The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section P and Q

Pur*vey"or (?), n. [OE. porveour, OF. pourveor, F. pourvoyeur. See Purvey, and cf. Proveditor.] 1. One who provides victuals, or whose business is to make provision for the tabl...

P (p), the sixteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a nonvocal consonant whose form and value come from the Latin, into which language the letter was brought, through the an...

2. To fill or stop with clay by tamping; to fill in or spread with mortar, as a floor or partition, for the purpose of deadening sound. See Pugging, 2.

Paddock pipe (Bot.), a hollow-stemmed plant of the genus Equisetum, especially E. limosum and the fruiting stems of E. arvense; -- called also padow pipe and toad pipe. See Equi...

Paste (?), n. [OF. paste, F. p‚te, L. pasta, fr. Gr. &?; barley broth; cf. &?; barley porridge, &?; sprinkled with salt, &?; to sprinkle. Cf. Pasty, n., Patty.] 1. A soft compos...

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.

Pall, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Palled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Palling.] [Either shortened fr. appall, or fr. F. p‚lir to grow pale. Cf. Appall, Pale, a.] To become vapid, tasteless, dul...

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 use...

To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to tear away. -- To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a lower state. -- to pluck off, to pull or tear o...

Post, n. [AS., fr. L. postis, akin to ponere, positum, to place. See Position, and cf. 4th Post.] 1. A piece of timber, metal, or other solid substance, fixed, or to be fixed, f...

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,...

Parting fellow, a partner. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Parting pulley. See under Pulley. -- Parting sand (Founding), dry, nonadhesive sand, sprinkled upon the partings of a mold to facil...

The tree is native to Japan, and has immense heart-shaped leaves, and large purplish flowers in panicles. The capsules contain many little winged seeds, which are beautiful micr...

Pointed arch (Arch.), an arch with a pointed crown. -- Pointed style (Arch.), a name given to that style of architecture in which the pointed arch is the predominant feature; --...

Palace car. See under Car. -- Palace court, a court having jurisdiction of personal actions arising within twelve miles of the palace at Whitehall. The court was abolished in 18...

Peek (?), v. i. [OE. piken: cf. F. piquer to pierce, prick, E. pique. Cf. Peak.] To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep. [Colloq.]

Pu"pa (?), n.; pl. L. Pup&?; (#), E. Pupas (#). [L. pupa girl. doll, puppet, fem. of pupus. Cf. Puppet.] 1. (Zoˆl.) Any insect in that stage of its metamorphosis which usually i...

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 ro...

Pot`pour`ri" (?), n. [F., fr. pot pot + pourri, p. p. of pourrir to rot, L. putrere. Cf. Olla-podrida.] A medley or mixture. Specifically: (a) A ragout composed of different sor...

||Po"di*um (?), n.; pl. Podia (#). [L., fr. Gr. &?;, dim. of &?;, &?;, ||foot. See Pew.] 1. (Arch.) A low wall, serving as a foundation, a ||substructure, or a terrace wall. It...

Pectoral arch, or Pectoral girdle (Anat.), the two or more bony or cartilaginous pieces of the vertebrate skeleton to which the fore limbs are articulated; the shoulder girdle....

Plan"tain (?), n. [Cf. F. plantain- arbre, plantanier, Sp. pl·ntano, pl·tano; prob. same word as plane tree.] 1. (Bot.) A treelike perennial herb (Musa paradisiaca) of tropical...

2. (Law) (a) A piece of parchment or a schedule, containing the names of persons summoned as jurors by the sheriff; hence, more generally, the whole jury. Blackstone. (b) (Scots...

Po"rism (?), n. [Gr. &?; a thing procured, a deduction from a demonstration, fr. &?; to bring, provide: cf. F. porisme.] 1. (Geom.) A proposition affirming the possibility of fi...

Ptolemaic system (Astron.), the system maintained by Ptolemy, who supposed the earth to be fixed in the center of the universe, with the sun and stars revolving around it. This...

