12-letter words containing p, a, s, o, u
- pandanaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Pandanaceae, an Old World tropical family of monocotyledonous plants including the screw pines
- pantophagous — characterized by pantophagy
- papadopoulos — George, 1919–99, Greek military leader and dictator (1967–74).
- paragnathous — (of certain vertebrates) having the upper and lower jaws of equal length
- paranthropus — (sometimes initial capital letter) a member of the former genus Paranthropus.
- parish house — a building used by a church chiefly for administrative and social purposes.
- parlor house — (especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries) a brothel with a comfortable, often elaborately decorated parlor for the reception of clients.
- parsimonious — characterized by or showing parsimony; frugal or stingy.
- pasqueflower — an Old World plant, Anemone pulsatilla, of the buttercup family, having purple, crocuslike flowers blooming about Easter.
- pass through — an act of passing.
- pass-through — a windowlike opening, as one for passing food or dishes between a kitchen and a dining area.
- passionfruit — any edible fruit of a passionflower, as the maypop.
- passive noun — a noun whose referent is the recipient of an action, as trainee, multiplicand.
- pasture rose — a bristly-stemmed rose, Rosa carolina, of the eastern U.S., having slender, straight thorns and large, solitary, rose-pink flowers.
- patroclinous — inheritance in which the traits of the offspring are derived primarily from the paternal parent (opposed to matrocliny).
- pause button — a button on a video or music player which can be pressed to temporarily stop the playing of the recording
- pax vobiscum — peace be with you
- peau de soie — a soft, satin-weave cloth of silk or rayon, grainy and having a dull luster, used to make dresses, coats, trimmings, etc.
- percussional — of or relating to percussion
- percutaneous — administered, removed, or absorbed by way of the skin, as an injection, needle biopsy, or transdermal drug.
- periostracum — the external, chitinlike covering of the shell of certain mollusks that protects the limy portion from acids.
- pertinacious — holding tenaciously to a purpose, course of action, or opinion; resolute.
- pervicacious — extremely willful; obstinate; stubborn.
- 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.
- phosphaturia — the presence of an excessive quantity of phosphates in the urine.
- phytophagous — herbivorous.
- picornavirus — any of a group of small, RNA-containing viruses of the family Picornaviridae, infectious to humans and other animals, and including the poliovirus and the rhinoviruses that cause the common cold.
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- plumbaginous — containing graphite.
- plumulaceous — having the texture of down.
- pneumatocyst — the cavity of a pneumatophore.
- 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.
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polyomavirus — any of a genus (Polyomavirus) of papovaviruses that naturally infect wild and laboratory mice, and that cause tumors when injected into newborn mice
- polypetalous — having a corolla of separate petals.
- polysepalous — having a calyx of separate or unconnected sepals.
- popular song — a song that is written to have an immediate and wide appeal and is usually popular for only a short time, but that sometimes is of a sufficiently high quality to become part of the permanent repertoire of popular music and jazz. Compare standard (def 12).
- porcelainous — made of or resembling porcelain
- porcelaneous — a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.
- pork sausage — a sausage made with pork
- post-nuclear — pertaining to or involving atomic weapons: nuclear war.
- postal union — an international agreement on postal rates and services.
- postdiluvial — existing or occurring after the biblical Flood
- postdiluvian — existing or occurring after the Biblical Flood.
- postfracture — taking place after a fracture
- postgraduate — of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or consisting of post-graduates: a postgraduate seminar.
- postsurgical — pertaining to or involving surgery or surgeons.
- 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.