<B>perturbability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being perturbable; capability of being, or readiness to be, perturbed. </DL>
<A NAME="perturbation">
<B>perturbation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or fact of perturbing. <DD><B> 2. </B>a perturbed condition. <BR> <I>Ex. Though the violence of her perturbations gradually subsided, her cheerfulness did not return (Lytton Strachey).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a thing, act, or event that causes disturbance or agitation. <BR> <I>Ex. The crown ... O polish'd perturbation! golden care! (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Astronomy.) a disturbance in the motion of a planet or other heavenly body in orbit caused by the attraction of a body or bodies other than its primary. <BR> <I>Ex. Perturbations, or disturbances in the motions, of the planets Neptune and Uranus first led ... astronomers to hunt for a distant planet beyond Neptune (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<B>perturbative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>causing perturbation; disturbing. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Astronomy.) of or having to do with perturbations. </DL>
<A NAME="perturbator">
<B>perturbator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who perturbs; disturber. </DL>
<A NAME="pertussal">
<B>pertussal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with whooping cough. </DL>
<B>Peru Current,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cool ocean current of the Pacific which flows northward along the west coast of South America; Humboldt Current. </DL>
<A NAME="peruke">
<B>peruke, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a wig, especially of the kind worn by men in the 1600's and 1700's; periwig. </DL>
<A NAME="peruked">
<B>peruked, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> wearing a peruke. <BR> <I>Ex. a peruked barrister in trailing robes (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="perusal">
<B>perusal, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of perusing, especially a reading through or over. <BR> <I>Ex. I have just finished the perusal of your letter.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="peruse">
<B>peruse, </B>transitive verb, <B>-rused,</B> <B>-rusing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to read through carefully. <BR> <I>Ex. I will show you what to turn over unread and what to peruse (Sir Richard Steele). She perused "Middlemarch"; she was disappointed (Lytton Strachey).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to read, now often hastily or more or less casually. <BR> <I>Ex. to peruse the paper at breakfast.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to examine, inspect, or consider in detail. <BR> <I>Ex. The Stranger ... with a curious eye Perused the Arab youth (Robert Southey).</I> adj. <B>perusable.</B> noun <B>peruser.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="peruv">
<B>Peruv.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Peruvian. </DL>
<A NAME="peruvian">
<B>Peruvian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Peru, a country on the west coast of South America, or its people. <DD><I>noun </I> a person born or living in Peru. </DL>
<A NAME="peruvianbark">
<B>Peruvian bark,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> bark from which quinine is obtained; cinchona. </DL>
<A NAME="pervade">
<B>pervade, </B>transitive verb, <B>-vaded,</B> <B>-vading.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to go or spread throughout; be throughout. <BR> <I>Ex. The odor of pines pervades the air. He worked so hard that weariness pervaded his whole body.</I> (SYN) penetrate, permeate, impregnate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to be found throughout (something, such as a literary work, a talk, or a life style, so as to characterize, flavor unmistakably, or otherwise mark. <BR> <I>Ex. a broad generosity pervaded his life (Baron Charnwood).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to pass through; traverse. noun <B>pervader.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pervasion">
<B>pervasion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of pervading. <DD><B> 2. </B>the state of being pervaded. </DL>
<A NAME="pervasive">
<B>pervasive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>tending to pervade. <DD><B> 2. </B>having power to pervade. adv. <B>pervasively.</B> noun <B>pervasiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perverse">
<B>perverse, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>contrary and willful; obstinately opposing what is wanted, reasonable, or required; stubborn. <BR> <I>Ex. The perverse child did just what we told him not to do.</I> (SYN) wayward, obstinate. <DD><B> b. </B>that is contrary to what is wanted, reasonable, or required. <BR> <I>Ex. perverse weather.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>persistent in wrong. <BR> <I>Ex. What is more likely, considering our perverse nature, than that we should neglect the duties, while we wish to retain the privileges, of our Christian profession? (Cardinal Newman).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>turned away from what is right or good; wicked; morally bad. <BR> <I>Ex. blameless ... in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (Philippians 2:15).</I> (SYN) perverted, depraved. <DD><B> 4. </B>not correct; wrong. <BR> <I>Ex. perverse reasoning.</I> adv. <B>perversely.</B> noun <B>perverseness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perversion">
