P

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does P mean? 

• P (noun)
  The noun P has 2 senses:

1. a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms

2. the 16th letter of the Roman alphabet

  Familiarity information: P used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• P (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 15; P; phosphorus

Hypernyms ("P" is a kind of...):

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Holonyms ("P" is a substance of...):

apatite (a common complex mineral consisting of calcium fluoride phosphate or calcium chloride phosphate; a source of phosphorus)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The 16th letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("P" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("P" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

 Context examples 

P.S. I need not tell you this is a secret. Good-night again.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I am sure that you cannot fail to be delighted with the traces of heredity shown in the p’s and in the tails of the g’s.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Here's the compass; there's the tip-top p'int o' Skeleton Island, stickin' out like a tooth. Just take a bearing, will you, along the line of them bones.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

An' they won't be no workin' a livin' soul after six P.M. You hear me talk!

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This antibody recognizes human endoglin (Transforming Growth Factor P Receptor III), present on tumor vasculature.

(Anti-Endoglin Immunotoxin, NCI Thesaurus)

But after DNA testing on the blood of infected people in Rio de Janeiro, the team found that their disease was caused by the Plasmodium simium parasite, not P. vivax.

(Human malaria spread from monkeys found in Brazil, SciDev.Net)

HAT-P-7b was first discovered in 2008.

(Exoplanet Could Have Clouds of Rubies, Sapphires, VOA)

Conversion of N-desmethyltamoxifen from tamoxifen is catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 enzymes 3A4 and 3A5.

(N-Desmethyltamoxifen, NCI Thesaurus)

The pause after the blocked P wave is less than twice the PP interval.

(Mobitz I, NCI Thesaurus)

I did so, and saw a large “E” with a small “g,” a “P,” and a large “G” with a small “t” woven into the texture of the paper.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)