n. extreme poverty; lack of something; barrenness; insufficiency
E.g. When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury. He became such a penny pincher that he turned into a closefisted, penurious miser.
a. capable of being perceived; cognizable; discernible; perceivable
E.g. By and by, out of the stillness, little, scarcely perceptible noises began to emphasize themselves.
v. spread gradually; cause liquid to pass through small holes; filter
E.g. Light will percolate into our house in next morning.
a. striking one object against another sharply
E.g. The drum is a percussion instrument.
n. travel or journey, especially by foot, notably by pilgrim
E.g. Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose previous peregrination took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.
a. offensively self-assured; dictatorial; not allowing contradiction or refusal
E.g. From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let him in.
a. tending to betray; disloyal; faithless
E.g. When Caesar realized that Brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his perfidious friend.
n. act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust reposed; faithlessness; treachery
E.g. It was the strain of a forsaken lady, who, after bewailing the perfidy of her lover, calls pride to her aid.
v. pierce, punch, or bore hole or holes in; penetrate
E.g. Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.
a. penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through
E.g. If your jogging clothes weren't made out of permeable fabric, you'd drown in your own perspiration.
v. spread or flow throughout; pervade
E.g. The odor of frying onions permeate the air.
a. approving; tolerant; granting; not strict in discipline
E.g. Direct primary legislation is largely permissive rather than prescriptive.
a. very destructive; tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly
E.g. Crack cocaine has had a pernicious effect on urban society: it has destroyed families, turned children into drug dealers, and increased the spread of violent crimes.
a. vertical; upright; intersecting at or forming right angles; extremely steep
E.g. The axes are perpendicular to each other.
n. quality or state of being perplexed or puzzled; complication; intricacy; entanglement; embarrassment
E.g. He sprang to his feet and shouted -- "I done it!" The school stared in perplexity at this incredible folly.
n. any gain above stipulated salary; extra payment
E.g. The perquisite attached to this job makes it even more attractive than the salary indicates.
v. endure; be persistent, refuse to stop
E.g. The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.
n. form, appearance, or belongings of a person; external appearance, stature, figure, air
E.g. He played the personage of Hamlet in the play.
a. having keen insight; mentally perceptive; astute
E.g. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions.
v. belong; have connection with, or dependence on
E.g. Learning the specific set of vocabulary words that pertain to one's business becomes a simple task.
a. stubbornly or perversely persistent; unyielding; obstinate
E.g. He is bound to succeed because his pertinacious nature will not permit him to quit.
v. pass or flow through, as an aperture; permeate; pass or spread through the whole extent of
E.g. These challenges are global in nature, and pervade all aspects of society.
a. pervading; spread throughout every part
E.g. Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them.
n. a chemical used to kill pests
E.g. The most significant advantages of genetically modified crops for the developing world are that farmers would have higher yields: they would be able to produce food using fewer inputs: less pesticide, less fertilizer.
n. process of turning some plant material into stone
E.g. This dynamic process allows for the ability to translate the original text, thus giving that text a flexibility which refuses its petrifaction.
v. convert wood or other organic matter into stony replica; cause to become stiff or stonelike
E.g. His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.
n. glass vessel or bottle, especially a small bottle for medicines; vial
E.g. You must open the middle drawer of my toilet-table and take out a little phial and a little glass you will find there, -- quick!
n. study of language; investigation of language and its literature
E.g. The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.
a. calm; not easily disturbed; not easily excited to action or passion
E.g. The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.
n. chemical combination brought about by the action of light
E.g. Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by living organisms.
n. religious devotion and reverence to God; devout act, thought, or statement; godliness
E.g. The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in worship and prayer.
v. steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; practice petty theft
E.g. I'll do the best I can with it, even if I am compelled to pilfer from the pages of the book.
n. a moth of the genus Lithophane; feather; wing; joint of bird's wing most remote from the body
E.g. There is something wrong with this pinion; it doesn't move.
a. pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating; charming or attractive
E.g. The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal.
n. sudden outburst of anger; state of vexation caused by a perceived slight or indignity
E.g. She showed her pique at her loss by refusing to appear with the other contestants at the end of the competition.
n. hidden danger; concealed trap; hidden hazard
E.g. Her parents warned young Sophie against the pitfall that lays in wait for her in the dangerous big city.
n. theft of another's ideas or writings passed off as original
E.g. The editor recognized the plagiarism and rebuked the culprit who had presented the manuscript as original.
a. expressing sorrow ;mournful or melancholy; sad
E.g. The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call.
n. ability to be molded, formed, or modeled; quality or state of being plastic
E.g. When clay dries out, it loses its plasticity and becomes less malleable.
n. abundance; completeness; ample amount or quantity
E.g. Looking in the pantry, we admired the plenitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.