English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

phenol

noun

A caustic, poisonous white crystalline compound, C6H5OH, once called carbolic acid and used in resins, plastics and pharmaceuticals, and in dilute form as a disinfectant.

phenomena

noun

The plural of "phenomenon" — observable facts, events, or occurrences.

phenomenal

adjective

Extremely impressive or remarkable.

phenomenology

noun

The study of the structures of consciousness and experience as they appear from a person's own point of view.

phenomenon

noun

An observable event, fact, or occurrence, especially one that is studied or explained scientifically.

phenotype

noun

The set of observable characteristics an organism actually has — height, eye colour, blood group, behaviour — produced by its genes interacting with its environment.

pheromone

noun

A chemical released by an animal that triggers a behavioral or physiological response in others of the same species.

phew

interjection

Used to express relief after tension or effort.

phewee

intj

(informal) Another way of saying phew, used to show relief, surprise or disgust.

phi

noun

The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet (Φ, φ), often used as a symbol in science and mathematics.

phial

noun

A small glass bottle, usually with a lid, used to hold liquid such as medicine.

Phil

name

A short form of the masculine given name Philip.

Philadelphia

name

A major U.S. city in Pennsylvania, once the nation's capital and home to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

philanderer

noun

A man who has casual or secret romantic and sexual relationships with multiple women, especially while in a committed relationship.

philandering

noun

The behavior of having casual or secret love affairs, especially while already in a relationship.

philandry

noun

A strong liking for men.

philanthropic

adjective

Generous toward good causes; devoted to helping humanity, especially through charitable giving.

philanthropist

noun

A person who donates significant money, time, or effort to causes intended to improve the lives of others.

philanthropy

noun

The practice of donating money, time, or resources to promote the welfare of others.

philatelist

noun

A person who collects and studies postage stamps.

philately

noun

The hobby of collecting postage stamps.

philharmonic

adjective

Devoted to or appreciative of music, especially orchestral music (used mainly in orchestra names).

philia

noun

(psychiatry) A condition involving an unreasonable, overly strong attraction to something.

Philip

name

A common male given name, of Ancient Greek origin meaning "fond of horses."

Philippa

name

A feminine given name, the female form of Philip.

philippic

noun

One of the speeches given by the Greek speaker Demosthenes attacking Philip II of Macedon, in defence of Athens' freedom.

Philippine

adjective

Relating to the Philippines or its people and culture.

Philippines

name

A Southeast Asian island nation made up of thousands of islands, with Manila as its capital.

philipps

name

A family name that came from a first name.

Philips

name

An English surname meaning "son of Philip".

philistine

noun

A person seen as indifferent or hostile to art, literature, and culture, and who has conventional or unrefined tastes.

philistinism

noun

An attitude that cares about money and possessions while showing little interest in art or culture.

Phill

name

A variant spelling of the given name Phil.

phillida

name

A female first name of Ancient Greek origin.

Phillip

name

A variant spelling of the given name Philip.

Phillips

name

A common surname, originally meaning "son of Philip."

phillis

name

A female first name of Ancient Greek origin.

Philly

name

An informal nickname for the city of Philadelphia.

Philo

name

A masculine given name, also the name of the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria.

philogynist

noun

A person who likes women in general.

philogyny

noun

A strong liking for women.

philological

adj

Relating to the historical development of literature and words.

philologist

noun

Someone who studies language history as their job, often collecting words and tracing where they came from.

philology

noun

The academic study of old written texts and the languages they are written in, especially ancient ones.

Philomena

name

A feminine given name meaning "beloved", associated with an early Christian martyr saint.

philosopher

noun

A person who studies or writes about fundamental questions of existence, knowledge, ethics, and reason.

philosophic

adj

Another word for philosophical.

philosophical

adj

Relating to philosophy or the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and values.

philosophically

adv

In a way that relates to philosophy or its methods of reasoning.

philosophize

verb

To think about something deeply and try to work it out in a philosophical way.

philosophy

noun

The academic study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reasoning.

philter

noun

A potion or drug, especially a love potion meant to make whoever drinks it fall in love with the person who gave it.

