12-letter words containing p, e, s, t, c
- percent sign — a symbol (%) for “percent”: a 10% drop in population.
- percutaneous — administered, removed, or absorbed by way of the skin, as an injection, needle biopsy, or transdermal drug.
- pericarditis — inflammation of the pericardium.
- period costs — Period costs are general costs that cannot be associated with a particular product, such as utilities or insurance.
- periodontics — the branch of dentistry dealing with the study and treatment of diseases of the periodontium.
- periostracum — the external, chitinlike covering of the shell of certain mollusks that protects the limy portion from acids.
- periphrastic — circumlocutory; roundabout.
- peristeronic — of, pertaining to, or resembling pigeons
- peristomatic — surrounding a leaf's stoma or stomata
- peristrephic — that turns around or revolves
- peritrichous — (of bacteria) having a uniform distribution of flagella over the body surface.
- perspectival — a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface. Compare aerial perspective, linear perspective.
- perspicacity — keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
- pertinacious — holding tenaciously to a purpose, course of action, or opinion; resolute.
- pest control — rats, insects: extermination
- pestological — relating to pestology
- pet scanning — the action or process of using a PET scanner to obtain an image.
- petrochemist — someone who studies petrochemistry or works in the petrochemical industry
- petrophysics — the analysis of the constitution and characteristics of rocks
- phagocytoses — phagocytize.
- phenocrystic — relating to a phenocryst
- phonesthemic — (of a speech sound) shared by a set of echoic or symbolic words, as the sn- of sneer, snarl, snatch, snide, snitch, snoop, etc.
- photocompose — to set (type) on a photocomposer.
- photoelastic — displaying photoelasticity; of or relating to photoelasticity
- phylacteries — Judaism. either of two small, black, leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses 4–9 of Deut. 6, 13–21 of Deut. 11, and 1–16 of Ex. 13: one is attached with straps to the left arm and the other to the forehead during weekday morning prayers by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men.
- picture desk — the department at a magazine or newspaper publisher, that deals with photographs for the paper or magazine
- picture disc — a phonograph record with a picture on the vinyl.
- picture sash — a large window sash, as for a picture window.
- picture show — motion picture.
- pigeon-chest — chicken breast.
- 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.
- pisciculture — the breeding, rearing, and transplantation of fish by artificial means.
- pitch chisel — a broad-edged chisel for cutting plane surfaces on stones.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- plaster cast — any piece of sculpture reproduced in plaster of Paris.
- 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
- plecopterous — relating to the order Plecoptera or stoneflies
- pneumatocyst — the cavity of a pneumatophore.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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