12-letter words containing p, r, e, s, y
- liberty ship — a slow cargo ship built in large numbers for the U.S. merchant marine during World War II and having a capacity of about 11,000 deadweight tons.
- lycanthropes — Plural form of lycanthrope.
- massotherapy — treatment by massage.
- milk parsley — a wetland plant belonging to the family Apiaceae
- money spider — any of certain small shiny brownish spiders of the family Linyphiidae
- mycoparasite — a parasitic fungus whose host is another fungus.
- mycoproteins — Plural form of mycoprotein.
- myringoscope — an instrument for examining the eardrum
- mystery play — a medieval dramatic form based on a Biblical story, usually dealing with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
- northern spy — an American variety of red-striped apple that ripens in autumn or early winter.
- nosey parker — a persistently nosy, prying person; busybody.
- oppressively — burdensome, unjustly harsh, or tyrannical: an oppressive king; oppressive laws.
- oropharynxes — Plural form of oropharynx.
- oversimplify — make too simple
- oyster plant — salsify.
- pachydermous — any of the thick-skinned, nonruminant ungulates, as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.
- parsley fern — a small bright green tufted European fern, Cryptogramma crispa, that grows on acid scree and rock in uplands
- pastry cream — a creamy custard, often flavoured, used as a filling for éclairs, flans, etc
- pay increase — a rise in pay or salary
- pearl oyster — any of several marine bivalve mollusks of the family Pteriidae, some of which form pearls of great value, inhabiting waters of eastern Asia and off the coasts of Panama and Baja California.
- pearly gates — the entrance to heaven.
- pecksniffery — hypocritically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principles.
- penny shares — Penny shares are shares that are offered for sale at a low price.
- pepper spray — an aerosol spray that temporarily irritates the eyes and mucous membranes, used to stun and incapacitate a person or animal: police use of pepper spray to control rioters.
- pepys' diary — a diary kept by Samuel Pepys from January 1, 1660 to May 31, 1669, in which are recorded his impressions of contemporary London life, the life of the court, and the administration of the navy.
- perfidiously — deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful: a perfidious lover.
- permissively — habitually or characteristically accepting or tolerant of something, as social behavior or linguistic usage, that others might disapprove or forbid.
- perniciously — causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
- persistently — persisting, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement, etc.; persevering: a most annoyingly persistent young man.
- personifying — to attribute human nature or character to (an inanimate object or an abstraction), as in speech or writing.
- perspicacity — keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
- perspiratory — of, relating to, or stimulating perspiration.
- persuasively — able, fitted, or intended to persuade: a very persuasive argument.
- petrophysics — the analysis of the constitution and characteristics of rocks
- phased array — a radar antenna consisting of an array of dipoles that are excited in or out of phase with each other to control beam direction and radiation pattern without moving the antenna. Compare dipole (def 3).
- phenocrystic — relating to a phenocryst
- phrontistery — a place or establishment for thinking, studying, or learning
- 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.
- policymakers — a person responsible for making policy, especially in government.
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polydisperse — of or noting a sol that contains particles of different sizes.
- polyhedrosis — an often fatal disease of certain insect larvae or decapod crustaceans, caused by viruses containing DNA.
- polyisoprene — a thermoplastic polymer, (C 5 H 8) n , the major constituent of natural rubber and also obtained synthetically.
- polyneuritis — inflammation of several nerves at the same time; multiple neuritis.
- polyoestrous — polyestrous.
- polyribosome — polysome.
- pony express — a former system in the American West of carrying mail and express by relays of riders mounted on ponies, especially the system operating (1860–61) between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
- port moresby — an independent republic in the W Pacific Ocean, comprising the E part of New Guinea and numerous near-lying islands, including the Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the Trobriand Islands, and Bougainville and Buka in the Solomon Islands: a former Australian Trusteeship Territory; independent since 1975; member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 178,260 sq. mi. (461,693 sq. km). Capital: Port Moresby.
- portentously — of the nature of a portent; momentous.
- post-puberty — the period or age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction of offspring: in common law, presumed to be 14 years in the male and 12 years in the female.