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16-letter words containing ri

  • petrified forest — a national park in E Arizona, containing petrified coniferous trees about 170 000 000 years old
  • phalansterianism — a system by which society would be reorganized into units comprising their own social and industrial elements; Fourierism.
  • phantasmagorical — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
  • photoelectricity — electricity induced by electromagnetic radiation, as in certain processes, as the photoelectric and photovoltaic effects, photoconductivity, and photoionization.
  • photoperiodicity — the response, as affecting growth or reproduction, of an organism to the length of exposure to light in a 24-hour period.
  • photopolarimeter — a polarimeter that uses a photocell.
  • pietermaritzburg — a province in the E part of the Republic of South Africa. 35,284 sq. mi. (91,886 sq. km). Capital: Pietermaritzburg.
  • piezoelectricity — electricity, or electric polarity, produced by the piezoelectric effect.
  • piscis austrinus — a small constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Aquarius and Grus and containing the first-magnitude star Fomalhaut
  • pit bull terrier — American Staffordshire terrier.
  • plaster of paris — calcined gypsum in white, powdery form, used as a base for gypsum plasters, as an additive of lime plasters, and as a material for making fine and ornamental casts: characterized by its ability to set rapidly when mixed with water.
  • 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.
  • point de hongrie — flame stitch.
  • polarizing angle — the law that light will receive maximum polarization from a reflecting surface when it is incident to the surface at an angle (angle of polarization or polarizing angle) having a tangent equal to the index of refraction of the surface.
  • port authorities — the body with overall responsibility for a port
  • postscript point — (unit, text)   The variant of the point used by Postscript, equal to 0.3527777778 mm, or 1/72 inch.
  • pourriture noble — noble rot.
  • poverty-stricken — suffering from poverty; extremely poor: poverty-stricken refugees.
  • praetorian guard — the bodyguard of a military commander, especially the imperial guard stationed in Rome.
  • prairie schooner — a type of covered wagon, similar to but smaller than the Conestoga wagon, used by pioneers in crossing the prairies and plains of North America.
  • pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
  • preemptive right — a privilege given to an existing shareholder to buy a portion of a new stock issue at the offering price on a pro-rata per-share basis.
  • prescription pad — a pad of prescriptions used by doctors, etc
  • pressurized suit — an airtight suit that can be inflated to maintain approximately normal atmospheric pressure on a person in space or at high altitudes.
  • prestige pricing — the practice of giving a product a high price to convey the idea that it must be of high quality or status
  • pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)
  • price commission — (in Britain) a commission established by the government in 1973 with authority to control prices as a measure against inflation. It was abolished in 1980
  • price comparison — Price comparison is comparing the price of the same product in different outlets.
  • price leadership — the setting of the price of a product or service by a dominant firm at a level that competitors can match, in order to avoid a price war
  • pride oneself on — to be proud of
  • prima facie case — a case in which the evidence produced is sufficient to enable a decision or verdict to be made unless the evidence is rebutted.
  • primary consumer — (in the food chain) an animal that feeds on plants; a herbivore.
  • primary deviance — the violation of a norm or rule that does not result in the violator's being stigmatized as deviant.
  • primary election — primary (def 15a).
  • primary electron — in thermionics, any of the electrons falling on a body, distinguished from those emitted by it
  • primary industry — an industry, as agriculture, forestry, or fishing, that deals in obtaining natural materials.
  • primary meristem — primary tissue derived from an apical meristem.
  • primary producer — any green plant or any of various microorganisms that can convert light energy or chemical energy into organic matter.
  • primary syphilis — the first stage of syphilis, characterized by the formation of a chancre at the site of infection.
  • primitive church — the early Christian church, especially in reference to its earliest form and organization.
  • primrose jasmine — an evergreen shrub, Jasminum mesnyi, of China, having thick, shiny leaflets and yellow flowers with a darker eye.
  • prince's feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
  • prince's-feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
  • principal clause — the main clause.
  • principal rafter — a diagonal member of a roof principal, usually forming part of a truss and supporting the purlins on which the common rafters rest.
  • print journalism — journalism as practiced in newspapers and magazines.
  • printer's reader — a person employed to read proofs and indicate errors
  • prismatic colors — the colors of the visible spectrum produced by passing white light through a prism; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
  • prison psychosis — a state of mental confusion, transitory or permanent, brought on by incarceration or by the anticipation of imprisonment.
  • prisoner of bill — (humour)   (PoB) A derisory term, in use generally among Unix users, for anyone who uses Microsoft products either because they don't know there is anything better (i.e. Unix) or because they would be incapable of working anything more complex (i.e. Unix). The interesting and widespread presumption among users of the term is that (at least at the time of writing, 1998) using anything other than Unix or a Microsoft OS (whether VMS, Macintosh, Amiga) is so eccentric a choice as to be at least somewhat praiseworthy.
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