17-letter words containing p
- at one fell swoop — to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey.
- at one's disposal — If you have something at your disposal, you are able to use it whenever you want, and for whatever purpose you want. If you say that you are at someone's disposal, you mean that you are willing to help them in any way you can.
- at one's own pace — If you do something at your own pace, you do it at a speed that is comfortable for you.
- at swords' points — ready to quarrel or fight
- at the expense of — If you achieve something at the expense of someone, you do it in a way which might cause them some harm or disadvantage.
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- australian kelpie — one of an Australian breed of medium-sized sheepherding dogs having a short, harsh, straight coat in a combination of colors that can include black, red, tan, fawn, chocolate, or smoke blue, probably developed by crossbreeding between the border collie and dingo.
- australopithecine — any of various extinct apelike primates of the genus Australopithecus and related genera, remains of which have been discovered in southern and E Africa. Some species are estimated to be over 4.5 million years old
- avoirdupois pound — a pound weighing 16 ounces
- babi yar symphony — a symphony (1962) by Dimitri Dimitrievich Shostakovich.
- baby-doll pyjamas — frilly pyjamas with short pants and no sleeves
- background report — a report on someone or something that sheds light on their background, esp a report on the background of a person convicted of a crime before they are sentenced by a judge
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- baltimore clipper — a small, fast American sailing vessel of the early 19th century, having a sharp hull form and two masts with a pronounced rake and carrying a brig or schooner rig.
- banana phenomenon — banana problem
- bangalore torpedo — an explosive device in a long metal tube, used to blow gaps in barbed-wire barriers
- banking principle — the principle that bank notes are a form of credit and should be issued freely in order to maintain an elastic currency.
- bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
- bari delle puglie — Italian name of Bari.
- barred woodpecker — a climbing bird, Picoides minor, of the family Picidae
- basic proposition — protocol (def 6).
- basketball player — someone who plays basketball
- bbc microcomputer — A series of 6502-based personal computers launched by Acorn Computers Ltd. in January 1982, for use in the British Broadcasting Corporation's educational programmes on computing. The computers are noted for their reliability (many are still in active service in 1994) and both hardware and software were designed for easy expansion. The 6502-based computers were succeeded in 1987 by the Acorn Archimedes family.
- be sitting pretty — If you say that someone is sitting pretty, you mean that they are in a good, safe, or comfortable position.
- beat to the punch — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in striking a blow
- beauty specialist — a person who helps someone to improve their beauty, such as a make-up artist
- behaviour therapy — any of various means of treating psychological disorders, such as desensitization, aversion therapy, and instrumental conditioning, that depend on the patient systematically learning new modes of behaviour
- bell-shaped curve — bell curve
- belleville spring — a spring having the form of a washer or dished disk with an open center, used for cushioning heavy loads with short motion.
- bent out of shape — very angry, upset, or agitated
- bermuda buttercup — a bulbous plant, Oxalis pescaprae, native to southern Africa, having nodding, yellow flowers.
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- beyond redemption — If you say that someone or something is beyond redemption, you mean that they are so bad it is unlikely that anything can be done to improve them.
- binary opposition — a relation between the members of a pair of linguistic items, as a pair of distinctive features, such that one is the absence of the other, as voicelessness and voice, or that one is at the opposite pole from the other, as stridency and mellowness.
- biological parent — a parent who has conceived (biological mother) or sired (biological father) rather than adopted a child and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child.
- biological weapon — a weapon which uses a biological agent to harm people and other living organisms
- biopharmaceutical — of or relating to drugs produced using biotechnology
- bitmapped display — bitmap display
- bjarne stroustrup — (person) The father of C++ and author of the C++ bible.
- blackpoll warbler — a North American warbler, Dendroica striata, the adult male of which has the top of the head black.
- blasphemous libel — In Britain, previously, the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion
- blind carbon copy — a duplicate of anything written or typed, or a copy of an email or other electronic document, that is sent to someone whose name is not visible to the primary addressee. Abbreviation: bcc.
- blood-drop emlets — a Chilean scrophulariaceous plant, Mimulus luteus, naturalized in Europe, having red-spotted yellow flowers
- blowout preventer — A blowout preventer is a valve that can be closed when there is uncontrolled flow of fluids.
- blowpipe analysis — a type of chemical analysis in which the intensely hot flame of a blowpipe vaporizes a mineral or other substance with a characteristically colored flame and a unique odor, so as to identify chemical elements in a substance
- body center plate — one of a pair of plates that fit together and support the body of a car on a truck, while allowing the truck to rotate with respect to the body. One plate (body center plate) is attached to the underside of the car body and the other (truck center plate) is part of the car truck.
- boileau-despreaux — Nicolas [nee-kaw-lah] /ni kɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1636–1711, French critic and poet.
- boiler horsepower — a unit of measurement of the ability of a boiler to evaporate water, usually given as the ability to evaporate 34½ pounds (15.6 kg) of water an hour, into dry saturated steam from and at 212°F (100°C).
- book depreciation — Book depreciation is depreciation in a company's internal financial records that is different from the amount that is used for taxes.