Glossary
Terms starting with P
374 definitions · page 5 of 7.
- polytene chromosome
- A giant chromosome produced by an endomitotic process in which, following synapsis of the two homologues, multiple rounds of replication produce chromatids that remain synapsed together in a haploid number of chromosomes. Large chromosome consisting of many…
- POOLCO
- Poolco refers to a specialized, centrally dispatched spot market power pool that functions as a short-term market. It establishes the short-term market clearing price and provides a system of long-term transmission compensation contracts. It is regulated to…
- pop
- A generic term for popular music in contemporary America, overlapping but not identical with rock.
- POP
- Post Office Protocol. Popular but inflexible email retrieval standard. All messages are downloaded at the name time and can only be manipulated on a client machine. Current version is POP3. Also see IMAP.
- Pop-under ad
- an ad that displays in a new browser window behind the current browser window.
- Pop-up ad
- an ad that displays in a new browser window.
- Porcini
- Porcino is the Italian word for the mushroom that the French call the cep, Boletus edulis (called 'penny bun' in Britain). This mushroom is generally agreed by connoisseurs to be among the finest eating mushrooms. A related variety, Boletus aureus, is called…
- Pore
- Small opening of the sweat glands of the skin.
- Port
- A socket on the computer or other network device used to connect it to the network.
- Port of Entry
- Place where a person enters the country. When a person adjusts status (gets a green card) in the United States, the port of entry can be a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office in the United States.
- Portable DVD
- A portable version of the DVD player that allows you to play DVD movies anywhere. The player's battery allows continuous play for up to three hours, and it comes with a credit-card sized remote that allows you to control all major DVD functions.
- Portal
- a site featuring a suite of commonly used services, serving as a starting point and frequent gateway to the Web (Web portal) or a niche topic (vertical portal).
- Portfolio Career
- A term given to the situation in which a worker has several part-time positions rather than one full-time position. Part-time positions can include freelance work, temporary employment and self-employment. Portfolio careers are gaining popularity as they…
- PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
- The functions of resource planning and procurement under a traditional utility structure. Portfolio management can also be defined as the aggregation and management of a diverse portfolio of supply (and demand-reduction) resources which will act as a hedge…
- Portobello mushrooms
- Also known as field mushrooms (and spelled ‘portabella’, ‘portobella’, and ‘portabello’), these are flat, dark open-capped mushrooms which can be 8cm to 10cm (3in to 4in) wide. They have a robust meaty texture making them good for roasting, baking and…
- position angle
- the direction in the sky of one celestial object from another, measured eastward from due north
- position effect
- Used to describe a situation in which the phenotype expressed by a gene is altered by changes in the position of the gene within the genome. For instance genes translocated to regions of heterochromatin are often not expressed.
- POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE (PMA) RALLY
- A quick floor meeting to improve your hospitality lasting two to three minutes. It should be held at the beginning of every peak revenue period.
- Positron (e+)
- The antiparticle of the electron.
- Post
- A post is a pin-like finding attached to an earring. It passes through the pierced earlobe, and may be held in place by a back.
- Post
- American Embassy, consulate or other diplomatic mission abroad. Not all American embassies, consulates and missions are visa-issuing posts.
- postmodern
- A term adopted around the mid- 1970s to describe our current eclectic, experimental age.
- Poussin
- A small, immature chicken, sometimes called a spring chicken, and weighing about 400g to 500g. Because the bird is only four to six weeks old, the flavour hasn't developed and there isn't much flesh on the bones, but one bird is perfect for a single serving…
- Poverty Guidelines
- The Department of Health and Human Services publishes a list every year giving the lowest income acceptable for a family of a particular size so that the family does not live in poverty. Consular officers use these figures in immigrant visa cases to…
- POWER
- Electricity for use as energy.
- power
- the ability of a telescope or binoculars to increase the apparent size of a distant object
- POWER AUTHORITIES
- Quasi-governmental agencies that perform all or some of the functions of a public utility.
- POWER PLANT
- (Note: Two separate words not one word.)A central station generating facility that produces energy.
- POWER PLANT (Note: Two separate words not one word.)
- A central station generating facility that produces energy.
- POWER PLANT (Note: Two separate words, not one word.)
- A central station generating facility that produces energy.