Phipps

name

An English surname meaning "son of Phipp", a medieval diminutive of Philip.

phishing

noun

The practice of sending fake emails, texts or web pages that imitate a trusted organisation in order to trick people into handing over passwords, card numbers or other private information.

phlebotomy

noun

The practice of drawing blood from a vein with a needle, for testing, donation or treatment.

phlegm

noun

Thick mucus produced in the throat or airways, especially when coughed up during a cold or infection.

phlegmatic

adj

Calm and not easily made angry, excited or upset.

phlegmon

noun

(medicine) A firm swelling caused by inflamed body tissue, such as one that can form near the appendix in appendicitis.

phloem

noun

(botany) The plant tissue that carries sugars and other nutrients made in the stems and leaves to the rest of the plant.

phlox

noun

A garden plant with clusters of small, brightly colored flowers, popular in flower beds.

pho

noun

A Vietnamese noodle soup, usually made with a beef or chicken broth and rice noodles.

phobia

noun

An intense, often irrational fear of a specific thing or situation.

phoebe

noun

A small grayish flycatcher bird found in North America, known for its distinctive call.

Phoebus

name

An epithet of the Greek god Apollo, meaning "bright" or "radiant", associated with the sun.

Phoenician

adj

Relating to Phoenicia, an ancient civilization on the eastern Mediterranean coast, or its people.

phoenix

noun

A mythical bird said to burn up and then rise again from its own ashes.

phonation

noun

(phonetics) The making of speech sounds by vibrating the vocal cords, shaped further as they pass through the throat and mouth.

phone

noun

A device used to talk to someone over a distance, especially a mobile device that also runs apps.

phonebook

noun

A printed or digital directory listing people's or businesses' phone numbers.

phoneme

noun

(phonetics) The smallest unit of sound that changes meaning in a language, made up of one or more actual spoken sounds.

phones

noun

Informal short form for headphones.

phonetics

noun

The branch of linguistics that studies the physical sounds of human speech, including how they are produced, heard and written down.

phoniness

noun

The state of being fake or insincere.

phoning

noun

The act of making a phone call.

phonograph

noun

An early device for recording and playing back sound using grooved cylinders or discs, a forerunner of the record player.

phonography

noun

A system for writing down speech using special symbols.

phonology

noun

The branch of linguistics that studies how sounds work in a language, including stress, intonation and syllable structure.

phony

adj

Fake or fraudulent; not genuine.

phooey

intj

An exclamation showing disgust, dismissal, or disappointment.

phosphate

noun

A chemical compound derived from phosphoric acid, widely used in fertilizers and found in living cells.

phosphatization

noun

(chemistry) The process of turning something into a phosphate.

phosphatized

adj

(chemistry) Changed into a phosphate.

phosphide

noun

Phosphide is a compound formed by combining phosphorus with another element, usually with phosphorus in the −3 oxidation state.

phosphine

noun

A poisonous gas with the chemical formula PH₃.

phosphite

noun

A salt or ester formed from phosphorous acid.

phosphomotif

noun

A string of phosphopeptides.

phosphor

noun

A substance, often made from a transition metal or rare earth compound, that glows after being exposed to light or radiation.

phosphoreal

adj

Connected with the chemical element phosphorus.

phosphorescence

noun

The giving off of light without any noticeable heat.

phosphoric

adj

Relating to phosphorus, especially describing a compound in which it has its higher valency of five.

phosphorist

noun

A member of a Swedish group of Romantic poets and writers active in the early 1800s.

phosphorous

adj

Relating to or containing phosphorus, especially in its less-oxidized chemical form.

phosphorus

noun

A chemical element (symbol P, atomic number 15) that exists in several forms, some of which glow or ignite easily.

phosphorylation

noun

The transfer of a phosphate group from one molecule to another, usually with the help of an enzyme.

photo

noun

A picture taken with a camera or phone.

photocopier

noun

A machine that makes paper copies of documents by scanning and printing them.

photocopy

noun

A duplicate of a document made by a photocopier.

photogenic

adj

Looking attractive or good in photographs.

photograph

noun

An image captured using a camera.

photographer

noun

A person who takes photographs, often as a job.

photographic

adj

Relating to photographs or the process of photography.

photographing

noun

The act of taking a photograph.

photography

noun

The art, technique, or business of taking photographs.

