Pi, n. [See Pica, Pie magpie, service-book.] (Print.) A mass of type confusedly mixed or unsorted. [Written also pie.]
Pi, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pied p. pr. & vb. n. Pieing ] (Print.) To put into a mixed and disordered condition, as type; to mix and disarrange the type of; as to pi a form. [Written also pie.]
Pi (pi), n. [Gr. pi^.]
1. A Greek letter (Π, π) corresponding to the Roman letter P.
2. Specif.: (Math.) The letter Π, π, as used to denote the number or quotient approximately expressing the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter; also the quotient or the ratio itself. The value of the quotient pi, to eight decimal places, is 3.14159265. The quotient pi cannot be expressed as a root of an algebraic equation; and from this fact follows the impossibility of the quadrature of the circle by purely algebraic processes, or by the aid of a ruler and compass.
Pian, n. [Pg. pian, epian, or. Sp. pian; from the native name in South America: cf. F. pian.] (Med.) The yaws. See Yaws.
Pianet
Pi´a•net, n. [Cf. Pie magpie.] (Zoöl.) (a) The magpie. [Written also pianate, and pyenate.] (b) The lesser woodpecker. [Obs.] Bailey.
Pianette
Pi•a•nette´, n. [Dim. of piano.] (Mus.) A small piano; a pianino.
Pianino
Pi•a•ni´no, n. [It., dim. of piano, adj. See Piano.] (Mus.) A pianette, or small piano.
Piano
Pi•a´no, a. & adv. [It., even, smooth, soft, fr. L. planus even, level.] (Mus.) Soft; — a direction to the performer to execute a certain passage softly, and with diminished volume of tone. (Abbrev. p.) { Pi•an´o, Pi•an´o•for•te } n. [It. piano soft (fr. L. planus even, smooth; see Plain, a. ) + It. forte strong, fr. L. fortis (see Fort).] (Mus.) A well-known musical instrument somewhat resembling the harpsichord, and consisting of a series of wires of graduated length, thickness, and tension, struck by hammers moved by keys. Dumb piano. See Digitorium. — Grand piano. See under Grand. — Square piano, one with a horizontal frame and an oblong case. — Upright piano, one with an upright frame and vertical wires.
Pianograph
Pi•an´o•graph, n. [ Piano + -graph.] (Mus.) A form of melodiograph applied to a piano.
Piapec
Pi´a•pec, n. [Cf. Pie a magpie.] (Zoöl.) A West African pie ( Ptilostomus Senegalensis).
Piaster
Pi•as´ter, n. [F. piastre, It. piastra a thin plate of metal, a dollar, LL. piastra, fr. L. emplastrum. See Plaster.] A silver coin of Spain and various other countries. See Peso. The Spanish piaster (commonly called peso, or peso duro) is of about the value of the American dollar. The Italian piaster, or scudo, was worth from 80 to 100 cents. The Turkish and Egyptian piasters are now worth about four and a half cents.
Piation
Pi•a´tion, n. [L. piatio. See Piacle.] The act of making atonement; expiation. [Obs.]
Piatti
Pi•at´ti, n. pl. [It., prop., plates.] (Mus.) Cymbals. [Written also pyatti.]
Piazza
Pi•az´za, n. ; pl. Piazzas (#). [It., place, square, market place, L. platea street, courtyard. See Place.] An open square in a European town, especially an Italian town; hence (Arch.), an arcaded and roofed gallery; a portico. In the United States the word is popularly applied to a veranda.
"We walk by the obelisk, and meditate in piazzas." Jer. Taylor.
Pibroch
Pi´broch, n. [Gael. piobaireachd pipe music, fr. piobair a piper, fr. pioba pipe, bagpipe, from English. See Pipe, n. ] A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which the musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go out to battle. Jamieson.
Pic, n. [Cf. F. pic.] A Turkish cloth measure, varying from 18 to 28 inches.
Pica
Pi´ca, n. [L. pica a pie, magpie; in sense 3 prob. named from some resemblance to the colors of the magpie. Cf. Pie magpie.]
1. (Zoöl.) The genus that includes the magpies.
2. (Med.) A vitiated appetite that craves what is unfit for food, as chalk, ashes, coal, etc.; chthonophagia.
3. (R. C. Ch.) A service-book. See Pie. [Obs.]
4. (Print.) A size of type next larger than small pica, and smaller than English. This line is printed in pica Pica is twice the size of nonpareil, and is used as a standard of measurement in casting leads, cutting rules, etc., and also as a standard by which to designate several larger kinds of type, as double pica, two-line pica, four-line pica, and the like. Small pica (Print.), a size of type next larger than long primer, and smaller than pica. This line is printed in small pica
Picard
Pic´ard, n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of Adamites in the fifteenth century; — so called from one Picard of Flanders. See Adamite.
Picarian
Pi•ca´ri•an, a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to Picariae. — n. One of the Picariae.
Picayune
Pic•a•yune´, n. [From the language of the Caribs.] A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents. See Fippenny bit. [Local, U.S.]
Picayunish
Pic•a•yun´ish, a. Petty; paltry; mean; as a picayunish business. [Colloq. U.S.] { Pic´ca•dil, Pic•ca•dil´ly } n. [OF. piccagilles the several divisions of pieces fastened together about the brim of the collar of a doublet, a dim. fr. Sp. picado, p. p. of picar to prick. See Pike.] A high, stiff collar for the neck; also a hem or band about the skirt of a garment, — worn by men in the 17th century.
Pice, n. [Hind. paisa] A small copper coin of the East Indies, worth less than a cent. Malcom.
Picene
Pi´cene, n. [See Piceous.] (Chem.) A hydrocarbon (CH) extracted from the pitchy residue of coal tar and petroleum as a bluish fluorescent crystalline substance.
Piciform
Pi´ci•form, a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to Piciformes.
Piciformes
Pic•i•for´mes, n. pl. [NL. See Picus, and -Form.] (Zoöl.) A group of birds including the woodpeckers, toucans, barbets, colies, kingfishes, hornbills, and some other related groups.
Picine
Pi´cine, a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the woodpeckers ( Pici), or to the Piciformes.
Pick, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Picked p. pr. & vb. n. Picking.] [OE. picken, pikken, to prick, peck; akin to Icel. pikka, Sw. picka, Dan. pikke, D. pikken, G. picken, F. piquer, W. pigo. Cf. Peck, v. , Pike, Pitch to throw.]
1. To throw; to pitch. [Obs.]
"As high as I could pick my lance." Shak.
2. To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.
3. To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
4. To open (a lock) as by a wire.
5. To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc.
6. To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket.
"Did you pick Master Slender’s purse?" Shak.
"He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems
With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet." Cowper.
7. To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as to pick one’s company; to pick one’s way; — often with out. "One man picked out of ten thousand." Shak.
8. To take up; esp., to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together; as to pick rags; — often with up; as to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information.
9. To trim. [Obs.] Chaucer. To pick at, to tease or vex by pertinacious annoyance. — To pick a bone with. See under Bone. — To pick a thank, to curry favor. [Obs.] Robynson (More’s Utopia). — To pick off. (a) To pluck; to remove by picking. (b) To shoot or bring down, one by one; as sharpshooters pick off the enemy. — To pick out. (a) To mark out; to variegate; as to pick out any dark stuff with lines or spots of bright colors. (b) To select from a number or quantity. — To pick to pieces, to pull apart piece by piece; hence [Colloq.], to analyze; esp., to criticize in detail. — To pick a quarrel, to give occasion of quarrel intentionally. — To pick up. (a) To take up, as with the fingers. (b) To get by repeated efforts; to gather here and there; as to pick up a livelihood; to pick up news.
Pick, n. [F. pic a pickax, a pick. See Pick, and cf. Pike.]
1. A sharp-pointed tool for picking; — often used in composition; as a tooth pick; a picklock.
2. (Mining & Mech.) A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, — used by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
3. A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler. [Obs.] "Take down my buckler … and grind the pick on ’t." Beau. & Fl.
4. Choice; right of selection; as to have one’s pick.
"France and Russia have the pick of our stables." Ld. Lytton.
5. That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as the pick of the flock.
6. (Print.) A particle of ink or paper imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and occasioning a spot on a printed sheet. MacKellar.
7. (Painting) That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
8. (Weawing) The blow which drives the shuttle, — the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute; hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread; as so many picks to an inch. Pick dressing (Arch.), in cut stonework, a facing made by a pointed tool, leaving the surface in little pits or depressions. — Pick hammer, a pick with one end sharp and the other blunt, used by miners.
Pickapack
Pick´a•pack, adv. Pickaback. { Pick´ax•, Pick´axe• }, n. [A corruption of OE. pikois, pikeis, F. picois, fr. pic. See Pick, n. ] A pick with a point at one end, a transverse edge or blade at the other, and a handle inserted at the middle; a hammer with a flattened end for driving wedges and a pointed end for piercing as it strikes. Shak.
Picked
Pick´ed, a.
1. Pointed; sharp. "Picked and polished." Chapman.
"Let the stake be made picked at the top." Mortimer.
2. (Zoöl.) Having a pike or spine on the back; — said of certain fishes.
3. Carefully selected; chosen; as picked men.
4. Fine; spruce; smart; precise; dianty. [Obs.] Shak. Picked dogfish. (Zoöl.) See under Dogfish. — Picked out, ornamented or relieved with lines, or the like, of a different, usually a lighter, color; as a carriage body dark green, picked out with red.
Pickeer
Pick•eer´, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pickeered p. pr. & vb. n. Pickeering.] [F. picorer to go marauding, orig., to go to steal cattle, ultimately fr. L. pecus, pecoris, cattle; cf. F. picoree, Sp. pecorea robbery committed by straggling soldiers.] To make a raid for booty; to maraud; also to skirmish in advance of an army. See Picaroon. [Obs.] Bp. Burnet.
Picker
Pick´er, n. [From Pick.]
1. One who, or that which, picks, in any sense, - - as one who uses a pick; one who gathers; a thief; a pick; a pickax; as a cotton picker. "Pickers and stealers." Shak.
2. (Mach.) A machine for picking fibrous materials to pieces so as to loosen and separate the fiber.
3. (Weaving) The piece in a loom which strikes the end of the shuttle, and impels it through the warp.
4. (Ordnance) A priming wire for cleaning the vent.
Pickerel
Pick´er•el, n. [Dim. of Pike.] [Written also pickerell.]
1. A young or small pike. [Obs.]
"Bet [better] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel." Chaucer.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several species of freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, esp. the smaller species. (b) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See Wall-eye. The federation, or chain, pickerel ( Esox reticulatus) and the brook pickerel ( E. Americanus) are the most common American species. They are used for food, and are noted for their voracity. About the Great Lakes the pike is called pickerel. Pickerel weed (Bot.), a blue-flowered aquatic plant ( Pontederia cordata) having large arrow-shaped leaves. So called because common in slow-moving waters where pickerel are often found.
Pickering
Pick´er•ing, n. [Probably a corruption of Pickerel.] (Zoöl.) The sauger of the St.Lawrence River.
Pickery
Pick´er•y, n. [From Pick to steal; or perhaps from Pickeer.] Petty theft. [Scot.] Holinshed.
Picket
Pick´et, n. [F. piquet, properly dim. of pique spear, pike. See Pike, and cf. Piquet.]
1. A stake sharpened or pointed, especially one used in fortification and encampments, to mark bounds and angles; or one used for tethering horses.
2. A pointed pale, used in marking fences.
3. [Probably so called from the picketing of the horses.] (Mil.) A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; — called also outlying picket.
4. By extension, men appointed by a trades union, or other labor organization, to intercept outsiders, and prevent them from working for employers with whom the organization is at variance. [Cant]
5. A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.
6. A game at cards. See Piquet. Inlying picket (Mil.), a detachment of troops held in camp or quarters, detailed to march if called upon. — Picket fence, a fence made of pickets. See def. 2, above. — Picket guard (Mil.), a guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm. — Picket line. (Mil.) (a) A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals. (b) A rope to which horses are secured when groomed. — Picketpin, an iron pin for picketing horses.
Picket
Pick´et, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Picketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Picketing.]
1. To fortify with pointed stakes.
2. To inclose or fence with pickets or pales.
3. To tether to, or as to, a picket; as to picket a horse.
4. To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket.
5. To torture by compelling to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [Obs.]
Picking
Pick´ing, a.
1. Done or made as with a pointed tool; as a picking sound.
2. Nice; careful. [Obs.]
" was too warm on picking work to dwell." Dryden. Picking peg. (Weaving) See Picker, n. , 3.
Pickle
Pic´kle, n. [Obs.] See Picle.
