This is part three of the list of three-letter words that can be formed from extant two-letter words. For intro remarks as to what this is all about, see Part One.
SYMBOLS
* Word is new for Scrabble, as of OWL 2014 / OSPD5
† Word is NOT valid in Words With Friends (but is valid in Scrabble)
‡ Word is NOT valid in Scrabble, but IS valid in Words With Friends (not comprehensive)
(And of course, no symbol means the word should be fine to play in pretty much anything.)
---
LAB: 'cause saying "laboratory" is too much work
LAC: a kind of beetle, from whose resinous byproduct shellac is made
LAD: a strapping young man
LAG: to fall behind
LAH: variant of "la" (as in, the do-re-mi note) †*
LAM: the dame with the gams is on the lam (...someone in a film noir movie might say)
LAP: it disappears when you stand up (presumably it goes to Lapland)
LAR: a kind of gibbon
LAS: more than one "la"
LAT: what a normal person calls their latissimus dorsii muscles
LAV: short for "lavatory"
LAW: I am the law!
LAX: loose (figuratively or literally)
LAY: to place horizontally
---
LIB: short for "liberal"
LID: a removable top for a cup or bowl
LIE: to tell untruths
LIN: Scottish for "waterfall", sometimes spelled "linn" (which is also valid)
LIP: the fleshy rim of your mouth
LIS: more than one "li"; also an obscure legal term (completely different word)
LIT: lighted
---
LOB: to throw or hit something high into the air with not much horizontal impetus
LOG: a tree's corpse
LOO: British for "bathroom"
LOP: to cut off (e.g. "lop off his head")
LOR: a mild swear word, short for "Lord" (comparable to how "gosh" and "jeez" are used in place of God and Jesus respectively when quasi-cussing) †*
LOT: a great quantity
LOW: not high (can be a noun also... e.g. "the highs and lows of competitive Scrabble")
LOX: liquid oxygen
---
MAC: a casual term of address to a man whose name is not known (similar to bud, dude, etc), sometimes spelled "mack" (also valid)
MAD: angry and/or crazy
MAE: Scottish for "more"
MAG: magazine
MAM: British for "mom" †*
MAN: a dude
MAP: shows the way to the treasure
MAR: a stain
MAS: more than one "ma"
MAT: a temporary covering
MAW: the hapless victim disappeared into the monster's gaping maw
MAX: 'cause saying "maximum" is too much work
MAY: I think I may, I think I might
---
MED: medicine or medication
MEH: interjection expressing boredom (coined by The Simpsons TV show) *
MEL: medical prescription shorthand for "honey" (I am puzzled as to why that's a thing, but okay)
MEM: the Hebrew letter מ
MEN: dudes
MET: meeted
MEW: the sound a kitten makes
---
MIB: a kind of marble used for the game of marbles
MID: as in, the mid 19th century (often hyphenated in such contexts, but it doesn't HAVE to be... since it CAN stand alone as a word, it's allowed in Scrabble)
MIG: variant of mib (the kind of marble)
MIL: 1/1000th of a (monetary) pound, in some countries that use "pounds" as the local currency
MIM: British for "modest" or "demure"
MIR: a commune of peasant farmers (Russian loan word)
MIS: more than one "mi"
MIX: to blend together
MMM: really tasty †*
UMM: variant of "um"
---
MMM: really, really tasty! (this is the only 2-make-3 entry that appears twice under the same two-letter word!) †*
---
MOA: a peculiar-looking, vaguely ostrich-like bird, now sadly extinct
MOB: a crowd or the mafia (use context to distinguish)
MOC: 'cause saying "moccasin" is too much work
MOD: modification or moderator (use context to distinguish)
MOG: Cockney slang for a cat (shortened form of "moggy")
MOI: fancy-pants word for "me" *
MOL: one mol is an Avogadro's number worth of molecules (or atoms) of any given substance (more commonly spelled "mole")
MOM: 'cause saying "mother" is too much work
MON: variant spelling of "man" in a number of different English dialects
MOO: what a cow says
MOP: a bundle of coarse yarn on a stick you wipe the floors with
MOR: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal spelling of "more", e.g. "Ah reckon that slap o' grits o'er yonder is mor'n y'all can et up"
MOS: more than one "mo"
MOT: a witty remark, usually seen as part of the phrase "bon mot"
MOW: like mowing the grass
EMU: a funny-looking bird
---
MUD: watery dirt or really dirty water
MUG: an ugly face or a large drinking cup (use context to distinguish)
MUM: as in, "mum's the word"
MUN: old-timey variant of "must"
MUS: more than one μ
MUT: variant spelling of "mutt" (i.e., a mongrel dog)
MUX: short for "multiplexer" (an electronics component) †*
---
MYC: variant spelling of "mic", because saying "microphone" is too much work, and also a kind of oncogene (i.e., a cancer-causing gene) †
---
NAB: steal or kidnap
NAE: Scottish for "not"
NAG: what your mom does
NAH: nah, bruh! (for some reason, "bruh" is not yet valid... bruh!)
