📖 P — The English dictionary · page 73

pug — Everyday, meaning 1: A pug is a small dog with a flat, wrinkly face, a curly tail and short fur, usually pale brown with a black face, or all black.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (old slang) «Pug» was once a short word for a boxer (from «pugilist»).↗ Example: Our neighbour's pug snores very loudly.↗ · The pug wagged its curly tail.↗ · Pugs can overheat on hot days, so walk them in the cool morning.↗ · He has a pug nose, short and turned up.↗ · Flat-faced dogs like pugs can find it hard to breathe.↗ · The pug wore a little coat in the snow.↗ · My friend named her pug Biscuit.↗ · In the meantime, there arrived from the next town a lady; she had a pug dog with her, and came, she said, to dispose of shares in her tan-yard.↗

pugilist — Everyday, meaning 1: A pugilist is a boxer, a person who fights with the fists for sport.↗ Example: The pugilist won every fight in the town.↗ · Pollux was the first of the pugilists.↗ · The young pugilist trained every morning.↗

puke — Everyday, meaning 1: (slang) To puke is to vomit, to be sick.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (slang) Puke is vomit.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (slang) «Makes me want to puke» means something is disgusting.↗ Example: (slang) I puked after the roller coaster.↗ · (slang) There was puke on the bus floor.↗ · (slang) That smell makes me want to puke.↗ · (slang) The baby puked on Dad's shirt.↗ · (slang) Don't eat so fast or you'll puke.↗ · (polite, UK) I was sick in the night.↗ · (formal) The patient vomited twice.↗ · (slang) He puked up his dinner.↗

pul — Everyday, meaning 1: A small coin of Afghanistan: 100 puls make one afghani; today it is hardly used.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (Persian, Dari) The word for «money» in Persian and Dari; it is not an English word.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Often just a misspelling or cut-off piece of «pull» or a name.↗ Example: One afghani is worth one hundred puls.↗ · The old coin in the museum was an Afghan pul.↗ · In Persian, «pul» means money.↗ · The sign said «PUL» but someone had rubbed off the last L of «PULL».↗ · Pul coins are so small in value that people rarely use them.↗ · There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.↗ (Prophets 2KI.15.19, JPS 1917)↗

pull — Everyday, meaning 1: To pull is to move something toward you by holding it.↗ You pull a wagon or pull a door open.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To pull out or pull up is to take something out: pull weeds, pull a tooth, pull a card from a pile.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A pull is a force that draws things closer, like the pull of a magnet or of gravity.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A vehicle pulls in, out or over when it moves to the side or stops.↗ Example: Sam pulls 12 weeds in the morning and 9 more in the afternoon.↗ · She pulls 3 red marbles out of the bag.↗ · A horse pulls a cart with 40 bags of grain.↗ · How many weeds did they pull in all?↗ · Gravity pulls the apple down to the ground.↗ · The magnet pulls the paper clips toward it.↗ · The door says «pull», not «push».↗ · The car pulled over to let the ambulance pass.↗ · Are you pulling my leg?↗ · The Queen pulled off her shoes.↗ · He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; He hath made me desolate.↗ (Writings LAM.3.11, JPS 1917)↗ · And I will thrust thee from thy post, and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.↗ (Prophets ISA.22.19, JPS 1917)↗ · And also pull out some for her of purpose from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and rebuke her not.'↗ (Writings RUT.2.16, JPS 1917)↗

pullet — Everyday, meaning 1: A pullet is a young hen, a female chicken that has not yet laid many eggs.↗ Example: The farmer kept a dozen pullets in the yard.↗ · We are roasting pullets today.↗ · The pullet clucked at the fox.↗

pulley — Everyday, meaning 1: A pulley is a simple machine made of a wheel with a groove that a rope or chain runs over, used to lift heavy things more easily.↗ Example: We used a pulley to lift the bucket.↗ · The flag goes up the pole with a pulley.↗ · A crane uses pulleys to lift heavy loads.↗ · With two pulleys, you need less effort.↗ · The old well had a pulley and rope.↗ · We built a pulley in our science lesson.↗ · The curtains open with a small pulley.↗ · Off went Tom and four men besides, and when they came to the tree they began to draw it into the cart with pulleys.↗

