The Project Gutenberg eBook of Putnam's Word Book, by Louis A. Flemming

peach, v. (Colloq.) tell on, betray.

peacock, n. bird of Juno, Pavo. Associated word: pavonine.

peak, n. apex, pinnacle, summit, crest, spire, point, top, crown, finial.

peaked, a. pointed; (Cottoq.) sickly, thin, pale, emaciated.

peal, v. resound, reverberate, echo, boom.

peal, n. reverberation, resounding.

peanut, n. groundnut, earthnut, goober.

pear cider. perry.

pearl, n. margarite; jewel, gem; baroque pearl; nacre (mother-of-pearl).

pearl-producing, a. margaritiferous.

pearly, a. nacreous, pearlaceous, pellucid, iridescent.

pear-shaped, a. pyriform.

peart, a. (Colloq.) lively, active, smart, brisk.

peasant, n. rustic, swain, hind.

pease, n. pl. legumes, pulse; hastings. Associated word: leguminous.

pea-shaped, a. pisiform.

peck at. carp at, nag, tease, importune, twit.

peculation, n. embezzlement.

peculator, n. embezzler.

peculiar, a. individual, personal, particular; singular, eccentric, erratic, queer, odd, exceptional, unique, bizarre, grotesque, nondescript, unusual, unconventional.

peculiarity, n. characteristic, trait, attribute, idiosyncrasy, eccentricity, oddness.

peddle, v. hawk, vend.

peddler, n. hawker, huckster, vender, chapman, cadger, packman, coster.

peddler's pack. wallet.

peddling, n. hucksterage, hawking.

pedigree, n. lineage, ancestry, descent, extraction, genealogy.

peek, v. peep.

peel, n. rind, skin.--v. pare, decorticate. Antonym: pulp.

peep, v. chirp, cheep, pule; peer, peek, pry.

peer, n. equal, match, mate, compeer; nobleman, noble, lord.

peerless, a. matchless, unrivalled, inimitable, incomparable, unsurpassed, superlative, nonpareil, transcendent, supreme, unequalled.

peevish, a. petulant, querulous, captious, spleeny, fretful, impatient, cross.

peg, n. pin, spilikin; pretext, support, reason; degree, step.

pellmell, adv. disorderly, confusedly, helter-skelter.

pelt, n. woolfell, fell.

pelt, v. batter, beat, assail, pepper.

pen, v. confine, coop, encage, corral.

pen, n. coop, sty, cote, enclosure, hutch, paddock, pound, pinfold, corral, stockade.

penalty, n. punishment, retribution; forfeiture, fine, mulct.

pending, a. undecided, unsettled.--prep. during.

penetrable, a. permeable, pervious. Antonym: impenetrable.

penetrate, v. pierce, perforate; comprehend, understand; explore; interpenetrate.

penetrating, a. piercing, subtile, penetrant, sharp; acute, discerning, penetrative.

penetration, n. piercing, perforation; acuteness, discernment, sharpness; interpenetration.

peninsula, n. chersonese.

penis, n. Associated words: penial, foreskin, prepuce, glans, urethra, chordee, erection, orgasm, corpus spangiosum, priapism, phimosis, smegma, phallus, bougie.

penitence, n. contrition, repentance, remorse, compunction. Antonym: impenitence.

penitent, a. contrite, remorseful. Antonyms: impenitent, incontrite.

penitentiary, n. prison.

penman, n. calligrapher, calligraphist, chirographer, chirographist, writer.

penmanship, n. writing, calligraphy, pencraft, chirography.

pen name. pseudonym, nom de plume.

penniless, a. impecunious, indigent, destitute. See poor.

pennilessness, n. impecuniosity, indigence, poverty, destitution.

penny, n. cent; groat, stiver; denarius.

penny-a-liner, n. hack, hack writer.

pensive, a. meditative, dreamy, lackadaisical, introspective, thoughtful, sad, grave.

Pentecost, n. Whitsunday, Whitsuntide.

penthouse, n. lean-to.

pent up. confined, restrained, restricted.

penurious, a. miserly, stingy, niggardly, parsimonious, avaricious, grasping.

penury, n. poverty, indigence.

people, n. folks; inhabitants, population, citizens; populace, commonalty, rabble, canaille; relatives, relations, kindred; laity.

people, v. populate, colonize.

peopled, a. inhabited, populated.

pepper, n. capsicum.

peppery, a. pungent; irascible, hot-tempered, choleric.

perceive, v. see, discern, observe; apprehend, comprehend, understand. See see.

perception, n. cognizance, discernment; sensation, feeling. Antonym: imperception.

perch, n. roost.

perchance, adv. perhaps, peradventure, possibly, maybe.

perchers, n. pl. Insessores.

percolate, v. ooze, strain, filter, transude.

percolation, n. filtration, straining, transuding.

perdition, n. ruin, wreck, destruction; hell.

perennial, a. perpetual, undying, imperishable.

