12-letter words containing p, r, a, e, c
- peacock worm — feather-duster worm.
- peak traffic — traffic at the time it is most busy
- pearlescence — a pearly lustre or sheen
- pectoral fin — (in fishes) either of a pair of fins usually situated behind the head, one on each side, and corresponding to the forelimbs of higher vertebrates.
- pedantocracy — rule by pedants; a system of government by pedants
- pediatrician — a physician who specializes in pediatrics.
- pedicellaria — one of the minute pincerlike structures common to starfish and sea urchins, used for cleaning and to capture tiny prey.
- pelecaniform — of, or having the nature of, an order (Pelecaniformes) of swimming birds having all four toes connected in a webbed foot, including pelicans and cormorants
- pencil cedar — the red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, or its wood.
- penny arcade — an amusement hall or area that contains coin-operated entertainment devices, originally operated for a penny a play.
- pentacrinoid — a larval crinoid resembling members of the genus Pentacrinus
- perceptional — the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
- perceptually — of, relating to, or involving perception.
- percussional — of or relating to percussion
- percutaneous — administered, removed, or absorbed by way of the skin, as an injection, needle biopsy, or transdermal drug.
- perfect game — a baseball game in which the same player pitches throughout the full game without allowing any player of the opposing team to reach first base by a base hit, base on balls, error, or any other means. Compare no-hitter.
- perfect ream — a standard quantity of paper, consisting of 20 quires or 500 sheets (formerly 480 sheets), or 516 sheets (printer's ream or perfect ream)
- perfect year — the lunisolar calendar used by Jews, as for determining religious holidays, that is reckoned from 3761 b.c. and was established by Hillel II in the 4th century a.d., the calendar year consisting of 353 days (defective year) 354 days (regular year) or 355 days (perfect year or abundant year) and containing 12 months: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul, with the 29-day intercalary month of Adar Sheni added after Adar seven times in every 19-year cycle in order to adjust the calendar to the solar cycle. The Jewish ecclesiastical year begins with Nisan and the civil year with Tishri.
- perfectation — the action or process of becoming or causing to become perfect or complete
- pericarditis — inflammation of the pericardium.
- perichaetial — denoting the leaves in mosses that surround the archegonia and, later, the base of the sporophyte
- perichaetium — a leafy cluster (bracts) around the base of the reproductive organs of some plants, predominantly mosses
- perimetrical — the border or outer boundary of a two-dimensional figure.
- periodic law — the law that the properties of the elements are periodic functions of their atomic numbers.
- periodically — recurring at intervals of time: periodic revivals of an interest in handicrafts.
- periostracum — the external, chitinlike covering of the shell of certain mollusks that protects the limy portion from acids.
- periphrastic — circumlocutory; roundabout.
- peristomatic — surrounding a leaf's stoma or stomata
- peritrichate — (of bacteria) having flagella on the entire surface.
- perivisceral — surrounding or situated about the viscera.
- permaculture — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- pernoctation — the act of staying all night in a place, esp for prayer or as a vigil
- perseverance — steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
- 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.
- pervicacious — extremely willful; obstinate; stubborn.
- petrifaction — the act or process of petrifying; the state of being petrified.
- petrifactive — having the ability to turn substances into stone
- phanerogamic — any of the Phanerogamia, a former primary division of plants comprising those having reproductive organs; a flowering plant or seed plant (opposed to cryptogam).
- pharmaceutic — pertaining to pharmacy or pharmacists.
- pharmacolite — hydrous calcium arsenate, 2CaO⋅As 2 O 5 ⋅5H 2 O, formed by natural alteration of mineral deposits containing arsenopyrite and arsenical ores of cobalt and silver.
- pharmacopeia — a book published usually under the jurisdiction of the government and containing a list of drugs, their formulas, methods for making medicinal preparations, requirements and tests for their strength and purity, and other related information.
- photonuclear — of, relating to, or caused by the collision of high-energy photons with the nucleus of an atom.
- 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.
- pi character — any special character, such as an accent or mathematical symbol, which is not normally obtained in a standard type fount
- picnic races — horse races for amateur riders held in rural areas
- picrocarmine — a red powder containing carmine and picric acid which is used in staining processes
- pictorialize — to make pictorial; illustrate or represent with or as if with pictures.
- picture card — face card