pullover — Everyday, meaning 1: A knitted top with sleeves that you pull on over your head; a jumper or sweater.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (rare) Anything that is pulled over something else.↗ Example: Put on your pullover; it's cold outside.↗ · My school pullover is navy blue.↗ · Gran knitted me a red pullover.↗ · A pullover costs £12 and a hat costs £5.↗ · He took off his pullover after running.↗ · I can't find my pullover in lost property.↗ · This pullover is too itchy.↗

pulp — Everyday, meaning 1: Pulp is a soft, wet, squashed mass, such as the soft inside of a fruit or vegetable.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Pulp is the mush of wood or old paper mixed with water that is used to make paper.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To pulp something is to crush it into a soft mass.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: The pulp of a tooth is the soft living inside, with nerves and blood.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: «Pulp» stories or magazines are cheap, exciting, not very serious ones.↗ Example: I like orange juice with pulp.↗ · We made new paper from paper pulp.↗ · Wood is turned into pulp at the paper mill.↗ · Mash the fruit into a pulp.↗ · The unsold books were pulped and recycled.↗ · The dentist said the pulp of the tooth was fine.↗ · Grandpa reads old pulp adventure stories.↗

pulpit — Everyday, meaning 1: (church) A pulpit is a raised, enclosed stand in a church, from which the priest or minister gives the sermon.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The pulpit can mean preachers or religious teaching in general, as in «from the pulpit».↗ Example: The vicar climbed the steps into the pulpit.↗ · The minister preached from the pulpit every Sunday.↗ · The old pulpit was carved from dark oak.↗ · From the pulpit, the priest asked people to help the flood victims.↗ · On our church visit we saw the font, the altar and the pulpit.↗ · The pulpit was high so everyone could hear.↗ · Then he came down from the pulpit, and stood with his musket in front of the princess’s chest.↗

pulpy — Everyday, meaning 1: Soft, wet and squashy, like pulp (the soft inside of fruit).↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (of stories) Cheap, exciting and not very well written, like old «pulp» magazines.↗ Example: The peaches were soft and pulpy.↗ · I like pulpy orange juice.↗ · The paper turned pulpy in the rain.↗ · Mash the bananas until pulpy.↗ · The tomatoes were overripe and pulpy.↗ · He reads pulpy adventure stories.↗

pulsar — Everyday, meaning 1: A tiny, very heavy, spinning dead star (a neutron star) that sends out beams of radio waves or light, which reach Earth as very regular pulses, like a lighthouse.↗ Example: A pulsar spins hundreds of times a second.↗ · The pulsar's beam sweeps past Earth like a lighthouse.↗ · Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first pulsar.↗ · At first scientists jokingly called the signal "little green men".↗ · Pulsars are left over after a supernova.↗ · Some pulsars keep time better than clocks on Earth.↗

pulsation — Everyday, meaning 1: A regular beat or throb, like a heartbeat.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (science) A regular swelling and shrinking, such as a star that grows bigger and smaller, or a wave of pressure.↗ Example: You can feel the pulsation of blood in your wrist.↗ · The pulsation of the music filled the hall.↗ · The star's pulsation makes it brighter and dimmer.↗ · The doctor felt for a pulsation in his neck.↗ · Jellyfish move by pulsation of their bells.↗ · Count the pulsations in fifteen seconds and multiply by four.↗

pulse — Everyday, meaning 1: Your pulse is the beat of your heart that you can feel on your wrist or neck.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A pulse is one short beat, burst of light, sound or energy.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Pulses are seeds you can eat, like lentils, beans and peas.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To pulse is to beat or throb in a steady rhythm.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Calling someone my pulse is an old, loving name for a person you dearly love.↗ Example: Her pulse is 80 beats a minute.↗ · After running, his pulse went up by 30 beats.↗ · How many times does a heart with a pulse of 70 beat in 5 minutes?↗ · Count your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.↗ · Put two fingers on your wrist to feel your pulse.↗ · The doctor checked my pulse.↗ · Lentils and chickpeas are pulses.↗ · The music pulsed through the hall.↗ · Her pulse raced when the lights went out.↗ · “Is this true, my pulse?” he murmured.↗ · So the steward took away their food, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.↗ (Writings DAN.1.16, JPS 1917)↗ · 'Try thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.↗ (Writings DAN.1.12, JPS 1917)↗ · brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, (Prophets 2SA.17.28, JPS 1917)↗