NAM: variant spelling of "naam", an obscure legal term
NAN: variant spelling of "naan", a delicious flatbread term
NAP: a short break for sleeping
NAV: short for "navigation", usually in the context of a website †*
NAW: naw, bruh!
NAY: nay, dear brother!
ONE: non-Scottish for "ane" ;)
---
NEB: old-timey word for nose or beak
NEE: normal spelling of the word to indicate a woman's maiden name
NET: crisscrossed ropes for catching animals or people
NEW: not old
---
NOB: a term from cribbage (the card game), namely the jack of the starter's suit
NOD: like nodding your head yes
NOG: like eggnog
NOH: a kind of traditional play in Japan (usually referred to in English as "noh theater")
NOM: fancy-pants word for "name", usually seen as part of the phrases "nom de plume" (meaning a writer's assumed name) or "nom de guerre" (usually meaning a guerrilla or terrorist's alias), though note that "guerre" is NOT a valid word
NOO: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal "mispronunciation" of the word new, e.g. "Noo-Yawk"
NOR: can replace "or" when negating things, e.g. "not this nor that"
NOS: yeses and nos
NOT: an adverb of negation
NOW: currently
---
NUB: a small protuberance
NUG: a flowering plant cultivated in Ethiopia for its edible seeds and oil †*
NUN: a female member of a Catholic religious order
NUS: more than one of the Greek letter
NUT: a crazy person or a really dry fruit in a tough shell (use context to distinguish)
COD: a kind of fish
GOD: invisible sky father
HOD: an apparatus for carrying bricks on your shoulder
MOD: modification or moderator (use context to distinguish)
NOD: like nodding your head
POD: like peas in a pod
ROD: as in, "thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me"
SOD: dirt suitable for growing stuff in
TOD: an obsolete unit of weight, equal to ~28 pounds
YOD: alternate spelling of "yodh", the Hebrew letter '
---
ODA: a harem (Turkish loan-word)
ODD: strange
ODE: a kind of poem
ODS: totally makes sense to refer to the non-existent od in the plural
FOE: fancy-pants word for "enemy"
HOE: a gardening implement (what did you think it was?)
JOE: slang for "coffee"
ROE: a kind of deer
TOE: a foot-finger
VOE: old-timey word for a small bay
WOE: trouble
---
OES: more than one oe
---
OFF: not on
OFT: 'cause saying "often" is ofttimes too much work
NOH: a kind of traditional play in Japan
OOH: oohs and ahs
POH: old-timey variant of "pooh" (the interjection expressing disbelief)
---
OHM: a unit of electrical resistance
OHO: aha! ho ho!
