Glossary
Terms starting with P
374 definitions · page 4 of 7.
- pieced
- A look created by sewing several pieces of material together to form the garment, much like a quilt.
- Pierced Earrings
- Earrings designed for wear in ears that are pierced. A wire or post is inserted through the ear lobe. Clip-Back Earrings are designed for use in ears that are not pierced.
- Pilchard
- An adult sardine, pilchards are an oil-rich fish. They're rarely available fresh and are mainly sold processed and canned. You're most likely to find them fresh during the summer months. If you do, cook them as you would sardines. They're particularly…
- pilus (plural pili)
- A conjugation tube; a hollow hair-like appendage of a donor Escherichia coli cell that acts as a bridge for transmission of donor DNA to the recipient cell during conjugation.
- pinafore
- Originally used to protect dresses from dirt, it was adopted as a fashion piece and worn as a sleeveless dress or over a blouse.
- Pine nut
- Also called pine kernels, pine nuts are the edible seed of about a dozen species of pine trees. The cones are sun-dried, then threshed to shake out the seeds, which are then hulled. Pine nuts are oily and rich in protein, so they tend to go rancid quite…
- Pink fir apple
- A knobbly, pinky beige-skinned, waxy potato, good for use in salads.
- Pion (x)
- The least massive type of meson, pions can have electric charges of +1, -1, or 0.
- PIPELINE
- A line of pipe with pumping machinery and apparatus (including valves, compressor units, metering stations, regulator stations, etc.) for conveying a liquid or gas.
- Piri-piri
- Piri-piri is an African word for chilli and also a hot chilli sauce used in Portuguese, African and Brazilian cookery. The Portuguese introduced chillies to their African colonies after discovering them in Brazil, so piri-piri plays a major part in the fiery…
- Pistachio
- A pale green nut encased in a creamy coloured shell, pistachios have a sweet flavour and are eaten as a snack or used in cooking. The green colour makes pistachio a popular flavouring for ice creams, desserts and sweets, such as nougat and halva. In savoury…
- Pithaya
- The fruit of a Central and South American cactus, the pitahaya has a knobbly yellow skin and a deep-pink, dense flesh. The fruit can be cut in half and the flesh, which has a mild, sweet flavour, eaten with a spoon (along with the seeds) - a squeeze of lemon…
- Pitta bread
- An oval-shaped Middle Eastern flatbread. It can be opened up to form a pocket which can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. Throughout the Middle East, pittas are served alongside main dishes or cut into wedges and used to dip in mezze dishes such as baba…
- pixel
- short for “picture element,†the individual light detectors on a CCD chip
- pizzicato
- Playing a string instrument that is normally bowed by plucking the strings with the finger.
- PKZIP or PKUNZIP
- Popular compression and decompression programs.
- PL
- Public law.
- placket
- The piece of cloth that reinforces a split or opening in a garment; that usually also serves as the closure.
- Plaice
- An orange-spotted flat sea fish. It's available fresh or frozen, whole or in fillets and has a mild sweet flavour. Fry or grill it on the bone, poach whole fish or fillets and use the poaching liquor to make a sauce, or coat fillets of plaice in egg and…
- plainchant
- (plainsong, Gregorian chant) Monophonic unison music sung during Catholic church services since the Middle Ages.
- Planck scale
- the smallest units of measurement scientists use to describe the universe; a Planck unit of length is 10^-33 centimeters
- planet
- a large rocky or gaseous body that orbits a star
- planetary nebula
- a glowing shell of gas ejected by a dying, low-mass star
- planetary nebulae
- glowing shells of gas ejected by dying, low-mass stars
- planetesimals
- asteroid-size bodies in a young planetary system that collide to form larger bodies
- planisphere
- a two-dimensional map of the sky with an adjustable overlay to show the part of the sky visible at any time of the night or year
- plant breeding
- The application of genetic analysis to development of plant lines better suited for human purposes.
- plaque
- A clear area on a bacterial lawn, left by lysis of the bacteria through progressive infections by a phage and its descendants. Clear area on a bacterial lawn caused by cell lysis due to viral attack.
