Period

PERIOD

-noun

1. a portion of time of indefinable length  

2. a portion of time specified in some way

3. a nontechnical name for an occurrence of menstruation

4. (geology) a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks is formed

5. a division of time, especially of the academic day

6. (physics, mathematics)

a. the time taken to complete one cycle of a regularly recurring phenomenon; the reciprocal of frequency T

b. an interval in which the values of a periodic function follow a certain pattern that is duplicated over successive intervals

7. (astronomy)

a. the time required by a body to make one complete rotation on its axis

b. the time interval between two successive maxima or minima of light variation of a variable star

8. (chemistry) one of the horizontal rows of elements in the periodic table. Each period starts with an alkali metal and ends with a rare gas

9. Also called: full stop. the punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence that is not a question or exclamation, after abbreviations, etc.

10. a complete sentence, especially a complex one with several clauses

11. Also called: sentence (music) . a passage or division of a piece of music, usually consisting of two or more contrasting or complementary musical phrases and ending on a cadence

12. (in classical prosody) a unit consisting of two or more cola

13. (rare) a completion or end

This is a strange period

Where pigs can fly

Only to be shot down

By passing wars in bloom