Puzo, Mario
1126
advantage: The way his neighbour always borrows things
from him makes him feel put-upon. → see also PUT UPON
Pu·zo, Ma·rio /'pu:zəʊ, 'mɑ:riəʊ/ (1920-1999) a US writer
who is famous for his NOVELS about the Mafia. His most
famous book is The Godfather, which was made into three films.
puz·zle¹ /'pʌzl/ v 1 [T often pass.] to make (someone) feel
helpless and uncertain in the effort to explain or understand
something: Her illness has puzzled all the doctors. | What
puzzles me is why they didn't take her advice. | a puzzling
situation | You look puzzled. 2 [I+prep, especially about, over, as to]
to make a great effort of the mind in order to find the
answer to a question: I've been puzzling over all the figures,
trying to find what happened to the missing money.
puzzle sthg. ⇔ out phr v [T] to find the answer to (a
problem) by thinking hard: I'm trying to puzzle out the
meaning of his words. | [+Wh-] We finally puzzled out how to
open the box.
puzzle² n 1 (often in comb.) a game, toy, or apparatus in which
parts must be fitted together correctly, intended to amuse or
exercise the mind: a crossword puzzle | a book of puzzles →
see also JIGSAW 2 [C usually sing.] something that one cannot
understand or explain: We can't find what happened to that
money – it's a bit of a puzzle.
puz·zle·ment /'pʌzəlmənt/ n [U] the state of being puzzled:
He gazed at the strange writing in puzzlement.
puz·zler /'pʌzlə/ n infml a person or thing that puzzles one:
That last question was a real puzzler.
PVC /,pi: vi: 'si:·/ n [U] polyvinyl chloride; a type of plastic
used for many things including clothing, shoes, and seat
covers: This raincoat is PVC. | floor tiles made of PVC
pw written abbrev. for per week: The jobholder may earn up to £200
pw.
P.W. /,pi: 'dʌbəlju:·/ abbrev. for policewoman
PWA /,pi: dʌbəlju: 'eɪ/ n abbrev. for person with AIDS; some-
one who has the disease AIDS
PWR /,pi: dʌbəlju: 'ɑ:·/ n abbrev. for pressurized water reactor;
a type of NUCLEAR REACTOR for producing electricity
PX /,pi: 'eks/ also post exchange fml — n pl. PXs /,pi:
'eksɪz/ trademark a shop at a US military base → compare
NAAFI
Pyg·ma·li·on /pɪg'meɪliən/ (1913) a play by George Bernard
SHAW in which Professor Henry HIGGINS teaches a poor
COCKNEY woman, Eliza DOOLITTLE, how to speak and behave
like an UPPER CLASS lady. The play was made into a MUSICAL
(=a play that uses singing and dancing to tell a story) in
1956 and a successful film musical in 1964, both called MY
FAIR LADY.
pyg·my, pigmy /'pɪgmi/ n 1 (usually cap.) a member of a race
of very small people in Africa 2 a very small person or
animal: a pygmy elephant 3 derog a person with very little
skill or importance: a political pygmy
py·ja·mas /pə'dʒɑ:mæz||-'dʒæ, -'dʒɑ:-/ also jammies BrE ||
pajamas, Pj's AmE — n [P] 1 a soft loose-fitting pair of
trousers and top worn in bed, especially by men 2 loose
trousers tied round the waist, worn by Muslim men and
women → see PAIR (USAGE) —pyjama adj [A] Where are my
pyjama trousers?
py·lon /'paɪlənl-lɑ:n, -lən/ n 1 a tall structure of steel bars
used for supporting wires that carry electricity over land 2 a
high tower or post used as a guiding mark for aircraft 3 tech
a gateway to an ancient Egyptian temple
Pyn·chon, Thomas /'pɪntʃən/ (1937-) a US writer, whose
novels are often very complicated. His best known book is
Gravity's Rainbow (1973), in which a group of powerful
people control the world by means of MISSILE technology.
