List 34 Flashcards
paean
paeanN. /欢乐歌；赞美歌/song of praise or joy. Paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.
painstaking
painstakingADJ. /辛勤的/showing hard work; taking-Dreat care. The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.
palatable
palatableADJ. /可接受的；美味的/agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack’s underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to Jill.
palette
paletteN. /调色板/board on which painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.
pall
pallV. /厌烦，腻味/grow tiresome. The study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.
pallid
pallidADJ. /苍白的，惨淡的/pale; wan. Because his job required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an exceptionally pallid complexion.
palpable
palpableADJ. /易于领会的；明显的/tangible; easily perceptible; unmistakable. The patient’s enlarged spleen was palpable: even the first year medical student could feel it.
palpitate
palpitateV. /拍动；跳动；搏动/throb; flutter. As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.
paltry
paltryADJ. /不显著的；微小的/insignificant; petty; trifling. One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry.
panache
panache N. /华丽/flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.
pandemic
pandemicADJ. /广泛传播的，流行的/widespread; affecting the majority of people. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.
pandemonium
pandemoniumN. /喧嚣；混乱/wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.
pander
panderV. /低级趣味的；拉皮条/cater to the low desires of others. The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses’ taste for violence.
panegyric
panegyricN. /推崇之至/formal praise. Blushing at all the praise heaped upon him by the speakers, the modest hero said, °I don’t deserve such panegyrics.”
panoramic
panoramicADJ. /全景的/related to an unobstructed and comprehensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and parts of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.
pantomime
pantomimeN. /演哑剧/acting without dialogue. Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared. alsoV.
papyrus
papyrus N. /纸草；草纸（古代的）/ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.
paranoia
paranoia N. /妄想狂；偏执狂/psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, Don claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate: even paranoids have enemies.
paraphernalia
paraphernaliaN. /琐碎的东西；零碎的随身物品/equipment; odds and ends. His desk was cluttered with paper, pen, ink, dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.
pariah
pariahN. /贱民；被社会遗弃的人/social outcast. If everyone ostracized singer Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the pariah?
parity
parityN. /相等；势均力敌；奇偶/equality in status or amount; close resemblance. Unfortunately, some doubt exists whether women’s salaries will ever achieve paritywith men’s.
parochial
parochialADJ. /狭小的，地方的/narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes. Although Jane Austen sets her novels in small rural communities, her concerns are universal, not parochial,
parody
parodyN. /拙劣的模仿/humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty. The show Forbidden Broadway presents parodies spoofing the year’s new productions playing on Broadway.
paroxysm
paroxysmN. /突然一阵的，突发的（痛苦，笑，愤怒）/fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage. When he heard of his son’s misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.
parry
parryV. /躲避/ward off a blow; deflect. Unwilling to injure his opponent in such a pointless clash, Dartagnan simply tried to parry his rival’s thrusts. What fun it was to watch Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy parry each other’s verbal thrusts in their classic screwball comedies!
parsimony
parsimonyN. /过度俭省；吝啬/stinginess; excessive frugality. Furious because her father wouldn’t let her buy out the clothing store, Annie accused him of parsimony.
partiality
partialityN. /倾向；偏见/inclination; bias. As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.
partition
partitionV. /分裂开来/divide into parts. Before their second daughter was born, Jason and Lizzie decided each child needed a room of her own, and so they partitioned a large bedroom into two small but separate rooms. also N.
pastiche
pasticheN. /摹写；模仿/imitation of another’s style in musical composition or in writing. We cannot even say that her music is a: pastiche of this composer or that; it is, rather, reminiscent of many musicians.
pastoral
pastoralADJ. /田园的；乡下的/rural. In these stories of pastoral life, we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.
pathological
pathologicalADJ. /病理学/related to the study of disease; diseased or markedly abnormal. Jerome’s pathological fear of germs led him to wash his hands a hundred times a day. pathology, N.
patina
patinaN. /铜绿；光泽；古色/green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting. Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.
patriarch
patriarchN. /长者，家长；酋长，族长/father and ruler of a family or tribe. In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.
patrician
patricianADJ. /贵族的/noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.
paucity
paucityN. /少量；缺乏/scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.
pauper
pauperN. /叫花子；非常可怜的人/very poor person. Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.
peccadillo
peccadilloN. /轻罪，轻微冒犯/slight offense. When Peter Piper picked a peck of Polly Potter’s pickles, did Pete commit a major crime or just a peccadillo？
