12-letter words containing o, s, p, r, e
- peristomatic — surrounding a leaf's stoma or stomata
- peritrichous — (of bacteria) having a uniform distribution of flagella over the body surface.
- permissioned — authorization granted to do something; formal consent: to ask permission to leave the room.
- perniciously — causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
- perquisition — an intensive and meticulous examination, pursuit, or hunt for something
- perseverator — a person who perseverates
- persian knot — a hand-tied knot, used in rug weaving, in which the ends of yarn looped around a warp thread appear at each of the interstices between adjacent threads and produce a compact and relatively even pile effect.
- personalised — to have marked with one's initials, name, or monogram: to personalize stationery.
- personalized — customized
- personalness — of, relating to, or coming as from a particular person; individual; private: a personal opinion.
- personifying — to attribute human nature or character to (an inanimate object or an abstraction), as in speech or writing.
- perspiration — a salty, watery fluid secreted by the sweat glands of the skin, especially when very warm as a result of strenuous exertion; sweat.
- perspiratory — of, relating to, or stimulating perspiration.
- pertinacious — holding tenaciously to a purpose, course of action, or opinion; resolute.
- pervicacious — extremely willful; obstinate; stubborn.
- pest control — rats, insects: extermination
- pester power — the ability possessed by a child to nag a parent relentlessly until the parent succumbs and agrees to the child's request
- pet passport — a document that officially records information related to a specific animal, as part of a scheme that allows animals to travel between member countries without undergoing quarantine
- petaliferous — bearing or having petals.
- petrobrusian — a member of a 12th-century sect in S France that rejected the Mass, infant baptism, prayers for the dead, sacerdotalism, the veneration of the cross, and the building of churches.
- petrochemist — someone who studies petrochemistry or works in the petrochemical industry
- petrodollars — Petrodollars are a unit of money used to calculate how much a country has earned by exporting petroleum or natural gas.
- petrogenesis — the branch of petrology dealing with the origin and formation of rocks.
- petrophysics — the analysis of the constitution and characteristics of rocks
- petrozavodsk — a city in NW Russia, capital of the Karelian Autonomous Republic, on Lake Onega: developed around ironworks established by Peter the Great in 1703; university (1940). Pop: 265 000 (2005 est)
- phenocrystic — relating to a phenocryst
- phosphoresce — to be luminous without sensible heat, as phosphorus.
- phosphoreted — phosphureted.
- phosphoruses — Phosphor.
- phosphureted — combined with phosphorus, especially in its lowest valence state.
- photo spread — a picture spread. See under spread (def 33).
- 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.
- phrasemonger — phrasemaker (def 2).
- phraseograph — a phrase for which there is a phraseogram.
- phrenologist — a psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.
- phrontistery — a place or establishment for thinking, studying, or learning
- picture show — motion picture.
- 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.
- plasterboard — a material used for insulating or covering walls, or as a lath, consisting of paper-covered sheets of gypsum and felt.
- plecopterous — relating to the order Plecoptera or stoneflies
- 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.
- pleomorphous — characterized by pleomorphism
- pleurogenous — Anatomy. pertaining to or originating from the pleura.
- plough horse — a horse used for pulling a plough
- plumbiferous — yielding or containing lead.
- poetastering — the profession of being a poetaster
- point source — a source of radiation sufficiently distant compared to its length and width that it can be considered as a point.
- point spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.
- point-spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.