Pickle
Pic´kle, n. [Cf. D. pekel. Probably a dim. fr. Pick, v. t., alluding to the cleaning of the fish.]
1. (a) A solution of salt and water, in which fish, meat, etc., may be preserved or corned; brine. (b) Vinegar, plain or spiced, used for preserving vegetables, fish, eggs, oysters, etc.
2. Any article of food which has been preserved in brine or in vinegar.
3. (Founding) A bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc., to remove burnt sand, scale rust, etc., from the surface of castings, or other articles of metal, or to brighten them or improve their color.
4. A troublesome child; as a little pickle. [Colloq.] To be in a pickle, to be in disagreeable position; to be in a condition of embarrassment, difficulty, or disorder. "How cam’st thou in this pickle?" Shak. - - To put a rod in pickle, to prepare a particular reproof, punishment, or penalty for future application.
Pickle
Pic´kle, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pickled p. pr. & vb. n. Pickling ]
1. To preserve or season in pickle; to treat with some kind of pickle; as to pickle herrings or cucumbers.
2. To give an antique appearance to; — said of copies or imitations of paintings by the old masters.
Pick-me-up
Pick´-me-up, n. A stimulant, restorative, or tonic; a bracer. [Colloq.] { Pick´-up, or Pick´up• }, n. [Colloq., Cant. or Slang]
1. Act of picking up, as in various games, the fielding or hitting of a ball just after it strikes the ground.
2. That which picks up; specif.: (Elec.) = Brush b.
3. One that is picked up, as a meal hastily got up for the occasion, a chance acquaintance, an informal game, etc.
Pickpenny
Pick´pen•ny, n. ; pl. Pickpennies . A miser; also a sharper. Dr. H. More.
Pickpocket
Pick´pock•et, n. One who steals purses or other articles from pockets. Bentley.
Pickpurse
Pick´purse, n. One who steals purses, or money from purses. Latimer. Shak.
Picnic
Pic´nic, n. [Cf. F. piquenique. See Pick, v. , and cf. Knickknack.] Formerly, an entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table; now, an excursion or pleasure party in which the members partake of a collation or repast (usually in the open air, and from food carried by themselves).
Picnic
Pic´nic, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Picnicked p. pr. & vb. n. Picnicking ] To go on a picnic, or pleasure excursion; to eat in public fashion.
Picoid
Pi´coid, a. [ Picus + - oid.] (Zoöl.) Like or pertaining to the Pici.
Pictish
Pict´ish, a. Of or pertaining to Picts; resembling the Picts. "The Pictish peer." Byron.
Pictograph
Pic´to•graph, n. [See Picture, and -graph.] A picture or hieroglyph representing and expressing an idea. — Pic•to•graph´ic (#), a.
Pictorial
Pic•to´ri•al, a. [L. pictorius, fr. pictor a painter, fr. pingere to paint. See Paint.] Of or pertaining to pictures; illustrated by pictures; forming pictures; representing with the clearness of a picture; as a pictorial dictionary; a pictorial imagination. "Pictorial rhetoric." Ruskin. — Pic•to´ri•al•ly, adv. { Pic•tor´ic, Pic•tor´ic•al } a. Pictorial. [Obs.]
Pictura
Pic•tu´ra, n. [L., a painting.] (Zoöl.) Pattern of coloration.
Picturable
Pic´tur•a•ble, a. Capable of being pictured, or represented by a picture.
Picture
Pic´ture, n. [L. pictura, fr. pingere, pictum, to paint: cf. F. peinture. See Paint.]
1. The art of painting; representation by painting. [Obs.]
"Any well-expressed image … either in picture or sculpture." Sir H. Wotton.
2. A representation of anything (as a person, a landscape, a building) upon canvas paper, or other surface, produced by means of painting, drawing, engraving, photography, etc.; a representation in colors. By extension, a figure; a model.
"Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects." Bacon.
"The young king’s picture … in virgin wax." Howell.
3. An image or resemblance; a representation, either to the eye or to the mind; that which, by its likeness, brings vividly to mind some other thing; as a child is the picture of his father; the man is the picture of grief.
"My eyes make pictures when they are shut." Coleridge. Picture is often used adjectively, or in forming self-explaining compounds; as picture book or picture- book, picture frame or picture-frame, picture seller or picture-seller, etc. Picture gallery, a gallery, or large apartment, devoted to the exhibition of pictures. — Picture red, a rod of metal tube fixed to the walls of a room, from which pictures are hung. — Picture writing. (a) The art of recording events, or of expressing messages, by means of pictures representing the actions or circumstances in question. Tylor. (b) The record or message so represented; as the picture writing of the American Indians.
Syn. — Picture, Painting. Every kind of representation by drawing or painting is a picture, whether made with oil colors, water colors, pencil, crayons, or India ink; strictly, a painting is a picture made by means of colored paints, usually applied moist with a brush.
Picture
Pic´ture, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pictured p. pr. & vb. n. Picturing.] To draw or paint a resemblance of; to delineate; to represent; to form or present an ideal likeness of; to bring before the mind. "I … do picture it in my mind." Spenser.
"I have not seen him so pictured." Shak.
Picturer
Pic´tur•er, n. One who makes pictures; a painter. [R.] Fuller.
Picturesque
Pic•tur•esque´, a. [It. pittoresco: cf. F. pittoresque. See Pictorial.] Forming, or fitted to form, a good or pleasing picture; representing with the clearness or ideal beauty appropriate to a picture; expressing that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture, natural or artificial; graphic; vivid; as a picturesque scene or attitude; picturesque language.
"What is picturesque as placed in relation to the beautiful and the sublime? It is … the characteristic pushed into a sensible excess." De Quincey. — Pic•tur•esque´ly, adv. — Pic•tur•esque´ness, n.
Picturesquish
Pic•tur•esqu´ish, a. Somewhat picturesque. [R.]
Picturize
Pic´tur•ize, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Picturized p. pr. & vb. n. Picturizing.] [R.]
1. To picture.
2. To adorn with pictures.
Piculet
Pic´u•let, n. [Dim. of Picus.] (Zoöl.) Any species of very small woodpeckers of the genus Picumnus and allied genera. Their tail feathers are not stiff and sharp at the tips, as in ordinary woodpeckers.
Piddle
Pid´dle, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Piddled p. pr. & vb. n. Piddling ] [Cf. dial. Sw. pittla to keep picking at, Sw. peta to pick.]
1. To deal in trifles; to concern one’s self with trivial matters rather than with those that are important. Ascham.
2. To be squeamishly nice about one’s food. Swift.
3. To urinate; — child’s word.
Piddock
Pid´dock, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zoöl.) Any species of Pholas; a pholad. See Pholas.
Pie, n. [OE. pie, pye; cf. Ir. & Gael. pighe pie, also Gael. pige an earthen jar or pot. Cf. Piggin.]
1. An article of food consisting of paste baked with something in it or under it; as chicken pie; venison pie; mince pie; apple pie; pumpkin pie.
2. See Camp, n. , 5. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. Pie crust, the paste of a pie.
Pie, n. [F. pie, L. pica; cf. picus woodpecker, pingere to paint; the bird being perhaps named from its colors. Cf. Pi, Paint, Speight.]
1. (Zoöl.) (a) A magpie. (b) Any other species of the genus Pica, and of several allied genera. [Written also pye.]
2. (R. C. Ch.) The service book.
3. (Pritn.) Type confusedly mixed. See Pi. By cock and pie, an adjuration equivalent to "by God and the service book." Shak. — Tree pie (Zoöl.), any Asiatic bird of the genus Dendrocitta, allied to the magpie. — Wood pie. (Zoöl.) See French pie, under French.
Piece, n. [OE. pece, F. pièce, LL. pecia, petia, petium, probably of Celtic origin; cf. W. peth a thing, a part, portion, a little, Armor. pez, Gael. & Ir. cuid part, share. Cf. Petty.]
1. A fragment or part of anything separated from the whole, in any manner, as by cutting, splitting, breaking, or tearing; a part; a portion; as a piece of sugar; to break in pieces.
"Bring it out piece by piece." Ezek. xxiv. 6.
2. A definite portion or quantity, as of goods or work; as a piece of broadcloth; a piece of wall paper.
3. Any one thing conceived of as apart from other things of the same kind; an individual article; a distinct single effort of a series; a definite performance; especially: (a) A literary or artistic composition; as a piece of poetry, music, or statuary. (b) A musket, gun, or cannon; as a battery of six pieces; a following piece. (c) A coin; as a sixpenny piece; — formerly applied specifically to an English gold coin worth 22 shillings. (d) A fact; an item; as a piece of news; a piece of knowledge.
4. An individual; — applied to a person as being of a certain nature or quality; often, but not always, used slightingly or in contempt. "If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him." Sir P. Sidney.
"Thy mother was a piece of virtue." Shak.
"His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world." Coleridge.
5. (Chess) One of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn.
6. A castle; a fortified building. [Obs.] Spenser. Of a piece, of the same sort, as if taken from the same whole; like; — sometimes followed by with. Dryden. — Piece of eight, the Spanish piaster, formerly divided into eight reals. — To give a piece of one’s mind to, to speak plainly, bluntly, or severely to (another). Thackeray. — Piece broker, one who buys shreds and remnants of cloth to sell again. — Piece goods, goods usually sold by pieces or fixed portions, as shirtings, calicoes, sheetings, and the like.
Piece, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pieced p. pr. & vb. n. Piecing ]
1. To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; as to piece a garment; — often with out. Shak.
2. To unite; to join; to combine. Fuller.
"His adversaries … pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him." Fuller.
Piecemeal
Piece´meal, adv. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. mlum, dat. pl. of ml part. See Meal a portion.]
1. In pieces; in parts or fragments. "On which it piecemeal brake." Chapman.
"The beasts will tear thee piecemeal." Tennyson.
2. Piece by piece; by little and little in succession.
"Piecemeal they win, this acre first, than that." Pope.
Piecener
Piece´ner, n.
1. One who supplies rolls of wool to the slubbing machine in woolen mills.
2. Same as Piecer, 2.
Pied, imp. & p. p. of Pi, or Pie, v.
Pied, a. [From Pie the party- colored bird.] Variegated with spots of different colors; party- colored; spotted; piebald. "Pied coats." Burton. "Meadows trim with daisies pied." Milton. Pied antelope (Zoöl.), the bontebok. — Pied-billed grebe (Zoöl.), the dabchick. — Pied blackbird (Zoöl.), any Asiatic thrush of the genus Turdulus. — Pied finch (Zoöl.) (a) The chaffinch. (b) The snow bunting. [Prov. Eng.] — Pied flycatcher (Zoöl.), a common European flycatcher ( Ficedula atricapilla). The male is black and white.
Piedmontite
Pied´mont•ite, n. (Min.) A manganesian kind of epidote, from Piedmont. See Epidote.
Piedstall
Pied´stall, n. See Pedestal. [Obs.]
Pieman
Pie´man, n. ; pl. Piemen . A man who makes or sells pies.
Pieno
Pi•e´no, a. [It., fr. L. plenus full.] (Mus.) Full; having all the instruments.
Pier, n. [OE. pere, OF. piere a stone, F. pierre, fr. L. petra, Gr. . Cf. Petrify.]
1. (Arch.) (a) Any detached mass of masonry, whether insulated or supporting one side of an arch or lintel, as of a bridge; the piece of wall between two openings. (b) Any additional or auxiliary mass of masonry used to stiffen a wall. See Buttress.
2. A projecting wharf or landing place. Abutment pier, the pier of a bridge next the shore; a pier which by its strength and stability resists the thrust of an arch. — Pier glass, a mirror, of high and narrow shape, to be put up between windows. — Pier table, a table made to stand between windows.
Pierage
Pier´age, n. Same as Wharfage. Smart.
Pierce, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pierced p. pr. & vb. n. Piercing ] [OE. percen, F. percer, OF. percier, perchier, parchier; perh. fr. (assumed) LL. pertusiare for pertusare, fr. L. pertundere, pertusum, to beat, push, bore through; per through + tundere to beat: cf. OF. pertuisier to pierce, F. pertuis a hole. Cf. Contuse, Parch, Pertuse.]
1. To thrust into, penetrate, or transfix, with a pointed instrument. "I pierce … her tender side." Dryden.
2. To penetrate; to enter; to force a way into or through; to pass into or through; as to pierce the enemy’s line; a shot pierced the ship.
3. Fig.: To penetrate; to affect deeply; as to pierce a mystery. "Pierced with grief." Pope.
"Can no prayers pierce thee?" Shak.
Pierid
Pi´er•id, n. [See Peirides.] (Zoöl.) Any butterfly of the genus Pieris and related genera. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage.