photojournalist

noun

A journalist who tells news stories mainly through photographs.

photon

noun

The smallest possible unit of light or other electromagnetic energy, with no mass or electric charge.

photonic

adj

Relating to photons or to the technology that uses light to transmit and process information.

photophobia

noun

An unusual sensitivity to light that makes bright conditions uncomfortable or painful for the eyes.

photoshop

verb

To digitally alter a photo, especially to change or improve someone's appearance.

photoshopped

adj

Digitally edited or altered, especially to change someone's appearance in a photo.

photosynthesis

noun

The process by which plants and some other organisms convert light energy into chemical energy, typically producing oxygen as a byproduct.

photosynthesize

verb

To produce carbohydrates using light energy, taking in carbon dioxide and water, as plants do in photosynthesis.

photosynthetic

adj

Relating to, or making use of, photosynthesis.

PHP

noun

A programming language that runs on a web server to build pages before they are sent to the visitor, commonly used for websites that draw their content from a database.

phrasal verbs

noun

Verbs made up of a main verb plus one or two small words such as up, off, out or with, where the combination carries a meaning you could not work out from the parts alone — for example give up, look after, put up with.

phrase

noun

A short group of words that expresses an idea, often forming part of a sentence.

phrasebook

noun

a book of everyday phrases and expressions in two or more languages, meant to help travellers or learners communicate.

phraseology

noun

The study of fixed word combinations and set expressions.

phrasing

noun

The particular way words are chosen and arranged in speech or writing.

phrenitis

noun

An old term for madness caused by swelling of the brain, covering conditions now called encephalitis or meningitis.

phrenology

noun

A pseudoscience that claimed to link a person's character to the shape of their skull.

Phryne

name

A name of ancient Greek origin, borne by a famous courtesan of classical Athens.

Phu

name

A masculine given name of Vietnamese origin.

Phuket

name

Thailand's largest island and the province that shares its name, a major beach and diving destination in the Andaman Sea.

Phuong

name

A unisex given name of Vietnamese origin, often meaning "phoenix" or associated with direction.

phycology

noun

Phycology is the scientific study of algae.

phylactery

noun

In Judaism, either of two small leather boxes containing scrolls of Torah passages, traditionally strapped to the arm and forehead during morning prayers.

phyllida

name

A female first name of Ancient Greek origin.

Phyllis

name

A female given name of Ancient Greek origin, from a myth about a woman who died of grief and was transformed into an almond tree.

phyllon

noun

A leaf, or a flat object that looks like one.

phylogenesis

noun

The process by which a species evolves over time.

phylogeny

noun

The evolutionary history of a group of living things, such as a species.

phylum

noun

A level in the classification of living things, ranking beneath kingdom and higher than class, also known as a divisio or division especially when describing plants; also the name for a group at that level.

physiatrics

noun

The branch of medicine concerned with physical treatment and therapy.

physic

adj

Relating to material things that actually exist; physical.

physical

adj

Relating to the body rather than the mind; bodily.

physicalism

noun

The philosophical idea that everything that exists is physical, and nothing exists beyond what physical laws can explain.

physicality

noun

The bodily strength, size, or presence someone has, especially noticeable athletic or physical power.

physically

adv

In terms of the body, rather than mentally or emotionally.

physicalness

noun

The quality of being physical; physicality.

physician

noun

A medical doctor, especially one who treats illness with medicine and diagnosis rather than surgery.

physicist

noun

A scientist who specializes in physics.

physics

noun

The branch of science that studies matter, energy, space, and time, and how they interact.

physiognomy

noun

The practice, now regarded as unscientific, of judging someone's character from their facial features and general appearance.

physiologic

adj

Relating to physiology.

physiological

adj

Relating to physiology — the normal functioning of living things and their organs.

physiology

noun

The branch of biology that studies how living organisms and their parts function.

physiopathology

noun

The bodily processes linked to disease or injury, or the branch of science that studies them.

physiotherapist

noun

A therapist, mainly in the UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth, who treats physical injury or dysfunction, usually with exercise.

physiotherapy

noun

Treatment for injury or illness using physical methods such as exercise, massage, or heat, rather than medication or surgery.

physique

noun

The shape and build of a person's body, especially in terms of muscle and fitness.