12-letter words containing c, i, s, p, e
- periostracum — the external, chitinlike covering of the shell of certain mollusks that protects the limy portion from acids.
- periphrastic — circumlocutory; roundabout.
- peristeronic — of, pertaining to, or resembling pigeons
- peristomatic — surrounding a leaf's stoma or stomata
- peristrephic — that turns around or revolves
- peritrichous — (of bacteria) having a uniform distribution of flagella over the body surface.
- perivisceral — surrounding or situated about the viscera.
- perniciously — causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
- perspectival — a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface. Compare aerial perspective, linear perspective.
- perspicacity — keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
- persulphuric — denoting a type of acid
- pertinacious — holding tenaciously to a purpose, course of action, or opinion; resolute.
- pervicacious — extremely willful; obstinate; stubborn.
- pestological — relating to pestology
- pet scanning — the action or process of using a PET scanner to obtain an image.
- petrochemist — someone who studies petrochemistry or works in the petrochemical industry
- petrophysics — the analysis of the constitution and characteristics of rocks
- phenocrystic — relating to a phenocryst
- phonesthemic — (of a speech sound) shared by a set of echoic or symbolic words, as the sn- of sneer, snarl, snatch, snide, snitch, snoop, etc.
- 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.
- physicalness — of or relating to the body: physical exercise.
- picnic races — horse races for amateur riders held in rural areas
- picture desk — the department at a magazine or newspaper publisher, that deals with photographs for the paper or magazine
- picture disc — a phonograph record with a picture on the vinyl.
- picture sash — a large window sash, as for a picture window.
- picture show — motion picture.
- piece of ass — a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
- piercing saw — a small, fine-gauge saw blade with uniformly spaced, angled teeth, inserted in a jeweler's saw frame and used to cut precious metal and such soft materials as ivory and shell.
- piercingness — the quality or condition of being piercing
- pigeon-chest — chicken breast.
- 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.
- pisciculture — the breeding, rearing, and transplantation of fish by artificial means.
- pitch chisel — a broad-edged chisel for cutting plane surfaces on stones.
- 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.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- pneumocystis — any protozoan of the genus Pneumocystis, esp P. carinii, which is a cause of pneumonia in people whose immune defences have been lowered by drugs or a disease
- pocket-sized — If you describe something as pocket-sized, you approve of it because it is small enough to fit in your pocket.
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- point source — a source of radiation sufficiently distant compared to its length and width that it can be considered as a point.
- 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.
- policeperson — a member of a police force.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- poliorcetics — the science of siegecraft
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polytheistic — pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to polytheism, the doctrine that there is more than one god or many gods: Science thrived in the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- ponzi scheme — a swindle in which a quick return, made up of money from new investors, on an initial investment lures the victim into much bigger risks.