parsimony N. /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.
partial ADJ. /不完善的;偏爱的/incomplete; having a liking for something. In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone. I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.
partiality N. /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.
partisan ADJ. /一边倒的/one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party. On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide. Rather than joining forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on partisan struggles. also N.
partition V. /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.
passive ADJ. /被动的/not active; acted upon. Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resistance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.
passport N. /护照/legal document identifying the bearer as a citizen of a country and allowing him or her to travel abroad. In arranging your first trip abroad, be sure to allow yourself enough time to apply for and receive your passport you won't be allowed to travel without one.
pastiche N. /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 ADJ. /田园的;乡下的/rural. Simple and peaceful; idyllic; related to shepherds. Tired of the stress of life in the city, Dana dreamed of moving to the country and enjoying a simple pastoral life.
patent ADJ. /显而易见的;公开查阅的/open for the public to read; obvious. It was patent to everyone that the witness spoke the truth. also N.
pathetic ADJ. /可怜的，触动人心的/causing sadness, compassion, pity; touching. Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time he finished his pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.
pathological ADJ. /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.
pathos N. /痛苦，悲怆，哀婉/tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of
pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.
patina N. /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 N. /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 ADJ. /贵族的/noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.
patronize V. /资助;支持/support; act superior toward; be a customer of. Penniless artists hope to find some wealthy art-lover who will patronize them. If some condescending wine steward patronized me because he saw I knew nothing about fine wine, I'd refuse to patronize his restaurant.
paucity N. /少量;缺乏/scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.
pauper N. /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 N. /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?
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