12-letter words containing m, a, l, p
- parma violet — a variety of the sweet violet, Viola odorata, that is the source of an essential oil used in perfumery.
- parochialism — a parochial character, spirit, or tendency; excessive narrowness of interests or view; provincialism.
- paroemiology — the study of proverbs
- party animal — person who frequents drinking parties
- paschal lamb — Jewish History. a lamb slaughtered and eaten on the eve of the first day of Passover. Ex. 12:3–11.
- patellectomy — the surgical removal of the patella
- pearl hominy — whole or ground hulled corn from which the bran and germ have been removed by bleaching the whole kernels in a lye bath (lye hominy) or by crushing and sifting (pearl hominy)
- pearl millet — a tall grass, Pennisetum americanum (or P. glaucum), cultivated in Africa, Asia, and the southern U.S. for its edible seeds and as a forage plant.
- pearl primus — Pearl, 1919–1994, U.S. dancer, born in Trinidad.
- pelecaniform — of, or having the nature of, an order (Pelecaniformes) of swimming birds having all four toes connected in a webbed foot, including pelicans and cormorants
- perambulator — baby carriage.
- perimetrical — the border or outer boundary of a two-dimensional figure.
- permaculture — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- permeability — the property or state of being permeable.
- perpetualism — a belief in the permanence of a given thing; the belief that a given thing (e.g. the world, a political system) will last forever
- persian lamb — the young lamb of the Karakul sheep.
- phaeomelanin — a variety of melanin that gives rise to a red-coloured pigment
- phantasmical — pertaining to or of the nature of a phantasm; unreal; illusory; spectral: phantasmal creatures of nightmare.
- phantom limb — a phenomenon characterized by the experience of pain, discomfort, or other sensation in the area of a missing limb or other body part, as a breast.
- pharmacolite — hydrous calcium arsenate, 2CaO⋅As 2 O 5 ⋅5H 2 O, formed by natural alteration of mineral deposits containing arsenopyrite and arsenical ores of cobalt and silver.
- pharmacology — the science dealing with the preparation, uses, and especially the effects of drugs.
- phenomenally — highly extraordinary or prodigious; exceptional: phenomenal speed.
- phentolamine — an alpha blocker, C 1 7 H 1 9 N 3 O, used to reduce hypertensive states caused by a catecholamine excess, as in the treatment of pheochromocytoma.
- philharmonic — fond of or devoted to music; music-loving: used especially in the name of certain musical societies that sponsor symphony orchestras (Philharmonic Societies) and hence applied to their concerts (philharmonic concerts)
- phlegmagogic — a medication that is intended to dislodge and evacuate mucus from the respiratory system
- phlox family — the plant family Polemoniaceae, characterized by herbaceous or sometimes shrubby plants having simple or compound leaves, flowers with a five-lobed corolla, and capsular fruit, and including gilia, Jacob's-ladder, moss pink, and phlox.
- phonemically — of or relating to phonemes: a phonemic system.
- photorealism — a style of painting flourishing in the 1970s, especially in the U.S., England, and France, and depicting commonplace scenes or ordinary people, with a meticulously detailed realism, flat images, and barely discernible brushwork that suggests and often is based on or incorporates an actual photograph.
- phragmoplast — the cytoplasmic structure that forms at the equator of the spindle after the chromosomes have divided during the anaphase of plant mitosis, and that initiates cell division.
- phytoclimate — the climate of a small area, as of confined spaces such as caves or houses (cryptoclimate) of plant communities, wooded areas, etc. (phytoclimate) or of urban communities, which may be different from that in the general region.
- pictorialism — Fine Arts. the creation or use of pictures or visual images, especially of recognizable or realistic representations.
- piltdown man — a hypothetical early modern human, assigned to the genus Eoanthropus, whose existence was inferred from skull fragments that were allegedly found at Piltdown, England, in 1912 but were exposed as fraudulent through chemical analysis in 1953.
- pimelic acid — a crystalline compound, C 7 H 1 2 O 4 , soluble in alcohol and ether: used in polymers and as a plasticizer.
- pinealectomy — a surgical operation to remove the pineal gland
- placentiform — shaped like a placenta, with a flat rounded form
- plagioclimax — the climax stage of a community, influenced by man or some other outside factor
- planetesimal — one of the small celestial bodies that, according to one theory (planetesimal hypothesis) were fused together to form the planets of the solar system.
- 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
- plastic bomb — a bomb made of plastic explosive.
- plastic foam — expanded plastic.
- plate armour — armour made of thin metal plates, which superseded mail during the 14th century
- 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.
- 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.
- plumbaginous — containing graphite.
- plumulaceous — having the texture of down.