Pierides
Pi•er´i•des, n. pl. [L., fr. Gr. . See Pierian.] (Class. Myth.) The Muses.
Piet
Pi´et (pi"et), n. [Dim. of Pie a magpie: cf. F. piette a smew.] (Zoöl.) (a) The dipper, or water ouzel. [Scot.] (b) The magpie. [Prov.Eng.] Jay piet (Zoöl.), the European jay. [Prov.Eng.] — Sea piet (Zoöl.), the oyster catcher. [Prov.Eng.]
Pietist
Pi´e•tist, n. [Cf. G. pietist, F. pietiste. See Piety.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a class of religious reformers in Germany in the 17th century who sought to revive declining piety in the Protestant churches; — often applied as a term of reproach to those who make a display of religious feeling. Also used adjectively. { Pi•e•tis´tic, Pi•e•tis´tic•al } a. Of or pertaining to the Pietists; hence, in contempt, affectedly or demonstratively religious. Addison.
Piety
Pi´e•ty, n. [F. piete; cf. It. pietà ; both fr. L. pietas piety, fr. pius pious. See Pious, and cf. Pity.]
1. Veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being, and love of his character; loving obedience to the will of God, and earnest devotion to his service.
"Piety is the only proper and adequate relief of decaying man." Rambler.
2. Duty; dutifulness; filial reverence and devotion; affectionate reverence and service shown toward parents, relatives, benefactors, country, etc.
"Conferred upon me for the piety
Which to my country I was judged to have shown." Milton.
Syn. — Religion; sanctity; devotion; godliness; holiness. See Religion.
Piewipe
Pie´wipe, n. [So called from its note.] (Zoöl.) The lapwing, or pewit. [Prov. Eng.]
Piffle
Pif´fle, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Piffled p. pr. & vb. n. Piffling ] To be sequeamish or delicate; hence, to act or talk triflingly or ineffectively; to twaddle; piddle. [Dial. or Slang]
Pig, n. A piggin. [Written also pigg.]
Pig, n. [Cf. D. big, bigge, LG. bigge, also Dan. pige girl, Sw. piga, Icel. pika.]
1. The young of swine, male or female; also any swine; a hog. "Two pigges in a poke." Chaucer.
2. (Zoöl.) Any wild species of the genus Sus and related genera.
3. [Cf. Sow a channel for melted iron.] An oblong mass of cast iron, lead, or other metal. See Mine pig, under Mine.
4. One who is hoggish; a greedy person. [Low] Masked pig. (Zoöl.) See under Masked. — Pig bed (Founding), the bed of sand in which the iron from a smelting furnace is cast into pigs. — Pig iron, cast iron in pigs, or oblong blocks or bars, as it comes from the smelting furnace. See Pig, 4. — Pig yoke (Naut.), a nickname for a quadrant or sextant. — A pig in a poke (that is, bag), a blind bargain; something bought or bargained for, without the quality or the value being known. [Colloq.]
Pig, v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Pigged p. pr. & vb. n. Pigging ]
1. To bring forth (pigs); to bring forth in the manner of pigs; to farrow.
2. To huddle or lie together like pigs, in one bed.
Pigeon
Pi´geon, n. [F., fr. L. pipio a young pipping or chirping bird, fr. pipire to peep, chirp. Cf. Peep to chirp.]
1. (Zoöl.) Any bird of the order Columbae, of which numerous species occur in nearly all parts of the world. The common domestic pigeon, or dove, was derived from the Old World rock pigeon ( Columba livia). It has given rise to numerous very remarkable varieties, such as the carrier, fantail, nun, pouter, tumbler, etc. The common wild pigeons of the Eastern United States are the passenger pigeon, and the Carolina dove. See under Passenger, and Dove. See, also Fruit pigeon, Ground pigeon, Queen pigeon, Stock pigeon, under Fruit, Ground, etc.
2. An unsuspected victim of sharpers; a gull. [Slang] Blue pigeon (Zoöl.), an Australian passerine bird ( Graucalus melanops); — called also black-faced crow. — Green pigeon (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of Old World pigeons belonging to the family Treronidae. — Imperial pigeon (Zoöl.), any one of the large Asiatic fruit pigeons of the genus Carpophada. - - Pigeon berry (Bot.), the purplish black fruit of the pokeweed; also the plant itself. See Pokeweed. — Pigeon English [perhaps a corruption of business English], an extraordinary and grotesque dialect, employed in the commercial cities of China, as the medium of communication between foreign merchants and the Chinese. Its base is English, with a mixture of Portuguese and Hindoostanee. Johnson’s Cyc. — Pigeon grass (Bot.), a kind of foxtail grass ( Setaria glauca), of some value as fodder. The seeds are eagerly eaten by pigeons and other birds. - - Pigeon hawk. (Zoöl.) (a) A small American falcon ( Falco columbarius). The adult male is dark slate-blue above, streaked with black on the back; beneath, whitish or buff, streaked with brown. The tail is banded. (b) The American sharp- shinned hawk ( Accipiter velox, or fuscus). — Pigeon hole. (a) A hole for pigeons to enter a pigeon house. (b) See Pigeonhole. (c) pl. An old English game, in which balls were rolled through little arches. Halliwell. — Pigeon house, a dovecote. — Pigeon pea (Bot.), the seed of Cajanus Indicus; a kind of pulse used for food in the East and West Indies; also the plant itself. — Pigeon plum (Bot.), the edible drupes of two West African species of Chrysobalanus ( C. ellipticus and C. luteus). — Pigeon tremex. (Zoöl.) See under Tremex. — Pigeon wood (Bot.), a name in the West Indies for the wood of several very different kinds of trees, species of Dipholis, Diospyros, and Coccoloba. — Pigeon woodpecker (Zoöl.), the flicker. — Prairie pigeon. (Zoöl.) (a) The upland plover. (b) The golden plover. [Local, U.S.]
Pigeonfoot
Pi´geon•foot, n. (Bot.) The dove’s-foot geranium ( Geranium molle).
Pigeon-hearted
Pi´geon-heart•ed, a. Timid; easily frightened; chicken-hearted. Beau. & Fl.
Pigg, n. A piggin. See 1st Pig. Sir W. Scott.
Piggery
Pig´ger•y, n. ; pl. Piggeries . A place where swine are kept.
Pight, imp. & p. p. of Pitch, to throw; — used also adjectively. Pitched; fixed; determined. [Obs.]
"[His horse] pight him on the pommel of his head." Chaucer.
"I found him pight to do it." Shak.
Pightel
Pigh´tel, n. [Cf. Pight, Picle.] A small inclosure. [Written also pightle.] [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Pigment
Pig´ment, n. [L. pigmentum, fr. the root of pingere to paint: cf. F. pigment. See Paint, and cf. Pimento, Orpiment.]
1. Any material from which a dye, a paint, or the like, may be prepared; particularly, the refined and purified coloring matter ready for mixing with an appropriate vehicle.
2. (Physiol.) Any one of the colored substances found in animal and vegetable tissues and fluids, as bilirubin, urobilin, chlorophyll, etc.
3. Wine flavored with species and honey. Sir W. Scott.Pigment cell (Physiol.), a small cell containing coloring matter, as the pigmented epithelial cells of the choroid and iris, or the pigmented connective tissue cells in the skin of fishes, reptiles, etc. { Pig•men´tal, Pig´men•ta•ry } a. Of or pertaining to pigments; furnished with pigments. Dunglison. Pigmentary degeneration (Med.), a morbid condition in which an undue amount of pigment is deposited in the tissues.
Pigmy
Pig´my, n. See Pygmy. Pigmy falcon. (Zoöl.) Same as Falconet, 2 (a).
Pignorative
Pig´no•ra•tive, a. [Cf. F. pignoratif.] Pledging, pawning. [R.]
Pignus
Pig´nus, n. ; pl. Pignora (#). [L.] (Rom. Law) A pledge or pawn.
Pignut
Pig´nut, n. (Bot.) (a) See Groundnut (d). (b) The bitter- flavored nut of a species of hickory ( Carya glabra, or porcina); also the tree itself.
Pigskin
Pig´skin, n. A football; — so called because the covering is often made of pigskin. [Colloq.]
Pig-sticking
Pig´-stick•ing, n. Boar hunting; — so called by Anglo-Indians. [Colloq.] Tackeray.
Pigtailed
Pig´tailed, a. Having a tail like a pig’s; as the pigtailed baboon.
Pigweed
Pig´weed, n. (Bot.) A name of several annual weeds. See Goosefoot, and Lamb’s- quarters.
Pika
Pi´ka, n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of rodents of the genus Lagomys, resembling small tailless rabbits. They inhabit the high mountains of Asia and America. Called also calling hare, and crying hare. See Chief hare.
Pike, n. [F. pique; perhaps of Celtic origin; cf. W. pig a prick, a point, beak, Arm. pik pick. But cf. also L. picus woodpecker (see Pie magpie), and E. spike. Cf. Pick, n. & v., Peak, Pique.]
1. (Mil.) A foot soldier’s weapon, consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a pointed steel head. It is now superseded by the bayonet.
2. A pointed head or spike; esp., one in the center of a shield or target. Beau. & Fl.
3. A hayfork. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Tusser.
4. A pick. [Prov. Eng.] Wright. Raymond.
5. A pointed or peaked hill. [R.]
6. A large haycock. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
7. A turnpike; a toll bar. Dickens.
8. (Zoöl.) sing. & pl. A large fresh-water fish ( Esox lucius), found in Europe and America, highly valued as a food fish; — called also pickerel, gedd, luce, and jack. Blue pike, grass pike, green pike, wall-eyed pike, and yellow pike, are names, not of true pike, but of the wall-eye. See Wall-eye. Gar pike. See under Gar. — Pike perch (Zoöl.), any fresh-water fish of the genus Stizostedion (formerly Lucioperca). See Wall-eye, and Sauger. — Pike pole, a long pole with a pike in one end, used in directing floating logs. — Pike whale (Zoöl.), a finback whale of the North Atlantic ( Balaenoptera rostrata), having an elongated snout; — called also piked whale. — Sand pike (Zoöl.), the lizard fish. — Sea pike (Zoöl.), the garfish (a).
Pilaster
Pi•las´ter, n. [F. pilastre, It. pilastro, LL. pilastrum, fr. L. pila a pillar. See Pillar.] (Arch.) An upright architectural member right-angled in plan, constructionally a pier (See Pier, 1 (b)), but architecturally corresponding to a column, having capital, shaft, and base to agree with those of the columns of the same order. In most cases the projection from the wall is one third of its width, or less.
Pilch, n. [AS. pylce, pylece, LL. pellicia. See Pelisse, and Pelt skin.] A gown or case of skin, or one trimmed or lined with fur. [Obs.]
Pilcher
Pilch´er, n. [From Pilch.] A scabbard, as of a sword. [Obs.] Shak.
Pilcrow
Pil´crow, n. [A corruption of Paragraph.] (Print.) a paragraph mark, ¶. [Obs.] Tusser.
Pile, n. [L. pilus hair. Cf. Peruke.]
1. A hair; hence, the fiber of wool, cotton, and the like; also the nap when thick or heavy, as of carpeting and velvet.
"Velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile." Cowper.
2. (Zoöl.) A covering of hair or fur.
Pile, n. [L. pilum javelin. See Pile a stake.] The head of an arrow or spear. [Obs.] Chapman.
Pile, n. [AS. pil arrow, stake, L. pilum javelin; but cf. also L. pila pillar.]
1. A large stake, or piece of timber, pointed and driven into the earth, as at the bottom of a river, or in a harbor where the ground is soft, for the support of a building, a pier, or other superstructure, or to form a cofferdam, etc. Tubular iron piles are now much used.
2. [Cf. F. pile.] (Her.) One of the ordinaries or subordinaries having the form of a wedge, usually placed palewise, with the broadest end uppermost. Pile bridge, a bridge of which the roadway is supported on piles. — Pile cap, a beam resting upon and connecting the heads of piles. — Pile driver, or Pile engine, an apparatus for driving down piles, consisting usually of a high frame, with suitable appliances for raising to a height (by animal or steam power, the explosion of gunpowder, etc.) a heavy mass of iron, which falls upon the pile. — Pile dwelling. See Lake dwelling, under Lake. — Pile plank (Hydraul. Eng.), a thick plank used as a pile in sheet piling. See Sheet piling, under Piling. — Pneumatic pile. See under Pneumatic. — Screw pile, one with a screw at the lower end, and sunk by rotation aided by pressure.
Pile, v. t. To drive piles into; to fill with piles; to strengthen with piles. To sheet-pile, to make sheet piling in or around. See Sheet piling, under 2nd Piling.