- POWER POOL
- An entity established to coordinate short-term operations to maintain system stability and achieve least-cost dispatch. The dispatch provides backup supplies, short-term excess sales, reactive power support, and spinning reserve. Historically, some of these…
- Poynting-Robertson effect
- a drag on interplanetary particles caused by their interaction with solar radiation, which causes the particles to lose orbital momentum and spiral into the sun
- PPM (PARTS PER MILLION)
- The unit commonly used to represent the degree of pollutant concentration where the concentrations are small.
- PPP
- (Point to Point Protocol) A network protocol widely used to connect computers to the Internet. Most often used on a telephone line.
- Praline
- A brittle sweet made of almonds and caramelised sugar. It can be eaten as a sweet, served as an after-dinner treat with coffee, or crumbled or ground and used in desserts as an ingredient, filling or crunchy topping.
- Prawn
- A type of shellfish. Called shrimp in the US, prawns are available fresh or frozen, in or out of their shells. In the UK, the prawns seen most commonly in supermarkets are small and pink. These have already been cooked. Fresh, raw prawns are grey and have a…
- precession
- the slow, periodic change in the direction an object’s rotational axis caused by the gravitational influence of another body
- Precious Stones
- Precious stones are rare and costly gems such as diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires.
- Precision Notch
- Filter Acts at 3.58 MHz to separate the colour information from the light channel. TV models with a precision notch filter can achieve 330 lines of horizontal resolution from a RF antenna source.
- Preference Immigration
- A system for determining which and when people can immigrate to the United States within the limits of immigration set by Congress. In family immigration preference is based on the status of the petitioner (American citizen or lawful permanent resident) and…
- PREFERRED DAY-AHEAD SCHEDULE
- A Scheduling Coordinator's preferred schedule for the ISO day-ahead scheduling process.
- PREFERRED HOUR-AHEAD SCHEDULE
- A Scheduling Coordinator's preferred schedule for the ISO hour-ahead scheduling process.
- PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATION
- Network of medical providers which charge on a fee-for-service basis, but are paid on a negotiated, discounted fee schedule.
- PREFERRED SCHEDULE
- The initial schedule produced by a Scheduling Coordinator that represents its preferred mix of generation to meet demand. The schedule includes the quantity of output (generators) and consumption (loads), details of any adjustment bids, and the location of…
- prelude
- An introductory piece (though Chopin and other nineteenth-century composers wrote independent preludes).
- premiere
- The first public performance of a musical or dramatic work.
- PREMISES
- The particular location of the property or a portion of it as designated in an insurance policy.
- PREMIUM
- The price of an insurance policy, typically charged annually or semiannually. (See Direct premiums; Earned premium; Unearned premium)
- PREMIUM TAX
- A state tax on premiums paid by its residents and businesses and collected by insurers.
- PREMIUMS IN FORCE
- The sum of the face amounts, plus dividend additions, of life insurance policies outstanding at a given time.
- PREMIUMS WRITTEN
- The total premiums on all policies written by an insurer during a specified period of time, regardless of what portions have been earned. Net premiums written are premiums written after reinsurance transactions.
- prepared piano
- In contemporary music, the modifying of a traditional grand piano by such techniques as placing various objects between the strings.
- Preserved lemons
- Preserved lemons are used extensively in North African cooking. They're whole lemons that have been preserved by being packed in tall jars with salt, flavoured with herbs and spices, covered with lemon juice or brine and left to cure for a few weeks. Before…
- PRESS RELEASE
- The primary tool used to tell your story. It is a brief, concise story that is submitted to the media for possible publication. It should include the five W's -who, what, where, when and why.
- PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR (PWR)
- A nuclear power unit cooled by water that is pressurized to keep it from boiling when it reaches high temperatures.
- presto
- prestissimo Very fast; extremely fast.
- PRI
- (Primary Rate Interface). One of the two ISDN access methods. 23 of 64 Kbps B channels and 1 64 Kbps D channel constitute a PRI.
- Pribnow box
- Relatively invariant sequence of six nucleotides (concensus TATAAT) in prokaryotic promoters centred at the position minus 10 (10 base pairs upstream from the transcription start site).
- PRICE LIST
- Document filed with the Commission by an CLEC detailing services, rates, and charges offered by the company to all potential customers.
- Prickly pear
- The fruit of a type of cactus and also called a Barbary pear, cactus pear, Indian pear or Indian fig. The fruit contains yellow or red flesh with a sweet mild flavour that's similar to watermelon. The prickles are usually removed before they're sold but if…