<B>prorate, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-rated,</B> <B>-rating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to distribute or assess proportionally. <BR> <I>Ex. We prorated the money according to the number of days each had worked. He is perfectly willing to prorate the special assessment (Sinclair Lewis).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proration">
<B>proration, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a prorating, especially a restriction, by law, of oil and gas production, limiting each producer to a set proportion of his total productive capacity. </DL>
<A NAME="prore">
<B>prore, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Poetic.) the prow of a ship. <BR> <I>Ex. The tall ship whose lofty prore Shall never stem the billows more (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prorenata">
<B>pro re nata,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) as the occasion requires; to meet the emergency. (Abbr:) PRN (no periods) or P.R.N. </DL>
<B>prorogation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the discontinuance of the meetings of a lawmaking body without dissolving it. </DL>
<A NAME="prorogue">
<B>prorogue, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-rogued,</B> <B>-roguing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to discontinue the regular meetings of (a lawmaking body) for a time. <BR> <I>Ex. King Charles I prorogued the English Parliament.</I> (SYN) adjourn. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) to defer; postpone. </DL>
<A NAME="pros">
<B>pros.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> prosody. </DL>
<A NAME="prosage">
<B>prosage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a sausage which has pure vegetable protein instead of meat. </DL>
<A NAME="prosaic">
<B>prosaic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like prose; matter-of-fact; ordinary; not exciting. <BR> <I>Ex. No product is too prosaic or too mundane to profit greatly by attractive packaging (Wall Street Journal).</I> (SYN) commonplace, humdrum, dull, tedious. <DD><B> 2. </B>of, in, or having to do with prose. adv. <B>prosaically.</B> noun <B>prosaicness.</B> </DL>
<B>prosaist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who writes in prose; prose author. <DD><B> 2. </B>a prosaic or unpoetic person. </DL>
<A NAME="prosateur">
<B>prosateur, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a prose writer; prosaist. </DL>
<A NAME="proscenium">
<B>proscenium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the part of the stage in front of the curtain. <DD><B> 2. </B>the curtain and the framework that holds it. <DD><B> 3. </B>the stage of an ancient theater. </DL>
<A NAME="prosceniumarch">
<B>proscenium arch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an arch or archway or equivalent opening in the wall between the stage and the auditorium of a theater. </DL>
<A NAME="prosciutto">
<B>prosciutto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ti,</B> <B>-tos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> dry-cured, spiced, and often smoked ham, sliced very thin and frequently served with melon or figs. </DL>
<A NAME="proscribe">
<B>proscribe, </B>transitive verb, <B>-scribed,</B> <B>-scribing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to prohibit as wrong or dangerous; talk against; condemn. <BR> <I>Ex. In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. It is difficult to proscribe a party without infringing on the right of the individual to dissent (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> (SYN) forbid, interdict. <DD><B> 2. </B>to put outside of the protection of the law; outlaw. In ancient Rome, a proscribed person's property belonged to the state, and anyone might kill him. <DD><B> 3. </B>to forbid to come into a certain place; banish. (SYN) exile. noun <B>proscriber.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="proscript">
<B>proscript, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a proscribed person. <BR> <I>Ex. As each proscript rose and stood From kneeling in the ashen dust (Dante Gabriel Rossetti).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proscription">
<B>proscription, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of proscribing or condition of being proscribed; banishment; outlawry. <BR> <I>Ex. No one would raise a hand against the proscription of spinach from the national diet (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proscriptive">
<B>proscriptive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> proscribing; tending to proscribe. <BR> <I>Ex. The Imperial ministers pursued with proscriptive laws, and ineffectual arms, the rebels whom they had made (Edward Gibbon).</I> adv. <B>proscriptively.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="prose">
<B>prose, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>prosed,</B> <B>prosing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the ordinary form of spoken or written language; plain language not arranged in verses, especially the literary form, characterized by narration, description, and exposition, used in novels, plays, and articles. <BR> <I>Ex. The definition of good prose is--proper words in their proper places (Samuel Taylor Coleridge). Prose is a magnificent instrument of communication (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) dull, ordinary talk. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of prose; in prose. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) lacking imagination; matter-of-fact; commonplace. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to talk or write in a dull, commonplace way. <DD><B> 2. </B>to compose or write prose. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to write in prose; turn into prose. </DL>
