Glossary
Terms starting with P
374 definitions · page 2 of 7.
- PASS STATION
- The area where food is passed from the back of the restaurant to the front of the restaurant. Often it includes a hot hold on one shelf and a cold hold on another shelf. This station provides a place for the kitchen staff to set prepared food until the wait…
- Pass-along rate
- the percentage of people who pass on a message or file.
- passacaglia
- Baroque technique in which a brief melodic idea repeats over and over while the other voices are varied freely.
- passage work
- Descriptive term for figuration consisting of rapid runs and scales, common in keyboard music.
- Passata
- Passata is made from ripe tomatoes that have been puréed and sieved to remove the skin and seeds. It's sold in jars and can be smooth or chunky depending on the level of sieving. It's useful to keep in the cupboard to use in soups, sauces, pasta dishes…
- Passive Game
- A lottery game similar to a raffle where a player buys a ticket with preprinted numbers. The lottery later randomly draws numbers that are compared to the players' tickets to determine the winners.
- PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY
- Use of the sun to help meet a building¹s energy needs by means of architectural design (such as arrangement of windows) and materials (such as floors that store heat, or other thermal mass).
- PASSIVE SOLAR SYSTEM
- A solar heating or cooling system that uses no external mechanical power to move the collected solar heat.
- Pasta
- Made from a dough of durum-wheat semolina, water and sometimes eggs, which is kneaded and cut into a wide variety of shapes. There are basically two types - fresh or dried. Fresh pasta is often made with eggs, giving it a richer flavour and texture than the…
- patch chords
- On early synthesizers, the cables required to connect various components.
- Pâté
- A rich paste made of liver, pork, game or other meats, cooked in a terrine or wrapped in pastry and cooked. Fish can also be used as the basis of a pâté, combined with soft cheese, mayonnaise or soured cream. Pâté can be smooth or coarse and is delicious…
- Patent
- A patent is a grant of a property right issued by the government's patent office to the inventor or creator of a new invention. The life term of a patent is twenty years from the date on which the patent application is filed. Patents may be renewed for…
- patera
- an irregular, saucer-shaped volcanic structure
- path diagram
- A modified pedigree showing only the direct line of descent from common ancestors.
- pathogen
- An organism that causes disease in another organism.
- patroclinous inheritance
- Inheritance in which all offspring have the nucleus-based phenotype of the father.
- pattern formation
- The developmental processes by which the complex shape and structure of higher organisms occurs.
- Patty pan
- A small, round flattish summer squash, yellow, green or white in colour with pretty fluted edges. It's sometimes known as a custard squash or custard marrow and can be cooked in a similar way to courgettes. They don't need to be peeled, just washed clean and…
- Patty tin
- A baking tin with six, nine or 12 shallow round compartments used for making individual pies and tarts.
- Pauli Exclusion Principle
- The principle that no two particles in the same quantum state may exist in the same place at the same time. Particles that obey this principle are called fermions; particles that do not are called bosons.
- Pavé Setting
- In pavé setting, gemstones are fit into small holes and set almost level with the surface of the ring. They are set in rows, with no metal between them, giving the appearance of the gemstones having been paved (Pavé is French for paved), like a cobblestone…
- Pay per click (PPC)
- online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying click-throughs.
- Pay per click search engine (PPCSE)
- search engine where results are ranked according to the bid amount and advertisers are charged only when a searcher clicks on the search listing.
- Pay per lead (PPL)
- online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely based on qualifying leads.
- Pay per sale (PPS)
- online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely based on qualifying sales.
- PAY TELEPHONE SERVICE COMPANY
- Any telephone company which provides pay telephone service as defined in Section 364.3375, F.S.
- PAY-AT-THE-PUMP
- A system proposed in the 1990s in which auto insurance premiums would be paid to state governments through a per-gallon surcharge on gasoline.
- PBR - PERFORMANCE-BASED REGULATION
- rate-setting mechanism which attempts to link rewards (generally profits) to desired results or targets. PBR sets rates, or components of rates,for a period of time based on external indices rather than a utility's cost-of-service. Other definitions include…
- PCBs (POLYCHLORONATED BIPHENYLS)
- A group of organic compounds used in the manufacture of plastics and formerly used as a coolant in electric transformers. In the environment, PCBs are highly toxic to aquatic life. They persist in the environment for long periods of time and are biologically…
- PCM
- Pulse-code modulation. A more sophisticated method of sampling introduced into the consumer synthesizer market in the late 1980s.