OHS: exes and ohs
MOI: fancy word for "me" *
POI: a traditional Hawaiian food made from taro (also a valid word)... it looks kinda like purple applesauce
---
OIK: British slang for an oaf †
OIL: a viscous liquid not soluble in water
HOM: an obscure mathematics term, as in "hom functor" (and functor is a valid word even though hom is not in WWF) †*
MOM: 'cause saying "mother" is too much work
NOM: fancy-pants word for "name"
POM: like a pom-pom
ROM: read-only memory, i.e. permanent storage for computer instructions or data ("rom" can be written lowercase and pronounced like a word, so it's allowed)
TOM: a male cat
YOM: Hebrew loan-word for "day", as in Yom Kippur
---
OMA: "grandmother" in some dialects †*
OMS: say a few oms when meditating
DON: an honorary title, similar to "dom"
EON: a long time
FON: variant spelling of "foehn", a warm, dry wind
HON: short for "honey", i.e. what waitresses at Cracker Barrel call everyone
ION: an electrically charged atom (the two kinds of ion, cations and anions, which are positive and negative ions, respectively, are both recognized as valid words too)
MON: Jamaican man
SON: male child
TON: really heavy
WON: 'cause "winned" ain't a word
YON: yonder
---
ONE: a number between zero and two
ONS: as in, "ons and offs"
COP: policeman (short for "copper", which police badges were once made from)
FOP: a useless dandy
HOP: ...skip and a jump
KOP: a hill (Dutch loan-word)
LOP: to cut off (e.g. "lop off his head")
MOP: a bundle of coarse yarn on a stick you wipe the floors with
POP: incorrect Midwestern slang for "coke"
SOP: to dip in liquid, e.g. sopping up the spaghetti sauce with garlic bread
TOP: the opposite side from the bottom (can also be a verb, e.g. "he topped up his glass")
---
OPA: an interjection of "acclaim" (Greek loan-word, much popularized by the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding) †*
OPE: as in, "ope wide the gate" ('cause saying "open" is too much work)
OPS: like spec ops ("spec" also a valid word)
OPT: to choose an option (e.g., "he opted for the cheapest one")
DOR: a kind of beetle (also spelled "dorr")
FOR: opposite of against
GOR: a "mild oath", i.e. the British version of "golly" or "gosh"
KOR: ancient Hebrew unit of measure equal to 10 "baths" or about 58 gallons, see Ezekiel 45:14
MOR: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal spelling of "more", e.g. "Ah reckon that slap o' grits o'er yonder is mor'n y'all can et up"
NOR: can replace "or" when negating things, e.g. "not this nor that"
TOR: old-timey word for a high, craggy hill, preserved in a few place names in England, e.g. Glastonbury Tor
---
ORA: one possible plural of "os" (it's a long story)
ORB: a sphere
ORC: monstrous demi-human race from Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, and similar
ORE: metal-bearing rock
ORG: organization †*
ORS: totally makes sense to refer to ors in the plural
ORT: old-timey word for a scrap of food left over from a meal (more commonly seen as "orts", which is also valid)
COS: cosine, cousin, or variant spelling of kos (use context to distinguish)
DOS: more than one "do", as in do-re-mi
KOS: a former unit of length in India (~2 miles), also spelled "coss" or "cos" (which are also valid)
MOS: more than one "mo"
NOS: more than one "no"
POS: more than one "po", i.e. chamber-pot *
SOS: more than one "so", as in do-re-mi-fa-so
WOS: variant of "woes"
---
OSE: variant spelling of "os", meaning an esker
COW: a bull's female counterpart
DOW: Scottish for "thrive"
HOW: in what way?
JOW: Scottish for the sound a bell makes
LOW: not high
MOW: like cutting the grass
NOW: the present moment
POW: boom! bang!
ROW: ...yer boat
SOW: like Miss Piggy
TOW: to pull something heavy
VOW: a super-serious promise
WOW: amazing!
YOW: what you yell when yowling... yow!
---
OWE: to be indebted to
OWL: a wise bird that eats insects
OWN: to legally possess
OWT: dialectal variant spelling of "aught" (meaning "anything") in the north of England, e.g. "don't say owt for which you'll be sorry" †*
COX: a variety of apple (often uppercase but CAN be lower)
FOX: what does the fox say!?
GOX: gaseous oxygen
LOX: liquid oxygen
POX: a pox on both your houses!
