18-letter words containing a, l, i, p, s
- cranial osteopathy — osteopathy that focuses on the cranium and the spine
- creeping paralysis — any slow process that causes a system, government, etc, to stop working efficiently
- critical apparatus — the variant readings, footnotes, etc found in a scholarly work or a critical edition of a text
- cross-disciplinary — linking two or more fields of study
- crystal microphone — a microphone that uses a piezoelectric crystal to convert sound energy into electrical energy
- cultural pluralism — a condition in which minority groups participate fully in the dominant society, yet maintain their cultural differences.
- daisywheel printer — (printer) A kind of impact printer where the characters are arranged on the ends of the spokes of a wheel (resembling the petals on a daisy). The wheel (usually made of plastic) is rotated to select the character to print and then an electrically operated hammer mechanism bends the selected spoke forward slightly, sandwiching an ink ribbon between the character and the paper, as in a typewriter. One advantage of this arrangement over that of a typewriter is that different wheels may be inserted to produce different typefaces.
- delmarva peninsula — a peninsula of the northeast US, between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic
- depository library — a library designated by law to receive without charge all or a selection of the official publications of a government.
- desalination plant — a factory where salt is removed from salt water in order to make the water suitable for drinking and irrigation
- descriptive clause — a relative clause that describes or supplements but is not essential in establishing the identity of the antecedent and is usually set off by commas in English. In This year, which has been dry, is bad for crops the clause which has been dry is a nonrestrictive clause.
- devil's paintbrush — a perennial European hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) with leafless flower stalks bearing a cluster of orange-red heads: now a common weed in N U.S. and Canada
- dialytic telescope — a type of achromatic telescope with a second correcting lens
- didaskaleinophobia — The fear of going to school.
- dietary supplement — a substance taken in addition to what you eat in order to promote health
- diphosphoglycerate — an ester of phosphoric acid and glyceric acid that occurs in the blood and that promotes the release of hemoglobin-bound oxygen.
- diplomatic service — diplomatic corps
- diplomatic shuttle — a series of diplomatic visits to other states made by an official, such as an ambassador or envoy
- disability pension — a pension paid to people who are unable to continue to work because of a disability
- dispersible tablet — A dispersible tablet is a tablet that disintegrates in water or other liquid.
- display postscript — An extended form of PostScript permitting its interactive use with bitmap displays.
- disproportionality — not in proportion; disproportionate.
- disproportionately — not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
- domestic appliance — a machine used for household tasks, for example, a washing machine, refrigerator, etc.
- dynamic psychology — any system of psychology that emphasizes the interaction between different motives, emotions, and drives
- dynamically scoped — dynamic scope
- eclipsing variable — a variable star whose changes in brightness are caused by periodic eclipses of two stars in a binary system.
- eggshell porcelain — a type of very thin translucent porcelain originally made in China
- entrepreneurialism — The spirit or state of acting in an entrepreneurial manner.
- equinoctial spring — either of the two highest spring tides that occur at the equinoxes
- ethnopsychological — Relating to ethnopsychology.
- fall-back position — an alternative plan
- false imprisonment — the unlawful restraint of a person from exercising the right to freedom of movement.
- family-size packet — a packet large enough to be suitable for a family
- farewell-to-spring — a slender, showy plant, Clarkia amoena, of the evening primrose family, native to western North America, having satiny, cup-shaped, lilac-crimson or reddish-pink flowers and roundish fruit.
- fermat's principle — Optics. the law that the path taken by a ray of light in going from one point to another point will be the path that requires the least time.
- flat-panel display — a type of thin, lightweight video display that uses liquid crystals or electroluminescence to reflect images.
- foundling hospital — an institutional home for foundlings.
- funeral procession — ceremonial cortège at a burial
- galilean telescope — a refracting telescope that forms an erect image, consisting of an objective of relatively long focal length that causes light rays to converge and an eyepiece of short focal length that causes them to diverge.
- gas plasma display — (electronics) A type of display containing super-energised neon gas, used mostly in flat monitor and television screens. Each pixel has a transistor that controls its colour and brightness.
- general precession — the precession that results from both lunisolar precession and planetary precession; precession of the equinoxes.
- geometrical optics — the branch of optics dealing with light as rays, especially in the study of the effects of lenses and mirrors on light beams and of their combination in optical instruments.
- giuseppe garibaldi — Giuseppe [juh-sep-ee;; Italian joo-zep-pe] /dʒəˈsɛp i;; Italian dʒuˈzɛp pɛ/ (Show IPA), 1807–82, Italian patriot and general.
- hamilton's problem — Hamiltonian problem
- handyman's special — fixer-upper.
- helicopter station — a place where helicopters are kept in readiness for use
- hilary of poitiers — Saint, a.d. c300–368, French bishop and theologian.
- histocompatibility — the condition of having antigenic similarities such that cells or tissues transplanted from one (the donor) to another (the recipient) are not rejected.
- histomorphological — histology.