- PEAK LOAD
- The highest electrical demand within a particular period of time. Daily electric peaks on weekdays occur in late afternoon and early evening. Annual peaks occur on hot summer days.
- PEAK LOAD OR PEAK DEMAND
- The electric load that corresponds to a maximum level of electric demand in a specified time period.
- PEAK LOAD POWER PLANT
- A power generating station that is normally used to produce extra electricity during peak load times.
- Peak Search
- Allows the widest dynamic range possible from music recorded on CDs. This feature scans the disc for the highest peak to optimize the recording level on a cassette deck, before recording begins.
- PEAKER
- A nickname for a power generating station that is normally used to produce extra electricity during peak load times.
- Peaking Capacity
- The capacity of generating equipment intended for operation during the hours of highest daily, weekly or seasonal loads.
- PEAKING UNIT
- A power generator used by a utility to produce extra electricity during peak load times.
- Peanut
- Also known as a groundnut or monkey nut. This edible nut is the seed of a member of the pea family, so is not a true nut. The pods mature underground and each contain two to four seeds. Peanuts can be roasted, salted and eaten whole or used in cooked dishes…
- peasant top
- Romantic style often characterized with a low neckline, ruffles, or free flowing material.
- PEAT
- A heterogeneous mixture of partly decomposed organic matter that has accumulated in a water saturated environment over a very long period of time. Peat geologically is considered a very young form of coal and has a heating value of 6,600 Btu/pound in situ…
- Pecan
- Also known as a hickory nut, the pecan is related to the walnut and grown mainly in North America. It’s a delicious nut with a toffee-like taste that’s perfect for just eating as it is. In cooking it’s probably best known as the basis for pecan pie, but it…
- Pectin
- A natural gelling agent found in ripe fruit. Pectin is an important ingredient in making jams and jellies. The levels of pectin vary from fruit to fruit. Some fruits, such as citrus fruit, blackberries, apples and redcurrants have high pectin levels. Others…
- pedal board
- An organ's foot-operated keyboard.
- pedal point
- Long-held tones, usually in the bass of a polyphonic passage.
- pedigree
- A family tree drawn with standard genetic symbols, showing inheritance patterns for specific phenotypic characters. A representation of the ancestry of an individual or family; a family tree.
- peek-a-boo
- Any part of the garment which has been cut out to reveal skin.
- Peel
- A long-handled, shovel like implement used by bakers in moving bread, pizza, etc. , about an oven.
- Peer-to-Peer network
- A peer-to-peer network is a collection of computers that can communicate and share information, but that don't have any kind of hierarchical structure. This is the opposite of the client/server model.
- Pendant
- A pendant is an ornament suspended from a single chain.
- penetrance
- The proportion of individuals with a specific genotype who manifest that genotype at the phenotype level.
- Penne
- Ridged pasta tubes shaped like quills and cut at a diagonal. Penne is a good pasta to serve with fairly thick creamy or tomato-based sauces as its shape holds the sauce well. It’s also good for using in pasta bakes. Rigatoni makes a suitable substitute.
- PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
- An independent federal government agency that administers the Pension Plan Termination Insurance program to ensure that vested benefits of employees whose pension plans are being terminated are paid when they come due. Only defined benefit plans are covered…
- PENSIONS
- Programs to provide employees with retirement income after they meet minimum age and service requirements. Life insurers hold some of these funds. Since the 1970s responsibility for funding retirement has increasingly shifted from employers (defined benefit…
- pentatonic scale
- A five-note scale found in numerous non-Western musics and adopted as an exotic element by many twentieth-century Western composers.
- penumbra
- 1. the region of a shadow from which part of the light source remains visible2. the lighter region of a sunspot surrounding its dark center (umbra)
- penumbral eclipse
- an event that occurs when the moon passes into the outer ring of Earth's shadow (penumbra), causing a slight shading in the moon's appearance
- peptide bond
- A bond joining two amino acids.
- peptidyl transferase
- The enzymatic centre in the ribosome responsible for peptide bond formation during translation.
- PERCEIVED VALUE
- A fair price as determined by the customers, based on a mixture of what they received in the way of products, services, and environment and what they paid for that overall feeling. If the customer is satisfied with the overall experience, then the perceived…
- percussion
- Instruments, either tuned or untuned, that produce sounds by being struck, rattled, or scraped. Common percussion include drums, cymbals, and bells.