Pile, n. [F. pile, L. pila a pillar, a pier or mole of stone. Cf. Pillar.]
1. A mass of things heaped together; a heap; as a pile of stones; a pile of wood.
2. A mass formed in layers; as a pile of shot.
3. A funeral pile; a pyre. Dryden.
4. A large building, or mass of buildings.
"The pile o’erlooked the town and drew the fight." Dryden.
5. (Iron Manuf.) Same as Fagot, n. , 2.
6. (Elec.) A vertical series of alternate disks of two dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, laid up with disks of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them, for producing a current of electricity; — commonly called Volta’s pile, voltaic pile, or galvanic pile. The term is sometimes applied to other forms of apparatus designed to produce a current of electricity, or as synonymous with battery; as for instance, to an apparatus for generating a current of electricity by the action of heat, usually called a thermopile.
7. [F. pile pile, an engraved die, L. pila a pillar.] The reverse of a coin. See Reverse. Cross and pile. See under Cross. — Dry pile. See under Dry.
Pile, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Piled p. pr. & vb. n. Piling.]
1. To lay or throw into a pile or heap; to heap up; to collect into a mass; to accumulate; to amass; — often with up; as to pile up wood. "Hills piled on hills." Dryden. "Life piled on life." Tennyson.
"The labor of an age in piled stones." Milton.
2. To cover with heaps; or in great abundance; to fill or overfill; to load. To pile arms or muskets (Mil.), to place three guns together so that they may stand upright, supporting each other; to stack arms. { Pi´le•ate, Pi´le•a•ted } a. [L. pileatus, fr. pileus a felt cap or hat.]
1. Having the form of a cap for the head.
2. (Zoöl.) Having a crest covering the pileus, or whole top of the head. Pileated woodpecker (Zoöl.), a large American woodpecker ( Ceophloeus pileatus). It is black, with a bright red pointed crest. Called also logcock, and woodcock.
Piled, a. [From 2d Pile.] Having a pile or point; pointed. [Obs.] "Magus threw a spear well piled." Chapman.
Piled, a. [From 1d Pile.] Having a pile or nap. "Three- piled velvet." L. Barry (1611).
Piled, a. [From 6d Pile.] (Iron Manuf.) Formed from a pile or fagot; as piled iron.
Pileiform
Pi•le´i•form, a. [ Pileus + -form.] Having the form of a pileus or cap; pileate.
Pilement
Pile´ment, n. [From Pile to lay into a heap.] An accumulation; a heap. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
Pileous
Pi´le•ous, a. [See Pilous.] Consisting of, or covered with, hair; hairy; pilose.
Piles, n. pl. [L. pila a ball. Cf. Pill a medicine.] (Med.) The small, troublesome tumors or swellings about the anus and lower part of the rectum which are technically called hemorrhoids. See Hemorrhoids. [The singular pile is sometimes used.] Blind piles, hemorrhoids which do not bleed.
Pile-worn
Pile´-worn, a. Having the pile worn off; threadbare.
Pilfer
Pil´fer, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pilfered p. pr. & vb. n. Pilfering.] [OF. pelfrer. See Pelf.] To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practice petty theft.
Pilfering
Pil´fer•ing, a. Thieving in a small way. Shak. — n. Petty theft. — Pil´fer•ing•ly, adv.
Pilgrim
Pil´grim, n. [OE. pilgrim, pelgrim, pilegrim, pelegrim; cf. D. pelgrim, OHG. piligrim, G. pilger, F. pèlerin, It. pellegrino; all fr. L. peregrinus a foreigner, fr. pereger abroad; per through + ager land, field. See Per-, and Acre, and cf. Pelerine, Peregrine.]
1. A wayfarer; a wanderer; a traveler; a stranger.
"Strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. xi. 13.
2. One who travels far, or in strange lands, to visit some holy place or shrine as a devotee; as a pilgrim to Loretto; Canterbury pilgrims. See Palmer. P. Plowman.
Pilgrim
Pil´grim, v. i. To journey; to wander; to ramble. [R.] Grew. Carlyle.
Pilgrimage
Pil´grim•age, n. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
1. The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. Shak.
"The days of the years of my pilgrimage." Gen. xlvii. 9.
2. A tedious and wearisome time.
"In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage." Shak.
Syn. — Journey; tour; excursion. See Journey.
Pilgrimize
Pil´grim•ize, v. i. To wander as a pilgrim; to go on a pilgrimage. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Pilifera
Pi•lif´e•ra, n. pl. [NL. See Piliferous.] (Zoöl.) Same as Mammalia.
Piliform
Pil´i•form, a. [L. pilus hair + -form.] (Bot.) Resembling hairs or down.
Piling
Pil´ing, n. [See Pile a heap.]
1. The act of heaping up.
2. (Iron Manuf.) The process of building up, heating, and working, fagots, or piles, to form bars, etc.
Piling
Pil´ing, n. [See Pile a stake.] A series of piles; piles considered collectively; as the piling of a bridge. Pug piling, sheet piles connected together at the edges by dovetailed tongues and grooves. — Sheet piling, a series of piles made of planks or half logs driven edge to edge, — used to form the walls of cofferdams, etc.
Pill, n. [Cf. Peel skin, or Pillion.] The peel or skin. [Obs.] "Some be covered over with crusts, or hard pills, as the locusts." Holland.
Pill, v. i. To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
Pill, v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Pilled p. pr. & vb. n. Pilling.] [F. piller, L. pilare; cf. It. pigliare to take. Cf. Peel to plunder.] To rob; to plunder; to pillage; to peel. See Peel, to plunder. [Obs.] Spenser.
"Pillers and robbers were come in to the field to pill and to rob." Sir T. Malroy.
Pill, n. [F. pilute, L. pilula a pill, little ball, dim. of L. pila a ball. Cf. Piles.]
1. A medicine in the form of a little ball, or small round mass, to be swallowed whole.
2. Figuratively, something offensive or nauseous which must be accepted or endured. Udall. Pill beetle (Zoöl.), any small beetle of the genus Byrrhus, having a rounded body, with the head concealed beneath the thorax. — Pill bug (Zoöl.), any terrestrial isopod of the genus Armadillo, having the habit of rolling itself into a ball when disturbed. Called also pill wood louse.
Pillage
Pil´lage, n. [F., fr. piller to plunder. See Pill to plunder.]
1. The act of pillaging; robbery. Shak.
2. That which is taken from another or others by open force, particularly and chiefly from enemies in war; plunder; spoil; booty.
"Which pillage they with merry march bring home." Shak.
Syn. — Plunder; rapine; spoil; depredation. — Pillage, Plunder. Pillage refers particularly to the act of stripping the sufferers of their goods, while plunder refers to the removal of the things thus taken; but the words are freely interchanged.
Pillage
Pil´lage, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pillaged p. pr. & vb. n. Pillaging ] To strip of money or goods by open violence; to plunder; to spoil; to lay waste; as to pillage the camp of an enemy.
"Mummius … took, pillaged, and burnt their city." Arbuthnot.
Pillar
Pil´lar, n. [OE. pilerF. pilier, LL. pilare, pilarium, pilarius, fr. L. pila a pillar. See Pile a heap.]
1. The general and popular term for a firm, upright, insulated support for a superstructure; a pier, column, or post; also a column or shaft not supporting a superstructure, as one erected for a monument or an ornament.
"Jacob set a pillar upon her grave." Gen. xxxv. 20.
"The place … vast and proud,
Supported by a hundred pillars stood." Dryden.
2. Figuratively, that which resembles such a pillar in appearance, character, or office; a supporter or mainstay; as the Pillars of Hercules; a pillar of the state. "You are a well-deserving pillar." Shak.
"By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire." Milton.
3. (R. C. Ch.) A portable ornamental column, formerly carried before a cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the church. [Obs.] Skelton.
4. (Man.) The center of the volta, ring, or manege ground, around which a horse turns. From pillar to post, hither and thither; to and fro; from one place or predicament to another; backward and forward. [Colloq.] — Pillar saint. See Stylite. — Pillars of the fauces. See Fauces, 1.
Pilled, a. [See 3rd Pill.] Stripped of hair; scant of hair; bald. [Obs.] "Pilled beard." Chaucer.
Pillery
Pill´er•y, n. ; pl. Pilleries . Plunder; pillage. [Obs.] Daniel.
Pillion
Pil´lion, n. [Ir. pillin, pilliun (akin to Gael. pillean, pillin), fr. Ir. & Gael. pill, peall, a skin or hide, prob. fr. L. pellis. See Pell, n. , Fell skin.] A panel or cushion saddle; the under pad or cushion of saddle; esp., a pad or cushion put on behind a man’s saddle, on which a woman may ride.
"His [a soldier’s] shank pillion without stirrups." Spenser.
Pillorize
Pil´lo•rize, v. t. To set in, or punish with, the pillory; to pillory. [R.]
Pillory
Pil´lo•ry, n. ; pl. Pillories (#). [F. pilori; cf. Pr. espitlori, LL. piloricum, pilloricum, pellericum, pellorium, pilorium, spilorium; perhaps from a derivative of L. speculari to look around, observe. Cf. Speculate.] A frame of adjustable boards erected on a post, and having holes through which the head and hands of an offender were thrust so as to be exposed in front of it. Shak.
Pillory
Pil´lo•ry, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pilloried p. pr. & vb. n. Pillorying.] [Cf. F. pilorier.]
1. To set in, or punish with, the pillory. "Hungering for Puritans to pillory." Macaulay.
2. Figuratively, to expose to public scorn. Gladstone.
Pillow
Pil´low, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pillowed p. pr. & vb. n. Pillowing.] To rest or lay upon, or as upon, a pillow; to support; as to pillow the head.
"Pillows his chin upon an orient wave." Milton.
Pillow lace
Pil"low lace. Lace made by hand with bobbins on a pillow.
Pill-willet
Pill´-wil•let, n. [So named from its note.] (Zoöl.) The willet.
Pillworm
Pill´worm, n. (Zoöl.) Any myriapod of the genus Iulus and allied genera which rolls up spirally; a galleyworm. See Illust. under Myriapod.
Pilonce
Pi•lon´ce, n. [Amer. Sp. See Piloncillo.] Same as Pilon. [Texas]
Piloncillo
Pi•lon•cil´lo, n. [Amer. Sp., dim. of pilon.] Same as Pilon. [Texas]
Pilose
Pi•lose´, a. [L. pilosus, fr. pilus hair. See Pile.]
1. Hairy; full of, or made of, hair.
"The heat-retaining property of the pilose covering." Owen.
2. (Zoöl.) Clothed thickly with pile or soft down.
3. (Bot.) Covered with long, slender hairs; resembling long hairs; hairy; as pilose pubescence.
Pilosity
Pi•los´i•ty, n. [Cf. F. pilosite.] The quality or state of being pilose; hairiness. Bacon.
Pilot
Pi´lot, n. [F. pilote, prob. from D. peillood plummet, sounding lead; peilen, pegelen, to sound, measure (fr. D. & G. peil, pegel, a sort of measure, water mark) + lood lead, akin to E. lead. The pilot, then, is the lead man, i. e., he who throws the lead. See Pail, and Lead a metal.]
1. (Naut.) One employed to steer a vessel; a helmsman; a steersman. Dryden.
2. Specifically, a person duly qualified, and licensed by authority, to conduct vessels into and out of a port, or in certain waters, for a fixed rate of fees.
3. Figuratively: A guide; a director of another through a difficult or unknown course.
4. An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5. The cowcatcher of a locomotive. [U.S.] Pilot balloon, a small balloon sent up in advance of a large one, to show the direction and force of the wind. — Pilot bird. (Zoöl.) (a) A bird found near the Caribbee Islands; — so called because its presence indicates to mariners their approach to these islands. Crabb. (b) The black- bellied plover. [Local, U.S.] — Pilot boat, a strong, fast-sailing boat used to carry and receive pilots as they board and leave vessels. — Pilot bread, ship biscuit. — Pilot cloth, a coarse, stout kind of cloth for overcoats. — Pilot engine, a locomotive going in advance of a train to make sure that the way is clear. — Pilot fish. (Zoöl) (a) A pelagic carangoid fish ( Naucrates ductor); — so named because it is often seen in company with a shark, swimming near a ship, on account of which sailors imagine that it acts as a pilot to the shark. (b) The rudder fish ( Seriola zonata). — Pilot jack, a flag or signal hoisted by a vessel for a pilot. — Pilot jacket, a pea jacket. — Pilot nut (Bridge Building), a conical nut applied temporarily to the threaded end of a pin, to protect the thread and guide the pin when it is driven into a hole. Waddell. — Pilot snake (Zoöl.) (a) A large North American snake ( Coluber obsoleus). It is lustrous black, with white edges to some of the scales. Called also mountain black snake. (b) The pine snake. — Pilot whale. (Zoöl.) Same as Blackfish, 1.
