📖 P — The English dictionary · page 26

phoenix — Everyday, meaning 1: A phoenix is a magical bird from old stories that burns itself in fire and is born again from its own ashes.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Phoenix (capital P) is the capital city of the US state of Arizona, in a hot desert.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Phoenix is also a boy's name, used for a character in some old stories.↗ Example: The phoenix rose from the ashes.↗ · In the story, the phoenix's tears could heal wounds.↗ · Phoenix is a very hot city in Arizona.↗ · The team rose like a phoenix after losing every game last year.↗ · A phoenix is not a real bird.↗ · The phoenix had red and gold feathers.↗ · Dumbledore had a phoenix called Fawkes.↗ · Our school drama club is called the Phoenix Players.↗ · "I can go no farther," said Phoenix.↗ · Then I said: 'I shall die with my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix; (Writings JOB.29.18, JPS 1917)↗

phone — Everyday, meaning 1: A phone is a device for calling and talking to people far away.↗ A mobile phone (cell phone) can also send messages, take photos and use the internet.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To phone is to call someone.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «On the phone» means talking by phone.↗ Example: The phone costs 200 dollars.↗ · She talked on the phone for 15 minutes.↗ · He saves 20 dollars a week for a phone.↗ · She phoned her grandma 3 times this week.↗ · The phone battery is at 20 percent.↗ · In an emergency, phone 911.↗ · Put your phone away during dinner.↗ · Don't answer calls from numbers you don't know.↗ · Dad is on the phone with the doctor.↗

phoneme — Everyday, meaning 1: (language) The smallest unit of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word, such as /c/, /a/, /t/ in "cat"; changing /c/ to /h/ gives "hat".↗ Example: "Ship" has three phonemes: sh-i-p.↗ · The word "cat" has three phonemes.↗ · Change one phoneme in "pin" to get "pan".↗ · English has about 44 phonemes.↗ · The letters "igh" make one phoneme in "night".↗ · Robots learn to recognise phonemes in speech.↗

phonetic — Everyday, meaning 1: Connected with the sounds of speech.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Written in a way that shows exactly how a word sounds.↗ e.g. "a phonetic spelling".↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (phonetic alphabet) A set of symbols where each one stands for one sound (IPA), or the list of code words like Alpha, Bravo, Charlie used on radios.↗ Example: Spanish spelling is more phonetic than English.↗ · The dictionary gives a phonetic guide to say the word.↗ · "Skool" is a phonetic spelling of "school".↗ · Pilots use the phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.↗ · "K" is "Kilo" in the phonetic alphabet.↗ · Some sounds have no letter, so we use phonetic symbols.↗

phonetically — Everyday, meaning 1: In a way that matches the sounds of speech.↗ e.g. "Spell it phonetically" means write it the way it sounds.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To do with the sounds of words, not their meaning.↗ Example: She spelled "because" phonetically as "bcoz".↗ · Sound the word out phonetically: c-a-t.↗ · "Colonel" is not spelled phonetically at all.↗ · Young children write phonetically at first.↗ · Read the nonsense words phonetically.↗ · Finnish is written almost exactly phonetically.↗

phonics — Everyday, meaning 1: Phonics is a way of learning to read by matching letters and groups of letters to the sounds they make.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Phonics also means the lessons and books that teach this.↗ Example: We have phonics every morning before break.↗ · In phonics we learned that «ai» and «ay» make the same sound.↗ · My little brother uses phonics to sound out new words.↗ · Phonics helps you read words you have never seen before.↗ · The teacher held up phonics cards with letters on them.↗ · Not every word follows phonics rules, like «said» and «the».↗

phosphoric — Everyday, meaning 1: (chemistry) Containing phosphorus, especially in "phosphoric acid", a chemical used in fertilisers, rust remover and some fizzy drinks like cola.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Glowing like phosphorus (old, rare).↗ Example: Cola contains phosphoric acid.↗ · Phosphoric acid can remove rust from metal.↗ · Too many fizzy drinks with phosphoric acid can damage teeth.↗ · Fertiliser factories use phosphoric acid.↗ · The label lists phosphoric acid as an ingredient.↗ · Phosphoric acid is made from phosphorus.↗

