| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| poached | imp. & past participle | of Poach |
| poacher | noun | One who poaches; one who kills or catches game or fish contrary to law., The American widgeon. |
| pochard | noun | See Poachard. |
| pocoson | noun | Low, wooded grounds or swamps in Eastern Maryland and Virginia. |
| podding | present participle & vb. noun | of Pod |
| podagra | noun | Gout in the joints of the foot; — applied also to gout in other parts of body. |
| podesta | noun | One of the chief magistrates of the Italian republics in the Middle Ages., A mayor, alderman, or other magistrate, in some towns of Italy. |
| podetia | plural | of Podetium |
| podical | adjective | Anal; — applied to certain organs of insects. |
| podrida | noun | A miscellaneous dish of meats. See Olla-podrida. |
| podurae | plural | of Podura |
| poduras | plural | of Podura |
| podurid | noun | Any species of Podura or allied genera., Pertaining to the poduras. |
| poebird | noun | The parson bird. |
| poecile | noun | Same as Poicile., The frescoed porch or gallery in Athens where Zeno taught. |
| poenamu | noun | A variety of jade or nephrite, — used in New Zealand for the manufacture of axes and weapons. |
| poetess | noun | A female poet. |
| poetics | noun | The principles and rules of the art of poetry. |
| poetize | verb i. | To write as a poet; to compose verse; to idealize. |
| pohagen | noun | See Pauhaugen. |
| poicile | noun | Alt. of Poecile |
| poinder | noun | The keeper of a cattle pound; a pinder., One who distrains property. |
| pointed | imp. & past participle | of Point, Sharp; having a sharp point; as, a pointed rock., Characterized by sharpness, directness, or pithiness of expression; terse; epigrammatic; especially, directed to a particular person or thing. |
| pointal | noun | The pistil of a plant., A kind of pencil or style used with the tablets of the Middle Ages., See Poyntel. |
| pointel | noun | See Pointal. |
| pointer | noun | One who, or that which, points., The hand of a timepiece., One of a breed of dogs trained to stop at scent of game, and with the nose point it out to sportsmen., The two stars (Merak and Dubhe) in the Great Bear, the line between which points nearly in the direction of the north star., Diagonal braces sometimes fixed across the hold. |
| poising | present participle & vb. noun | of Poise |
| poisure | noun | Weight. |
| poitrel | adjective | The breastplate of the armor of a horse. See Peytrel. |
| pokebag | noun | The European long-tailed titmouse; — called also poke-pudding. |
| polacca | noun | A vessel with two or three masts, used in the Mediterranean. The masts are usually of one piece, and without tops, caps, or crosstrees., See Polonaise. |
| polacre | noun | Same as Polacca, 1. |
| polaric | adjective | See Polar. |
| polaris | noun | The polestar. See North star, under North. |
| poldway | noun | A kind of coarse bagging, — used for coal sacks. |
| poleaxe | noun | Anciently, a kind of battle-ax with a long handle; later, an ax or hatchet with a short handle, and a head variously patterned; — used by soldiers, and also by sailors in boarding a vessel. |
| polecat | noun | A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (Putorius foetidus). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called also fitchet, foulmart, and European ferret., The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied species. |
| polemic | adjective | Of or pertaining to controversy; maintaining, or involving, controversy; controversial; disputative; as, a polemic discourse or essay; polemic theology., Engaged in, or addicted to, polemics, or to controversy; disputations; as, a polemic writer., One who writes in support of one opinion, doctrine, or system, in opposition to another; one skilled in polemics; a controversialist; a disputant., A polemic argument or controversy. |
| polenta | noun | Pudding made of Indian meal; also, porridge made of chestnut meal. |
| polewig | noun | The European spotted goby (Gobius minutus); — called also pollybait. |
| policed | imp. & past participle | of Police, Regulated by laws for the maintenance of peace and order, enforced by organized administration. |
| politic | adjective | Of or pertaining to polity, or civil government; political; as, the body politic. See under Body., Pertaining to, or promoting, a policy, especially a national policy; well-devised; adapted to its end, whether right or wrong; — said of things; as, a politic treaty., Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; devoted to a scheme or system rather than to a principle; hence, in a good sense, wise; prudent; sagacious; and in a bad sense, artful; unscrupulous; cunning; — said of persons., A politician. |
| polling | present participle & vb. noun | of Poll, The act of topping, lopping, or cropping, as trees or hedges., Plunder, or extortion., The act of voting, or of registering a vote. |
| pollack | noun | A marine gadoid food fish of Europe (Pollachius virens). Called also greenfish, greenling, lait, leet, lob, lythe, and whiting pollack., The American pollock; the coalfish. |