PYO /,pi: waɪ 'əʊ/ BrE abbrev. for 'pick your own', used by farms
that let people pick their own fruit and vegetables
py·or·rhoe·a, -rhea /,paɪə'ri:ə/ n [U] a disease of the flesh
round the teeth, which may cause them to become loose
pyr·a·mid /'pɪrəmɪd/ n 1 (in GEOMETRY) a solid figure with a
flat usually square base and straight flat three-angled sides that
slope upwards to meet at a point 2 (often cap.) a very large stone
structure in this shape, used in ancient Egypt as the burial
place of an important person, e.g. a king 3 a building or pile
of objects in this shape: A pyramid of stones marked the spot.
Pyr·a·mids, the /'pɪrəmdz/ the ancient Egyptian pyra-
mids, which were built to contain the bodies and possessions
of the dead PHARAOHS (=kings of ancient Egypt). The most
famous of these are the three pyramids at El Giza, near Cairo,
which include the Great Pyramid and are one of the SEVEN
WONDERS OF THE WORLD.
'pyramid ,scheme also Ponzi scheme n a dishonest and
usually illegal way of selling INVESTMENTS, in which money
from people who INVEST at a later time is used to pay people
in the system who have already invested
'pyramid ,selling n [U] tech an unfair system by which a
person buys a right to sell a company's goods and then sells
part of that right to other people
Pyr·a·mus and This·be /,pɪrəməs ænd 'θɪzbi/ in ancient
Roman stories, a pair of lovers who killed themselves because
each thought the other one was dead. They are best known from
the play about them which BOTTOM and his friends perform in
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William SHAKESPEARE.
pyre /paɪə/ n a high mass of wood for the ceremonial
burning of a dead body: a funeral pyre
Pyr·e·nees, the /,pɪrə'ni:z||'pɪrəni:z/ a RANGE of moun-
tains between France and Spain, which goes from the Bay of
Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea
Py·rex /'paɪreks/ trademark a special type of strong glass that
does not break at high temperatures and is used for making
cooking dishes
py·ri·tes /paɪ'raɪti:z||pə-/ n [U] (usually in comb.) a natural
compound of SULPHUR with a metal, especially iron (iron
pyrites), found in the earth and having a shiny yellow
appearance, like gold
py·ro·ma·ni·a /,paɪərəʊ'meɪniə||-rə-/ n [U] tech an illness of
the mind causing an uncontrollable desire to start fires
py·ro·ma·ni·ac /,paɪərəʊ'meɪniæk||-rə-/ n tech a person
suffering from pyromania
py·ro·tech·nics /,paɪərəʊ'teknɪks||-rə-/ n 1 [U] tech the
making of bright explosive lights, as used for amusement
(FIREWORKS) or as signals for ships, aircraft etc 2 [P] fml or tech
a public show of FIREWORKS 3 [P] a splendid show of skill in
words, music etc: the pianist's pyrotechnics in the scherzo
—pyrotechnic adj
Pyr·rhic vic·to·ry /,pɪrɪk 'vɪktəri/ n a victory in which the
person who wins suffers so much that the victory was not
worth winning. The phrase comes from the ancient Greek
king Pyrrhus who fought against the Romans and beat
them, but so many of his soldiers were killed that his victory
did not bring him any advantage.
Py·thag·o·ras /paɪ'θæɡərəs||pə-/ (?582–?507BC) a Greek PHI-
LOSOPHER and MATHEMATICIAN, known for Pythagoras' Theo-
rem, a way of calculating the length of one side of a TRIANGLE
which has one angle of 90°, when you already know the
length of the other two sides.
py·thon /'paɪθən||-θɑ:n, -θən/ n pl. pythons or python a large
non-poisonous tropical snake that kills animals for food by
winding round them and crushing them
Py·thon·esque /,paɪθən'esk·/ adj humorous in a very silly,
strange, and often rude way, which reminds people of the
humour of the British television programme Monty Python's
Flying Circus → see also MONTY PYTHON
pyx /pɪks/ n tech a container in which the holy bread used for
the Christian service of COMMUNION is kept, especially a
small round metal dish used for carrying Communion to
the sick