SOX: solid oxygen
VOX: fancy-pants word for "voice"
---
OXO: cubes of beef extract used to make stock (originally a brand name, but CAN be lowercase)
OXY: 'cause saying "oxygen" is too much work
COY: playing hard-to-get
FOY: old-timey word for a goodbye party
GOY: a gentile
HOY: a kind of ship
JOY: a kind of happiness
SOY: what they make tofu and edamame out of
TOY: a thing to play with
---
(no back hooks for "oy")
SPA: a place for medicinal baths
---
PAC: short for "shoepac", a heelless inner shoe worn within a boot ("shoepac" is also a valid word)
PAD: a soft covering to absorb or cushion
PAH: interjection expressing disgust or contempt
PAK: short for "package" †
PAL: slang for friend
PAM: slang for pamphlet; also an obscure card game
PAN: a metal circle to cook things on
PAP: soft food for babies or invalids, e.g. bread soaked in water or milk (presumably a "pap smear" is called that because it has a similar consistency)
PAR: for the course
PAS: more than one pa
PAT: on the head
PAW: an animal's foot or "hand"
PAX: the "kiss of peace", i.e. the ritual kissing of a picture of Jesus or a saint in old-school churches
PAY: to give money to
OPE: ope wide the door
---
PEA: a kind of legume (e.g., green peas or black-eyed peas)
PEC: pectoral muscle (more commonly referred to in the plural, but as with abs and lats, it can be singular as well)
PED: 'cause saying "pedestrian" is too much work
PEE: the letter P or slang for urine (use context to distinguish)
PEG: a pirate's leg
PEH: alternate spelling for Hebrew letter "pe"
PEN: for writing with
PEP: vivaciousness
PER: as in, this lame blog has only a couple of posts per month
PES: more than one פ
PET: an animal you keep because it's cute
PEW: a bench at church
---
PIA: the innermost layer of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord (technically, the "pia mater", but often just called the pia)
PIC: picture
PIE: a pastry with a tasty filling (also circumference over diameter... j/k, that's pi)
PIG: an animal made from tasty bacon
PIN: a pointy thing used to attach things to other things (or the act of so doing)
PIP: a decorative dot
PIS: more than one π
PIT: a hole or cavity
PIU: Italian for "more", used in musical contexts, e.g. "piu allegro" or "piu presto" (and of course, "presto", "allegro", and other musical loan-words are generally valid)
PIX: more than one pic
UPO: 'cause saying "upon" is too much work (this one does deserve sarcasm... come on now, really?)
---
POD: like peas in a pod (or pod-people in a pod)
POH: old-timey variant of "pooh" (the interjection expressing disbelief)
POI: baked taro
POL: politician
POM: like a pom-pom
POO: crap
POP: ...goes the weasel
POS: more than one po *
POT: as in, pots and pans
POW: boom! pop!
POX: a disease that leaves pockmarks
---
QIS: more than one qi
SYMBOLS
* Word is new for Scrabble, as of OWL 2014 / OSPD5
† Word is NOT valid in Words With Friends (but is valid in Scrabble)
‡ Word is NOT valid in Scrabble, but IS valid in Words With Friends (not comprehensive)
(And of course, no symbol means the word should be fine to play in pretty much anything.)
La (a note to follow so)
ALA: a wing-shaped part of a bone---
LAB: 'cause saying "laboratory" is too much work
LAC: a kind of beetle, from whose resinous byproduct shellac is made
LAD: a strapping young man
LAG: to fall behind
LAH: variant of "la" (as in, the do-re-mi note) †*
LAM: the dame with the gams is on the lam (...someone in a film noir movie might say)
LAP: it disappears when you stand up (presumably it goes to Lapland)
LAR: a kind of gibbon
LAS: more than one "la"
LAT: what a normal person calls their latissimus dorsii muscles
LAV: short for "lavatory"
LAW: I am the law!
