15-letter words starting with p
- photomicroscope — a microscope having an illuminator and a camera mechanism for producing a photomicrograph.
- photomultiplier — an extremely sensitive detector of light and of other radiation, consisting of a tube in which the electrons released by radiation striking a photocathode are accelerated, greatly amplifying the signal obtainable from small quantities of radiation.
- photoproduction — the light-induced production of a species of molecule such as a radical or ion
- photorefractive — of or relating to a change in the index of refraction by spatial variations of the light intensity, as in a laser.
- photosensitizer — a drug, food, or other chemical that increases sensitivity to light and other visible photons
- photosynthesize — to produce carbohydrates by photosynthesis: Plants with light green leaves don't photosynthesize as well as those with darker leaves.
- phototactically — in a phototactic manner
- phototelegraphy — facsimile (def 2a).
- phototheodolite — an optical tracking instrument consisting of a camera and theodolite mounted on a single tripod, used in photogrammetry and in tracking rockets.
- phototopography — topographical surveying employing photogrammetric methods.
- phototransistor — a transistor that amplifies current induced by photoconductivity.
- phototropically — in a phototropic manner
- phototypesetter — a machine for phototypesetting
- phototypography — (formerly) the art or technique of making printing surfaces by light or photography, by any of a large number of processes.
- photoxylography — the process of using photography in order to produce an image on wood, for the use of a wood engraver
- phrasemongering — the act of coining memorable phrases
- phrenologically — in a manner relating to phrenology
- physical change — a usually reversible change in the physical properties of a substance, as size or shape: Freezing a liquid is a physical change.
- physical memory — (memory management) The memory hardware (normally RAM) installed in a computer. The term is only used in contrast to virtual memory.
- physical optics — the branch of optics concerned with the wave properties of light, the superposition of waves, the deviation of light from its rectilinear propagation in a manner other than that considered by geometrical optics, the interaction of light with matter, and the quantum, corpuscular aspects of light.
- physicalization — to express in physical terms; give form or shape to: The dancers physicalized the mood of the music.
- physicochemical — physical and chemical: the physicochemical properties of an isomer.
- physiologically — of or relating to physiology.
- physiopathology — pathophysiology.
- physiotherapist — physical therapy.
- phytochemically — in a phytochemical manner
- phytoflagellate — any microscopic flagellate that is photosynthetic.
- phytopathogenic — of, possessing the properties of, or relating to a phytopathogen
- piano accordion — accordion (def 1).
- piano reduction — a musical score having the parts condensed or simplified in two staves, to render the music playable on the piano by one person.
- pick and choose — to choose or select from among a group: to pick a contestant from the audience.
- pick up the tab — If you pick up the tab, you pay a bill on behalf of a group of people or provide the money that is needed for something.
- pick-and-shovel — marked by drudgery; laborious: the pick-and-shovel work necessary to get a political campaign underway.
- pickaback plane — a powered airplane designed to be carried aloft by another airplane and released in flight.
- pickaback plant — piggyback plant.
- pickling onions — small onions suitable for pickling
- pickwick papers — (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) a novel (1837) by Charles Dickens.
- pictorial janus — K. Kahn, Xerox. Visual extension of Janus. Requires Strand88 and a PostScript interpreter.
- picture element — (graphics) (pixel) The smallest resolvable rectangular area of an image, either on a screen or stored in memory. Each pixel in a monochrome image has its own brightness, from 0 for black to the maximum value (e.g. 255 for an eight-bit pixel) for white. In a colour image, each pixel has its own brightness and colour, usually represented as a triple of red, green and blue intensities (see RGB). Compare voxel.
- picture gallery — place where art is exhibited and sold
- picture library — A picture library is a collection of photographs that is held by a particular company or organization. Newspapers or publishers can pay to use the photographs in their publications.
- picture writing — the art of recording events or expressing ideas by pictures, or pictorial symbols, as practiced by preliterate peoples.
- picture-framing — the job of framing photos, paintings etc
- picture-perfect — ideal in appearance,
- picturesqueness — visually charming or quaint, as if resembling or suitable for a painting: a picturesque fishing village.
- piece to camera — a TV report in which a reporter is filmed saying something
- pied flycatcher — a small black and white migratory bird of Europe and western Asia, Ficedula hypoleuca
- piero di cosimo — Piero di [pee-air-oh di;; Italian pye-raw dee] /piˈɛər oʊ dɪ;; Italian ˈpyɛ rɔ di/ (Show IPA), Piero di Cosimo.
- pierrot lunaire — a cycle of 21 songs (1912) for voice and instruments, by Arnold Schönberg, written in Sprechgesang style and set to poems of Albert Giraud in German translation.
- pig, run like a — To run very slowly on given hardware, said of software. Distinct from hog.