12-letter words containing a, p, i, r, y
- perspicacity — keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
- perspiratory — of, relating to, or stimulating perspiration.
- persuasively — able, fitted, or intended to persuade: a very persuasive argument.
- philanthropy — altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement, usually manifested by donations of money, property, or work to needy persons, by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals, and by generosity to other socially useful purposes.
- phrygian cap — a soft, conical cap represented in ancient Greek art as part of Phrygian dress and associated, since the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with the liberty cap.
- phylacteries — Judaism. either of two small, black, leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses 4–9 of Deut. 6, 13–21 of Deut. 11, and 1–16 of Ex. 13: one is attached with straps to the left arm and the other to the forehead during weekday morning prayers by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men.
- physiography — the science of physical geography.
- physogastric — pertaining to the swollen, membranous abdomen of certain insects, especially termite and ant queens.
- piano player — pianist.
- plain turkey — a bustard
- play reading — the activity when a group of people read the parts of a play
- player piano — a piano that can play automatically when the keys are actuated electronically or by a pneumatic device controlled by a piano roll.
- playing card — one of the conventional set of 52 cards in four suits, as diamonds, hearts, spades, and clubs, used in playing various games of chance and skill.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- polyarchical — a form of government in which power is vested in three or more persons.
- polygraphist — an instrument for receiving and recording simultaneously tracings of variations in certain body activities.
- polyomavirus — any of a genus (Polyomavirus) of papovaviruses that naturally infect wild and laboratory mice, and that cause tumors when injected into newborn mice
- polysaprobic — flourishing in a body of water having a heavy load of decomposed organic matter and almost no free oxygen
- post-primary — first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal: his primary goals in life.
- postliminary — of or relating to postliminy
- practicality — of or relating to practice or action: practical mathematics.
- prairie lily — sand lily.
- praiseworthy — deserving of praise; laudable: a praiseworthy motive.
- praseodymium — a rare-earth, metallic, trivalent element, named from its green salts. Symbol: Pr; atomic weight: 140.91; atomic number: 59; specific gravity: 6.77 at 20°C.
- precariously — dependent on circumstances beyond one's control; uncertain; unstable; insecure: a precarious livelihood.
- precipitancy — the quality or state of being precipitant.
- prelatically — in the manner of a prelate
- prelingually — in a prelingual manner
- premaritally — in a premarital manner
- premaxillary — one of a pair of bones of the upper jaw of vertebrates, situated in front of and between the maxillary bones.
- prenominally — before a noun
- presbyacusis — an age-related, progressive loss of hearing in both ears
- presbyterial — of or relating to a presbytery.
- presbyterian — pertaining to or based on the principle of ecclesiastical government by presbyters or presbyteries.
- presentially — in a presential way
- previsionary — having foresight
- prickly heat — a cutaneous eruption accompanied by a prickling and itching sensation, due to an inflammation of the sweat glands.
- prickly pear — any of numerous cacti of the genus Opuntia, having flattened, usually spiny stem joints, yellow, orange, or reddish flowers, and ovoid, often edible fruit.
- primary beam — a beam of particles of one kind selected from the group of particles produced when a beam of particles from an accelerator (primary beam) strikes a target.
- primary care — medical care by a physician, or other health-care professional, who is the patient's first contact with the health-care system and who may recommend a specialist if necessary.
- primary cell — a cell designed to produce electric current through an electrochemical reaction that is not efficiently reversible, so that the cell when discharged cannot be efficiently recharged by an electric current.
- primary gain — the removal of emotional conflict or relief of anxiety that is the immediate benefit of a defense mechanism or neurotic symptom.
- primary root — the first root produced by a germinating seed, developing from the radicle of the embryo.
- primary type — a specimen used in the original description or illustration of a species.
- primary verb — one of the three verbs, be, do, and have, that can function both as a main verb and an auxiliary verb.
- primary wall — the wall of a plant cell that is formed first around the protoplast, composed of cellulose microfibrils aligned at all angles and held together by hydrogen bonds.
- primary wave — Seismology. P wave.
- primordially — constituting a beginning; giving origin to something derived or developed; original; elementary: primordial forms of life.
- prince royal — the eldest son of a king or queen.
- principality — a state ruled by a prince, usually a relatively small state or a state that falls within a larger state such as an empire.