pulverised — Everyday, meaning 1: Crushed into powder or tiny pieces: «pulverised rock», «pulverised coal».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (informal) Beaten very heavily in a game or fight: «Our team got pulverised 7–0.».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Completely destroyed: «The old building was pulverised by the wrecking ball.».↗ Example: The miners pulverised the rock to get the gold out.↗ · We pulverised chalk to make paint powder.↗ · The pestle pulverised the spices in the bowl.↗ · Our football team got pulverised by the champions.↗ · The glacier pulverised the stones into fine sand.↗ · The old car was pulverised in the crusher.↗

puma — Everyday, meaning 1: A puma is a large wild cat of North and South America with a plain sandy-brown coat and a long tail.↗ It is also called a cougar or mountain lion.↗ Example: A puma can leap high into a tree.↗ · The puma stalked a deer through the forest.↗ · Pumas live alone except for mothers with cubs.↗ · Puma, cougar and mountain lion are three names for the same cat.↗ · Puma cubs are born with spots that fade as they grow.↗ · Hikers in Canada were warned about a puma nearby.↗ · But the puma easily saw through these excuses, and laughed at him.↗

pumice — Everyday, meaning 1: Pumice is a very light, rough grey rock full of tiny holes, made when frothy lava from a volcano cools quickly; it can float on water.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A pumice stone is a piece of this rock used to rub away hard skin, for example on your feet.↗ Example: Pumice is the only rock that floats on water.↗ · Pumice forms when bubbly lava cools very quickly.↗ · Nan uses a pumice stone on her heels.↗ · After the eruption, a raft of pumice floated across the Pacific.↗ · We tested rocks in water, and the pumice floated.↗ · Pumice is rough, light and full of holes.↗ · Some toothpastes and cleaners contain powdered pumice.↗

pump — Everyday, meaning 1: A pump is a machine that pushes water, air, fuel or another liquid or gas from one place to another.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To pump is to move it with a pump: «pump up a tyre».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Your heart is a pump that pushes blood around your body.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Pumps are also light flat shoes (UK).↗ Example: A pump moves 30 litres a minute.↗ · How long to pump 600 litres?↗ · He pumps up 4 tyres.↗ · Two pumps work together.↗ · Use the bike pump to put air in the tyre.↗ · The heart pumps blood all around the body.↗ · Firefighters pumped water out of the flooded cellar.↗ · We were pumped for the big game.↗ · ‘Rubbish!’ said his wife.↗ ‘Who can pump out the sea?’↗

pumpkin — Everyday, meaning 1: A pumpkin is a large, round, orange vegetable (really a fruit) with a thick skin, soft flesh and many seeds inside.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Pumpkin is also the food made from it: pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «Pumpkin» is a loving name some parents call a child.↗ Example: We carved a scary face into our pumpkin.↗ · Cinderella's fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into a coach.↗ · Mum roasted pumpkin with the potatoes.↗ · We went to a pumpkin patch to pick one.↗ · A pumpkin has lots of seeds inside.↗ · Ask an adult to help when you cut a pumpkin; the knife is sharp.↗ · Goodnight, pumpkin!↗ · "Run into the garden, and bring me a pumpkin."↗

pun — Everyday, meaning 1: A pun is a joke that uses a word with two meanings, or words that sound the same, to be funny.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To pun means to make such a joke.↗ Example: I'm reading a book about anti-gravity — it's impossible to put down.↗ That's a pun!↗ · «Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana» is a famous pun.↗ · Dad tells terrible puns at dinner.↗ · The headline used a pun on «sole» and «soul».↗ · Why can't a bicycle stand up?↗ Because it's two-tyred — a pun on «tired».↗ · We wrote our own puns in English class.↗

punch — Everyday, meaning 1: To hit someone or something hard with a closed fist.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (noun) A hard hit with the fist.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To make a hole in something with a tool (punch a ticket).↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (noun) A tool for making holes (a hole punch).↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (noun) A sweet drink made by mixing fruit juices, sometimes with alcohol, served from a big bowl.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: To press keys or buttons (punch in a number).↗ Everyday, meaning 7: (noun) Strength or force in a speech or idea (a joke with punch).↗ Example: He punched the pillow when he was angry.↗ · Punching other children is never OK.↗ · The boxer threw a punch.↗ · Use the hole punch to make holes in the paper.↗ · The bus driver punched my ticket.↗ · We made fruit punch for the party.↗ · The recipe uses 3 litres of juice and 2 litres of lemonade, so 5 litres of punch.↗ · What's the punch line of the joke?↗ · The two then fell into grips, and went lurching and punching about the great hall.↗