18-letter words containing a, p, u
- louisiana purchase — a treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
- lubber grasshopper — plains grasshopper.
- magnesium peroxide — a white, tasteless, water-insoluble powder, MgO 2 , used as an antiseptic and as an oxidizing and bleaching agent.
- magnetic tape unit — a computer device that moves reels of magnetic tape past read-write heads so that data can be transferred to or from the computer
- make up one's mind — (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: the processes of the human mind.
- maksutov telescope — a reflecting telescope in which coma and spherical aberration are reduced to a minimum by a combination of a spherical mirror and a meniscus lens placed inside the radius of curvature of the mirror.
- malpighian tubules — one of a group of long, slender excretory tubules at the anterior end of the hindgut in insects and other terrestrial arthropods.
- many happy returns — When it is someone's birthday, people sometimes say 'Many happy returns' to them as a way of greeting them.
- market opportunity — a situation in which a company can meet an unsatisfied customer need before its competitors
- marsilius of padua — c1280–1343? Italian scholar and political theorist.
- melville peninsula — a peninsula in N Canada, SE of the Gulf of Boothia. 250 miles (405 km) long.
- mercury-vapor lamp — a lamp producing a light with a high actinic and ultraviolet content by means of an electric arc in mercury vapor.
- mergui archipelago — a group of over 200 islands in the Andaman Sea, off the Tenasserim coast of S Myanmar: mountainous and forested
- microencapsulation — the process of enclosing chemical substances in microcapsules.
- microwave spectrum — a spectrum of electromagnetic radiations whose wavelengths fall in the microwave range.
- mineral supplement — a pill containing minerals that you take to improve your health
- miniature pinscher — one of a German breed of toy dogs resembling a smaller version of the Doberman pinscher, having a flat skull, a smooth coat, erect ears, and a docked tail, bred originally as a watchdog.
- molecular spectrum — the spectrum of light emitted or absorbed by a species of molecule.
- mordovian republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga basin. Capital: Saransk. Pop: 888 700 (2002). Area: 26 200 sq km (10 110 sq miles)
- mucopolysaccharide — (formerly) glycosaminoglycan.
- muscular dystrophy — a hereditary disease characterized by gradual wasting of the muscles with replacement by scar tissue and fat, sometimes also affecting the heart.
- natural philosophy — natural science.
- nebular hypothesis — the theory that the solar system evolved from a mass of nebular matter: prominent in the 19th century following its precise formulation by Laplace.
- neurodevelopmental — Of or pertaining to the development of neurological pathways in the brain.
- neuroleptanalgesia — a semiconscious nonreactive state induced by certain drug combinations, as fentanyl with droperidol.
- neuroophthalmology — the branch of ophthalmology that deals with the optic nerve and other nervous system structures involved in vision.
- neurophysiological — the branch of physiology dealing with the functions of the nervous system.
- neuropsychodynamic — Of or pertaining to neuropsychodynamics.
- neuropsychological — Of or pertaining to neuropsychology, the relation or combination of brain and mind.
- nonpartisan league — a political organization of farmers, founded in North Dakota in 1915, and extending to many states west of the Mississippi, with the aim of influencing agricultural legislation in state legislatures.
- north truchas peak — a mountain in N New Mexico, near Santa Fe: one of the three Truchas Peaks. 13,110 feet (3999 meters).
- noun incorporation — a process in word formation by which a compound is created by affixing or infixing a noun to a verb, as in baby-sit, house-hunt, and sleep-walk.
- nuclear capability — If a country has nuclear capability, it is able to produce nuclear power and usually nuclear weapons.
- numerical aperture — a measure of the resolving power of a microscope, equal to the index of refraction of the medium in which the object is placed multiplied by the sine of the angle made with the axis by the most oblique ray entering the instrument, the resolving power increasing as the product increases. Abbreviation: N.A.
- nurse practitioner — a registered nurse who has received special training for diagnosing and treating routine or minor ailments. Abbreviation: NP.
- nurse-practitioner — a registered nurse who has received special training for diagnosing and treating routine or minor ailments. Abbreviation: NP.
- oblique-slip fault — a fault on which the movement is along both the strike and the dip of the fault
- occupational group — An occupational group is a category used by insurance companies to classify jobs according to how hazardous they are.
- oedipus at colonus — a tragedy by Sophocles, written toward the end of his life and produced posthumously in 401? b.c.
- on automatic pilot — If you are on automatic pilot or on autopilot, you are acting without thinking about what you are doing, usually because you have done it many times before.
- open heart surgery — surgery performed on the exposed heart while a heart-lung machine pumps and oxygenates the blood and diverts it from the heart.
- open-heart surgery — surgery performed on the exposed heart while a heart-lung machine pumps and oxygenates the blood and diverts it from the heart.
- optical soundtrack — the final soundtrack on a motion picture, which appears as a band of black and white serrations along a strip of film to the left of the composite print. Light is shined through the serrations and is converted to audible sound.
- optimum population — a population that is sufficiently large to provide an adequate workforce with minimal unemployment
- outer automorphism — an automorphism that is not an inner automorphism.
- outreach programme — a programme designed to help and encourage disadvantaged members of the community
- over-pronunciation — to pronounce (a word, syllable, etc.) in an exaggerated, affected, or excessively careful manner.
- overpressurization — pressure in excess of normal atmospheric pressure, as that caused by an explosion's shock wave or created in an accelerating airplane.
- ox-tongue partisan — a shafted weapon having a long, wide, tapering blade.
- pacinian corpuscle — (sometimes lowercase) a microscopic, onionlike body consisting of layers of connective tissue wrapped around a nerve ending, located in the deep layers of skin, tendons, etc., and functioning as a sensory receptor of pressure and vibration.