- plasma
- a gas that has been heated to a state where it contains ions and free-floating electrons; also known as ionized gas
- plasmasphere
- a region of cold, high-density plasma above the ionosphere
- plasmid
- Autonomously replicating extrachromosomal DNA molecule. An autonomous self-replicating genetic particle usually of circular double-stranded DNA.
- plastid
- A chloroplast prior to the development of chlorophyll.
- plate
- (1) A flat dish used to culture microbes. (2) To spread cells over the surface of solid medium in a plate.
- plate tectonics
- a theory that describes how Earth’s crust is broken into plates and how those plates move across Earth’s surface
- pleiotropic mutation
- A mutation that has effects on several different characters.
- pleiotropy
- The phenomenon whereby a single mutation affects several apparently unrelated aspects of the phenotype.
- Plug-in
- An add-on piece of software that can extend the features of an existing application. For example Netscape browser plug-ins allow displaying of new types of web content, that the browser can't display on its own.
- Point
- Each carat in a diamond's weight is divided into 100 parts, called "points." A 1-Carat diamond has 100 points, a ¾ Carat has 75 points, etc. Points in a fraction of one carat are measured within ranges, so that a ¾ Carat diamond may have between .69 and .82…
- point collar
- A collar with ties used to attach women's sleeves to their gowns.
- point mutation
- A mutation that can be mapped to one specific site within a locus. A small mutation that consists of the replacement (transition or transversion); addition; or deletion (frameshift) of one or a few bases.
- POINT OF DISTINCTION
- What makes you different from your competitors (menu, decor, prices, etc.). Your restaurant should have something to make you stand out.
- POINT OF PURCHASE
- Marketing that is done right at the point where the customer purchases, I.e., in the drive through, at the register, etc. It is intended to persuade the customer to buy the items you're offering at the moment they intend to purchase.
- POINT-OF-SERVICE PLAN
- Health insurance policy that allows the employee to choose between in-network and out-of-network care each time medical treatment is needed.
- Poisson distribution
- A mathematical expression giving the probability of observing various numbers of a particular event in a sample when the mean probability of that event on any one trial is very small.
- poky mutation
- A mutation of Neurospora that produces a petite-like phenotype.
- polar cap
- an icy region at the north or south pole of a planet
- polarization
- a state in which the directions of the electric or magnetic field in an electromagnetic wave changes in a regular pattern; light from celestial objects is often polarized
- Polenta
- A golden-yellow Italian cornmeal made from ground maize, and also the name given to the savoury cornmeal porridge that's made from it. Polenta can be coarse or fine. The type most widely available in the UK is the instant or quick-cook powdered variety…
- poles of attraction
- A term introduced by Stravinsky to describe the harmonic equilibrium of his neoclassical works.
- POLICY
- A written contract for insurance between an insurance company and policyholder stating details of coverage.
- POLICYHOLDERS SURPLUS
- The amount of money remaining after an insurer’s liabilities are subtracted from its assets. It acts as a financial cushion above and beyond reserves, protecting policyholders against an unexpected or catastrophic situation.
- Polish
- Polishing is a process used to make metal smooth and glossy. It also increases shine and eliminates flaws.
- POLITICAL RISK INSURANCE
- Coverage for businesses operating abroad against loss due to political upheaval such as war, revolution, or confiscation of property.
- POLLUTION INSURANCE
- Policies that cover property loss and liability arising from pollution-related damages, for sites that have been inspected and found uncontaminated. It is usually written on a claims-made basis so policies pay only claims presented during the term of the…
- polycistronic mRNA
- An mRNA that codes for more than one protein.
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of very stable organic molecules. They are flat molecules made only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. PAH molecules are quite common and highly carcinogenic. They are one of the by-products of combustion from…
- Polygamy
- Having more than one husband or wife at the same time. Polygamy is illegal under American law.
- Polygraph or Lie Detector
- A polygraph machine is a law enforcement tool that purports to determine whether a subject is telling the truth or not. The polygraph, or lie detector, as it is commonly called, is attached to the subject and measures changes in blood pressure, galvanic skin…
- polyphony
- polyphonic (po-lif-ony;poly-fon-ick)A musical texture in which the individual voices move independently of one another.
- polyrhythm
- A texture in which the rhythms of various voices seem to exist independently of one another.