| plinth | n. | square slab supporting a column; pedestal for statue | ||
| Pliofilm | n. | plastic wrapping material used instead of cellulose-based substances | ||
| plonker | n. | fool; penis; item of unusually large size or girth | slang | |
| plum in one’s mouth | n. | speaking in a posh style associated with the upper class | ||
| pluperfect | adj. | more than perfect | ||
| pluricentric | adj. | having multiple centers | ||
| plus fours | n. | baggy trousers gathered below the knee | ||
| plutonomy | n. | study of the creation and distribution of wealth, political economy; society in which wealth and consumption is controlled by very few members | ||
| pluvial | adj. | of or related to rain or rainfall, rainy | ||
| pluviophile | n. | lover of rain and rainy days | ||
| po-faced | adj. | humorless, over-serious, disapproving | British | |
| pocket Venus | n. | beautiful small woman | ||
| podgy | adj. | pudgy | British | |
| poetaster | n. | writer of inferior, insignificant verse | ||
| poignant | adj. | painful and afflicting | ||
| poioumenon | n. | metafiction in which the process of writing or creation is the primary subject | ||
| poke | n. | brim projecting at the front of a bonnet | ||
| polder | n. | low land reclaimed from sea or lake, protected by dikes | ||
| pole screen | n. | tall thin screen mounted on a pole with adjustable panels, designed to shield a person’s face from the direct heat of a fire | ||
| polemic | adj. | controversial, disputatious | ||
| poll | n. | human head; the part of the head where grows the hair | ||
| pollard | v. | to prune a tree almost back to its trunk so as to produce massed branches | ||
| polled | adj. | without horns | ||
| poltroon | n. | worthless coward, craven | ||
| polysemy | n. | quality of word, sign, phrase, or concept having multiple (often similar) meanings | ||
| polysomnogram | n. | multi-valued recording of an individual’s sleep pattern, including brain, heart, lungs, and limb activity | ||
| polyuria | n. | passing abnormally large amounts of urine | ||
| pomatumed | adj. | pomaded; with ointment applied | ||
| pomerium | n. | legal and religious boundary of the ancient city of Rome | ||
| pomo | adj. | postmodern | slang | |
| pomology | n. | study and praxis of fruit-culture | ||
| pone | n. | bread made from corn; loaf of such (or other) bread | ||
| pong | n. | stink, unpleasant smell | ||
| pongid | adj. | pertaining to a great ape (the gorilla, chimpanzee, or orangutan) | ||
| pongo | n. | soldier; [obsolete] large ape, as an orangutan or gorilla | slang | |
| poniard | n. | small dagger | ||
| pons asinorum | n. | ‘bridge of asses’, fifth proposition of Euclid’s first book; difficult point in learning a subject | Latin | |
| pooka | n. | malevolent spirit in Irish folklore, often taking the shape of a rabbit or horse or other animal | ||
| porcupig | n. | porcupine | obsolete | |
| porphyrogenite | adj. | born into the imperial family at Constantinople; born into royalty after accession of the king; born ‘in the purple’ | ||
| porphyry | n. | reddish or purple-red crystal-containing rock | ||
| port | n. | carriage, bearing | archaic | |
| porte-crayon | n. | tube with split ends and metal ring for holding chalk or bits of chalk for use in drawing; any container used for carrying art supplies | ||
| portfire | n. | handheld, slow-burning fuse for lighting artillery or fireworks | ||
| portiere | n. | curtain hung across a doorway in lieu of a door | ||
| postdictable | adj. | of or related to counterintuitive thing which makes sense after seen or experienced | ||
| postern | n. | side or back entrance | ||
| postilion | n. | rider upon left-hand horse of pair or front pair of horses drawing a carriage, usu. when no driver is used | ||
| postulate | n. | axiom; supposedly obvious assumption used as basis for argument | ||
| posture chair | n. | office chair designed to support and conform to natural human form |
