LanguageEnglishDeutsch

Entries starting with P

582 entries.

P5

nounIndustrial electronicsobsolete, slang

Initialism of Pentium 5 a slang term used to refer to the successor to the Pentium 4 before the name was revealed by Intel.

Pacer

A British lightweight railbus diesel multiple unit of class 140, 141, 142, 143 or 144.

Pachuca tank

A high narrow tank with a central cylinder for the introduction of compressed air, used in the agitation and settling of pulp (pulverized ore and water) during treatment by the cyanide process.

paddle shifter

Either of a pair of paddles, fitted to the steering wheel of a high-performance motor car, allowing the gears to be changed up or down in a single movement, and without using the clutch. It is a form of sequential shifter.

paddock

A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc.

palm

A metallic disk attached to a strap and worn in the palm of the hand; used to push the needle through the canvas, in sewing sails, etc.

pan

A recess, or bed, for the leaf of a hinge.

pan-pan

A radio call indicating a minor emergency requiring some assistance, or priority in handling, but not endangering the safety of the vessel or those aboard.

panel

One of the districts divided by pillars of extra size, into which a mine is laid off in one system of extracting coal.

pantograph

A similarly-formed conductive device, now usually Z-shaped, that collects electric current from overhead lines for trains and trams.

pantoscopic

Designed to focus on both near and distant objects at the same time, typically by means of a tilt in the lens

paper airplane

An aircraft under development (so named because it remains only on paper to date; a tongue-in-cheek sense with acknowledgment of the original sense).

paper clay

Clay mixed with shredded paper or other fibres, valued for its strength and light weight in the production of large ceramic works.

paper jam

A malfunction in a computer's printer or a photocopier or similar device occurring when sheets of paper become jammed inside.

parachute

A device, generally constructed from fabric, that is designed to employ air resistance to control the fall of an object or person, causing them to float instead of falling.

parallax motion

The apparent motion of a tracking-locked foreground object against a background, when the camera is moving across the environment. (ie. A stationary object will appear to move across a background, when a moving camera is locked to track it)

parallel

A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.

parallelogram of forces

A parallelogram, two adjacent sides of which are vectors having the same initial point and representing two forces acting simultaneously upon this point, such that the resultant of the forces is given by the diagonal of the parallelogram that passes through this point.

parasite

A component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air-launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier; a parasite aircraft.

parcel shelf

A usually removable shelf lying behind the back seats or over the trunk of a car.

parge

A coat of cement mortar on the face of rough masonry, the earth side of foundation and basement walls.

parging

A coat of cement mortar on the face of rough masonry, the earth side of foundation and basement walls; a parge.

park

The gear into which one shifts an automatic transmission when one is parking a car or truck. (Denoted with symbol P on a shifter's labeling.)

parliamentary

Of a class of train which, by an act of parliament, ran both ways along a line, at least once each day, at the rate of one penny per mile.

parliamentary train

Originally a requirement in the Railway Regulation Act 1844 for railways to run at least one train a day each way, at a cost to passengers of no more than one penny a mile, on every railway line in the country. Presently the term is used for passenger trains that serve a line or station only once a day or week to avoid the cost of applying for closure.

parting sand

Dry, non-adhesive sand sprinkled upon the partings of a mould to facilitate the separation by not allowing the mould to stick together.

party line

A single telephone line which is shared by two or more households. Formerly common from the inception of telephony (1880s) through the mid-twentieth century.

pass

A passing of two trains in the same direction on a single track, when one is put into a siding to let the other overtake it.

pass transistor

A transistor used as a switch to pass logic levels between nodes of a circuit, instead of as a switch connected directly to a supply voltage.