12-letter words containing p, e, s, a
- picnic races — horse races for amateur riders held in rural areas
- picture sash — a large window sash, as for a picture window.
- piece of ass — a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
- piercing saw — a small, fine-gauge saw blade with uniformly spaced, angled teeth, inserted in a jeweler's saw frame and used to cut precious metal and such soft materials as ivory and shell.
- pig islander — a New Zealander
- 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.
- piss-elegant — displaying a contrived, often pretentious, sophistication, opulence, etc.
- plaid screen — [XEROX PARC] A "special effect" that occurs when certain kinds of memory smashes overwrite the control blocks or image memory of a bit-mapped display. The term "salt and pepper" may refer to a different pattern of similar origin. Though the term as coined at PARC refers to the result of an error, some of the X demos induce plaid-screen effects deliberately as a display hack.
- plain-spoken — candid; frank; blunt.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- plane strain — Plane strain is a two-dimensional state of strain in which all the shape changes of a material happen on a single plane.
- plane stress — Plane stress is a two-dimensional state of stress in which all stress is applied in a single plane.
- planetesimal — one of the small celestial bodies that, according to one theory (planetesimal hypothesis) were fused together to form the planets of the solar system.
- planlessness — the state or condition of being planless
- plasmasphere — a region of cool plasma surrounding the earth, extending 8000–25,000 miles (13,000–40,000 km) into space, and bounded by the plasmapause.
- plaster cast — any piece of sculpture reproduced in plaster of Paris.
- plasterboard — a material used for insulating or covering walls, or as a lath, consisting of paper-covered sheets of gypsum and felt.
- plasteriness — the state of being made of or resembling plaster
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- plattdeutsch — the Low German vernacular dialects spoken in northern Germany.
- play clothes — clothes that are suitable for playing in
- play it safe — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- pleasantness — pleasing, agreeable, or enjoyable; giving pleasure: pleasant news.
- pleased with — satisfied or content with
- pleiochasium — a flowering system in which several buds come out at the same time
- plumulaceous — having the texture of down.
- plunge basin — a cavity at the base of a falls or cataract, formed by the action of the falling water.
- pneumatocyst — the cavity of a pneumatophore.
- poetastering — the profession of being a poetaster
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- 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.
- 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
- polychaetous — of or relating to the genus Polychaeta
- polypetalous — having a corolla of separate petals.
- polysepalous — having a calyx of separate or unconnected sepals.
- polysiloxane — a polymer composed of silicon and oxygen atoms
- polysyllable — a polysyllabic word.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- 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
- 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.
- positive law — customary law or law enacted by governmental authority (as distinguished from natural law).