| pollage | noun | A head or poll tax; hence, extortion. |
| pollard | noun | A tree having its top cut off at some height above the ground, that may throw out branches., A clipped coin; also, a counterfeit., A fish, the chub., A stag that has cast its antlers., A hornless animal (cow or sheep)., To lop the tops of, as trees; to poll; as, to pollard willows. |
| pollock | noun | A marine gadoid fish (Pollachius carbonarius), native both of the European and American coasts. It is allied to the cod, and like it is salted and dried. In England it is called coalfish, lob, podley, podling, pollack, etc. |
| pollute | verb t. | To make foul, impure, or unclean; to defile; to taint; to soil; to desecrate; — used of physical or moral defilement., To violate sexually; to debauch; to dishonor., To render ceremonially unclean; to disqualify or unfit for sacred use or service, or for social intercourse., Polluted. |
| polygon | noun | A plane figure having many angles, and consequently many sides; esp., one whose perimeter consists of more than four sides; any figure having many angles. |
| polygyn | noun | A plant of the order Polygynia. |
| polymer | noun | Any one of two or more substances related to each other by polymerism; specifically, a substance produced from another substance by chemical polymerization. |
| polynia | noun | The open sea supposed to surround the north pole. |
| polypus | noun | Same as Polyp., A tumor, usually with a narrow base, somewhat resembling a pear, — found in the nose, uterus, etc., and produced by hypertrophy of some portion of the mucous membrane. |
| poluria | noun | A persistently excessive flow of watery urine, with low specific gravity and without the presence of either albumin or sugar. It is generally accompanied with more or less thirst. |
| polyzoa | noun pl. | Same as Bryozoa. See Illust. under Bryozoa, and Phylactolaemata., of Polyzoon |
| pomatum | noun | A perfumed unguent or composition, chiefly used in dressing the hair; pomade., To dress with pomatum. |
| pomfret | noun | One of two or more species of marine food fishes of the genus Stromateus (S. niger, S. argenteus) native of Southern Europe and Asia., A marine food fish of Bermuda (Brama Raji). |
| pommage | noun | See Pomage. |
| pompano | noun | Any one of several species of marine fishes of the genus Trachynotus, of which four species are found on the Atlantic coast of the United States; — called also palometa., A California harvest fish (Stromateus simillimus), highly valued as a food fish. |
| pompion | noun | See Pumpion. |
| pompire | noun | A pearmain. |
| pomposo | adjective & adverb | Grand and dignified; in grand style. |
| pompous | adjective | Displaying pomp; stately; showy with grandeur; magnificent; as, a pompous procession., Ostentatious; pretentious; boastful; vainlorious; as, pompous manners; a pompous style. |
| ponchos | plural | of Poncho |
| ponghee | noun | A Buddhist priest of the higher orders in Burmah. |
| poniard | noun | A kind of dagger, — usually a slender one with a triangular or square blade., To pierce with a poniard; to stab. |
| pontage | noun | A duty or tax paid for repairing bridges. |
| pontiff | noun | A high priest., One of the sacred college, in ancient Rome, which had the supreme jurisdiction over all matters of religion, at the head of which was the Pontifex Maximus., The chief priest., The pope. |
| pontile | adjective | Of or pertaining to the pons Varolii. See Pons. |
| pontine | adjective | Of or pertaining to an extensive marshy district between Rome and Naples. |
| pontoon | noun | A wooden flat-bottomed boat, a metallic cylinder, or a frame covered with canvas, India rubber, etc., forming a portable float, used in building bridges quickly for the passage of troops., A low, flat vessel, resembling a barge, furnished with cranes, capstans, and other machinery, used in careening ships, raising weights, drawing piles, etc., chiefly in the Mediterranean; a lighter. |
| pooling | present participle & vb. noun | of Pool, The act of uniting, or an agreement to unite, an aggregation of properties belonging to different persons, with a view to common liabilities or profits. |
| pooping | present participle & vb. noun | of Poop, The act or shock of striking a vessel’s stern by a following wave or vessel. |
| poorbox | noun | A receptacle in which money given for the poor is placed. |
| popping | present participle & vb. noun | of Pop, a. & n. from Pop. |
| popedom | noun | The place, office, or dignity of the pope; papal dignity., The jurisdiction of the pope. |
| poplexy | noun | Apoplexy. |
| poppied | adjective | Mingled or interspersed with poppies., Affected with poppy juice; hence, figuratively, drugged; drowsy; listless; inactive. |
| poppies | plural | of Poppy |