Pilot
Pi´lot, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Piloted; p. pr. & vb. n. Piloting.] [Cf. F. piloter.]
1. To direct the course of, as of a ship, where navigation is dangerous.
2. Figuratively: To guide, as through dangers or difficulties. "The art of piloting a state." Berkeley.
Pilot
Pi´lot, v. t. (Aëronautics) To fly, or act as pilot of (an aircraft).
Pilot balloon. A small, unmanned balloon sent up to indicate the direction of air currents.
Pilular
Pil´u•lar, a. Of or pertaining to pills; resembling a pill or pills; as a pilular mass.
Pilulous
Pil´u•lous, a. [L. pilula a pill. See Pill.] Like a pill; small; insignificant. [R.] G. Eliot.
Piment
Pi´ment, n. [F. See Pimento.] Wine flavored with spice or honey. See Pigment, 3. [Obs.]
Pimento
Pi•men´to, n. [Sp. pimiento, pimienta; cf. Pg. pimenta, F. piment; all fr. L. pigmentum a paint, pigment, the juice of plants; hence, something spicy and aromatic. See Pigment.] (Bot.) Allspice; — applied both to the tree and its fruit. See Allspice.
Pimola
Pim•o´la, n. An olive stuffed with a kind of sweet red pepper, or pimiento.
Pimp (pimp), n. [Cf. F. pimpant smart, sparkish; perh. akin to piper to pipe, formerly also to excel. Cf. Pipe.] One who provides gratification for the lust of others; a procurer; a pander. Swift.
Pimp, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pimped (pimt; 215); p. pr. & vb. n. Pimping.] To procure women for the gratification of others’ lusts; to pander. Dryden.
Pimpernel
Pim´per•nel, n. [F. pimprenelle; cf. Sp. pimpinela, It. pimpinella; perh. from LL. bipinnella, for bipinnula two-winged, equiv. to L. bipennis; bis twice + penna feather, wing. Cf. Pen a feather.] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Anagallis, of which one species ( A. arvensis) has small flowers, usually scarlet, but sometimes purple, blue, or white, which speedily close at the approach of bad weather. Water pimpernel. (Bot.) See Brookweed.
Pimpinel
Pim´pi•nel, n. [See Pimpernel.] (Bot.) The burnet saxifrage. See under Saxifrage.
Pimpship
Pimp´ship, n. The office, occupation, or persom of a pimp. [R.]
Pin, v. t. (Metal Working) To peen.
Pin, v. t. [Cf. Pen to confine, or Pinfold.] To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.
Pin, n. [OE. pinne, AS. pinn a pin, peg; cf. D. pin, G. pinne, Icel. pinni, W. pin, Gael. & Ir. pinne; all fr. L. pinna a pinnacle, pin, feather, perhaps orig. a different word from pinna feather. Cf. Fin of a fish, Pen a feather.]
1. A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt.
"With pins of adamant
And chains they made all fast." Milton.
2. Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.
3. Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
"He … did not care a pin for her." Spectator.
4. That which resembles a pin in its form or use; as: (a) A peg in musical instruments, for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings. (b) A linchpin. (c) A rolling-pin. (d) A clothespin. (e) (Mach.) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal. See Illust. of Knuckle joint, under Knuckle. (f) (Joinery) The tenon of a dovetail joint.
5. One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.
6. The bull’s eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center. [Obs.] "The very pin of his heart cleft." Shak.
7. Mood; humor. [Obs.] "In merry pin." Cowper.
8. (Med.) Caligo. See Caligo. Shak.
9. An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as a Masonic pin.
10. The leg; as to knock one off his pins. [Slang] Banking pin (Horol.), a pin against which a lever strikes, to limit its motion. — Pin drill (Mech.), a drill with a central pin or projection to enter a hole, for enlarging the hole, or for sinking a recess for the head of a bolt, etc.; a counterbore. — Pin grass. (Bot.) See Alfilaria. — Pin hole, a small hole made by a pin; hence, any very small aperture or perforation. — Pin lock, a lock having a cylindrical bolt; a lock in which pins, arranged by the key, are used instead of tumblers. — Pin money, an allowance of money, as that made by a husband to his wife, for private and personal expenditure. — Pin rail (Naut.), a rail, usually within the bulwarks, to hold belaying pins. Sometimes applied to the fife rail. Called also pin rack. — Pin wheel. (a) A contrate wheel in which the cogs are cylindrical pins. (b) (Fireworks) A small coil which revolves on a common pin and makes a wheel of yellow or colored fire.
Pin, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinned p. pr. & vb. n. Pinning.] [See Pin, n. ] To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as to pin a garment; to pin boards together. "As if she would pin her to her heart." Shak. To pin one’s faith upon, to depend upon; to trust to.
Piña cloth
Pi•ña cloth [See Piña.] A fine fabric for scarfs, handkerchiefs, embroidery, etc., woven from the fiber obtained from the leaf of the sterile pineapple plant. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a tinge of pale yellow.
Pince-nez
Pince•-nez´, n. [F. pincer to pinch + nez nose.] Eyeglasses kept on the nose by a spring.
Pincers
Pin´cers, n. pl. [Cf. F. pince pinchers, fr. pincer to pinch. See Pinch, Pinchers.] See Pinchers.
Pinch, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinched p. pr. & vb. n. Pinching.] [F. pincer, probably fr. OD. pitsen to pinch; akin to G. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of Celtic origin. Cf. Piece.]
1. To press hard or squeeze between the ends of the fingers, between teeth or claws, or between the jaws of an instrument; to squeeze or compress, as between any two hard bodies.
2. o seize; to grip; to bite; — said of animals. [Obs.]
"He [the hound] pinched and pulled her down." Chapman.
3. To plait. [Obs.]
"Full seemly her wimple ipinched was." Chaucer.
4. Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as to be pinched for money.
"Want of room … pinching a whole nation." Sir W. Raleigh.
5. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n. , 4.
Pinch, v. t. To seize by way of theft; to steal; also to catch; to arrest. [Slang] Robert Barr.
Pinchcock
Pinch´cock, n. A clamp on a flexible pipe to regulate the flow of a fluid through the pipe.
Pinchem
Pin´chem, n. (Zoöl.) The European blue titmouse. [Prov. Eng.]
Pinchers
Pinch´ers, n. pl. [From Pinch.] An instrument having two handles and two grasping jaws working on a pivot; — used for griping things to be held fast, drawing nails, etc. This spelling is preferable to pincers, both on account of its derivation from the English pinch, and because it represents the common pronunciation.
Pinching
Pinch´ing, a. Compressing; nipping; griping; niggardly; as pinching cold; a pinching parsimony. Pinching bar, a pinch bar. See Pinch, n. , 4. — Pinching nut, a check nut. See under Check, n.
Pincpinc
Pinc´pinc, n. [Named from its note.] (Zoöl.) An African wren warbler. ( Drymoica textrix).
Pindarical
Pin•dar´ic•al, a. Pindaric.
"Too extravagant and Pindarical for prose." Cowley.
Pinder
Pin´der, n. [AS. pyndan to pen up, fr. pund a pound.] One who impounds; a poundkeeper. [Obs.]
Pine, n. [AS. pin, L. poena penalty. See Pain.] Woe; torment; pain. [Obs.] "Pyne of hell." Chaucer.
Pine, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pined p. pr. & vb. n. Pining.] [AS. pinan to torment, fr. pin torment. See 1st Pine, Pain, n. & v. ]
1. To inflict pain upon; to torment; to torture; to afflict. [Obs.] Chaucer. Shak.
"That people that pyned him to death." Piers Plowman.
"One is pined in prison, another tortured on the rack." Bp. Hall.
2. To grieve or mourn for. [R.] Milton.
Pine, n. [AS. pin, L. pinus.]
1. (Bot.) Any tree of the coniferous genus Pinus. See Pinus. There are about twenty-eight species in the United States, of which the white pine ( P. Strobus), the Georgia pine ( P. australis), the red pine ( P. resinosa), and the great West Coast sugar pine ( P. Lambertiana) are among the most valuable. The Scotch pine or fir, also called Norway or Riga pine ( Pinus sylvestris), is the only British species. The nut pine is any pine tree, or species of pine, which bears large edible seeds. See Pinon. The spruces, firs, larches, and true cedars, though formerly considered pines, are now commonly assigned to other genera.
2. The wood of the pine tree.
3. A pineapple. Ground pine. (Bot.) See under Ground. — Norfolk Island pine (Bot.), a beautiful coniferous tree, the Araucaria excelsa. — Pine barren, a tract of infertile land which is covered with pines. [Southern U.S.] — Pine borer (Zoöl.), any beetle whose larvae bore into pine trees. — Pine finch. (Zoöl.) See Pinefinch, in the Vocabulary. — Pine grosbeak (Zoöl.), a large grosbeak ( Pinicola enucleator), which inhabits the northern parts of both hemispheres. The adult male is more or less tinged with red. — Pine lizard (Zoöl.), a small, very active, mottled gray lizard ( Sceloporus undulatus), native of the Middle States; — called also swift, brown scorpion, and alligator. — Pine marten. (Zoöl.) (a) A European weasel ( Mustela martes), called also sweet marten, and yellow-breasted marten. (b) The American sable. See Sable. — Pine moth (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small tortricid moths of the genus Retinia, whose larvae burrow in the ends of the branchlets of pine trees, often doing great damage. - - Pine mouse (Zoöl.), an American wild mouse ( Arvicola pinetorum), native of the Middle States. It lives in pine forests. — Pine needle (Bot.), one of the slender needle-shaped leaves of a pine tree. See Pinus. — Pine-needle wool. See Pine wool (below). — Pine oil, an oil resembling turpentine, obtained from fir and pine trees, and used in making varnishes and colors. — Pine snake (Zoöl.), a large harmless North American snake ( Pituophis melanoleucus). It is whitish, covered with brown blotches having black margins. Called also bull snake. The Western pine snake ( P. Sayi) is chestnut-brown, mottled with black and orange. — Pine tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Pinus; pine. — Pine-tree money, money coined in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, and so called from its bearing a figure of a pine tree. — Pine weevil (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of weevils whose larvae bore in the wood of pine trees. Several species are known in both Europe and America, belonging to the genera Pissodes, Hylobius, etc. — Pine wool, a fiber obtained from pine needles by steaming them. It is prepared on a large scale in some of the Southern United States, and has many uses in the economic arts; — called also pine-needle wool, and pine- wood wool.
Pineaster
Pine•as´ter, n. See Pinaster. { Pine´-clad•, Pine´-crowned• } a. Clad or crowned with pine trees; as pine-clad hills.
Pine-tree State. Maine; — a nickname alluding to the pine tree in its coat of arms.
Pinfeathered
Pin´feath•ered, a. Having part, or all, of the feathers imperfectly developed.
Pin-fire
Pin´-fire, a. (Mil.) Having a firing pin to explode the cartridge; as a pin- fire rifle.
Pinfold
Pin´fold, n. [For pindfold. See Pinder, Pound an inclosure, and Fold an inclosure.] A place in which stray cattle or domestic animals are confined; a pound; a penfold. Shak.
"A parish pinfold begirt by its high hedge." Sir W. Scott.
Ping, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pinged p. pr. & vb. n. Pinging.] To make the sound called ping.
Pinguicula
Pin•guic´u•la, n. [NL., fr. L. pinguiculus somewhat fat, fattish.] (Bot.) See Butterwort.
Pinguitude
Pin´gui•tude, n. [L. pinguitudo, from pinguis fat.] Fatness; a growing fat; obesity. [R.]
Piningly
Pin´ing•ly, adv. In a pining manner; droopingly. Poe.
Pinion
Pin´ion, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in sense 5); cf. Sp. piñon pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle, feather, wing. See Pin a peg, and cf. Pen a feather, Pennat, Pennon.]
1. A feather; a quill. Shak.
2. A wing, literal or figurative.
"Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome." Pope.
3. The joint of bird’s wing most remote from the body. Johnson.
4. A fetter for the arm. Ainsworth.
5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis. Lantern pinion. See under Lantern. — Pinion wire, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn through holes of the shape required for the leaves or teeth of the pinions.
Pinion
Pin´ion, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinioned p. pr. & vb. n. Pinioning.]
1. To bind or confine the wings of; to confine by binding the wings. Bacon.
2. To disable by cutting off the pinion joint. Johnson.
3. To disable or restrain, as a person, by binding the arms, esp. by binding the arms to the body. Shak.
"Her elbows pinioned close upon her hips." Cowper.