<A NAME="prosector">
<B>prosector, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who dissects bodies as demonstrations for classes in anatomy. </DL>
<A NAME="prosectorial">
<B>prosectorial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a prosector. </DL>
<A NAME="prosecutable">
<B>prosecutable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be prosecuted; liable to prosecution. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the dearth of prosecutable crime (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prosecute">
<B>prosecute, </B>verb, <B>-cuted,</B> <B>-cuting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to bring before a court of law. <BR> <I>Ex. Reckless drivers will be prosecuted.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to carry out; follow up; pursue. <BR> <I>Ex. He started an inquiry into the causes of the fire, and prosecuted it for several weeks.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to carry on (a business or occupation); practice. <BR> <I>Ex. Those polar fisheries could only be prosecuted in the short summer (Herman Melville).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to bring a case before a law court. <DD><B> 2. </B>to act as prosecuting attorney. </DL>
<A NAME="prosecutingattorney">
<B>prosecuting attorney,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an attorney for the government; district attorney; public prosecutor. </DL>
<A NAME="prosecution">
<B>prosecution, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of carrying on a lawsuit. <BR> <I>Ex. The prosecution will be stopped if the stolen money is returned.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the side that starts action against another in a law court. The prosecution makes certain charges against the defense. <DD><B> 3. </B>the act or process of carrying out; following up. <BR> <I>Ex. In the prosecution of his plan, he stored away a supply of food.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prosecutor">
<B>prosecutor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the lawyer in charge of the government's side of a case against an accused person. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who starts legal proceedings against another person. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who follows up or carries out any action, project, or business. </DL>
<A NAME="prosecutorial">
<B>prosecutorial, </B>adjective. <B>=prosecutory.</B> <I>Ex. The book suffers from excessive prosecutorial zeal (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prosecutory">
<B>prosecutory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with prosecution. <BR> <I>Ex. ... fixed rules of law by which police, prosecutory, and judicial agencies ... must abide (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proselyte">
<B>proselyte, </B>noun, verb, <B>-lyted,</B> <B>-lyting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, or cause, to another. <BR> <I>Ex. These proselytes of the gate are as welcome as the true Hebrews (Charles Lamb).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to convert from one opinion, religious belief, or cause, to another. <BR> <I>Ex. I have no wish to proselyte any reluctant mind (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to induce to join; enlist; solicit. <BR> <I>Ex. to proselyte highschool athletes for a college.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make proselytes. noun <B>proselyter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="proselytism">
<B>proselytism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or fact of proselyting. <BR> <I>Ex. The spirit of proselytism attends this spirit of fanaticism (Edmund Burke).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of being a proselyte. </DL>
<A NAME="proselytist">
<B>proselytist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who proselytes; proselytizer. </DL>
<A NAME="proselytization">
<B>proselytization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or work of proselytizing. </DL>
<A NAME="proselytize">
<B>proselytize, </B>verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to convert; make proselytes. noun <B>proselytizer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="proseminar">
<B>proseminar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a preparatory seminar, especially for advanced college students. </DL>
<A NAME="prosencephalic">
<B>prosencephalic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the prosencephalon. </DL>
<A NAME="prosencephalon">
<B>prosencephalon, </B>noun, pl. <B>-la.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the anterior segment of the brain, consisting of the cerebral hemispheres, or their equivalent, and certain adjacent parts; forebrain; diencephalon and telencephalon. </DL>
<A NAME="prosenchyma">
<B>prosenchyma, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a type of tissue characteristic of the woody and bast portions of plants, consisting of long, narrow cells with pointed ends that sometimes form ducts or vessels. </DL>
<A NAME="prosenchymatous">
<B>prosenchymatous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> consisting of or having to do with prosenchyma. </DL>
<A NAME="prosepoem">
<B>prose poem,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a work printed as prose but having elements of poetry in it, such as rhythm and poetic imagery; composition in polyphonic prose. </DL>
<A NAME="prosepoet">
<B>prose poet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who writes prose poems. </DL>
<A NAME="prosepoetry">
<B>prose poetry,</B> =polyphonic prose.</DL>
<A NAME="proser">
<B>proser, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who talks or writes in a dull, commonplace way. <DD><B> 2. </B>a writer of prose. </DL>