| popular | adjective | Of or pertaining to the common people, or to the whole body of the people, as distinguished from a select portion; as, the popular voice; popular elections., Suitable to common people; easy to be comprehended; not abstruse; familiar; plain., Adapted to the means of the common people; possessed or obtainable by the many; hence, cheap; common; ordinary; inferior; as, popular prices; popular amusements., Beloved or approved by the people; pleasing to people in general, or to many people; as, a popular preacher; a popular law; a popular administration., Devoted to the common people; studious of the favor of the populace., Prevailing among the people; epidemic; as, a popular disease. |
| populin | noun | A glycoside, related to salicin, found in the bark of certain species of the poplar (Populus), and extracted as a sweet white crystalline substance. |
| porcate | adjective | Having grooves or furrows broader than the intervening ridges; furrowed. |
| porcine | adjective | Of or pertaining to swine; characteristic of the hog. |
| porgies | plural | of Porgy |
| porites | noun | An important genus of reef-building corals having small twelve-rayed calicles, and a very porous coral. Some species are branched, others grow in large massive or globular forms. |
| porotic | noun | A medicine supposed to promote the formation of callus. |
| porpita | noun | A genus of bright-colored Siphonophora found floating in the warmer parts of the ocean. The individuals are round and disk-shaped, with a large zooid in the center of the under side, surrounded by smaller nutritive and reproductive zooids, and by slender dactylozooids near the margin. The disk contains a central float, or pneumatocyst. |
| porrect | adjective | Extended horizontally; stretched out. |
| porting | present participle & vb. noun | of Port |
| portace | noun | See Portass. |
| portage | noun | A sailor’s wages when in port., The amount of a sailor’s wages for a voyage., A porthole., The act of carrying or transporting., The price of carriage; porterage., Capacity for carrying; tonnage., A carry between navigable waters. See 3d Carry., To carry (goods, boats, etc.) overland between navigable waters. |
| portass | noun | A breviary; a prayer book. |
| portate | adjective | Borne not erect, but diagonally athwart an escutcheon; as, a cross portate. |
| portend | verb t. | To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; — now used esp. of unpropitious signs., To stretch out before. |
| portent | noun | That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. |
| portico | noun | A colonnade or covered ambulatory, especially in classical styles of architecture; usually, a colonnade at the entrance of a building. |
| portion | noun | That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything., A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or separated from the whole., A part assigned; allotment; share; fate., The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate; an inheritance., A wife’s fortune; a dowry., To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel; to distribute., To endow with a portion or inheritance. |
| portise | noun | See Portass. |
| portmen | plural | of Portman |
| portman | noun | An inhabitant or burgess of a port, esp. of one of the Cinque Ports. |
| portoir | noun | One who, or that which, bears; hence, one who, or that which, produces. |
| portray | verb t. | To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on horseback., Hence, figuratively, to describe in words., To adorn with pictures. |
| posited | imp. & past participle | of Posit |
| possess | verb t. | To occupy in person; to hold or actually have in one’s own keeping; to have and to hold., To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book., To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize., To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; — said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc., To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; — followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively. |
| posting | present participle & vb. noun | of Post, The act of traveling post., The act of transferring an account, as from the journal to the ledger. |
| postact | noun | An act done afterward. |
| postage | noun | The price established by law to be paid for the conveyance of a letter or other mailable matter by a public post. |
| postboy | noun | One who rides post horses; a position; a courier., A boy who carries letters from the post. |
| postern | noun | Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate., A subterraneous passage communicating between the parade and the main ditch, or between the ditches and the interior of the outworks., Back; being behind; private. |
| postero | – (/). A combining form meaning posterior, back; as, postero-inferior, situated back and below; postero-lateral, situated back and at the side. | |
| postfix | noun | A letter, syllable, or word, added to the end of another word; a suffix., To annex; specifically (Gram.), to add or annex, as a letter, syllable, or word, to the end of another or principal word; to suffix. |
| postmen | plural | of Postman |
