| pursy | adj. | corpulent, fat | ||
| purulent | adj. | made of, filled with, or discharging pus | ||
| purvey | v. | to provide or to supply (now usu. food); to make provision for something | ||
| purview | n. | area of expertise | ||
| putrid | adj. | rotting, decomposing, esp. with a bad smell; vile, morally loathsome | ||
| putto | n. | representation of a cherub (sometimes winged) in Renaissance and Baroque art | ||
| pygarg | n. | food animal, perhaps a species of antelope | ||
| pyogenic | adj. | pus-producing | ||
| pyorrhea | n. | discharge of pus, esp. from gums | ||
| pyretic | adj. | related to, causing, or caused by fever | ||
| pyroclastic | adj. | consisting of or related to rocks from a volcano | ||
| pyrolytic | adj. | decomposed (organic material) by subjection to high heat | ||
| pyx | n. | small container for holding the consecrated bread of the Eucharist; [rare] box | ||
| qaid | n. | local leader or judge in North Africa; Berber chief | ||
| qoph | n. | nineteenth letter of Hebrew alphabet, also spelled ‘qof’ | ||
| quacksalver | n. | imposter to the medical art | ||
| quadragesimal | adj. | of or related to Lent; of or related to a forty day period | ||
| quag | n. | boggy, marshy place, esp. with yielding turf | ||
| quale | n. | subjective perceptible quality considered as independent entity | ||
| quaquaversal | adj. | pointed in all directions, sloping downwards in all directions from a common center (chiefly geological) | ||
| quaternary | fourth; of something with four parts; [initial capitalized] of the most recent age of geologic history | |||
| quaternion | n. | four double-folded sheets of paper gathered together for binding; group of four things; hypercomplex number with one real and four imaginary components | ||
| quean | n. | a disreputable woman, especially a prostitute | archaic | |
| quern | n. | small, hand-turned mill for grinding corn, grain, etc. | ||
| querulent | adj. | abnormally suspicious or complaining | ||
| questionless | adv. | without question; unquestioning; unquestionable | ||
| qui vive | n. | alert, state of watchfulness | ||
| quiddity | n. | thingness, thatness, quality of a thing making it what it is | ||
| quidnunc | n. | gossip, habitually inquisitive person | ||
| quiff | n. | lock or curl of hair hanging over the forehead | ||
| quillon | n. | one of two pieces making up the cross guard of a sword | ||
| quincunx | n. | arrangement of five objects with four at corners of a square and the fifth in the center | ||
| quinquagenarian | adj. | of a person in their sixth decade of life, between the ages of 50 to 60 years old; 50 years of age | ||
| Quinquagesima | n. | final Sunday before Lent, beginning of Carnival | ||
| quinsy | n. | peritonsillar abscess, suppuration of the tonsils | ||
| quintain | n. | post, or object on moving crossbar mounted on such a post, used for target practice in jousting or darts | ||
| quintal | n. | hundredweight | ||
| quire | n. | section of folded printed sheets of paper, for binding with other sections to make a completed book | ||
| quixotic | adj. | enthusiastically idealistic; impractically romantic | ||
| quiz | n. | odd person; odd thing | British | |
| quod | v. | to be imprisoned | slang | |
| quodlibet | n. | topic for philosophical debate; thus, any subtle or abstruse argument or debate | archaic | |
| quoin | n. | external corner of building or wall; wedge for aiming ship’s cannon; wedge for locking type for printing | ||
| quoit | n. | rope ring or ring of flattened metal, used in tossing game | ||
| quondam | adj. | former, at one time | ||
| quop | v. | to pulse, to throb | ||
| rachitic | adj. | of or having rickets | ||
| radgie | n. | aggressive or violent person | British | |
| raffle | n. | trash, rubbish | ||
| ragout | n. | highly seasoned meat dish |
