90+ Verbs That Start With P | Definitions & Examples
Lists of verbs that start with P can be a useful resource for teachers, students, and puzzlers alike. This article lists over 90 verbs beginning with P—categorized into everyday vocabulary, like “park,” “pay,” and “pick,” and more advanced verbs, like “posit,” “precipitate,” and “protrude.”
Start with a prompt like, “Give me a list of 10 verbs that are frequently used in cover letters.”
30+ common verbs that start with P
Here is a list of 37 everyday verbs that start with the letter P, including short, simple definitions.
- Pack: Put things into a bag or box (e.g., clothes)
- Paint: Cover something with paint
- Pair: Match two things together
- Paddle: Move a boat through water using a pole with a flat end
- Park: Leave a car in a place for a time
- Pass: Give something to another person
- Paste: Stick something onto another thing
- Pat: Touch someone or something gently with your hand
- Pause: Stop for a short time
- Pay: Give money to someone when you buy something
- Peel: Take the outer layer off fruit or vegetables
- Phone: Call someone with a telephone
- Pick: Choose something
- Pinch: Press something between two fingers
- Place: Put something somewhere
- Plan: Think about what you will do before you do it
- Plant: Put a seed or plant into the ground
- Play: Do something for fun (e.g., a game or sport)
- Point: Show where someone or something is with your finger
- Poke: Push something lightly with your finger
- Pop: To break or open something so it makes a small explosion (e.g., a balloon or bottle)
- Post: Put a letter in the mail or put something online for others to see
- Pour: Make liquid flow out of a container (e.g., a jug)
- Practice: Do something again and again to get better at it
- Prefer: Like one thing more than another
- Prepare: Get something ready
- Press: Push down on something
- Print: Put words or pictures onto paper with a machine
- Promise: Say you will surely do something
- Pronounce: Say a word in a certain way
- Protect: Keep someone or something safe
- Pull: Move something toward you
- Pump: Push air, water, or gas into or out of something
- Punch: Hit with a closed hand
- Punish: Give a penalty for doing something wrong
- Push: Move something away from you
- Put: Move something into a place
They don’t accept cards; you can only pay in cash here.
We need to plan how we’re going to get from the airport to the hotel.
The kids popped most of the balloons already.
We spent all week preparing for the party.
Don’t forget to wear a hat to protect yourself from the sun.
60+ advanced verbs that start with P
This list of 62 verbs that start with P features more advanced vocabulary—verbs that you might need to know to answer vocabulary questions and understand reading passages on tests or exams.
- Pacify: Calm someone who is angry, upset, or ready to fight
- Paralyze: Make someone or something unable to move or act
- Paraphrase: Express the same meaning in different words
- Participate: Take part in something
- Perceive: Notice, understand, or become aware of something
- Perform: Carry out an action, task, or role
- Permeate: Spread through every part of something
- Penetrate: Go into or through something
- Permit: Allow something to happen
- Perpetrate: Carry out a harmful or illegal act
- Perpetuate: Cause something to continue for a long time
- Perplex: Confuse someone
- Persevere: Keep going despite difficulty
- Persist: Continue firmly even when something is difficult
- Persuade: Get someone to believe or do something through reasons or argument
- Pertain: Relate directly to something
- Peruse: Read or look at something, often in a casual way
- Pervade: Be present through all of something
- Petition: Make a formal request, often in writing
- Pinpoint: Find or show the exact place, cause, or meaning
- Pique: Arouse interest, curiosity, or annoyance
- Placate: Make someone less angry or upset
- Plummet: Fall very quickly and suddenly
- Ponder: Think about something carefully
- Populate: Fill a place with people, animals, or things
Critics of the movie claim that it perpetuates false beliefs about young people.
I promised to call him back on Monday morning, and that seemed to placate him.
- Portray: Show or describe someone or something in a certain way
- Pose: To suggest or offer (e.g., a question, idea, or problem)
- Posit: Suggest or state as a possible truth
- Postpone: Delay something until a later time
- Postulate: Suggest something as true or as a starting idea
- Precede: Come before something else in time, order, or place
- Precipitate: Cause something to happen suddenly or sooner than expected
- Preclude: Prevent something from happening
- Predict: Say what will probably happen in the future
- Predominate: Be the most common, strong, or important
- Preface: Begin something with an opening statement
- Prescribe: Order something as a rule, treatment, or official direction
- Preserve: Keep something safe, whole, or unchanged
- Preside: Be in charge of a meeting, event, or process
- Presume: Suppose something is true without full proof
- Presuppose: Require or assume something beforehand
- Prevail: Prove successful in the end
- Probe: Examine or investigate closely
- Proceed: Move forward or continue
- Proclaim: Announce something publicly
- Procure: Obtain something
- Profess: Claim or express (e.g., an opinion)
- Prohibit: Officially forbid something
- Proliferate: Increase or spread quickly
- Project: Send, throw, or show outward
- Prolong: Make something last longer
The new rules prescribe how companies should protect their customers’ data.
That argument presupposes that she is acting in her clients’ best interests.
- Promote: Help something grow, develop, or become more widely known
- Propagate: Spread something (e.g., information or ideas)
- Propel: Push or drive something forward
- Proscribe: Officially forbid something
- Prosecute: Bring a legal case against someone in court
- Protrude: Stick out
- Provoke: Cause a reaction, especially anger or action
- Publicize: Make something known to the public
- Purge: Remove unwanted people, things, or feelings
- Purport: Claim to be or do something
- Pursue: Continue trying to achieve, catch, or follow something
Such use of customer data is now proscribed by law.
How can he purport to be an expert in a field in which he has no training or experience?
Frequently asked questions about verbs that start with P
- What are some irregular verbs that start with P?
-
Some irregular verbs that start with P include:
- Partake — partook (simple past tense form) — partaken (past participle)
- Pay — paid — paid
- Put — put — put
Use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to pick up errors with irregular verbs in your writing.
- What are some long verbs that start with P?
-
Some long verbs that start with P are:
- Photosynthesize (15 letters)
- Professionalize (15 letters)
- Particularize (13 letters)
- Procrastinate (13 letters)
- Provincialize (13 letters)
- Parenthesize (12 letters)
- Philosophize (12 letters)
- Psychologize (12 letters)
QuillBot’s free AI Chat can help you with more lists of verbs starting with P.
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Challenger, T. (2026, March 31). 90+ Verbs That Start With P | Definitions & Examples. Quillbot. Retrieved March 31, 2026, from https://quilbot.jintools.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-p/
