12-letter words containing p, a, s, o
- 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.
- poison gland — a gland in some fish and amphibians that secretes venomous material
- 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.
- polar lights — the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere or the aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere.
- polariscopic — relating to a polariscope
- pole compass — (formerly) a ship's compass elevated on a wooden pole to isolate it as much as possible from local magnetism.
- police state — a nation in which the police, especially a secret police, summarily suppresses any social, economic, or political act that conflicts with governmental policy.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- polish wheat — a wheat, Triticum polonicum, grown chiefly in S Europe, N Africa, and Turkestan.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- pollyannaish — an excessively or blindly optimistic person.
- pollyannaism — an excessively or blindly optimistic person.
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polygamistic — a person who practices or favors polygamy.
- polygraphist — an instrument for receiving and recording simultaneously tracings of variations in certain body activities.
- 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.
- polysaprobic — flourishing in a body of water having a heavy load of decomposed organic matter and almost no free oxygen
- polysepalous — having a calyx of separate or unconnected sepals.
- polysiloxane — a polymer composed of silicon and oxygen atoms
- polysyllabic — consisting of several, especially four or more, syllables, as a word.
- polysyllable — a polysyllabic word.
- polysynaptic — having or involving more than one synapse.
- pomona glass — an American art glass having one of its surfaces stained a pale amber color and the other surface etched.
- pons varolii — pons (def 1).
- ponta grossa — a city in S Brazil.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- 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.
- porcellanise — to bake into porcelain
- porismatical — porismatic
- pork sausage — a sausage made with pork
- port angeles — a city in NW Washington, on the Juan de Fuca Strait.
- port de bras — (used with a singular verb) the technique of moving the arms properly.
- port jackson — an inlet of the Pacific in SE Australia: the harbor of Sydney.
- positionally — in terms of position, from a positional point of view
- positive law — customary law or law enacted by governmental authority (as distinguished from natural law).
- possessional — of, relating to, or characterized by possession
- post captain — (formerly) a naval officer holding a commission as a captain, as distinct from an officer with the courtesy title of captain
- post-fascist — of or relating to various right-wing political parties in Europe which espouse a modified form of fascism and which take part in constitutional politics
- post-glacial — after a given glacial epoch, especially the Pleistocene.
- post-harvest — Also, harvesting. the gathering of crops.
- post-nuclear — pertaining to or involving atomic weapons: nuclear war.
- post-primary — first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal: his primary goals in life.
- post-weaning — to accustom (a child or young animal) to food other than its mother's milk; cause to lose the need to suckle or turn to the mother for food.
- postabortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
- postaccident — occurring after an accident
- postage paid — stamped ready for mailing