12-letter words containing a, l, p, e, s
- piss-elegant — displaying a contrived, often pretentious, sophistication, opulence, etc.
- plaid screen — [XEROX PARC] A "special effect" that occurs when certain kinds of memory smashes overwrite the control blocks or image memory of a bit-mapped display. The term "salt and pepper" may refer to a different pattern of similar origin. Though the term as coined at PARC refers to the result of an error, some of the X demos induce plaid-screen effects deliberately as a display hack.
- plain-spoken — candid; frank; blunt.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- plane strain — Plane strain is a two-dimensional state of strain in which all the shape changes of a material happen on a single plane.
- plane stress — Plane stress is a two-dimensional state of stress in which all stress is applied in a single plane.
- planetesimal — one of the small celestial bodies that, according to one theory (planetesimal hypothesis) were fused together to form the planets of the solar system.
- planlessness — the state or condition of being planless
- plasmasphere — a region of cool plasma surrounding the earth, extending 8000–25,000 miles (13,000–40,000 km) into space, and bounded by the plasmapause.
- plaster cast — any piece of sculpture reproduced in plaster of Paris.
- plasterboard — a material used for insulating or covering walls, or as a lath, consisting of paper-covered sheets of gypsum and felt.
- plasteriness — the state of being made of or resembling plaster
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- plattdeutsch — the Low German vernacular dialects spoken in northern Germany.
- play clothes — clothes that are suitable for playing in
- play it safe — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- pleasantness — pleasing, agreeable, or enjoyable; giving pleasure: pleasant news.
- pleased with — satisfied or content with
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- plumulaceous — having the texture of down.
- plunge basin — a cavity at the base of a falls or cataract, formed by the action of the falling water.
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- pole compass — (formerly) a ship's compass elevated on a wooden pole to isolate it as much as possible from local magnetism.
- police state — a nation in which the police, especially a secret police, summarily suppresses any social, economic, or political act that conflicts with governmental policy.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- polish wheat — a wheat, Triticum polonicum, grown chiefly in S Europe, N Africa, and Turkestan.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polypetalous — having a corolla of separate petals.
- polysepalous — having a calyx of separate or unconnected sepals.
- polysiloxane — a polymer composed of silicon and oxygen atoms
- polysyllable — a polysyllabic word.
- porcelainous — made of or resembling porcelain
- porcelaneous — a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.
- porcellanise — to bake into porcelain
- port angeles — a city in NW Washington, on the Juan de Fuca Strait.
- positive law — customary law or law enacted by governmental authority (as distinguished from natural law).
- possessional — of, relating to, or characterized by possession
- post-nuclear — pertaining to or involving atomic weapons: nuclear war.
- postal meter — a postal franking machine
- postal order — money order.
- postcardlike — (of a scene) resembling a postcard
- postdeadline — the time by which something must be finished or submitted; the latest time for finishing something: a five o'clock deadline.
- postimperial — of, relating to, or designating the period after an empire
- postliterate — of or relating to a (hypothetical) time or stage in society when literacy is no longer necessary or valued
- postmedieval — occurring or existing after the Middle Ages, of or related to the period after the Middle Ages
- postneonatal — of, relating to, or occurring in the (four week) period after birth
- powder flask — a small flask of gunpowder formerly carried by soldiers and hunters.
- prairie soil — a soil that forms in subhumid, temperate regions with tall grass as native vegetation.
- prayer shawl — a tallith.