17-letter words containing an
- orange flower oil — neroli oil.
- orange free state — a province in central Republic of South Africa: a Boer republic 1854–1900; a British colony (Orange River Colony, ) 1900–10. 49,647 sq. mi. (128,586 sq. km). Capital: Bloemfontein.
- organ-pipe cactus — a treelike or columnar cactus, Lemaireocereus marginatus, of Mexico, having a central, erect spine surrounded by spreading spines in clusters of five to eight, and funnel-shaped, brownish-purple flowers.
- organic chemistry — the branch of chemistry, originally limited to substances found only in living organisms, dealing with the compounds of carbon.
- organic psychosis — a severe mental illness produced by damage to the brain, as a result of poisoning, alcoholism, disease, etc
- organized ferment — ferment (def 1).
- organized militia — a former military organization functioning under both state and federal authority.
- organophosphorous — Misspelling of organophosphorus.
- orthovanadic acid — an oxyacid of vanadium, known chiefly in the form of its vanadate salts. Formula: H3VO4
- oyer and terminer — (in some U.S. states) any of various higher criminal courts.
- packaging company — a company that packages goods on behalf of the producer
- pair annihilation — Physics. annihilation (def 3a).
- palaeoethnobotany — the study of fossil seeds and grains to further archaeological knowledge, esp of the domestication of cereals
- paleoanthropology — the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.
- pan and tilt head — a mounting device on which a camera may be rotated in a horizontal plane (pan) or in a vertical plane (tilt)
- pan potentiometer — a control on a stereo sound mixing desk by means of which the relative levels in right- and left-hand channels can be adjusted and hence the apparent position of the recorded or broadcast sound source within the stereo panorama can be controlled
- panama canal zone — Canal Zone.
- papanicolaou test — Pap test.
- papua new guinean — a native or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea.
- papua-new-guinean — an inhabitant or native of Papua New Guinea
- paralysis agitans — Parkinson's disease
- parathyroid gland — any of several small oval glands usually lying near or embedded in the thyroid gland.
- parents anonymous — (in Britain) an association of local voluntary self-help groups offering help through an anonymous telephone service to parents who fear they will injure their children, or who have other problems in managing their children
- parking attendant — a person who works for a traffic control agency and who issues tickets for parking violations
- parmesan (cheese) — a very hard, dry cheese orig. of Italy, made from skimmed cow's milk and usually grated for sprinkling on pasta, soups, etc.
- pascal's triangle — a triangular arrangement of the binomial coefficients of the expansion (x + y) n for positive integral values of n.
- pay-cable channel — a television channel that has to be paid for
- peaches and cream — If you say that a woman or a girl has a peaches and cream complexion, you mean that she has very clear, smooth, pale skin.
- peloponnesian war — a war between Athens and Sparta, 431–404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- performance drugs — the drugs that are taken illegally by athletes to enhance their sporting performance
- permanent account — A permanent account is an account which carries its balance and is kept open from year to year.
- permanent address — a fixed address
- pernicious anemia — Pernicious anemia is a very severe blood disease.
- personal distance — personal space.
- personnel manager — head of Human Resources department
- perth and kinross — a council area of N central Scotland, corresponding mainly to the historical counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire: part of Tayside Region from 1975 until 1996: chiefly mountainous, with agriculture, tourism, and forestry. Administrative centre: Perth. Pop: 135 990 (2003 est). Area: 5321 sq km (2019 sq miles)
- petrarchan sonnet — a sonnet form popularized by Petrarch, consisting of an octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and of a sestet with one of several rhyme schemes, as cdecde or cdcdcd.
- phantom limb pain — a phenomenon characterized by the experience of pain, discomfort, or other sensation in the area of a missing limb or other body part, as a breast.
- phantom pregnancy — the occurrence of signs of pregnancy, such as enlarged abdomen and absence of menstruation, when no embryo is present, due to hormonal imbalance
- phenyl isocyanate — a liquid reagent, C 7 H 5 NO, having an unpleasant, irritating odor: used chiefly for identifying alcohols and amines.
- philanthropically — of, pertaining to, engaged in, or characterized by philanthropy; benevolent: a philanthropic foundation.
- physical handicap — loss of or failure to develop a specific bodily function or functions, whether of movement, sensation, coordination, or speech, but excluding mental impairments or disabilities
- pillar-and-breast — room-and-pillar.
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- planck's constant — the fundamental constant of quantum mechanics, expressing the ratio of the energy of one quantum of radiation to the frequency of the radiation and approximately equal to 6.624 × 10− 27 erg-seconds. Symbol: h.
- ploughman's lunch — a light lunch consisting of bread and cheese, and sometimes pickled onions.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- pluvius insurance — insurance against rain
- poor man's orange — a grapefruit