12-letter words containing m, i, s, o
- plastic bomb — a bomb made of plastic explosive.
- plastic foam — expanded plastic.
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- pleiotropism — the condition of a gene affecting more than one characteristic of the phenotype
- pleomorphism — existence of an organism in two or more distinct forms during the life cycle; polymorphism.
- plumbaginous — containing graphite.
- plumbiferous — yielding or containing lead.
- 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
- point system — Printing. a system for grading the sizes of type bodies, leads, etc., that employs the point as a unit of measurement. Compare point (def 48a).
- poison sumac — a shrub or small tree, Rhus vernix (or Toxicodendron vernix), of swampy areas of the eastern U.S., having pinnate leaves and causing severe dermatitis when touched by persons sensitive to it.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- pollyannaism — an excessively or blindly optimistic person.
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polygamistic — a person who practices or favors polygamy.
- polymorphism — the state or condition of being polymorphous.
- polymyositis — a disorder characterized by the inflammation of multiple muscles
- polyomavirus — any of a genus (Polyomavirus) of papovaviruses that naturally infect wild and laboratory mice, and that cause tumors when injected into newborn mice
- polyribosome — polysome.
- 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.
- porismatical — porismatic
- post-fordism — the idea that modern industrial production has moved away from mass production in huge factories, as pioneered by Henry Ford, towards specialized markets based on small flexible manufacturing units
- post-primary — first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal: his primary goals in life.
- postfeminist — relating to or occurring in the period after the feminist movement of the 1970s.
- postimperial — of, relating to, or designating the period after an empire
- postischemic — occurring after or due to ischaemia
- postliminary — of or relating to postliminy
- postliminium — postliminy.
- postliminous — occurring after; subsequent
- postmedieval — occurring or existing after the Middle Ages, of or related to the period after the Middle Ages
- postmeridian — of or relating to the afternoon.
- postmidnight — the middle of the night; twelve o'clock at night.
- postmistress — a woman in charge of a post office.
- postorgasmic — of or relating to the period after an orgasm
- postromantic — of or relating to the period after Romanticism
- postsphygmic — of or relating to the pulse.
- poststimulus — of, relating to, or occurring in the period following the administering of a stimulus
- potamologist — a specialist in potamology
- praseodymium — a rare-earth, metallic, trivalent element, named from its green salts. Symbol: Pr; atomic weight: 140.91; atomic number: 59; specific gravity: 6.77 at 20°C.
- preadmission — (in a reciprocating engine) admission of steam or the like to the head of the cylinder near the end of the stroke, as to cushion the force of the stroke or to allow full pressure at the beginning of the return stroke.
- precisionism — (sometimes initial capital letter) a style of painting developed to its fullest in the U.S. in the 1920s, associated especially with Charles Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Charles Sheeler, and characterized by clinically precise, simple, and clean-edged rendering of architectural, industrial, or urban scenes usually devoid of human activity or presence.
- primulaceous — belonging to the plant family Primulaceae.
- pro-feminism — the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
- problematics — problems or difficulties in a particular situation or subject
- progymnasium — (in Europe) a school that prepares pupils for secondary education (the gymnasium)
- promissorily — (in law) in a promissory way
- promuscidate — shaped like a proboscis
- propagandism — the art, system, or use of propaganda
- propheticism — the actions or characteristics of a prophet
- prosyllogism — a syllogism the conclusion of which is used as a premise of another syllogism; any of the syllogisms included in a polysyllogism except the last.
- protoplasmic — Biology. (no longer in technical use) the colloidal and liquid substance of which cells are formed, excluding horny, chitinous, and other structural material; the cytoplasm and nucleus.