15-letter words containing u, r, s, o
- over-structured — excessively structured or organized.
- overconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- overspeculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- overstimulation — to rouse to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite: to stimulate his interest in mathematics.
- overthrust belt — an elongate area in which thick rock layers have been pushed over one another by compressional forces within the earth's crust.
- overzealousness — too zealous: overzealous for reform.
- ovoviviparously — in an ovoviviparous manner
- oyster mushroom — oyster cap.
- ozark mountains — an eroded plateau in S Missouri, N Arkansas, and NE Oklahoma. Area: about 130 000 sq km (50 000 sq miles)
- pamprodactylous — having all four toes directed forward, as in swifts and colies.
- parallel cousin — a cousin who is the child either of one's mother's sister or of one's father's brother.
- parti québécois — (in Canada) a political party in Quebec, formed in 1968 and originally advocating the separation of Quebec from the rest of the country
- passifloraceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Passifloraceae, a tropical and subtropical family of climbing plants including the passionflowers: the flowers have five petals and threadlike parts forming a dense mass (corona) around the central disc
- pastel-coloured — pale-coloured; in a shade such as pink or pale blue
- paurometabolous — designating or of a group of insect orders, as orthopterans or hemipterans, in which metamorphosis to the adult state from the juvenile state is gradual and without any sudden, radical change of body form
- pay as you earn — a method of paying tax in which the tax is taken off your wages before they are paid to you
- pectoral muscle — muscle of the chest
- percussion lock — a gunlock on a firearm that fires by striking a percussion cap.
- percussion tool — a power driven tool which operates by striking rapid blows: the power may be electricity or compressed air
- perfunctoriness — performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial: perfunctory courtesy.
- pergamentaceous — (esp of plants) resembling parchment, whether in texture or composition
- peroxysulphuric — as in peroxysulphuric acid
- personal column — The personal column in a newspaper or magazine contains messages for individual people and advertisements of a private nature.
- personal injury — injury to an individual
- petit bourgeois — a person who belongs to the petite bourgeoisie.
- petty bourgeois — petit bourgeois
- phosphate group — the group or radical obtained by removal of one or more hydrogen atoms from phosphoric acid.
- photojournalism — journalism in which photography dominates written copy, as in certain magazines.
- pictorial janus — K. Kahn, Xerox. Visual extension of Janus. Requires Strand88 and a PostScript interpreter.
- pithecanthropus — a former genus of extinct hominids whose members have now been assigned to the proposed species Homo erectus.
- plastic surgeon — doctor who performs cosmetic surgery
- play favourites — to display favouritism
- please yourself — You say 'please yourself' to indicate in a rather rude way that you do not mind or care whether the person you are talking to does a particular thing or not.
- pleasure-loving — enjoying pleasure
- polyunsaturated — of or noting a class of animal or vegetable fats, especially plant oils, whose molecules consist of carbon chains with many double bonds unsaturated by hydrogen atoms and that are associated with a low cholesterol content of the blood.
- post-industrial — of, relating to, or characteristic of an era following industrialization: The economy of the postindustrial society is based on the provision of services rather than on the manufacture of goods.
- post-parturient — bearing or about to bear young; travailing.
- post-production — In film and television, post-production is the work such as editing that takes place after the film has been shot.
- post-revolution — an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.
- postdivestiture — taking place after divestiture
- poststimulatory — following stimulation
- posttransfusion — occurring after or as a result of a transfusion
- pott's fracture — a fracture of the lower fibula and of the malleolus of the tibia, resulting in outward displacement of the foot.
- pound one's ear — to sleep
- power structure — the system of authority or influence in government, politics, education, etc.: The state elections threatened to upset the existing power structure.
- pre-acquisition — the act of acquiring or gaining possession: the acquisition of real estate.
- pre-consumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- preconstruction — the act or art of constructing.
- pressure cooker — a reinforced pot, usually of steel or aluminum, in which soups, meats, vegetables, etc., may be cooked quickly in heat above boiling point by steam maintained under pressure.
- pretentiousness — characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved: a pretentious, self-important waiter.