<B>perversion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of turning or condition of being turned to what is wrong; change to what is unnatural, abnormal, or wrong. <BR> <I>Ex. A tendency to eat sand is a perversion of appetite.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a perverted form. <DD><B> 3. </B>deviation or abnormality in sexual behavior. </DL>
<A NAME="perversity">
<B>perversity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality of being perverse. <DD><B> 2. </B>perverse character or conduct. <DD><B> 3. </B>a perverse act. </DL>
<A NAME="perversive">
<B>perversive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that perverts or tends to pervert. </DL>
<A NAME="pervert">
<B>pervert, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to lead or turn from the right way or from the truth; lead astray. <BR> <I>Ex. Reading silly stories perverted their taste for good books.</I> (SYN) corrupt, debase, deprave. <DD><B> 2. </B>to give a wrong meaning to; misconstrue. <BR> <I>Ex. His enemies perverted his friendly remark and made it into an insult. Ye have perverted the words of the living God (Jeremiah 23:36).</I> (SYN) misinterpret, distort, falsify. <DD><B> 3. </B>to use for wrong purposes or in a wrong way; misapply. <BR> <I>Ex. A clever criminal perverts his talents.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to change from what is natural or normal, now especially what is generally accepted or defined by law as natural or normal in sexual behavior. <DD><I>noun </I> a perverted person, now especially one who practices sexual perversion. noun <B>perverter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perverted">
<B>perverted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>turned from the right or usual way; misguided; misapplied. <BR> <I>Ex. a perverted enthusiasm for coarse and vulgar literature.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>distorted. <BR> <I>Ex. a perverted meaning.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>vicious by nature orhabit; wicked. <DD><B> 4. </B>being a sexual pervert. adv. <B>pervertedly.</B> noun <B>pervertedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pervertible">
<B>pervertible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be perverted. </DL>
<A NAME="pervious">
<B>pervious, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>giving passage or entrance; permeable. <BR> <I>Ex. Sand is easily pervious to water.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) open to influence or argument. <DD><B> 3. </B>having the quality of penetrating or permeating; pervasive. noun <B>perviousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pes">
<B>pes, </B>noun, pl. <B>pedes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Anatomy.) the terminal segment of the hindlimb of a vertebrate animal, corresponding to the human foot. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) a footlike part or organ; base of support. </DL>
<A NAME="pesah">
<B>Pesah</B> or <B>Pesach, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Passover festival. </DL>
<A NAME="peseta">
<B>peseta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the unit of money of Spain, equal to 100 centimos. <DD><B> 2. </B>a coin or bank note equal to one peseta. </DL>
<A NAME="pesewa">
<B>pesewa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of money in Ghana, equal to 1/100 of a cedi. The pesewa replaced and is equivalent to the British penny. </DL>
<A NAME="peshito">
<B>Peshito</B> or <B>Peshitto, </B>noun. <B>=Peshitta.</B></DL>
<A NAME="peshitta">
<B>Peshitta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the chief Syriac version of the Bible. </DL>
<B>peso, </B>noun, pl. <B>-sos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the unit of money in various countries of Latin America and in the Philippines, usually equal to 100 centavos. <DD><B> 2. </B>a coin or piece of paper money equal to a peso in any of these countries. 100 centavos make a peso. <DD><B> 3. </B>the unit of money of Guinea-Bissau, introduced in 1976. <DD><B> 4. </B>a former gold or silver coin used in Spain and in the Spanish colonies, worth eight reals; a piece of eight. <DD><B> 5. </B>(U.S. Slang.) an American dollar. </DL>
<A NAME="pesoboliviano">
<B>peso boliviano,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the unit of money of Bolivia, equal to 100 centavos; peso. It replaced the boliviano in 1963. </DL>
<A NAME="pessary">
<B>pessary, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Medicine.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a device worn in the vagina to prevent or remedy various displacements of the uterus. <DD><B> 2. </B>a device worn in the vagina or cervical canal to prevent conception. <DD><B> 3. </B>a vaginal suppository. </DL>