LAX: loose (figuratively or literally)
LAY: to place horizontally
Li (about a third of a mile)
(no front hook for "li")---
LIB: short for "liberal"
LID: a removable top for a cup or bowl
LIE: to tell untruths
LIN: Scottish for "waterfall", sometimes spelled "linn" (which is also valid)
LIP: the fleshy rim of your mouth
LIS: more than one "li"; also an obscure legal term (completely different word)
LIT: lighted
Lo (and lo, I am with you alway)
(no front hook for "lo")---
LOB: to throw or hit something high into the air with not much horizontal impetus
LOG: a tree's corpse
LOO: British for "bathroom"
LOP: to cut off (e.g. "lop off his head")
LOR: a mild swear word, short for "Lord" (comparable to how "gosh" and "jeez" are used in place of God and Jesus respectively when quasi-cussing) †*
LOT: a great quantity
LOW: not high (can be a noun also... e.g. "the highs and lows of competitive Scrabble")
LOX: liquid oxygen
Ma ('cause saying "mom" is too much work)
AMA: pearl-diver---
MAC: a casual term of address to a man whose name is not known (similar to bud, dude, etc), sometimes spelled "mack" (also valid)
MAD: angry and/or crazy
MAE: Scottish for "more"
MAG: magazine
MAM: British for "mom" †*
MAN: a dude
MAP: shows the way to the treasure
MAR: a stain
MAS: more than one "ma"
MAT: a temporary covering
MAW: the hapless victim disappeared into the monster's gaping maw
MAX: 'cause saying "maximum" is too much work
MAY: I think I may, I think I might
Me (a name I call myself... the actual one)
EME: Scottish for uncle (seriously, Scotland?)---
MED: medicine or medication
MEH: interjection expressing boredom (coined by The Simpsons TV show) *
MEL: medical prescription shorthand for "honey" (I am puzzled as to why that's a thing, but okay)
MEM: the Hebrew letter מ
MEN: dudes
MET: meeted
MEW: the sound a kitten makes
Mi (a name I call myself... the do-re-mi note)
AMI: parlez vous francais, mon ami?---
MIB: a kind of marble used for the game of marbles
MID: as in, the mid 19th century (often hyphenated in such contexts, but it doesn't HAVE to be... since it CAN stand alone as a word, it's allowed in Scrabble)
MIG: variant of mib (the kind of marble)
MIL: 1/1000th of a (monetary) pound, in some countries that use "pounds" as the local currency
MIM: British for "modest" or "demure"
MIR: a commune of peasant farmers (Russian loan word)
MIS: more than one "mi"
MIX: to blend together
Mm (tasty)
HMM: variant of "hm" (or maybe "hm" is the variant of "hmm"? Hmmm!)MMM: really tasty †*
UMM: variant of "um"
---
MMM: really, really tasty! (this is the only 2-make-3 entry that appears twice under the same two-letter word!) †*
Mo (moment)
EMO: like a goth teen *---
MOA: a peculiar-looking, vaguely ostrich-like bird, now sadly extinct
MOB: a crowd or the mafia (use context to distinguish)
MOC: 'cause saying "moccasin" is too much work
MOD: modification or moderator (use context to distinguish)
MOG: Cockney slang for a cat (shortened form of "moggy")
MOI: fancy-pants word for "me" *
MOL: one mol is an Avogadro's number worth of molecules (or atoms) of any given substance (more commonly spelled "mole")
MOM: 'cause saying "mother" is too much work
MON: variant spelling of "man" in a number of different English dialects
MOO: what a cow says
MOP: a bundle of coarse yarn on a stick you wipe the floors with
MOR: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal spelling of "more", e.g. "Ah reckon that slap o' grits o'er yonder is mor'n y'all can et up"
MOS: more than one "mo"
MOT: a witty remark, usually seen as part of the phrase "bon mot"
MOW: like mowing the grass
Mu (Greek letter μ)
AMU: atomic mass unit (often written lowercase and pronounced as a word, so it's allowed)EMU: a funny-looking bird
---
MUD: watery dirt or really dirty water
MUG: an ugly face or a large drinking cup (use context to distinguish)
MUM: as in, "mum's the word"
MUN: old-timey variant of "must"
MUS: more than one μ
MUT: variant spelling of "mutt" (i.e., a mongrel dog)
MUX: short for "multiplexer" (an electronics component) †*
My (belonging to me)
(no front hook for "my")---
MYC: variant spelling of "mic", because saying "microphone" is too much work, and also a kind of oncogene (i.e., a cancer-causing gene) †
Na (variant spelling of "nah")
ANA: a collection of memorable sayings---
NAB: steal or kidnap
NAE: Scottish for "not"
NAG: what your mom does
NAH: nah, bruh! (for some reason, "bruh" is not yet valid... bruh!)
