P

pledge, n. gage, security, hostage, guarantee.

pledge, v. pawn, impawn, hypothecate, plight.

plenteous, a. plentiful.

plentiful, a. abundant, bounteous, ample, galore, copious, full, sufficient, lavish, replete, unstinted, prolific. Antonyms: scarce, deficient, inadequate, insufficient, scant, niggardly.

plenty, n. abundance, sufficiency, plenitude. Antonyms: See scarcity.

plethora, n. superabundance, superfluity, excess, repletion; hyperaemia.

pliability, n. flexibility, suppleness, pliancy, limberness, ductility, malleability. Antonyms: inflexibility, rigidity. See inflexibility.

pliable, a. flexible, pliant, supple, limber, lithesome, lithe, flexile, malleable; irresolute, yielding, facile, compliant. Antonyms: impliable, inflexible.

plight, n. condition, state, dilemma, predicament, situation, scrape.

plight, v. pawn, pledge; promise, betroth.

plod, v. trudge, tramp.

plodding, a. hardworking, diligent.

plot, n. conspiracy, intrigue, machination, cabal, complot; plat; imbroglio (complicated plot). Associated Word: marplot.

plot, v. conspire, intrigue, cabal, complot, machinate, scheme.

plotter, n. conspirator, intriguer, intrigant, machinator, caballer, intrigante (female).

plowable, a. arable. Antonym: inarable.

plowland, n. arable, carucate.

plowman, n. plower, husbandman.

pluck, v. pull, draw; pick, gather.

pluck, n. courage, energy, spirit, stamina, pluckiness.

plucky, a. courageous, spirited, indomitable, resolute, unflinching, game.

plug, n. stopper, stopple, bung, tampoon, spile, tampion, spigot.

plumb, a. perpendicular, upright, true.

plume, v. preen, prink; pride, vaunt, boast, glory.

plump, a. fleshy, bouncing, chubby, fat, portly, stout; blunt, unreserved, unqualified.

plunder, n. booty, spoil, loot, pillage, robbery.

plunder, v. pillage, loot, rob.

plunderer, n. pillager, robber, spoiler, depredator, marauder.

plunge, v. souse, immerse, submerge, dip, douse; dive, pitch.

pocket, n. bag, sack, pouch, placket, sabretasche.

pocket-book, n. purse, wallet, portemonnaie.

pockmarked, a. pockpitted, pockfretten, pocky, pitted.

pod, n. capsule, legume, burr, shale, boll.

poem, n. sonnet, ballad, verse, distich, lyric, elegy, eclogue, idyl, madrigal, epic, ode, georgic, cid, rondeau, epilogue, epigram, elegiac, roundelay, dithyramb, dithyrambic, doggerel, rhapsody.

poet, n. bard; laureate; versifier, rhymster, poetaster; troubadour, jongleur.

poetaster, n. rhymster, verse-monger, versifier.

poetical, a. metrical, rhythmic.

poetry, n. verse, rhyme, poems, poesy, orthometry, versification, prosody, poetics. Antonym: prose. Associated Word: anthology.

poignant, a. pricking, piercing, pungent.

point, n. prick, gad, goad; punctilio, nicety, subtlety; poignancy, sting; degree, step, stage; ferrule; zenith (highest point); nadir (lowest point); aiglet, tag; apex, tip.

point, v. aim, level, direct; show, indicate, designate; punctuate; taper.

point-blank, a. direct, plain, unqualified, unreserved.

pointed, a. sharp, picked, peaked, tapering, conical. Antonyms: pointless, dull.

pointer, n. indicator, index.

pointing, n. sharpening; punctuation; designation, indication.

poise, n. equipoise, balance, equilibrium.

poise, v. balance, librate.

poison, n. venom, virus, toxine, toxicant, irritant, taint, bane, ptomaine. Associated Words: toxicology, toxicophobia, toxicomania, toxiferous, toxicologist, antidote, alexiteric, venenific, septiferous, envenom, infect.

poisoning, n. toxication, venenation; autotoxication (self-poisoning); tainting, vitiation, infection.

poisonous, a. toxic, toxical, venomous, noxious, baneful, virulent, malignant. Antonyms: nonpoisonous, antidotal.

poisonousness, n. toxicity, venomousness, virulence, malignancy.

poke, n. bag, sack, pocket; thrust, punch, jog, dig; dawdler, bore.

poke, v. stir up, excite; punch, thrust; gore, hook; grope.

poke fun at. (Colloq.) ridicule, deride.

poker-painting, n. pyrography, xylopyrography.

poky, a. (Colloq.) slow, dull, tiresome, tedious, prosaic.

polar lights. aurora borealis (northern); aurora australis (southern);

Pole, n. Polander, Polack.

pole, n. shaft, thill (of a vehicle); rod, perch; bergstock, alpenstock; poy (rope-dancer's pole); 5 1/2 yards, 30 1/4 square yards; jalons; quant.

polestar, n. north star, polar star, Polaris, loadstar, Cynosure.

polish, v. burnish, furbish.

polish, n. gloss, luster, sheen, glaze, glazing; courtliness, refinement.

polished, a. burnished, glistening, bright; courtly, elegant refined.

polite, a. courtly, civil, courteous, suave, urbane, deferential debonair, mannerly. Antonyms: See impolite.

politeness, n. courtliness, courtesy, civility, suavity, urbanity, deference, amenity, comity.

politic, a. political; judicious, discreet, shrewd, astute; diplomatic, strategic, artful.

politician, n. statesman, statist; demagogue (unprincipled and factious).

polliwog, n. tadpole, purwiggy.

poll tax. capitation.

pollute, v. defile, contaminate, corrupt, infect, debase, vitiate, desecrate, befoul.

pollution, n. defilement, contamination, corruption, infection debasement, vitiation.

poltroon, n. coward, craven, dastard.

pommel, v. beat, pound, maul, belabor, cudgel, thwack, club.

pomp, n. pageantry, parade, pageant.

pompous, a. stately, imposing, august; pretentious, grandiose See bombastic.

pond, n. lake (small); lagoon.

ponder, v. meditate, reflect, ruminate, think, muse.