12-letter words containing c, a, t, s
- phagocytosis — Physiology. the ingestion of a smaller cell or cell fragment, a microorganism, or foreign particles by means of the local infolding of a cell's membrane and the protrusion of its cytoplasm around the fold until the material has been surrounded and engulfed by closure of the membrane and formation of a vacuole: characteristic of amebas and some types of white blood cells.
- phantasmatic — pertaining to or of the nature of a phantasm; unreal; illusory; spectral: phantasmal creatures of nightmare.
- phantasmical — pertaining to or of the nature of a phantasm; unreal; illusory; spectral: phantasmal creatures of nightmare.
- phonotactics — the patterns in which the phonemes of a language may combine to form sequences.
- phosphatidic — of or relating to a phosphatide
- photoelastic — displaying photoelasticity; of or relating to photoelasticity
- 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.
- physogastric — pertaining to the swollen, membranous abdomen of certain insects, especially termite and ant queens.
- pictorialism — Fine Arts. the creation or use of pictures or visual images, especially of recognizable or realistic representations.
- pictorialist — Fine Arts. the creation or use of pictures or visual images, especially of recognizable or realistic representations.
- picture sash — a large window sash, as for a picture window.
- 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.
- plagiaristic — an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author: It is said that he plagiarized Thoreau's plagiarism of a line written by Montaigne. Synonyms: appropriation, infringement, piracy, counterfeiting; theft, borrowing, cribbing, passing off.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- plasma torch — an electrical device for converting a gas into a plasma, used for melting metal
- plaster cast — any piece of sculpture reproduced in plaster of Paris.
- plastic arts — arts producing works or effects that are three-dimensional, as sculpture or ceramics
- plastic bomb — a bomb made of plastic explosive.
- plastic flow — deformation of a material that remains rigid under stresses of less than a certain intensity but that behaves under severer stresses approximately as a Newtonian fluid.
- plastic foam — expanded plastic.
- plastic wrap — a very thin, transparent sheet of plastic, usually packaged in rolls and often having the ability to cling to other substances, used especially to wrap and store food and for microwave cooking.
- plastocyanin — a blue protein found in green plants and in some bacteria
- 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
- plug casting — bait casting in which a plug is used as the lure.
- pneumatocyst — the cavity of a pneumatophore.
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- 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.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polygamistic — a person who practices or favors polygamy.
- polysynaptic — having or involving more than one synapse.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- porismatical — porismatic
- port jackson — an inlet of the Pacific in SE Australia: the harbor of Sydney.
- post captain — (formerly) a naval officer holding a commission as a captain, as distinct from an officer with the courtesy title of captain
- post-fascist — of or relating to various right-wing political parties in Europe which espouse a modified form of fascism and which take part in constitutional politics
- post-glacial — after a given glacial epoch, especially the Pleistocene.
- post-nuclear — pertaining to or involving atomic weapons: nuclear war.
- postaccident — occurring after an accident
- postbiblical — occurring after the events written about in the Bible, occurring after the Bible was written
- postbrachial — belonging to the arm, foreleg, wing, pectoral fin, or other forelimb of a vertebrate.
- postcardlike — (of a scene) resembling a postcard
- postcardware — Shareware that borders on freeware, in that the author requests only that satisfied users send a postcard of their home town or something. (This practice, silly as it might seem, serves to remind users that they are otherwise getting something for nothing, and may also be psychologically related to real estate "sales" in which $1 changes hands just to keep the transaction from being a gift.)
- postcolonial — of or relating to the period following a state of colonialism.
- postcoronary — of, relating to, or occurring after a heart attack
- postdoctoral — of or relating to study or professional work undertaken after the receipt of a doctorate: postdoctoral courses.
- postfracture — taking place after a fracture
- postorgasmic — of or relating to the period after an orgasm