12-letter words containing l, a, p
- plant-cutter — any of several South American, passerine birds of the family Phytotomidae, superficially resembling grosbeaks but having serrated edges on the bill that aid in cutting leaves and other plant food.
- plasma torch — an electrical device for converting a gas into a plasma, used for melting metal
- 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.
- plasmosomata — a kind of nucleoli
- 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
- 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.
- plastination — a technique for embalming bodies by impregnating whole organs with silicon polymers
- plastocyanin — a blue protein found in green plants and in some bacteria
- plat du jour — the special or featured dish of the day on a restaurant menu.
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- plate armour — armour made of thin metal plates, which superseded mail during the 14th century
- plate girder — an iron or steel beam built up from plates and shapes welded or riveted together, usually including a plate or plates for a web, four angle irons forming two flanges, and a pair of plates to reinforce the flanges.
- plate warmer — a device for warming plates
- 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.
- platitudinal — platitudinous.
- platonically — of, relating to, or characteristic of Plato or his doctrines: the Platonic philosophy of ideal forms.
- plattdeutsch — the Low German vernacular dialects spoken in northern Germany.
- plausibility — having an appearance of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible; believable: a plausible excuse; a plausible plot.
- play chicken — to engage in a test of courage in which, typically, two vehicles are driven directly toward one another in order to see which driver will swerve away first
- play clothes — clothes that are suitable for playing in
- play it cool — If you play it cool, you deliberately behave in a calm, unemotional way because you do not want people to know you are enthusiastic or angry about something.
- play it cozy — to act cautiously so as to avoid risk
- play it safe — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- play reading — the activity when a group of people read the parts of a play
- play therapy — a form of psychotherapy used chiefly with children, in which patients act out situations in play that are expressive of their emotional problems, conflicts, etc.
- play through — to pass another foursome or group with their permission, while playing a round of golf
- play-by-play — pertaining to or being a detailed account of each incident or act of an event, as in sports: a play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game.
- 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.
- plea bargain — to engage in plea bargaining.
- plea-bargain — to engage in plea bargaining.
- plead guilty — defendant: declare guilt
- 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
- plenum cable — (hardware) Cable that can be (legally) installed in the plenum (the space between a ceiling and the floor above it). Such cable is (usually) teflon-coated so that it will not give off toxic fumes when burned. In some parts of the world such cable is required by law.
- plug casting — bait casting in which a plug is used as the lure.
- plumbaginous — containing graphite.
- 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.
- plunket baby — a baby brought up in infancy under the dietary recommendations of the Plunket Society
- pluriliteral — (in Hebrew grammar) containing more than three letters in the root
- plurilocular — possessing many cells