phosphorus — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) Phosphorus is a chemical element, a non-metal with the symbol P and atomic number 15.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: It is needed by all living things: it is in our bones, teeth and DNA, and plants need it to grow.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Pure white phosphorus glows in the dark and catches fire by itself in air, so it is very dangerous; red phosphorus is safer and is used on matchboxes.↗ Example: Phosphorus is element number 15 in the periodic table.↗ · Our bones and teeth contain calcium and phosphorus.↗ · Farmers add phosphorus to the soil so crops grow well.↗ · The strip on the side of a matchbox has red phosphorus in it.↗ · White phosphorus glows faintly in the dark.↗ · Never touch white phosphorus; it can burn your skin.↗ · Milk, eggs and fish give us phosphorus.↗

photo — Everyday, meaning 1: A photo is a picture taken with a camera or a phone.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Photo is short for photograph.↗ Example: She took 36 photos.↗ · Each page holds 4 photos.↗ · How many pages does she need for 36 photos?↗ · He printed 12 photos.↗ · Smile for the class photo!↗ · This is a photo of my grandad when he was little.↗ · Ask your friends before you share a photo of them.↗ · The photo shows a koala in a gum tree.↗

photocopier — Everyday, meaning 1: A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents or pictures quickly.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: It works with light and toner (a fine powder ink).↗ Example: The teacher made thirty copies on the photocopier.↗ · The photocopier has run out of paper.↗ · Paper got stuck in the photocopier again.↗ · Our library has a photocopier you can use for ten cents a page.↗ · Don't put your hand on the glass while the photocopier is working.↗ · The photocopier made the picture bigger.↗

photograph — Everyday, meaning 1: A photograph is a picture made with a camera.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To photograph something is to take a picture of it with a camera.↗ Example: Mum took a photograph of us on the beach.↗ · This old photograph shows my great-grandad.↗ · Ask before you take someone's photograph.↗ · We photographed the plants every day to see them grow.↗ · Our school photograph is on the wall.↗ · Who is the girl in the photograph?↗ · You may see photographs of these merry little black fellows before their troubles begin, in “Northern Races of Central Australia,” by Messrs.↗

photographer — Everyday, meaning 1: A person who takes photographs, either as a job or as a hobby.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The person who took a particular photo.↗ Example: The school photographer took our class picture today.↗ · She wants to be a wildlife photographer and photograph tigers.↗ · The photographer asked us to say «cheese».↗ · A newspaper photographer came to our sports day.↗ · My uncle is a keen amateur photographer.↗ · The photographer waited hours for the perfect sunset.↗ · Who was the photographer of this picture?↗

photographic — Everyday, meaning 1: Photographic means to do with photographs or photography.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A photographic memory lets someone remember things in great detail, like a picture.↗ Example: The museum has an old photographic camera.↗ · She has an almost photographic memory.↗ · The police found photographic evidence.↗ · He works in a photographic studio.↗ · The book has beautiful photographic pictures of animals.↗ · We need photographic ID to enter.↗ · The class set up a photographic display.↗ · Photographic film had to be developed in a dark room.↗ · When the eye of the murdered man closes, the picture of what it saw last clings to it for a time like a photographic picture.↗

photography — Everyday, meaning 1: Photography is the art, hobby or job of taking photographs with a camera or phone.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Photography also means the photos in a book, film or magazine, and how they are done, as in «the film has beautiful photography».↗ Example: My aunt does wildlife photography and waits hours for one shot.↗ · Flash photography is not allowed in the museum.↗ · We had a photography lesson on how to use light.↗ · Photography was invented about two hundred years ago.↗ · The film's photography made the mountains look magical.↗ · He took up photography as a hobby.↗

photoshop — Everyday, meaning 1: (Photoshop, noun) A computer program used to edit pictures.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb, informal) To change a photo digitally, often to make it look better or to fake something that did not happen.↗ Example: The magazine photoshopped the model to make her look taller.↗ · That picture of a shark on the motorway is photoshopped.↗ · Dad photoshopped my brother out of the holiday picture as a joke.↗ · Many photos online are photoshopped, so don't compare yourself to them.↗ · My sister learned Photoshop in her design class.↗ · You can tell it's photoshopped because the shadows are wrong.↗ · Can you photoshop a hat onto the dog?↗

