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1petticoat noun 1 : a skirt worn under a dress

2 : an outer skirt

2petticoat adjective : of, relating to, or exercised by women : FEMALE

pet·ti·fog verb -fogged; -fog·ging 1 : to engage in legal trickery

2 : to quibble over insignificant details

— pet·ti·fog·ger noun

pet·ti·fog·ger noun 1 : a lawyer whose methods are petty, underhanded, or disreputable

2 : one given to quibbling over trifles

— pet·ti·fog·ging adjective or noun

pet·tish adjective : querulous in temperament or mood : PEEVISH

pet·ty adjective pet·ti·er; -est [ORIGIN: ME pety small, minor, alter. of petit, fr. AF, small]

1 : having secondary rank : MINOR <~ prince>

2 : of little importance : TRIFLING <~ faults>

3 : marked by or reflective of narrow interests and sympathies

— pet·ti·ly adverb

— pet·ti·ness noun

Synonyms

[2] inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, measly, minute, negligible, nominal, paltry, slight, trifling, trivial—more at NEGLIGIBLE

[3] insular, little, narrow, parochial, provincial, sectarian, small—more at NARROW

petty officer noun : a subordinate officer in the navy or coast guard appointed from among the enlisted men

petty officer first class noun : a petty officer ranking below a chief petty officer

petty officer second class noun : a petty officer ranking below a petty officer first class

petty officer third class noun : a petty officer ranking below a petty officer second class

pet·u·lance noun : the quality or state of being petulant

pet·u·lant adjective : marked by capricious ill humor

— pet·u·lant·ly adverb

Synonyms

choleric, crabby, cranky, cross, crotchety, grouchy, grumpy, irascible, irritable, peevish, perverse, short-tempered, snappish, snappy, snippy, testy, waspish—more at IRRITABLE

pe·tu·nia noun : any of a genus of tropical American herbs related to the potato and having bright funnel-shaped flowers

pew noun [ORIGIN: ME pewe, fr. MF puie balustrade, fr. L podia, pl. of podium parapet, podium, fr. Gk podion base, dim. of pod-, pous foot]

: any of the benches with backs fixed in rows in a church

pe·wee noun : any of various small American flycatchers

pew·ter noun 1 : an alloy of tin used esp. for household utensils

2 : a bluish gray color

— pewter adjective

— pew·ter·er noun

Synonyms

gray, leaden, silver, silvery, slate, steely—more at GRAY

pey·o·te also pey·otl noun 1 : a hallucinogenic drug derived from the peyote cactus and containing mescaline

2 : a small cactus of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico

pf abbreviation 1 pfennig

2 preferred

PFC or Pfc abbreviation private first class

pfd abbreviation preferred

pg abbreviation page

PG abbreviation postgraduate

PGA abbreviation Professional Golfers' Association

pH noun : a value used to express acidity and alkalinity; also : the condition represented by such a value

PH abbreviation 1 pinch hit

2 public health

pha·eton noun [ORIGIN: F phaéton, fr. Gk Phaethōn, son of the sun god who persuaded his father to let him drive the chariot of the sun but who lost control of the horses with disastrous consequences]

1 : a light 4-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle

2 : an open automobile with two cross seats

phage noun : BACTERIOPHAGE

pha·lanx noun, plural pha·lanx·es or pha·lan·ges 1 : a group or body (as of troops) in compact formation

2 plural phalanges : one of the digital bones of the hand or foot of a vertebrate

phal·a·rope noun, plural -ropes also -rope : any of a genus of small shorebirds related to sandpipers

phal·lic adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a phallus

2 : relating to or being the stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory during which children become interested in their own sexual organs

phal·lus noun, plural phal·li or phal·lus·es : PENIS; also : a symbolic representation of the penis

Phan·er·o·zo·ic adjective : of, relating to, or being an