| postman | noun | A post or courier; a letter carrier., One of the two most experienced barristers in the Court of Exchequer, who have precedence in motions; — so called from the place where he sits. The other of the two is called the tubman. |
| posture | noun | The position of the body; the situation or disposition of the several parts of the body with respect to each other, or for a particular purpose; especially (Fine Arts), the position of a figure with regard to the several principal members by which action is expressed; attitude., Place; position; situation., State or condition, whether of external circumstances, or of internal feeling and will; disposition; mood; as, a posture of defense; the posture of affairs., To place in a particular position or attitude; to dispose the parts of, with reference to a particular purpose; as, to posture one’s self; to posture a model., To assume a particular posture or attitude; to contort the body into artificial attitudes, as an acrobat or contortionist; also, to pose., Fig.: To assume a character; as, to posture as a saint. |
| potting | present participle & vb. noun | of Pot, Tippling., The act of placing in a pot; as, the potting of plants; the potting of meats for preservation., The process of putting sugar in casks for cleansing and draining. |
| potable | adjective | Fit to be drunk; drinkable., A potable liquid; a beverage. |
| potager | noun | A porringer. |
| potagro | noun | See Potargo. |
| potance | noun | The stud in which the bearing for the lower pivot of the verge is made. |
| potargo | noun | A kind of sauce or pickle. |
| potassa | noun | Potassium oxide., Potassium hydroxide, commonly called caustic potash. |
| potator | noun | A drinker. |
| potcher | noun | One who, or that which, potches. |
| potelot | noun | Molybdenum sulphide. |
| potence | noun | Potency; capacity. |
| potency | noun | The quality or state of being potent; physical or moral power; inherent strength; energy; ability to effect a purpose; capability; efficacy; influence. |
| potheen | noun | See Poteen. |
| pothole | noun | A circular hole formed in the rocky beds of rivers by the grinding action of stones or gravel whirled round by the water in what was at first a natural depression of the rock. |
| pothook | noun | An S-shaped hook on which pots and kettles are hung over an open fire., A written character curved like a pothook; (pl.) a scrawled writing. |
| potluck | noun | Whatever may chance to be in the pot, or may be provided for a meal. |
| potoroo | noun | Any small kangaroo belonging to Hypsiprymnus, Bettongia, and allied genera, native of Australia and Tasmania. Called also kangaroo rat. |
| pottage | noun | A kind of food made by boiling vegetables or meat, or both together, in water, until soft; a thick soup or porridge. |
| pottain | noun | Old pot metal. |
| potteen | noun | See Poteen. |
| pottern | adjective | Of or pertaining to potters. |
| pottery | noun | The vessels or ware made by potters; earthenware, glazed and baked., The place where earthen vessels are made. |
| pouched | imp. & past participle | of Pouch, Having a marsupial pouch; as, the pouched badger, or the wombat., Having external cheek pouches; as, the pouched gopher., Having internal cheek pouches; as, the pouched squirrels. |
| poulder | noun & verb | Powder. |
| poulter | noun | A poulterer. |
| poultry | noun | Domestic fowls reared for the table, or for their eggs or feathers, such as cocks and hens, capons, turkeys, ducks, and geese. |
| pounded | imp. & past participle | of Pounce, of Pound |
| pounced | adjective | Furnished with claws or talons; as, the pounced young of the eagle., Ornamented with perforations or dots. |
| poundal | noun | A unit of force based upon the pound, foot, and second, being the force which, acting on a pound avoirdupois for one second, causes it to acquire by the of that time a velocity of one foot per second. It is about equal to the weight of half an ounce, and is 13,825 dynes. |
| pounder | noun | One who, or that which, pounds, as a stamp in an ore mill., An instrument used for pounding; a pestle., A person or thing, so called with reference to a certain number of pounds in value, weight, capacity, etc.; as, a cannon carrying a twelve-pound ball is called a twelve pounder. |
| pouring | present participle & vb. noun | of Pour |
| pouting | present participle & vb. noun | of Pout, Childish sullenness. |
| poverty | noun | The quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need., Any deficiency of elements or resources that are needed or desired, or that constitute richness; as, poverty of soil; poverty of the blood; poverty of ideas. |
| powdery | adjective | Easily crumbling to pieces; friable; loose; as, a powdery spar., Sprinkled or covered with powder; dusty; as, the powdery bloom on plums., Resembling powder; consisting of powder. |
| powdike | noun | A dike a marsh or fen. |
| poynado | noun | A poniard. |
| poynder | noun | See Poind, Poinder. |
| poyntel | noun | Paving or flooring made of small squares or lozenges set diagonally. |