photosphere — Everyday, meaning 1: The photosphere is the bright outer surface of the Sun (or another star) that we see, from which most of its light shines out.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: It is a layer of very hot gas, about 5,500 degrees Celsius, not a solid surface.↗ Example: The photosphere is the part of the Sun we can see.↗ · Sunspots are darker patches on the photosphere.↗ · The photosphere is about 5,500 degrees Celsius.↗ · Never look at the photosphere without special glasses.↗ · Light from the photosphere takes about eight minutes to reach Earth.↗ · Above the photosphere is the corona.↗

photosynthesis — Everyday, meaning 1: Photosynthesis is the way green plants make their own food using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air, giving out oxygen.↗ Example: Plants make food by photosynthesis.↗ · Photosynthesis needs sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.↗ · Leaves are green because of chlorophyll, which traps light for photosynthesis.↗ · Photosynthesis gives out oxygen.↗ · A plant in a dark cupboard cannot carry out photosynthesis.↗ · Almost all food chains start with photosynthesis.↗

phrasal — Everyday, meaning 1: Made of a phrase, or to do with phrases.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In "phrasal verb": a verb made of a verb plus a small word like up, out, off or on, which together have a special meaning, like "give up" or "look after".↗ Example: "Give up" is a phrasal verb.↗ · "Look after" is a phrasal verb meaning take care of.↗ · Our teacher made a list of phrasal verbs with "get".↗ · "Run out of milk" uses the phrasal verb "run out".↗ · Can you replace "find out" with one formal word?↗ Yes: "discover".↗ · English has thousands of phrasal verbs.↗

phrase — Everyday, meaning 1: A small group of words that go together but is not a whole sentence.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A common saying or expression.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) To say or write something in a particular way.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (music) A short part of a tune.↗ Example: "In the morning" is a phrase, not a sentence.↗ · "Break a leg" is a funny phrase that means good luck.↗ · Can you phrase your question more clearly?↗ · The phrase "how many left" tells you to subtract.↗ · Learn the phrases in the French phrase book.↗ · She has a nice turn of phrase.↗ · Play the first phrase of the song again.↗ · The Hebrew version of Rabbi Judah Ha Levi concludes with the phrase, ** and said of him.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893)↗ · Midrash Tanchuma 1:5 on [Genesis 1:1], Zohar 1:3a inter alia.]↗ [note 8: Though the phrase is usually translated the ‘Thirty-Two Paths’, I find that the alliteration of ‘Wondrous Ways of Wisdom’ neatly approximates the SY’s choice of poetic vocabulary.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗

phraseology — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: Phraseology is the particular way words are chosen and put together in speech or writing.↗ Example: This particular phraseology is one of several hints that the SY may share a particular literary affiliation with the Sifre Emet, the poems of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗ · The phraseology of the old book was hard to follow.↗ · Use simple phraseology when you write for little children.↗ · The writer's flowery phraseology made the story long.↗

physical — Everyday, meaning 1: Physical means about the body, not the mind: physical exercise, physical pain.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Real and solid, things you can touch and see.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: About physics or nature: a physical change.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (US noun) A physical is a check-up of your body by a doctor.↗ Example: PE stands for physical education.↗ · Running is good physical exercise.↗ · Melting ice is a physical change.↗ · Rivers and mountains are physical features on a map.↗ · Rugby is a very physical sport.↗ · A book is a physical object, but an e-book is not.↗ · I had a physical before joining the team.↗ · The Giants personified brute strength alone, but the Titans united to their great physical power intellectual qualifications variously developed.↗ · And on yet another level, it refers to the physical body, the primary metaphorical sense in which the term is encountered in the SY.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗ · On this point endless dis- cussions arose; and it has even been disputed whether they are designed to express theological, philosophical, or physical mysteries.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗

physically — Everyday, meaning 1: In a way that is about the body, not the mind: physically fit.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In a way that is about real things you can touch or see: physically impossible.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In person, by being there: physically present.↗ Example: Running every day keeps you physically fit.↗ · It is physically impossible to jump to the Moon.↗ · The boxer was physically strong but tired.↗ · He was physically present but his mind was elsewhere.↗ · Nobody was physically hurt in the crash.↗ · I physically can't fit another bite in!↗ · One of the young volunteers, of whom, physically speaking, it might be said that he had a great head, was on guard that evening at the hospital.↗ · Each working after its own way, physically and spiritually.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877)↗