12-letter words containing p, c, o, s
- pinchcommons — a person who is frugal with food
- 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.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- plasma torch — an electrical device for converting a gas into a plasma, used for melting metal
- plastic bomb — a bomb made of plastic explosive.
- plastic flow — deformation of a material that remains rigid under stresses of less than a certain intensity but that behaves under severer stresses approximately as a Newtonian fluid.
- plastic foam — expanded plastic.
- plastocyanin — a blue protein found in green plants and in some bacteria
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- play clothes — clothes that are suitable for playing in
- plecopterous — relating to the order Plecoptera or stoneflies
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- plumulaceous — having the texture of down.
- pneumatocyst — the cavity of a pneumatophore.
- pneumococcus — a bacterium, Diplococcus pneumoniae, causing lobar pneumonia and associated with certain other diseases, as pericarditis and meningitis.
- 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
- pocket mouse — any of numerous burrowing rodents, especially of the genus Perognathus, chiefly inhabiting arid regions of the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, having fur-lined cheek pouches and a long tail.
- pocket-sized — If you describe something as pocket-sized, you approve of it because it is small enough to fit in your pocket.
- podoconiosis — elephantiasis of the lower legs
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- point source — a source of radiation sufficiently distant compared to its length and width that it can be considered as a point.
- 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.
- 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.
- policeperson — a member of a police force.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- poliorcetics — the science of siegecraft
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polygamistic — a person who practices or favors polygamy.
- polyhistoric — relating to a polyhistor
- polysaprobic — flourishing in a body of water having a heavy load of decomposed organic matter and almost no free oxygen
- polystichous — arranged in rows or series.
- polysyllabic — consisting of several, especially four or more, syllables, as a word.
- polysynaptic — having or involving more than one synapse.
- polytheistic — pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to polytheism, the doctrine that there is more than one god or many gods: Science thrived in the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- 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.
- 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
- port chester — a city in SE New York, on Long Island Sound.
- port jackson — an inlet of the Pacific in SE Australia: the harbor of Sydney.
- posing pouch — a thong that emphasizes the genitals
- positivistic — the state or quality of being positive; definiteness; assurance.
- 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