P

[pee] /pi/

noun, plural P’s or Ps, p’s or ps.
1.
the sixteenth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter P or p, as in pet, supper, top, etc.
3.
something having the shape of a P .
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter P or p.
5.
a device, as a printer’s type, for reproducing the letter P or p.
1.
Music. .
1.
penny; pence.
1.
Education. (as a rating of student performance) passing.
2.
Chess. .
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Electronics. .
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Grammar. .
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Symbol.
1.
the 16th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 15th.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 400.
Compare .
3.
Genetics. .
4.
Chemistry. .
5.
Physics.

6.
Biochemistry. .
1.
Military. (in designations of fighter aircraft) pursuit:
P-38.
1.
Chemistry. 1 (def 2).
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Music. .
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penny; pence.
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Grammar. .
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Baseball. .
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[hahy-zuh] /ˈhaɪ zə/
noun
1.
Paul (Johann von)
[poul yoh-hahn fuh n] /paʊl ˈyoʊ hɑn fən/ (Show IPA), 1830–1914, German playwright, novelist, poet, and short-story writer: Nobel Prize 1910.
[roh] /roʊ/
noun, plural rhos.
1.
the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet (P, ρ).
2.
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
/piː/
noun (pl) p’s, P’s, Ps
1.
the 16th letter and 12th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.
a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiceless bilabial stop, as in pig
3.
mind one’s p’s and q’s, to be careful to behave correctly and use polite or suitable language
symbol
1.
(in Britain) penny or pence
2.
(music) piano: an instruction to play quietly
3.
pico-
4.
(physics)

symbol
1.
(chem) phosphorus
2.
(physics)

3.
(on road signs) parking
4.
(chess) pawn
5.
(currency)

abbreviation
6.
Portugal (international car registration)
7.
pharmacy only: used to label medicines that can be obtained without a prescription, but only at a shop at which there is a pharmacist
prefix
1.
short for para-1 (sense 6)
abbreviation
1.
(pl) pp. page
2.
part
3.
participle
4.
past
5.
per
6.
post
7.
pro
/rəʊ/
noun (pl) rhos
1.
the 17th letter in the Greek alphabet (Ρ, ρ), a consonant transliterated as r or rh

a rare letter in the initial position in Germanic, in part because by Grimm’s Law PIE p- became Germanic f-; even with the early Latin borrowings in Old English, -p- takes up a little over 4 pages in J.R. Clark Hall’s “Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary,” compared to 31 pages for B and more than 36 for F. But it now is the third-most-common initial letter in the English vocabulary, and with C and S comprises nearly a third of the dictionary, a testimony to the flood of words that have entered the language since 1066 from Latin, Greek, and French.

To mind one’s Ps and Qs (1779), possibly is from confusion of these letters among children learning to write. Another theory traces it to old-time tavern-keepers tracking their patrons’ bar tabs in pints and quarts. But cf. also to be P and Q (1610s), “to be excellent,” a slang phrase said to derive from prime quality.

P
The symbol for the element phosphorus.

p- abbr.
para- (often italic)

rho n.

Symbol ρ The 17th letter of the Greek alphabet.
P

phosphorus
(fŏs’fər-əs)
Symbol P
A highly reactive, poisonous nonmetallic element occurring naturally in phosphates, especially in the mineral apatite. It exists in white (or sometimes yellow), red, and black forms, and is an essential component of protoplasm. Phosphorus is used to make matches, fireworks, and fertilizers and to protect metal surfaces from corrosion. Atomic number 15; atomic weight 30.9738; melting point (white) 44.1°C; boiling point 280°C; specific gravity (white) 1.82; valence 3, 5. See Periodic Table.

noun

Any of the various units of currency whose designations begin with ”p,” such as the Mexican peso or the Vietnamese piastre (1966+)

Related Terms

pee

[“Experience with Remote Procedure Calls in a Real-Time Control System”, B. Carpenter et al, Soft Prac & Exp 14(9):901-907 (Sep 1984)].
1.
momentum
2.
piano (musical direction)
3.
proton
4.
punctuation
1.
pale
2.
parental generation
3.
parity
4.
parking available
5.
pass
6.
pawn
7.
petite
8.
phosphorus
9.
poor
10.
Portugal (international vehicle ID)
11.
pressure
12.
professional (as in personal ads)
13.
punter
1.
page
2.
part
3.
participle
4.
past
5.
penny
6.
peseta
7.
peso
8.
pint
9.
pipe
10.
pole
11.
population
12.
principal
13.
purl
Peter
para-
see: mind one’s p’s and q’s