4. Hence, generally, to confine; to bind; to tie up. "Pinioned up by formal rules of state." Norris.
Pink, a. Half-shut; winking. [Obs.] Shak.
Pink, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinked p. pr. & vb. n. Pinking.] [OE. pinken to prick, probably a nasalized form of pick.]
1. To pierce with small holes; to cut the edge of, as cloth or paper, in small scallops or angles.
2. To stab; to pierce as with a sword. Addison.
3. To choose; to cull; to pick out. [Obs.] Herbert.
Pink, n. [Perh. akin to pick; as if the edges of the petals were picked out. Cf. Pink, v. t.]
1. (Bot.) A name given to several plants of the caryophyllaceous genus Dianthus, and to their flowers, which are sometimes very fragrant and often double in cultivated varieties. The species are mostly perennial herbs, with opposite linear leaves, and handsome five-petaled flowers with a tubular calyx.
2. A color resulting from the combination of a pure vivid red with more or less white; — so called from the common color of the flower. Dryden.
3. Anything supremely excellent; the embodiment or perfection of something. "The very pink of courtesy." Shak.
4. (Zoöl.) The European minnow; — so called from the color of its abdomen in summer. [Prov. Eng.] Bunch pink is Dianthus barbatus. — China, or Indian, pink. See under China. — Clove pink is Dianthus Caryophyllus, the stock from which carnations are derived. — Garden pink. See Pheasant’s eye. — Meadow pink is applied to Dianthus deltoides; also to the ragged robin. — Maiden pink, Dianthus deltoides. — Moss pink. See under Moss. — Pink needle, the pin grass; — so called from the long, tapering points of the carpels. See Alfilaria. — Sea pink. See Thrift.
Pink, a. Resembling the garden pink in color; of the color called pink (see 6th Pink, 2); as a pink dress; pink ribbons. Pink eye (Med.), a popular name for an epidemic variety of ophthalmia, associated with early and marked redness of the eyeball. — Pink salt (Chem. & Dyeing), the double chlorides of (stannic) tin and ammonium, formerly much used as a mordant for madder and cochineal. — Pink saucer, a small saucer, the inner surface of which is covered with a pink pigment.
Pink stern
Pink" stern [See 1st Pink.] (Naut.) See Chebacco, and 1st Pink.
Pinked, a. Pierced with small holes; worked in eyelets; scalloped on the edge. Shak.
Pink-eyed
Pink´-eyed, a. [ Pink half- shut + eye.] Having small eyes. Holland.
Pinkster
Pink´ster, n. [D. pinkster, pinksteren, fr. Gr. . See Pentecost.] Whitsuntide. [Written also pingster and pinxter.] Pinkster flower (Bot.), the rosy flower of the Azalea nudiflora; also the shrub itself; — called also Pinxter blomachee by the New York descendants of the Dutch settlers.
Pink-sterned
Pink´-sterned, a. [See 1st Pink.] (Naut.) Having a very narrow stern; — said of a vessel.
Pinna
Pin´na, n. ; pl. Pinnae (#), E. Pinnas (#). [L., a feather.]
1. (Bot.) (a) A leaflet of a pinnate leaf. See Illust. of Bipinnate leaf, under Bipinnate. (b) One of the primary divisions of a decompound leaf.
2. (Zoöl.) One of the divisions of a pinnate part or organ.
3. [L. pinna, akin to Gr. .] (Zoöl.) Any species of Pinna, a genus of large bivalve mollusks found in all warm seas. The byssus consists of a large number of long, silky fibers, which have been used in manufacturing woven fabrics, as a curiosity.
4. (Anat.) The auricle of the ear. See Ear.
Pinnace
Pin´nace, n. [F. pinasse; cf. It. pinassa, pinazza, Sp. pinaza; all from L. pinus a pine tree, anything made of pine, e.g., a ship. Cf. Pine a tree.]
1. (Naut.) (a) A small vessel propelled by sails or oars, formerly employed as a tender, or for coast defence; — called originally, spynace or spyne. (b) A man-of-war’s boat.
"Whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs." Shak.
2. A procuress; a pimp. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Pinnacle
Pin´na•cle, n. [OE. pinacle, F. pinacle, L. pinnaculum, fr. pinna pinnacle, feather. See Pin a peg.]
1. (Arch.) An architectural member, upright, and generally ending in a small spire, — used to finish a buttress, to constitute a part in a proportion, as where pinnacles flank a gable or spire, and the like. Pinnacles may be considered primarily as added weight, where it is necessary to resist the thrust of an arch, etc.
"Some renowned metropolis
With glistering spires and pinnacles around." Milton.
2. Anything resembling a pinnacle; a lofty peak; a pointed summit.
"Three silent pinnacles of aged snow." Tennyson.
"The slippery tops of human state,
The gilded pinnacles of fate." Cowley.
Pinnacle
Pin´na•cle, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinnacled p. pr. & vb. n. Pinnacling ] To build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles. T. Warton.
Pinnage
Pin´nage, n. [Cf. Pinfold.] Poundage of cattle. See Pound. [Obs.] { Pin´nate, Pin´na•ted } a. [L. pinnatus feathered, fr. pinna a feather. See Pin a peg, Pen feather.]
1. (Bot.) Consisting of several leaflets, or separate portions, arranged on each side of a common petiole, as the leaves of a rosebush, a hickory, or an ash. See Abruptly pinnate, and Illust. , under Abruptly.
2. (Zoöl.) Having a winglike tuft of long feathers on each side of the neck. Pinnated grouse (Zoöl.), the prairie chicken.
Pinnatilobate
Pin•nat•i•lo´bate, a. [See Pinnate, and Lobate.] (Bot.) Having lobes arranged in a pinnate manner.
Pinnatiped
Pin•nat´i•ped, n. (Zoöl.) Any bird which has the toes bordered by membranes.
Pinner
Pin´ner, n. [See Pin to pound.] One who pins or impounds cattle. See Pin, v. t. [Obs.]
Pinniform
Pin´ni•form, a. [L. pinna feather, fin + -form.] Shaped like a fin or feather. Sir J. Hill.
Pinnigrada
Pin•ni•gra´da, n. pl. [NL., fr. pinna a feather + gradi to walk, move.] (Zoöl.) Same as Pinnipedia.
Pinnipedes
Pin•nip´e•des, n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) Same as Steganopodes.
Pinnothere
Pin´no•there, n. [Gr. a pinna + an animal.] (Zoöl.) A crab of the genus pinnotheres. See Oyster crab, under Oyster.
Pinnula
Pin´nu•la, n. ; pl. Pinnulae (#). [L.] Same as Pinnule.
Pinnulate
Pin´nu•late, a. [See Pinnule.] (Bot.) Having each pinna subdivided; — said of a leaf, or of its pinnae.
Pinnule
Pin´nule, n. [L. pinnula, dim. of pinna feather: cf. F. pinnule.]
1. (Bot.) One of the small divisions of a decompound frond or leaf. See Illust. of Bipinnate leaf, under Bipinnate.
2. (Zoöl.) Any one of a series of small, slender organs, or parts, when arranged in rows so as to have a plumelike appearance; as a pinnule of a gorgonia; the pinnules of a crinoid.
Piñon
Piñ"on, n. [Sp. piñon.] (Bot.) (a) The edible seed of several species of pine; also the tree producing such seeds, as Pinus Pinea of Southern Europe, and P. Parryana, cembroides, edulis, and monophylla, the nut pines of Western North America. (b) See Monkey’s puzzle. [Written also pignon.]
Pinpatch
Pin´patch, n. (Zoöl.) The common English periwinkle. [Prov. Eng.]
Pint, n. [OE. pinte, F. pinte, fr. Sp. pinta spot, mark, pint, fr. pintar to paint; a mark for a pint prob. having been made on or in a larger measure. See Paint.] A measure of capacity, equal to half a quart, or four gills, — used in liquid and dry measures. See Quart.
Pintado
Pin•ta´do, n. ; pl. Pintados (#). [Sp., painted, fr. pintar to paint.] (Zoöl.) Any bird of the genus Numida. Several species are found in Africa. The common pintado, or Guinea fowl, the helmeted, and the crested pintados, are the best known. See Guinea fowl, under Guinea.
Pintle
Pin´tle, n. [A diminutive of Pin.]
1. A little pin.
2. (Mech.) An upright pivot pin; as: (a) The pivot pin of a hinge. (b) A hook or pin on which a rudder hangs and turns. (c) A pivot about which the chassis swings, in some kinds of gun carriages. (d) A kingbolt of a wagon.
Pinto
Pin´to, a. [Sp., painted.] Lit., painted; hence, piebald; mottled; pied.
Pinto
Pin´to, n. Any pied animal; esp., a pied or "painted" horse.
Pinule
Pin´ule, n. [Cf. Pinnule.] (Astron.) One of the sights of an astrolabe. [Obs.]
Pinus
Pi´nus, n. [L., a pine tree.] (Bot.) A large genus of evergreen coniferous trees, mostly found in the northern hemisphere. The genus formerly included the firs, spruces, larches, and hemlocks, but is now limited to those trees which have the primary leaves of the branchlets reduced to mere scales, and the secondary ones ( pine needles) acicular, and usually in fascicles of two to seven. See Pine.
Piny
Pin´y, a. Abounding with pines. [Written also piney.] "The piny wood." Longfellow.
Pioneer
Pi•o•neer´, n. [F. pionier, orig., a foot soldier, OF. peonier, fr. OF. peon a foot soldier, F. pion. See Pawn in chess.]
1. (Mil.) A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances.
2. One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow; as pioneers of civilization; pioneers of reform.
Pioneer
Pi•o•neer´, v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Pioneered p. pr. & vb. n. Pioneering.] To go before, and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.
Piot
Pi´ot, n. [See Piet.] (Zoöl.) The magpie. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Holland.
Pip, n. [OE. pippe, D. pip, or F. pepie; from LL. pipita, fr. L. pituita slime, phlegm, rheum, in fowls, the pip. Cf. Pituite.] A contagious disease of fowls, characterized by hoarseness, discharge from the nostrils and eyes, and an accumulation of mucus in the mouth, forming a "scale" on the tongue. By some the term pip is restricted to this last symptom, the disease being called roup by them.
Pip, n. [Formerly pippin, pepin. Cf. Pippin.] (Bot.) A seed, as of an apple or orange.
Pip, n. [Perh. for pick, F. pique a spade at cards, a pike. Cf. Pique.] One of the conventional figures or "spots" on playing cards, dominoes, etc. Addison.
Pip, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pipped p. pr. & vb. n. Pipping.] [See Peep.] To cry or chirp, as a chicken; to peep.
"To hear the chick pip and cry in the egg." Boyle.
Pipe, n. [AS. pipe, probably fr. L. pipare, pipire, to chirp; of imitative origin. Cf. Peep, Pibroch, Fife.]
1. A wind instrument of music, consisting of a tube or tubes of straw, reed, wood, or metal; any tube which produces musical sounds; as a shepherd’s pipe; the pipe of an organ. "Tunable as sylvan pipe." Milton.
"Now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe." Shak.
2. Any long tube or hollow body of wood, metal, earthenware, or the like: especially, one used as a conductor of water, steam, gas etc.
3. A small bowl with a hollow steam, — used in smoking tobacco, and, sometimes, other substances.
4. A passageway for the air in speaking and breathing; the windpipe, or one of its divisions.
5. The key or sound of the voice. [R.] Shak.
6. The peeping whistle, call, or note of a bird.
"The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds." Tennyson.
7. pl. The bagpipe; as the pipes of Lucknow.
8. (Mining) An elongated body or vein of ore.
9. A roll formerly used in the English exchequer, otherwise called the Great Roll, on which were taken down the accounts of debts to the king; — so called because put together like a pipe. Mozley & W.
10. (Naut.) A boatswain’s whistle, used to call the crew to their duties; also the sound of it.
11. [Cf. F. pipe, fr. pipe a wind instrument, a tube, fr. L. pipare to chirp. See Etymol. above.] A cask usually containing two hogsheads, or 126 wine gallons; also the quantity which it contains. Pipe fitter, one who fits pipes together, or applies pipes, as to an engine or a building. — Pipe fitting, a piece, as a coupling, an elbow, a valve, etc., used for connecting lengths of pipe or as accessory to a pipe. — Pipe office, an ancient office in the Court of Exchequer, in which the clerk of the pipe made out leases of crown lands, accounts of cheriffs, etc. [Eng.] — Pipe tree (Bot.), the lilac and the mock orange; — so called because their were formerly used to make pipe stems; — called also pipe privet. — Pipe wrench, or Pipetongs, a jawed tool for gripping a pipe, in turning or holding it. — To smoke the pipe of peace, to smoke from the same pipe in token of amity or preparatory to making a treaty of peace, — a custom of the American Indians.