NAM: variant spelling of "naam", an obscure legal term
NAN: variant spelling of "naan", a delicious flatbread term
NAP: a short break for sleeping
NAV: short for "navigation", usually in the context of a website †*
NAW: naw, bruh!
NAY: nay, dear brother!
Ne (variant spelling of "nee", used to indicate a maiden name)
ANE: Scottish for "one"ONE: non-Scottish for "ane" ;)
---
NEB: old-timey word for nose or beak
NEE: normal spelling of the word to indicate a woman's maiden name
NET: crisscrossed ropes for catching animals or people
NEW: not old
No (not yes)
ONO: a kind of mackerel---
NOB: a term from cribbage (the card game), namely the jack of the starter's suit
NOD: like nodding your head yes
NOG: like eggnog
NOH: a kind of traditional play in Japan (usually referred to in English as "noh theater")
NOM: fancy-pants word for "name", usually seen as part of the phrases "nom de plume" (meaning a writer's assumed name) or "nom de guerre" (usually meaning a guerrilla or terrorist's alias), though note that "guerre" is NOT a valid word
NOO: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal "mispronunciation" of the word new, e.g. "Noo-Yawk"
NOR: can replace "or" when negating things, e.g. "not this nor that"
NOS: yeses and nos
NOT: an adverb of negation
NOW: currently
Nu (Greek letter ν)
GNU: a cool-looking animal with a suitably cool name---
NUB: a small protuberance
NUG: a flowering plant cultivated in Ethiopia for its edible seeds and oil †*
NUN: a female member of a Catholic religious order
NUS: more than one of the Greek letter
NUT: a crazy person or a really dry fruit in a tough shell (use context to distinguish)
Od (old-timey science word)
BOD: 'cause saying "body" is too much workCOD: a kind of fish
GOD: invisible sky father
HOD: an apparatus for carrying bricks on your shoulder
MOD: modification or moderator (use context to distinguish)
NOD: like nodding your head
POD: like peas in a pod
ROD: as in, "thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me"
SOD: dirt suitable for growing stuff in
TOD: an obsolete unit of weight, equal to ~28 pounds
YOD: alternate spelling of "yodh", the Hebrew letter '
---
ODA: a harem (Turkish loan-word)
ODD: strange
ODE: a kind of poem
ODS: totally makes sense to refer to the non-existent od in the plural
Oe (a Faroese whirlwind... do not ask me to explain further)
DOE: a deer, a female deerFOE: fancy-pants word for "enemy"
HOE: a gardening implement (what did you think it was?)
JOE: slang for "coffee"
ROE: a kind of deer
TOE: a foot-finger
VOE: old-timey word for a small bay
WOE: trouble
---
OES: more than one oe
Of (from)
OOF: the sound a Roblox character makes when they die (how is "oof" still not a valid WWF word!?) *†---
OFF: not on
OFT: 'cause saying "often" is ofttimes too much work
Oh (as in, "oh, snap!")
FOH: variant of "faugh" (an old-timey interjection expressing disgust)NOH: a kind of traditional play in Japan
OOH: oohs and ahs
POH: old-timey variant of "pooh" (the interjection expressing disbelief)
---
OHM: a unit of electrical resistance
OHO: aha! ho ho!
OHS: exes and ohs
Oi (as in, "Oi, what's all this then!?")
