pin
nounManufacturing
A size of brewery cask, equal to half a firkin, or eighth of a barrel.
Entries starting with P
582 entries.
pin header
A type of electrical connector, consisting of one or more rows of male pins evenly spaced apart.
pinch
To cut shoots or buds of a plant in order to shape the plant, or to improve its yield.
pinch out
A volume of rock or oil trapped or isolated between strata that have pinched it out.
pinch roller
A rubber wheel that presses tape against a capstan.
pinching
The act of pinching off new growth.
pincushion
A device, originally like a small, stuffed cushion, designed to have sewing pins and needles stuck into it to store them safely; some modern pincushions hold the objects magnetically.
pincushion corner
nounSurveying
A place where several surveyors have set markers, all purporting to mark the same property corner.
pineapple opal
A large raw opal spheroidal gemstone with pineapple-like projection points
pinfeed
A kind of dot matrix printer equipped to take paper with holes running along each side for alignment.
pinion
The smallest gear in a gear train.
pink salt
Any salt that is pink in color. Especially:
pinking shears
A pair of scissors with zigzag cutting edges, used to cut fabric: the zigzag edge helps keep the fabric from fraying.
pinout
The manner in which an electrical connector or device is wired; the list of signals that correspond to each pin or output.
pipe
verbMetallurgy
Of a metal ingot: to become hollow in the process of solidifying.
pipe bender
nounPlumbing
A tool or device used to bend pipes, tubes, or conduits into various shapes or angles.
piped
adjectiveRail equipment
Of a rail vehicle, having a through brake pipe, without the vehicle having brakes operating from it.
piping
nounManufacturing
An ornamentation on the edges of a garment; a small cord covered with cloth.
piqué
nounManufacturing
A kind of corded or ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk.
pistol pipe
A pipe in which the blast of a furnace is heated.
piston
A solid disk or cylinder that fits inside a hollow cylinder, and moves under pressure (as in an engine) or displaces fluid (as in a pump)
pit boss
A direct overseer of laborers in a mining operation.
PIT maneuver
nounAutomotive
A technique in which a pursuing car bumps the rear fender of a pursued car, causing it to spin out, in order to terminate a car chase.
pitch
The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.
pitch mining
The mining of steeply inclined seams of coal.
pitching piece
nounCarpentry
The horizontal timber supporting the floor of a platform of a stairway, and against which the stringpieces of the sloping parts are supported.
pitfall
Subsidence below ground in a mine, which can cause the ground level above to drop.
pitting resistance equivalent number
nounMetallurgy
A number, calculated using a given stainless steel alloy's chemical composition, which aims to predict its resistance to pitting corrosion.
pitwork
Pumping machinery used in a mine.
pitwright
A carpenter or engineer employed at a mine.
PIV
Initialism of particle image velocimetry.
pizza dish
A Kᵤ-band satellite dish used by direct broadcast satellite systems, ranging from 18 to 31 inches in diameter.
piña
nounMetalworking
A cone of silver amalgam prepared for retorting.
PK nail
nounSurveying
A thick-shanked nail with an indentation in the middle of its head, driven into the ground to mark a position precisely.
plaid
nounManufacturing
A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.
plain work
nounConstruction
Smooth stonework without decoration or ornamentation.
plain-woven
adjectiveManufacturing
Woven with the most basic textile weave, called plain weave.
planachromatic
adjectiveOptics and imaging
achromatic throughout a plane
planapochromatic
adjectiveOptics and imaging
Describing an apochromatic lens system that produces a planar (flat) field
plane
nounCarpentry
A tool for smoothing wood by removing thin layers from the surface.
planer
nounWoodworking
A tool which smooths a surface or makes one surface of a workpiece parallel to the tool's bed.
planet wheel
A gear wheel that revolves around the wheel with which it meshes, in an epicyclic train.
plank-sheer
The course of plank laid horizontally over the timberheads of a vessel's frame.
planning permission
nounConstruction
Legal permission granted by a government authority to construct on one's land, or to change the use of the land.
planoconcave
adjectiveOptics and imaging
Having one side plane and the other concave
planoconvex
adjectiveOptics and imaging
Having one side plane and the other convex.
planography
A form of printing from a flat surface, as opposed to a raised or incised one.
plant out
To put (a plant) into the ground outside, from a greenhouse or a plant pot.
plasticulture
The use of plastics in agriculture.
plate
An engraved surface used to transfer an image to paper.
platen
The part of a printing press which presses the paper against the type and by which the impression is made.
platform
nounAutomotive
Ellipsis of car platform (“a set of components shared by several vehicle models”).
platform loop
nounRail equipment
A short stretch of railway line at a railway station which leaves a through line to serve a platform, before rejoining the through line beyond the station.
platten
verbManufacturing
To flatten and make into sheets or plates.
player
An electronic device that plays audio or video media.
playshorts
Shorts meant for casual or leisure activities, particularly for younger people.
PLB
Initialism of public light bus.
PLC
Initialism of programmable logic controller.
PLD
Initialism of Programmable logic device.
pleach
A branch of a shrub, tree, etc., used for pleaching; a pleacher.