12-letter words starting with p
- pasqueflower — an Old World plant, Anemone pulsatilla, of the buttercup family, having purple, crocuslike flowers blooming about Easter.
- pass pattern — a planned course for a receiver who is the target of a forward pass.
- pass the hat — a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, especially for wear outdoors.
- pass through — an act of passing.
- pass-through — a windowlike opening, as one for passing food or dishes between a kitchen and a dining area.
- passage hawk — a young hawk during its first migration.
- passage work — writing that is often extraneous to the thematic material of a work and is typically of a virtuosic or decorative character: passagework consisting of scales, arpeggios, trills, and double octaves.
- passing bell — a bell tolled to announce a death or funeral.
- passing lane — a highway lane in which a driver may pass other vehicles legally.
- passing note — a note that is foreign to a harmony and is introduced between two successive chord tones in order to produce a melodic transition.
- passing shot — a shot played to one side of and beyond the reach of an opponent coming to or stationed at the net.
- passion play — a dramatic representation of the passion of Christ, as that given every ten years at the Bavarian village of Oberammergau.
- passion week — the week preceding Easter; Holy Week.
- passionately — having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
- passionfruit — any edible fruit of a passionflower, as the maypop.
- passive noun — a noun whose referent is the recipient of an action, as trainee, multiplicand.
- past perfect — pluperfect.
- pasteurising — to expose (a food, as milk, cheese, yogurt, beer, or wine) to an elevated temperature for a period of time sufficient to destroy certain microorganisms, as those that can produce disease or cause spoilage or undesirable fermentation of food, without radically altering taste or quality.
- pastoralness — the quality or state of being pastoral or rural
- pastry board — a flat board on which pastry is rolled
- pastry brush — a small, flat brush for coating pastry with butter, egg, etc.
- pastry cream — a creamy custard, often flavoured, used as a filling for éclairs, flans, etc
- pasture land — grassland used for grazing
- pasture rose — a bristly-stemmed rose, Rosa carolina, of the eastern U.S., having slender, straight thorns and large, solitary, rose-pink flowers.
- pastures new — If someone leaves for greener pastures, or in British English pastures new, they leave their job, their home, or the situation they are in for something they think will be much better.
- patch pocket — a pocket formed by sewing a piece of shaped material to the outside of a garment.
- patellectomy — the surgical removal of the patella
- patent agent — a person who draws up applications for patents
- patent cliff — a potential sharp drop in sales and revenue for a company when one of its patents expires: the looming patent cliffs faced by pharmaceutical firms.
- patent flour — a fine grade of flour, consisting chiefly of the inner part of the endosperm.
- patent right — the exclusive right granted by a patent, as on an invention.
- patent rolls — (in Britain) the register of patents issued
- patent still — a type of still in which the distillation is continuous
- pathbreaking — pertaining to blazing a trail or path.
- pathetically — causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable: a pathetic letter; a pathetic sight.
- pathlessness — the state of being pathless
- pathobiology — pathology with emphasis on the biological aspects of disease
- pathogeneses — the production and development of disease.
- pathogenesis — the production and development of disease.
- pathogenetic — the production and development of disease.
- pathological — of or relating to pathology.
- patriarchate — the office, dignity, jurisdiction, province, or residence of an ecclesiastical patriarch.
- patrilateral — related through the father.
- patrilineage — lineal descent traced through the male line.
- patristicism — the study or science of the Fathers
- patroclinous — inheritance in which the traits of the offspring are derived primarily from the paternal parent (opposed to matrocliny).
- patrol wagon — an enclosed truck or van used by the police to transport prisoners.
- patron saint — a saint regarded as the special guardian of a person, group, trade, country, etc.
- pattern book — collection of textile motifs or designs
- patternmaker — a person who makes patterns, as for clothing or metal castings.