Pipe, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Piped p. pr. & vb. n. Piping.]
1. To perform, as a tune, by playing on a pipe, flute, fife, etc.; to utter in the shrill tone of a pipe.
"A robin … was piping a few querulous notes." W. Irving.
2. (Naut.) To call or direct, as a crew, by the boatswain’s whistle.
"As fine a ship’s company as was ever piped aloft." Marryat.
3. To furnish or equip with pipes; as to pipe an engine, or a building.
Piped, a. Formed with a pipe; having pipe or pipes; tubular.
Pipemouth
Pipe´mouth, n. (Zoöl.) Any fish of the genus Fistularia; — called also tobacco pipefish. See Fistularia.
Pipestone
Pipe´stone, n. A kind of clay slate, carved by the Indians into tobacco pipes. Cf. Catlinite.
Pipevine
Pipe´vine, n. (Bot.) The Dutchman’s pipe. See under Dutchman.
Pipevine
Pipe´vine, n. Any climbing species of Aristolochia; esp., the Dutchman’s pipe ( A. sipho).
Piping
Pip´ing (pip"ing), a. [From Pipe, v. ]
1. Playing on a musical pipe. "Lowing herds and piping swains." Swift.
2. Peaceful; favorable to, or characterized by, the music of the pipe rather than of the drum and fife. Shak.
3. Emitting a high, shrill sound.
4. Simmering; boiling; sizzling; hissing; — from the sound of boiling fluids. Piping crow, Piping crow shrike, Piping roller (Zoöl.), any Australian bird of the genus Gymnorhina, esp. G. tibicen, which is black and white, and the size of a small crow. Called also caruck. — Piping frog (Zoöl.), a small American tree frog ( Hyla Pickeringii) which utters a high, shrill note in early spring. — Piping hot, boiling hot; hissing hot; very hot. [Colloq.] Milton.
Pipkin
Pip´kin, n. [Dim. of Pipe.] A small earthen boiler.
Pippin
Pip´pin, n. [Probably fr. OE. pippin a seed, as being raised from the seed. See Pip a seed.] (Bot.) (a) An apple from a tree raised from the seed and not grafted; a seedling apple. (b) A name given to apples of several different kinds, as Newtown pippin, summer pippin, fall pippin, golden pippin.
"We will eat a last year’s pippin." Shak. Normandy pippins, sun-dried apples for winter use.
Piprine
Pi´prine, a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the pipras or the family Pipridae.
Piquancy
Pi´quan•cy, n. [See Piquant.] The quality or state of being piquant.
Piquant
Pi´quant, a. [F., p. pr. of piquer to prick or sting. See Pike.] Stimulating to the taste; giving zest; tart; sharp; pungent; as a piquant anecdote. "As piquant to the tongue as salt." Addison. "Piquant railleries." Gov. of Tongue.
Pique, n. (Zoöl.) The jigger. See Jigger.
Pique, n. [F., fr. piquer. See Pike.]
1. A feeling of hurt, vexation, or resentment, awakened by a social slight or injury; irritation of the feelings, as through wounded pride; stinging vexation.
"Men take up piques and displeasures." Dr. H. More.
"Wars had arisen … upon a personal pique." De Quincey.
2. Keenly felt desire; a longing.
"Though it have the pique, and long,
’Tis still for something in the wrong." Hudibras.
3. (Card Playing) In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.
Syn. — Displeasure; irritation; grudge; spite. Pique, Spite, Grudge. Pique denotes a quick and often transient sense of resentment for some supposed neglect or injury, but it is not marked by malevolence. Spite is a stronger term, denoting settled ill will or malice, with a desire to injure, as the result of extreme irritation. Grudge goes still further, denoting cherished and secret enmity, with an unforgiving spirit. A pique is usually of recent date; a grudge is that which has long subsisted; spite implies a disposition to cross or vex others.
Pique, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Piqued p. pr. & vb. n. Piquing ] [F. piquer. See Pike.]
1. To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to offend; to excite to anger.
"Pique her, and soothe in turn." Byron.
2. To excite to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate; to prick; as to pique ambition, or curiosity. Prior.
3. To pride or value; — used reflexively.
"Men … pique themselves upon their skill." Locke.
Syn. — To offend; displease; irritate; provoke; fret; nettle; sting; goad; stimulate.
Piquet
Piqu´et, n. See Picket. [R.]
Piquet
Pi•quet´, n. [F., prob. fr. pique. See Pique, Pike, and Picket.] A game at cards played between two persons, with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes, being set aside. [Written also picket and picquet.]
Piracy
Pi´ra•cy, n. ; pl. Piracies (#). [Cf. LL. piratia, Gr. . See Pirate.]
1. The act or crime of a pirate.
2. (Common Law) Robbery on the high seas; the taking of property from others on the open sea by open violence; without lawful authority, and with intent to steal; — a crime answering to robbery on land. By statute law several other offenses committed on the seas (as trading with known pirates, or engaging in the slave trade) have been made piracy.
3. "Sometimes used, in a quasi- figurative sense, of violation of copyright; but for this, infringement is the correct and preferable term." Abbott.
Pirarucu
Pi•ra•ru´cu, n. [From the native South American name.] (Zoöl.) Same as Arapaima.
Pirate
Pi´rate, n. [L. pirata, Gr., fr. to attempt, undertake, from making attempts or attacks on ships, an attempt, trial; akin to E. peril: cf. F. pirate. See Peril.]
1. A robber on the high seas; one who by open violence takes the property of another on the high seas; especially, one who makes it his business to cruise for robbery or plunder; a freebooter on the seas; also one who steals in a harbor.
2. An armed ship or vessel which sails without a legal commission, for the purpose of plundering other vessels on the high seas.
3. One who infringes the law of copyright, or publishes the work of an author without permission. Pirate perch (Zoöl.), a fresh- water percoid fish of the United States ( Aphredoderus Sayanus). It is of a dark olive color, speckled with blackish spots.
Pirate
Pi´rate, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pirated p. pr. & vb. n. Pirating.] [Cf. F. pirater.] To play the pirate; to practice robbery on the high seas.
Pirie
Pir´ie, n. (Naut.) See Pirry.
Pirie
Pir´ie, n. [See Pear.] (Bot.) A pear tree. [Written also pery, pyrie.] [Obs.] Chaucer.
Pirl, v. t. [Cf. Purl.]
1. To spin, as a top.
2. To twist or twine, as hair in making fishing lines.
Pirouette
Pir•ou•ette´, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pirouetted p. pr. & vb. n. Pirouetting.] [F. pirouetter.] To perform a pirouette; to whirl, like a dancer. { Pir´ry, Pir´rie }, n. [Cf. Scot. pirr a gentle breeze, Icel. byrr a prosperous wind, bylr a blast of wind.] A rough gale of wind. [Obs.] Sir T. Elyot.
Piscation
Pis•ca´tion, n. [L. piscatio, fr. piscari to fish.] Fishing; fishery. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Piscator
Pis•ca´tor, n. [L.] A fisherman; an angler. { Pis•ca•to´ri•al, Pis´ca•to•ry } a. [L. piscatorius, fr. piscator a fisherman, fr. piscari to fish, fr. piscis a fish. See Fish the animal.] Of or pertaining to fishes or fishing. Addison.
Piscicapture
Pis´ci•cap•ture, n. Capture of fishes, as by angling. [R.] W. H. Russell.
Piscicultural
Pis•ci•cul´tur•al, a. Relating to pisciculture.
Pisciculture
Pis•ci•cul´ture, n. [L. piscis a fish + E. culture.] Fish culture. See under Fish.
Pisciform
Pis´ci•form, a. [L. piscis fish + -form.] Having the form of a fish; resembling a fish.
Piscinal
Pis´ci•nal, a. [L. piscinalis: cf. F. piscinal.] Belonging to a fishpond or a piscina.
Pishu
Pi´shu, n. (Zoöl.) The Canada lynx. [Written also peeshoo.]
Pisiform
Pi´si•form, n. (Anat.) A small bone on the ulnar side of the carpus in man and many mammals. See Illust. of Artiodactyla.
Pismire
Pis´mire, n. [ Piss + mire; so called because it discharges a moisture vulgarly considered urine. See Mire an ant.] (Zoöl.) An ant, or emmet.
Pisophalt
Pis´o•phalt, n. [For pissasphalt.] (Min.) Pissasphalt. [Obs.]
Pistache
Pis•tache´, n. [OE. pistace, fr. F. pistache. See Pistachio.] (Bot.) The anacardiaceous tree Pistacia vera, which yields the pistachio nut; also the nut itself and the flavoring extract prepared from it.
Pistachio
Pis•ta´chio, n. [It. pistacchio (cf. Sp. pistacho, F. pistache), fr. L. pistacium, Gr.,, fr. Per. pistah. Cf. Fistinut.] (Bot.) The nut of the Pistacia vera, a tree of the order Anacardiaceae, containing a kernel of a pale greenish color, which has a pleasant taste, resembling that of the almond, and yields an oil of agreeable taste and odor; — called also pistachio nut. It is wholesome and nutritive. The tree grows in Arabia, Persia, Syria, and Sicily. [Written also pistachia.]
Pistachio green. A light yellowish green color resembling that of the pistachio nut.
Pistacia
Pis•ta´ci•a, n. [NL. See Pistachio.] (Bot.) The name of a genus of trees, including the tree which bears the pistachio, the Mediterranean mastic tree ( Pistacia Lentiscus), and the species ( P. Terebinthus) which yields Chian or Cyprus turpentine.
Pistacite
Pis´ta•cite, n. [Cf. F. pistacite. So called from its green color. See Pistachio.] (Min.) Epidote.
Pistareen
Pis•ta•reen´, n. An old Spanish silver coin of the value of about twenty cents.
Pistic
Pis´tic, a. [L. pisticus, Gr. .] Pure; genuine. [R.] Jer. Taylor.
Pistil
Pis´til, n. [L. pistillum, pistillus, a pestle: cf. F. pistil. See Pestle.] (Bot.) The seed-bearing organ of a flower. It consists of an ovary, containing the ovules or rudimentary seeds, and a stigma, which is commonly raised on an elongated portion called a style. When composed of one carpel a pistil is simple; when composed of several, it is compound. See Illust. of Flower, and Ovary.
Pistillidium
Pis•til•lid´i•um, n. ; pl. Pistillida (#). [NL., fr. E. pistil.] (Bot.) Same as Archegonium.
Pistilliferous
Pis•til•lif´er•ous, a. [ Pistil + -ferous: cf. F. pistillifère.] (Bot.) Pistillate.
Pistol
Pis´tol, n. [F. pistole, pistolet, It. pistola; prob. from a form Pistola, for Pistoja, a town in Italy where pistols were first made. Cf. Pistole.] The smallest firearm used, intended to be fired from one hand, — now of many patterns, and bearing a great variety of names. See Illust. of Revolver. Pistol carbine, a firearm with a removable but-piece, and thus capable of being used either as a pistol or a carbine. — Pistol pipe (Metal.), a pipe in which the blast for a furnace is heated, resembling a pistol in form. — Pistol shot. (a) The discharge of a pistol. (b) The distance to which a pistol can propel a ball.
Pistol
Pis´tol, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pistoled p. pr. & vb. n. Pistoling.] [Cf. F. pistoler.] To shoot with a pistol. "To pistol a poacher." Sydney Smith.
Pistole
Pis•tole´, n. [F., probably a name given in jest in France to a Spanish coin. Cf. Pistol.] The name of certain gold coins of various values formerly coined in some countries of Europe. In Spain it was equivalent to a quarter doubloon, or about $3.90, and in Germany and Italy nearly the same. There was an old Italian pistole worth about $5.40.
Pistoleer
Pis•to•leer´, n. [Cf. F. pistolier.] One who uses a pistol. [R.] Carlyle.
Pistolet
Pis´to•let, n. [F., a dim. of pistole.] A small pistol. Donne. Beau. & Fl.
Piston
Pis´ton, n. [F. piston; cf. It. pistone piston, also pestone a large pestle; all fr. L. pinsere, pistum, to pound, to stamp. See Pestle, Pistil.] (Mach.) A sliding piece which either is moved by, or moves against, fluid pressure. It usually consists of a short cylinder fitting within a cylindrical vessel along which it moves, back and forth. It is used in steam engines to receive motion from the steam, and in pumps to transmit motion to a fluid; also for other purposes. Piston head (Steam Eng.), that part of a piston which is made fast to the piston rod. — Piston rod, a rod by which a piston is moved, or by which it communicates motion. — Piston valve (Steam Eng.), a slide valve, consisting of a piston, or connected pistons, working in a cylindrical case which is provided with ports that are traversed by the valve.
