P – Q
palette(PAL it) n.1. a thin board, usually with a thumbhole, on which an artist
mixes paint colors; 2. the colors used by a certain artist for a certain painting or
paintings
- An artist’s paletteusually contains only the colors that he is using to make
a particular painting. - During Picasso’s blue period, his palettewas heavily tilted in the direction
of that color.
pallid(PAL id) adj.pale; wan; faint in color - Margaret had been out of the sun for so long that her face had taken on an
unhealthy, pallidcolor.
[Syn. pale]
pantomime(PAN tuh MYM) vt.1. a play or presentation wherein the charac-
ters perform actions and gesticulate, but speak no words; 2. an actor or actress who
performs in this way; 3. actions and gestures without words used as a means of
expression - It is customary in Japanese Kabuki theater for characters to pantomime
while made up in whiteface. - In Mel Brooks’s Silent Movie,everyone pantomimedexcept for the famous
mime Marcel Marceau, who spoke the only word. - Pantomimingis a way of conveying information to one’s teammates in the
game of charades.
[-d, pantomiming]
paramount (PA ruh mownt) adj.ranking above all others; utmost; chief;
supreme - A child’s education, both intellectually and socially, is of paramountimpor-
tance to society. - The meaning of what they say is not paramountfor the French; rather, it’s
how they pronounce it.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. dominant]
parasite(PA ruh syt) n.1. one who lives at the expense of others and con-
tributes nothing in return; 2. an organism that lives on or in another, getting nour-
ishment from the host but contributing nothing useful and sometimes causing
harm, for example, a leech - Sometimes their maternal instincts cause women to take in parasiteswho
prey upon their better nature. - Tapeworms are parasitesthat can live inside a person’s intestines and take
all the nourishment ingested for themselves.
[parasitic adj., parasitically adv.]
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