perfect, a. consummate, faultless, flawless, exquisite, inviolate, impeccable, infallible, correct, mature, ideal, irreproachable, blameless. Antonyms: See imperfect.

perfect, v. consummate, elaborate, retouch, develop.

perfection, n. faultlessness, consummation, impeccability.

perfidious, a. See unfaithful.

perfidy, n. treachery, faithlessness, disloyalty, unfaithfulness.

perforate, v. bore through, pierce, penetrate, drill.

perforation, n. piercing, penetration; hole, opening, pertusion, aperture. Antonyms: imperforation, imperforable.

perforator, n. cephalotome.

perform, v. accomplish, execute, do.

performance, n. execution, achievement, accomplishment; trick, feat, exploit, stunt, deed, act.

performer, n. acrobat, funambulist, equilibrist, tumbler, contortionist, aerosaltant, actor, player, impersonator.

perfume, n. fragrance, aroma, redolence, sachet, incense, emanation, odor; attar, musk, patchouli, frankincense, civet, myrrh, pastil, pulvillio. Associated words: exhale, exhalation, cassolette, perfumer, perfumery.

perhaps, adv. perchance, peradventure, possibly, haply.

peril, n. See danger.

perilous, a. dangerous, hazardous, imperiled, unsafe. Antonyms: See safe.

period, n. interval.

perishable, a. destructible, impermanent, mortal. Antonyms: imperishable, permanent.

perjury, n. oath-breaking. Associated words: suborn subornation, suborner, perjurer, perjurous, forswear.

perk, a. vain, trim, spruce, smart, jaunty.

permanence, n. durability, imperishability, stability, permanency.

permanent, a. stable, immutable, durable, imperishable, unchangeable, abiding, indestructible. Antonyms: impermanent, evanescent, ephemeral, transient.

permeable, a. penetrable, pervious, pervadible. Antonym: impermeable.

permission, n. consent, allowance, license, leave, permit, authorization, warrant. Antonyms: refusal, denial, embargo, injunction, veto, prohibition, resistance.

permit, v. allow, consent to, suffer, tolerate, let, authorize, indulge, license, empower. Antonyms: refuse, disallow, prohibit, resist.

permit, n. warrant, license, leave, permission.

pernicious, a. deleterious, harmful, noisome, baleful, vicious.

pernickety, a. (Colloq.) finical, particular, fastidious, fussy.

perpendicular, a. upright, vertical. Antonyms: horizontal oblique.

perpetual, a. See everlasting.

perplex, v. bewilder, puzzle, pose, confuse, mystify, distract, disconcert, entangle.

perplexed, a. bewildered, confused, puzzled, disconcerted.

perplexing, a. bewildering, confusing, carking, mystifying, puzzling.

perplexity, n. bewilderment, distraction, confusion, disconcertion, doubt, uncertainty, predicament, dilemma, plight, quandary, difficulty, strait.

persecute, v. harass, oppress, tyrannize, torment, dragoon, importune, annoy, hector, badger.

persecution, n. oppression, molestation, importunity.

perseverance, n. persistence, diligence, constancy, indefatigableness, assiduity, pertinacity.

persevere, v. persist, continue.

persevering, a. persistent, steadfast, untiring, indefatigable, pertinacious, unremitting, indomitable. Antonyms: inconstant, fickle, unsteadfast.

persist, v. persevere.

persistency, n. perseverance, doggedness, pertinacity, obstinacy, contumacy, insistence.

persistent, a. contumacious, persevering, insistent, pertinacious, tenacious, importunate, constant.

personality, n. individuality; reflection, stricture, animadversion, criticism.

personally, adv. individually.

personate, v. impersonate.

personation, n. impersonation.

perspiration, n. See sweat.

perspire, v. sweat.

persuade, v. induce.

persuasion, n. inducement, suasion, incitement; creed, belief. Antonyms: dissuasion, coercion, constraint.

persuasive, a. persuasory.

pert, a. sprightly, dapper, nimble; forward, bold, saucy, malapert.

pertain, v. appertain.

pertinacious, a. resolute, determined, stubborn.

pertinacity, n. resoluteness, persistence, doggedness, stubbornness.

pertinence, n. relevancy, applicability, propriety. Antonyms: impertinence, irrelevance.

pertinent, a. relevant, apposite, applicable, proper. Antonyms: impertinent, irrelevant.

perturb, v. disquiet, excite, disturb, agitate, discompose, distress.

perturbation, n. excitement, agitation, discomposure, distress, disconcertion, worry. Antonyms: composure, imperturbation, calmness.

perturbed, a. excited, distressed, worried, discomposed, agitated.

perusal, n. reading.

peruse, v. read.

perverse, a. perverted, misdirected, erring, depraved, vitiated; intractable, obstinate, stubborn, contrary, headstrong, indocile. Antonyms: See obedient.

perversion, n. debasement, vitiation, corruption, falsification.

pervert, v. lead astray, corrupt, debase, vitiate; misuse, misapply, misinterpret, distort, falsify.