12-letter words containing s, p, t
- 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.
- plastic wrap — a very thin, transparent sheet of plastic, usually packaged in rolls and often having the ability to cling to other substances, used especially to wrap and store food and for microwave cooking.
- plastination — a technique for embalming bodies by impregnating whole organs with silicon polymers
- plastocyanin — a blue protein found in green plants and in some bacteria
- platanaceous — relating to the family Platanaceae
- plattdeutsch — the Low German vernacular dialects spoken in northern Germany.
- plausibility — having an appearance of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible; believable: a plausible excuse; a plausible plot.
- 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
- plecopterous — relating to the order Plecoptera or stoneflies
- pleiotropism — the condition of a gene affecting more than one characteristic of the phenotype
- plotlessness — the state of being plotless
- plug casting — bait casting in which a plug is used as the lure.
- 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.
- poetastering — the profession of being a poetaster
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- pogson ratio — the brightness ratio of two celestial objects that differ by one magnitude. On the Pogson scale a difference of 5 magnitudes is defined as a difference of 100 in the intensities of two stars; therefore a difference of 1 magnitude is equal to the fifth root of 100, i.e. 2.512
- point source — a source of radiation sufficiently distant compared to its length and width that it can be considered as a point.
- 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 system — Printing. a system for grading the sizes of type bodies, leads, etc., that employs the point as a unit of measurement. Compare point (def 48a).
- 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.
- polar lights — the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere or the aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere.
- 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
- polish wheat — a wheat, Triticum polonicum, grown chiefly in S Europe, N Africa, and Turkestan.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- pollutedness — the state of being polluted
- 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.
- polyglottous — characterized by being multilingual
- polygraphist — an instrument for receiving and recording simultaneously tracings of variations in certain body activities.
- polyhistoric — relating to a polyhistor
- polymyositis — a disorder characterized by the inflammation of multiple muscles
- polyneuritis — inflammation of several nerves at the same time; multiple neuritis.
- polyoestrous — polyestrous.
- polypetalous — having a corolla of separate petals.
- polystichous — arranged in rows or series.
- polysynaptic — having or involving more than one synapse.
- polysyndeton — the use of a number of conjunctions in close succession.
- 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.
- ponta grossa — a city in S Brazil.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- poodle skirt — 1950s-style woman's circular skirt