Piston ring
Pis"ton ring. (Mach.) A spring packing ring, or any of several such rings, for a piston.
Pit, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pitted p. pr. & vb. n. Pitting.]
1. To place or put into a pit or hole.
"They lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts, tumbled into the grave." T. Grander.
2. To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as a face pitted by smallpox.
3. To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a contest; as to pit one dog against another.
Pitch, n. [OE. pich, AS. pic, L. pix; akin to Gr. .]
1. A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them.
"He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith." Ecclus. xiii. 1.
2. (Geol.) See Pitchstone. Amboyna pitch, the resin of Dammara australis. See Kauri. — Burgundy pitch. See under Burgundy. — Canada pitch, the resinous exudation of the hemlock tree ( Abies Canadensis); hemlock gum. — Jew’s pitch, bitumen. — Mineral pitch. See Bitumen and Asphalt. — Pitch coal (Min.), bituminous coal. — Pitch peat (Min.), a black homogeneous peat, with a waxy luster. — Pitch pine (Bot.), any one of several species of pine, yielding pitch, esp. the Pinus rigida of North America.
Pitch, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pitched p. pr. & vb. n. Pitching.] [See Pitch, n. ]
1. To cover over or smear with pitch. Gen. vi. 14.
2. Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.
"The welkin pitched with sullen could." Addison.
Pitch, n.
1. A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as a good pitch in quoits. Pitch and toss, a game played by tossing up a coin, and calling "Heads or tails;" hence: To play pitch and toss with (anything), to be careless or trust to luck about it. "To play pitch and toss with the property of the country." G. Eliot. — Pitch farthing. See Chuck farthing, under 5th Chuck.
2. (Cricket) That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.
3. A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.
"Driven headlong from the pitch of heaven, down
Into this deep." Milton.
"Enterprises of great pitch and moment." Shak.
"To lowest pitch of abject fortune." Milton.
"He lived when learning was at its highest pitch." Addison.
"The exact pitch, or limits, where temperance ends." Sharp.
4. Height; stature. [Obs.] Hudibras.
5. A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.
6. The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant; as a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof.
7. (Mus.) The relative acuteness or gravity of a tone, determined by the number of vibrations which produce it; the place of any tone upon a scale of high and low. Musical tones with reference to absolute pitch, are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet; with reference to relative pitch, in a series of tones called the scale, they are called one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight is also one of a new scale an octave higher, as one is eight of a scale an octave lower.
8. (Mining) The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.
9. (Mech.) (a) The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; — called also circular pitch. (b) The length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn of the thread of a screw, or of the helical lines of the blades of a screw propeller. (c) The distance between the centers of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates. Concert pitch (Mus.), the standard of pitch used by orchestras as in concerts, etc. — Diametral pitch (Gearing), the distance which bears the same relation to the pitch proper, or circular pitch, that the diameter of a circle bears to its circumference; it is sometimes described by the number expressing the quotient obtained by dividing the number of teeth in a wheel by the diameter of its pitch circle in inches; as 4 pitch, 8 pitch, etc. — Pitch chain, a chain, as one made of metallic plates, adapted for working with a sprocket wheel. — Pitch line, or Pitch circle (Gearing), an ideal line, in a toothed gear or rack, bearing such a relation to a corresponding line in another gear, with which the former works, that the two lines will have a common velocity as in rolling contact; it usually cuts the teeth at about the middle of their height, and, in a circular gear, is a circle concentric with the axis of the gear; the line, or circle, on which the pitch of teeth is measured. — Pitch of a roof (Arch.), the inclination or slope of the sides expressed by the height in parts of the span; as one half pitch; whole pitch; or by the height in parts of the half span, especially among engineers; or by degrees, as a pitch of 30°, of 45°, etc.; or by the rise and run, that is, the ratio of the height to the half span; as a pitch of six rise to ten run. Equilateral pitch is where the two sloping sides with the span form an equilateral triangle. — Pitch of a plane (Carp.), the slant of the cutting iron. — Pitch pipe, a wind instrument used by choristers in regulating the pitch of a tune. — Pitch point (Gearing), the point of contact of the pitch lines of two gears, or of a rack and pinion, which work together.
Pitchblende
Pitch´blende, n. [1st pitch + blende.] (Min.) A pitch-black mineral consisting chiefly of the oxide of uranium; uraninite. See Uraninite.
Pitcher
Pitch´er, n. [OE. picher, OF. pichier, OHG. pehhar, pehhari; prob. of the same origin as E. beaker. Cf. Beaker.]
1. A wide-mouthed, deep vessel for holding liquids, with a spout or protruding lip and a handle; a water jug or jar with a large ear or handle.
2. (Bot.) A tubular or cuplike appendage or expansion of the leaves of certain plants. American pitcher plants, the species of Sarracenia. See Sarracenia. — Australian pitcher plant, the Cephalotus follicularis, a low saxifragaceous herb having two kinds of radical leaves, some oblanceolate and entire, others transformed into little ovoid pitchers, longitudinally triple-winged and ciliated, the mouth covered with a lid shaped like a cockleshell. — California pitcher plant, the Darlingtonia California. See Darlingtonia. — Pitcher plant, any plant with the whole or a part of the leaves transformed into pitchers or cuplike organs, especially the species of Nepenthes. See Nepenthes.
Pitcherful
Pitch´er•ful, n. ; pl. Pitcherfuls . The quantity a pitcher will hold.
Pitchiness
Pitch´i•ness, n. [From Pitchy.] Blackness, as of pitch; darkness.
Pitchstone
Pitch´stone, n. (Geol.) An igneous rock of semiglassy nature, having a luster like pitch.
Pitchwork
Pitch´work, n. The work of a coal miner who is paid by a share of his product.
Pitchy
Pitch´y, a. [From 1st Pitch.]
1. Partaking of the qualities of pitch; resembling pitch.
2. Smeared with pitch.
3. Black; pitch-dark; dismal. "Pitchy night." Shak.
Piteous
Pit´e•ous, a. [OE. pitous, OF. pitos, F. piteux. See Pity.]
1. Pious; devout. [Obs.]
"The Lord can deliver piteous men from temptation." Wyclif.
2. Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender. "[She] piteous of his case." Pope.
"She was so charitable and so pitous." Chaucer.
3. Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as a piteous case. Spenser.
"The most piteous tale of Lear." Shak.
4. Paltry; mean; pitiful. "Piteous amends." Milton.
Syn. — Sorrowful; mournful; affecting; doleful; woeful; rueful; sad; wretched; miserable; pitiable; pitiful; compassionate. — Pit´e•ous•ly, adv. — Pit´e•ous•ness, n.
Pith, n. [AS. pia; akin to D. pit pith, kernel, LG. peddik. Cf. Pit a kernel.]
1. (Bot.) The soft spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees, especially those of the dicotyledonous or exogenous classes. It consists of cellular tissue.
2. (a) (Zoöl.) The spongy interior substance of a feather. (b) (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow.
3. Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength; importance; as the speech lacked pith.
"Enterprises of great pith and moment." Shak. Pith paper. Same as Rice paper, under Rice.
Pithiness
Pith´i•ness, n. The quality or state of being pithy.
Pithsome
Pith´some, a. Pithy; robust. [R.] "Pithsome health and vigor." R. D. Blackmore.
Pithy
Pith´y, a. [ Compar. Pithier superl. Pithiest.]
1. Consisting wholly, or in part, of pith; abounding in pith; as a pithy stem; a pithy fruit.
2. Having nervous energy; forceful; cogent.
"This pithy speech prevailed, and all agreed." Dryden.
"In all these Goodman Fact was very short, but pithy." Addison. Pithy gall (Zoöl.), a large, rough, furrowed, oblong gall, formed on blackberry canes by a small gallfly ( Diastrophus nebulosus).
Pitiable
Pit´i•a•ble, a. [Cf. OF. pitiable, F. pitoyable.] Deserving pity; wworthy of, or exciting, compassion; miserable; lamentable; piteous; as pitiable persons; a pitiable condition; pitiable wretchedness.
Syn. — Sorrowful; woeful; sad. See Piteous. — Pit´i•a•ble•ness, n. — Pit´i•a•bly, adv.
Pitiful
Pit´i•ful, a.
1. Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic.
"The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James v. 11.
2. Piteous; lamentable; eliciting compassion.
"A thing, indeed, very pitiful and horrible." Spenser.
3. To be pitied for littleness or meanness; miserable; paltry; contemptible; despicable.
"That’s villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it." Shak.
Syn. — Despicable; mean; paltry. See Contemptible. — Pit´i•ful•ly, adv. — Pit´i•ful•ness, n.
Pittance
Pit´tance (pit"t ans), n. [OE. pitance, pitaunce, F. pitance; cf. It. pietanza, LL. pitancia, pittantia, pictantia; perh. fr. L. pietas pity, piety, or perhaps akin to E. petty. Cf. Petty, and Pity.]
1. An allowance of food bestowed in charity; a mess of victuals; hence, a small charity gift; a dole. "A good pitaunce." Chaucer.
"One half only of this pittance was ever given him in money." Macaulay.
2. A meager portion, quantity, or allowance; an inconsiderable salary or compensation. "The small pittance of learning they received." Swift.
"The inconsiderable pittance of faithful professors." Fuller.
Pitted
Pit´ted (-ted), a.
1. Marked with little pits, as in smallpox. See Pit, v. t., 2.
2. (Bot.) Having minute thin spots; as pitted ducts in the vascular parts of vegetable tissue.
Pitter
Pit´ter, n. A contrivance for removing the pits from peaches, plums, and other stone fruit.
Pitter
Pit´ter, v. i. To make a pattering sound; to murmur; as pittering streams. [Obs.] R. Greene.
Pittle-pattle
Pit´tle-pat•tle, v. i. To talk unmeaningly; to chatter or prattle. [R.] Latimer.
Pituite
Pit´u•ite, n. [L. pituita: cf. F. pituite. Cf. Pip a disease of fowls.] Mucus, phlegm.
Pituitrin
Pi•tu´i•trin, n. (Biol. Chem.) A substance or extract from the pituitary body.
Pity
Pit´y, n. ; pl. Pities (#). [OE. pite, OF. pite, pitie, F. pitie, L. pietas piety, kindness, pity. See Pious, and cf. Piety.]
1. Piety. [Obs.] Wyclif.
2. A feeling for the sufferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of another; compassion; fellow-feeling; commiseration.
"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord." Prov. xix. 17.
"He … has no more pity in him than a dog." Shak.
3. A reason or cause of pity, grief, or regret; a thing to be regretted. "The more the pity." Shak.
"What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country!" Addison. In this sense, sometimes used in the plural, especially in the colloquialism: "It is a thousand pities."
Syn. — Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. — Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain degree of equality in situation, circumstances, etc., to its fullest exercise. Compassion is deep tenderness for another under severe or inevitable misfortune. Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior.
Pity
Pit´y, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pitied p. pr. & vb. n. Pitying.]
1. To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Ps. ciii. 13.
2. To move to pity; — used impersonally. [Obs.]
"It pitieth them to see her in the dust." Bk. of Com. Prayer.
Pitying
Pit´y•ing, a. Expressing pity; as a pitying eye, glance, or word. — Pit´y•ing•ly, adv.
Pityroid
Pit´y•roid, a. [Gr. bran + - oid.] Having the form of, or resembling, bran. Smart.
Più
Pi"ù, adv. [It., fr. L. plus. See Plus.] (Mus.) A little more; as più allegro, a little more briskly.
Pivot
Piv´ot, n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe. See Pipe.]
1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.
2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as the pivot of an arbor in a watch.
3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as the pivot of an enterprise.
4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; — called also pivot man. Pivot bridge, a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical axis. — Pivot gun, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction. — Pivot tooth (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.
Pivot
Piv´ot, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pivoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Pivoting.] To place on a pivot. Clarke.
Pix, n. & v. See Pyx. { Pix´y, Pix´ie }, n. ; pl. Pixies (#). [For Pucksy, from Puck.]
1. An old English name for a fairy; an elf. [Written also picksy.]
2. (Bot.) A low creeping evergreen plant ( Pyxidanthera barbulata), with mosslike leaves and little white blossoms, found in New Jersey and southward, where it flowers in earliest spring. Pixy ring, a fairy ring or circle. [Prov. Eng.] — Pixy stool (Bot.), a toadstool or mushroom. [Prov. Eng.]