<B>profitless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without profit, gain, or advantage; unprofitable. <BR> <I>Ex. ... hours of utterly profitless talk (Manchester Examiner).</I> adv. <B>profitlessly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profitmaking">
<B>profit-making, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that makes a profit. <BR> <I>Ex. the only profit-making political organization in the world (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profitmargin">
<B>profit margin,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the amount by which selling price exceeds costs. <BR> <I>Ex. Business has tended to become more competitive and profit margins have been reduced (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profitmotive">
<B>profit motive,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the expectation or goal of making profit as an incentive for investing in or starting a business. <BR> <I>Ex. The students ... refer to the profit motive as the "reward structure" (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profitsharing">
<B>profit sharing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the sharing of profits between employer and employees. adj. <B>profit-sharing.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profitsqueeze">
<B>profit squeeze,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a narrow or narrowing profit margin. <BR> <I>Ex. Retail concerns are confronted with a "profit squeeze from rising expenses" (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profittaking">
<B>profit taking,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the selling of stocks, commodities, or real estate to take a profit. <BR> <I>Ex. Frequently in the new year there is profit taking by those who, for tax reasons, have not wanted to sell stocks in the year just passed (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<B>profligate, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very wicked; shamelessly bad. <BR> <I>Ex. a profligate wretch without any sense of principle, morality, or religion (Tobias Smollett).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>recklessly extravagant. <DD><I>noun </I> a person who is very wicked or extravagant. adv. <B>profligately.</B> noun <B>profligateness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profluent">
<B>profluent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> flowing forth or along. <BR> <I>Ex. the profluent stream (Milton).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proforma">
<B>pro forma,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) for the sake of form; as a matter of form. <BR> <I>Ex. Later, after a pro forma floor debate, they dropped the signboard ban (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profound">
<B>profound, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very deep. <BR> <I>Ex. a profound sigh, a profound sleep.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>felt strongly; very great. <BR> <I>Ex. profound despair; profound sympathy.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>going far deeper than what is easily understood; having or showing great knowledge or understanding. <BR> <I>Ex. a profound book, a profound thinker, a profound thought. Could this conflict of attachments be resolved by a profounder understanding of the principle of loyalty? (Atlantic).</I> (SYN) abstruse, recondite. <DD><B> 4. </B>carried far down; going far down; low. <BR> <I>Ex. a profound bow.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the deep; the sea; the ocean. <DD><B> 2. </B>an immeasurable abyss, as of space or time. adv. <B>profoundly.</B> noun <B>profoundness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profundity">
<B>profundity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality of being profound; great depth. <DD><B> 2. </B>a very deep thing or place; an abyss. <BR> <I>Ex. through the vast profundity obscure (Milton).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>profundities,</B> </I>profound or deep matters. <BR> <I>Ex. I am ... not able to dive into these profundities ... not able to understand, much less to discuss (Robert Burton).</I> </DL>
<B>profusion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>great abundance. <BR> <I>Ex. a certain fruit which grew in profusion there (Joseph Conrad).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>extravagance; lavishness. </DL>
<A NAME="profusive">
<B>profusive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> profuse; lavish; prodigal. <BR> <I>Ex. a profusive variety of spring flowers (Harper's).</I> adv. <B>profusively.</B> noun <B>profusiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="prog">
<B>prog</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British Informal.) a progressive. </DL>
<A NAME="prog">
<B>prog</B> (2), verb, <B>progged,</B> <B>progging,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to search or prowl about, especially for food. <DD><B> 2. </B>to beg. <DD><I>noun </I> food, especially for a journey. </DL>
<B>progenitor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ancestor in the direct line; forefather. </DL>
<A NAME="progenitorial">
<B>progenitorial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or being a progenitor. </DL>
<A NAME="progenitorship">
<B>progenitorship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the position or fact of being a progenitor. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) Cicero would [disown] the intellectual progenitorship of a cicerone (Blackwood's Magazine).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="progenitress">
<B>progenitress, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a woman progenitor. </DL>
<B>progeny, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>children or offspring; descendants. <BR> <I>Ex. Kittens are a cat's progeny.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) something that is produced by or originates from something. <BR> <I>Ex. Around this fort a progeny of little Dutch-built houses ... soon sprang up (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="progeria">
<B>progeria, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the condition of being prematurely old. <DD><B> 2. </B>a children's disease characterized by premature aging and a high susceptibility to diseases of old people. A child having progeria develops a wrinkled skin and loses his hair. </DL>
<A NAME="progestagen">
<B>progestagen, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various synthetic hormones similar to progesterone in action. </DL>
<A NAME="progestational">
<B>progestational, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or characteristic of the part of the menstrual cycle immediately before menstruation. </DL>
<A NAME="progesterone">
<B>progesterone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a hormone secreted by the corpus luteum and placenta that makes the lining of the uterus ready to receive a fertilized ovum. It is used medically to treat such disorders as those of the uterus or arthritis. </DL>
<A NAME="progestin">
<B>progestin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any substance that makes the lining of the uterus readier to receive a fertilized ovum, such as progesterone. </DL>
<A NAME="progestogen">
<B>progestogen, </B>noun. =progestagen.</DL>
<A NAME="proglottic">
<B>proglottic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the proglottis. </DL>
<A NAME="proglottid">
<B>proglottid, </B>noun. =proglottis.</DL>
<A NAME="proglottis">
<B>proglottis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-glottides.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the segments or joints of a tapeworm, containing both male and female sexual organs. </DL>
<A NAME="prognathic">
<B>prognathic, </B>adjective. =prognathous.</DL>
<A NAME="prognathism">
<B>prognathism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a prognathous condition. </DL>
<A NAME="prognathous">
<B>prognathous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having the jaws protruding beyond the upper part of the face. <BR> <I>Ex. a prognathous skull.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>protruding. <BR> <I>Ex. prognathous jaws.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prognathy">
<B>prognathy, </B>noun. =prognathism.</DL>
<A NAME="prognosis">
<B>prognosis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a forecast of the probable course of a disease. <DD><B> 2. </B>an estimate of what will probably happen. <BR> <I>Ex. The prognosis, on this practical level, does not appear favorable (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prognostic">
<B>prognostic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> indicating something in the future. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an indication; sign. <DD><B> 2. </B>a forecast; prediction. <BR> <I>Ex. Philosophers ... awaited in anxious impatience the fulfilment of their prognostics (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
