12-letter words starting with p
- pauciloquent — using few words in speech or conversation
- paul-boncour — Joseph [zhaw-zef] /ʒɔˈzɛf/ (Show IPA), 1873–1972, French lawyer and statesman: premier 1932–33.
- pause button — a button on a video or music player which can be pressed to temporarily stop the playing of the recording
- pave the way — be a pioneer
- paving stone — slab used to lay a path
- pax vobiscum — peace be with you
- pay court to — to court, as for favor or love
- pay envelope — an envelope containing a paycheck or wages.
- pay increase — a rise in pay or salary
- pay-per-view — a system requiring that a subscriber pay for each program viewed: championship games seen only on pay-per-view.
- payback time — Payback time is when someone has to take the consequences of what they have done in the past. You can use this expression to talk about good or bad consequences.
- paying guest — lodger
- payment bond — See under contract bond.
- payment card — A payment card is a plastic card which you use like a credit card, but which takes the money directly from your bank account.
- payment date — the date on which a payment (of a debt, bill, etc) is used to be paid
- payout ratio — the ratio between dividends paid out and earnings per share of common stock within a time period.
- peabody bird — the white-throated sparrow.
- peace accord — an official agreement to come to peace or end conflict
- peace treaty — an agreement to come to peace and end conflict (between governments, countries, etc)
- peace-loving — If you describe someone as peace-loving, you mean that they try to avoid quarrelling or fighting with other people.
- peacefulness — characterized by peace; free from war, strife, commotion, violence, or disorder: a peaceful reign; a peaceful demonstration.
- peacekeeping — the maintenance of international peace and security by the deployment of military forces in a particular area: the United Nations' efforts toward peacekeeping.
- peach brandy — brandy distilled from the fermented juice of peaches.
- peacock blue — a lustrous greenish blue, as of certain peacock feathers.
- peacock worm — feather-duster worm.
- peak traffic — traffic at the time it is most busy
- pearl barley — barley milled into small, round grains, used in cooking, especially in soups.
- pearl button — a button (as for fastening a shirt, blouse, etc) made of pearl or mother-of-pearl
- pearl diving — the act of diving for the precious gems pearls
- pearl harbor — a harbor near Honolulu, on S Oahu, in Hawaii: surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base and other military installations December 7, 1941.
- pearl hominy — whole or ground hulled corn from which the bran and germ have been removed by bleaching the whole kernels in a lye bath (lye hominy) or by crushing and sifting (pearl hominy)
- pearl millet — a tall grass, Pennisetum americanum (or P. glaucum), cultivated in Africa, Asia, and the southern U.S. for its edible seeds and as a forage plant.
- 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.
- pearl primus — Pearl, 1919–1994, U.S. dancer, born in Trinidad.
- pearlescence — a pearly lustre or sheen
- pearly gates — the entrance to heaven.
- pearly queen — the female London costermonger whose ceremonial clothes display the most lavish collection of pearl buttons
- pearly white — white and lustrous as a pearl.
- peau de soie — a soft, satin-weave cloth of silk or rayon, grainy and having a dull luster, used to make dresses, coats, trimmings, etc.
- pebble beach — a beach covered with pebbles or stones rather than sand
- pebbledashed — covered with a finish for external walls consisting of small stones embedded in plaster
- peccadilloes — a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault.
- pecksniffery — hypocritically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principles.
- pecksniffian — hypocritically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principles.
- 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.
- pectoriloquy — vocalization through the chest wall, indicating a cavity or consolidation of the lung
- pedantically — ostentatious in one's learning.
- 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.