KOI: a kind of fish *MOI: fancy word for "me" *
POI: a traditional Hawaiian food made from taro (also a valid word)... it looks kinda like purple applesauce
---
OIK: British slang for an oaf †
OIL: a viscous liquid not soluble in water
Om (meditation word)
DOM: an honorary title, similar to "don"HOM: an obscure mathematics term, as in "hom functor" (and functor is a valid word even though hom is not in WWF) †*
MOM: 'cause saying "mother" is too much work
NOM: fancy-pants word for "name"
POM: like a pom-pom
ROM: read-only memory, i.e. permanent storage for computer instructions or data ("rom" can be written lowercase and pronounced like a word, so it's allowed)
TOM: a male cat
YOM: Hebrew loan-word for "day", as in Yom Kippur
---
OMA: "grandmother" in some dialects †*
OMS: say a few oms when meditating
On (not off)
CON: to trick by betraying someone's confidenceDON: an honorary title, similar to "dom"
EON: a long time
FON: variant spelling of "foehn", a warm, dry wind
HON: short for "honey", i.e. what waitresses at Cracker Barrel call everyone
ION: an electrically charged atom (the two kinds of ion, cations and anions, which are positive and negative ions, respectively, are both recognized as valid words too)
MON: Jamaican man
SON: male child
TON: really heavy
WON: 'cause "winned" ain't a word
YON: yonder
---
ONE: a number between zero and two
ONS: as in, "ons and offs"
Op (short for "operation")
BOP: to strike lightly and/or playfullyCOP: policeman (short for "copper", which police badges were once made from)
FOP: a useless dandy
HOP: ...skip and a jump
KOP: a hill (Dutch loan-word)
LOP: to cut off (e.g. "lop off his head")
MOP: a bundle of coarse yarn on a stick you wipe the floors with
POP: incorrect Midwestern slang for "coke"
SOP: to dip in liquid, e.g. sopping up the spaghetti sauce with garlic bread
TOP: the opposite side from the bottom (can also be a verb, e.g. "he topped up his glass")
---
OPA: an interjection of "acclaim" (Greek loan-word, much popularized by the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding) †*
OPE: as in, "ope wide the gate" ('cause saying "open" is too much work)
OPS: like spec ops ("spec" also a valid word)
OPT: to choose an option (e.g., "he opted for the cheapest one")
Or (heraldry term for gold color)
COR: variant spelling of "kor", the unit of measureDOR: a kind of beetle (also spelled "dorr")
FOR: opposite of against
GOR: a "mild oath", i.e. the British version of "golly" or "gosh"
KOR: ancient Hebrew unit of measure equal to 10 "baths" or about 58 gallons, see Ezekiel 45:14
MOR: "humorous" pseudo-dialectal spelling of "more", e.g. "Ah reckon that slap o' grits o'er yonder is mor'n y'all can et up"
NOR: can replace "or" when negating things, e.g. "not this nor that"
TOR: old-timey word for a high, craggy hill, preserved in a few place names in England, e.g. Glastonbury Tor
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ORA: one possible plural of "os" (it's a long story)
ORB: a sphere
ORC: monstrous demi-human race from Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, and similar
ORE: metal-bearing rock
ORG: organization †*
ORS: totally makes sense to refer to ors in the plural
ORT: old-timey word for a scrap of food left over from a meal (more commonly seen as "orts", which is also valid)
Os (a bone, an orifice, or an esker; use context to distinguish)
BOS: the genus to which cows, yaks, zebus, and other related animals belongCOS: cosine, cousin, or variant spelling of kos (use context to distinguish)
DOS: more than one "do", as in do-re-mi
KOS: a former unit of length in India (~2 miles), also spelled "coss" or "cos" (which are also valid)
MOS: more than one "mo"
NOS: more than one "no"
POS: more than one "po", i.e. chamber-pot *
SOS: more than one "so", as in do-re-mi-fa-so
WOS: variant of "woes"
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OSE: variant spelling of "os", meaning an esker
Ow ('cause saying "ouch" is too much work)
BOW: to bendCOW: a bull's female counterpart
DOW: Scottish for "thrive"
HOW: in what way?
JOW: Scottish for the sound a bell makes
LOW: not high
MOW: like cutting the grass
NOW: the present moment
POW: boom! bang!