Pul"ver*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pulverized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pulverizing (?).] [F. pulvÈriser, L. pulverizare, fr. pulvis dust, powder. See Powder.] To reduce of fine po...

At peace, in a state of peace. -- Breach of the peace. See under Breach. -- Justice of the peace. See under Justice. -- Peace of God. (Law) (a) A term used in wills, indictments...

{ ||Pleth"ron (?), ||Pleth"rum (?), } n.; pl. Plethra (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;.] (Gr. Antiq.) A long measure of 100 Greek, or 101 English, feet; also, a square measure of 10,000 G...

Po*ma"ceous (?), a. [LL. ponum an apple.] 1. (Bot.) (a) Like an apple or pear; producing pomes. (b) Of or pertaining to a suborder (PomeÊ) of rosaceous plants, which includes th...

Phys`i*co*chem"ic*al (?), a. [Physico- + chemical.] Involving the principles of both physics and chemistry; dependent on, or produced by, the joint action of physical and chemic...

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, e...

Pa*pav`er*a"ceous (?), a. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order of plants (PapaveraceÊ) of which the poppy, the celandine, and the bloodroot are well-known ex...

2. (Naut.) Long, narrow slips of canvas daubed with tar and wound about a rope like a bandage, before it is served; used, also, in mousing on the stayes, etc.

2. (Spherics) A point upon the surface of a sphere equally distant from every part of the circumference of a great circle; or the point in which a diameter of the sphere perpend...

Poon (?), n. [Canarese ponne.] A name for several East Indian, or their wood, used for the masts and spars of vessels, as Calophyllum angustifolium, C. inophullum, and Sterculia...

Quar"ten*yl"ic (?), a. [Quartene + -yl + -ic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid of the acrylic acid series, metameric with crotonic acid, and obtained as a colorle...

Pa*thog`no*mon"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; skilled in judging of diseases; &?; a disease + &?; skilled: cf. F. pathognomonique. See Gnomic.] (Med.) Specially or decisively characteristi...

Plain, n. [Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.] 1. Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequa...

Pin*dar"ic (?), a. [L. Pindaricus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; (L. Pindarus) Pindar: cf. F. pindarique.] Of or pertaining to Pindar, the Greek lyric poet; after the style and manner of Pin...

Qui*noid"ine (?), n. [Quinine + -oid.] (Med. (Chem.) A brownish resinous substance obtained as a by-product in the treatment of cinchona bark. It consists of a mixture of severa...

Plat"ing (?), n. 1. The art or process of covering anything with a plate or plates, or with metal, particularly of overlaying a base or dull metal with a thin plate of precious...

Pal"pi*tate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Palpitated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Palpitating(?).] [L. palpitare, palpitatum, v. intens. fr. pappare. See Palpable.] To beat rapidly and more...

Pelt"ry (?), n. [F. pelleterie peltry, furriery, fr. pelletier a furrier, fr. OF. pel skin, F. peau, L. pelis. See Pelt a skin, Pell, n., Fell a skin.] Pelts or skins, collectiv...

Syn. -- Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. -- Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and theref...

(e) To go successfully through, as an examination, trail, test, etc.; to obtain the formal sanction of, as a legislative body; as, he passed his examination; the bill passed the...

Part (?), n. [F. part, L. pars, gen. partis; cf. parere to bring forth, produce. Cf. Parent, Depart, Parcel, Partner, Party, Portion.] 1. One of the portions, equal or unequal,...

Parallelogram of velocities, forces, accelerations, momenta, etc. (Mech.), a parallelogram the diagonal of which represents the resultant of two velocities, forces, acceleration...

2. Hence, specifically; (a) (Law) Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; esp., property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel. Kent. B...

4. To mark the outline of by puncturing; to trace or form by pricking; to mark by punctured dots; as, to prick a pattern for embroidery; to prick the notes of a musical composit...

||Plu"ri*es (?), n. [So called from L. pluries many times, often, which ||occurs in the first clause.] (Law) A writ issued in the third place, ||after two former writs have been...

