12-letter words containing a, t, o, p, r
- pig-ignorant — extremely ignorant or unknowledgeable
- pilot ladder — Jacob's ladder (def 2a).
- pirate coast — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah (joined 1972), and Fujairah. About 32,300 sq. mi. (83,657 sq. km). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Abbreviation: U.A.E.
- pirate radio — radio broadcasting illegally
- placentiform — shaped like a placenta, with a flat rounded form
- plagiotropic — growing more or less divergent from the vertical.
- plasma torch — an electrical device for converting a gas into a plasma, used for melting metal
- plasterboard — a material used for insulating or covering walls, or as a lath, consisting of paper-covered sheets of gypsum and felt.
- plat du jour — the special or featured dish of the day on a restaurant menu.
- plate armour — armour made of thin metal plates, which superseded mail during the 14th century
- platform bed — a bed, originating in Scandinavia in the 1930s, consisting of a simple shallow box for holding a mattress situated on a slightly recessed pedestal.
- platform car — a railroad freight car having no enclosing sides or top; a flatcar.
- play through — to pass another foursome or group with their permission, while playing a round of golf
- pneumothorax — the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity.
- poetastering — the profession of being a poetaster
- pogson ratio — the brightness ratio of two celestial objects that differ by one magnitude. On the Pogson scale a difference of 5 magnitudes is defined as a difference of 100 in the intensities of two stars; therefore a difference of 1 magnitude is equal to the fifth root of 100, i.e. 2.512
- point charge — an electric charge considered to exist at a single point, and thus having neither area nor volume.
- point spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.
- point-spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.
- pointed arch — an arch having a pointed apex.
- polar lights — the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere or the aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere.
- polar vortex — a whirling mass of very cold air that sits over the North or South Pole: A displaced polar vortex is causing Arctic temperatures across the United States.
- polarization — a sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions.
- pole vaulter — A pole vaulter is an athlete who performs the pole vault.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- poll watcher — a representative of a political party or of an organization running a candidate who is assigned to the polls on an election day to watch for violations of the laws that regulate voting, campaigning, etc.
- polygraphist — an instrument for receiving and recording simultaneously tracings of variations in certain body activities.
- polyurethane — a thermoplastic polymer containing the group NHCOO: used for padding and insulation in furniture, clothing, and packaging, and in the manufacture of resins for adhesives, elastomers, and fillers.
- ponta grossa — a city in S Brazil.
- pontificator — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- popular vote — the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the electoral college. Compare electoral vote.
- porcelainite — Mineralogy. mullite.
- porcellanite — hard and dense rock resembling unglazed porcelain
- porismatical — porismatic
- port alberni — a port in SW British Columbia, in SW Canada, on the E central part of Vancouver Island, on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.
- port angeles — a city in NW Washington, on the Juan de Fuca Strait.
- port captain — an official in charge of the harbor activities of a seaport.
- port de bras — (used with a singular verb) the technique of moving the arms properly.
- port jackson — an inlet of the Pacific in SE Australia: the harbor of Sydney.
- port of call — a port visited briefly by a ship, usually to take on or discharge passengers and cargo or to undergo repairs.
- portal frame — a frame, usually of steel, consisting of two uprights and a cross beam at the top: the simplest structural unit in a framed building or a doorway
- porto alegre — a state in S Brazil. 107,923 sq. mi. (279,520 sq. km). Capital: Pôrto Alegre.
- porto amelia — former name of Pemba (def 2).
- post-harvest — Also, harvesting. the gathering of crops.
- post-nuclear — pertaining to or involving atomic weapons: nuclear war.
- post-primary — first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal: his primary goals in life.
- postabortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
- postal meter — a postal franking machine
- postal order — money order.
- postbrachial — belonging to the arm, foreleg, wing, pectoral fin, or other forelimb of a vertebrate.