person or team that is competing in a quarter-final.
- quasi-equivalent — equal in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc.: His silence is equivalent to an admission of guilt.
- quasi-managerial — pertaining to management or a manager: managerial functions; the managerial class of society.
- quasi-scientific — of or relating to science or the sciences: scientific studies.
- queen anne style — a style of English architecture of the early 18th cent., characterized by construction in red brick, forms modified from classical architecture, and simple, elegant, and stately ornamentation
- queen anne's war — the war (1702–13) in which England and its American colonies opposed France and its Indian allies. It constituted the American phase of the War of the Spanish Succession.
- 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.
- question of fact — a question concerning the reality of an alleged event or circumstance in a trial by jury, usually determined by the jury.
- questionableness — The state or condition of being questionable; dubiousness.
- quinquagenarians — Plural form of quinquagenarian.
- quintessentially — of the pure and essential essence of something: the quintessential Jewish delicatessen.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- reasonable doubt — law: grounds for believing sb is innocent
- 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
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- regular gasoline — unleaded gasoline or petrol, as for fuelling a vehicle, etc
- 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.
- repressurization — the process or act of pressurizing.
- 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.
- 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.
- return on assets — the amount of profit computed by dividing net income before interest and taxes by the cost of assets, usually expressed as a percentage. Abbreviation: ROA.
- rhythm and blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.
- rhythm-and-blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.
- root mean square — the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the numbers in a given set of numbers. Abbreviation: rms.
- russian dressing — a sharp mayonnaise dressing containing chopped pickles, chili sauce or ketchup, pimientos, etc.
- russian roulette — a game of high risk in which each player in turn, using a revolver containing one bullet, spins the cylinder of the revolver, points the muzzle at the head, and pulls the trigger.