ROW: ...yer boat
SOW: like Miss Piggy
TOW: to pull something heavy
VOW: a super-serious promise
WOW: amazing!
YOW: what you yell when yowling... yow!
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OWE: to be indebted to
OWL: a wise bird that eats insects
OWN: to legally possess
OWT: dialectal variant spelling of "aught" (meaning "anything") in the north of England, e.g. "don't say owt for which you'll be sorry" †*
Ox (fixed bull)
BOX: a hollow cube to contain thingsCOX: a variety of apple (often uppercase but CAN be lower)
FOX: what does the fox say!?
GOX: gaseous oxygen
LOX: liquid oxygen
POX: a pox on both your houses!
SOX: solid oxygen
VOX: fancy-pants word for "voice"
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OXO: cubes of beef extract used to make stock (originally a brand name, but CAN be lowercase)
OXY: 'cause saying "oxygen" is too much work
Oy (variant of "oi")
BOY: a young maleCOY: playing hard-to-get
FOY: old-timey word for a goodbye party
GOY: a gentile
HOY: a kind of ship
JOY: a kind of happiness
SOY: what they make tofu and edamame out of
TOY: a thing to play with
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(no back hooks for "oy")
Pa ('cause saying "papa" is too much work)
OPA: an interjection of "acclaim" (Greek loan-word) †*SPA: a place for medicinal baths
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PAC: short for "shoepac", a heelless inner shoe worn within a boot ("shoepac" is also a valid word)
PAD: a soft covering to absorb or cushion
PAH: interjection expressing disgust or contempt
PAK: short for "package" †
PAL: slang for friend
PAM: slang for pamphlet; also an obscure card game
PAN: a metal circle to cook things on
PAP: soft food for babies or invalids, e.g. bread soaked in water or milk (presumably a "pap smear" is called that because it has a similar consistency)
PAR: for the course
PAS: more than one pa
PAT: on the head
PAW: an animal's foot or "hand"
PAX: the "kiss of peace", i.e. the ritual kissing of a picture of Jesus or a saint in old-school churches
PAY: to give money to
Pe (Hebrew letter פ, actually the same as "fe")
APE: kind of like a big monkeyOPE: ope wide the door
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PEA: a kind of legume (e.g., green peas or black-eyed peas)
PEC: pectoral muscle (more commonly referred to in the plural, but as with abs and lats, it can be singular as well)
PED: 'cause saying "pedestrian" is too much work
PEE: the letter P or slang for urine (use context to distinguish)
PEG: a pirate's leg
PEH: alternate spelling for Hebrew letter "pe"
PEN: for writing with
PEP: vivaciousness
PER: as in, this lame blog has only a couple of posts per month
PES: more than one פ
PET: an animal you keep because it's cute
PEW: a bench at church
Pi (Greek letter π)
(no front hooks for "pi")---
PIA: the innermost layer of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord (technically, the "pia mater", but often just called the pia)
PIC: picture
PIE: a pastry with a tasty filling (also circumference over diameter... j/k, that's pi)
PIG: an animal made from tasty bacon
PIN: a pointy thing used to attach things to other things (or the act of so doing)
PIP: a decorative dot
PIS: more than one π
PIT: a hole or cavity
PIU: Italian for "more", used in musical contexts, e.g. "piu allegro" or "piu presto" (and of course, "presto", "allegro", and other musical loan-words are generally valid)
PIX: more than one pic
Po (a chamber-pot... no, really)*
APO: 'cause saying "apolipoprotein" is too much work (in this case, I'm not even being sarcastic) †UPO: 'cause saying "upon" is too much work (this one does deserve sarcasm... come on now, really?)
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POD: like peas in a pod (or pod-people in a pod)
POH: old-timey variant of "pooh" (the interjection expressing disbelief)
POI: baked taro
POL: politician
POM: like a pom-pom
POO: crap
POP: ...goes the weasel
POS: more than one po *
POT: as in, pots and pans
POW: boom! pop!
POX: a disease that leaves pockmarks
Qi (very nearly the only Q word you need to know)
(no front-hooks for "qi")---
QIS: more than one qi
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