Queen (?), n. [OE. quen, quene, queen, quean, AS. cwn wife, queen, woman; akin to OS. qun wife, woman, Icel. kvn wife, queen, Goth. qns. √221. See Quean.] 1. The wife of a...

||Par*ke"ri*a (?), n. [NL. So named from W. K. Parker, a British ||zoˆlogist.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of large arenaceous fossil Foraminifera ||found in the Cretaceous rocks. The speci...

Peruvian balsam. See Balsam of Peru, under Balsam. -- Peruvian bark, the bitter bark of trees of various species of Cinchona. It acts as a powerful tonic, and is a remedy for ma...

Syn. -- Ostentation; display; show. -- Parade, Ostentation. Parade is a pompous exhibition of things for the purpose of display; ostentation now generally indicates a parade of...

Pollen grain (Bot.), a particle or call of pollen. -- Pollen mass, a pollinium. Gray. -- Pollen sac, a compartment of an anther containing pollen, -- usually there are four in e...

Pol"y*graph (?), n. [Gr. &?; writing much; poly`s much, many + &?; to write: cf. F. polygraphe.] 1. An instrument for multiplying copies of a writing; a manifold writer; a copyi...

Pret"er*it (?; 277), a. [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prÈtÈrit. See Issue.] [Written also preterite and prÊterite...

Prom`e*nade" (?), n. [F. (with a foreign suffix), from promener to lead, take for a walk, se promener to walk, from L. prominare to drive forward or along; pro forward + minare...

2. (Presbyterian Ch.) A judicatory consisting of all the ministers within a certain district, and one layman, who is a ruling elder, from each parish or church, commissioned to...

Per*form" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Performed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Performing.] [OE. performen, parfourmen, parfournen, OF. parfornir, parfournir, to finish, complete; OF. & F. p...

Quick grass. (Bot.) See Quitch grass. -- Quick match. See under Match. -- Quick vein (Mining), a vein of ore which is productive, not barren. -- Quick vinegar, vinegar made by a...

Pu"ri*ty (?), n. [OE. purete, purte, OF. purtÈ, F. puretÈ, from L. puritas, fr. purus pure. See Pure.] The condition of being pure. Specifically: (a) freedom from foreign admixt...

Prime, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Priming.] [From Prime, a.] 1. To apply priming to, as a musket or a cannon; to apply a primer to, as a metallic cartridge.

Prog*nos"ti*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prognosticated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Prognosticating.] [See Prognostic.] To indicate as future; to foretell from signs or symptoms; to p...

Press, v. t. [Corrupt. fr. prest ready money advanced, a loan; hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering service. See Prest, n.] To force into service, particularly into n...

Per*cep"tion (?), n. [L. perceptio: cf. F. perception. See Perceive.] 1. The act of perceiving; cognizance by the senses or intellect; apperhension by the bodily organs, or by t...

2. To shake, vibrate, or quiver, either from not being solid, as soft, wet land, or from violent convulsion of any kind; as, the earth quakes; the mountains quake. " Over quakin...

Post`po*si"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. postposition. See Postpone.] 1. The act of placing after, or the state of being placed after. "The postposition of the nominative case to the ver...

Pro"te*id (?), n. [Gr. prw^tos first.] (Physiol. Chem.) One of a class of amorphous nitrogenous principles, containing, as a rule, a small amount of sulphur; an albuminoid, as b...

Gunner's quadrant, an instrument consisting of a graduated limb, with a plumb line or spirit level, and an arm by which it is applied to a cannon or mortar in adjusting it to th...

Print, n. [See Print, v., Imprint, n.] 1. A mark made by impression; a line, character, figure, or indentation, made by the pressure of one thing on another; as, the print of te...

To lower the yards a-portoise, to lower them to the gunwale. -- To ride a portoise, to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck or lowered, as in a gale of wind.

Prairie chicken (Zoˆl.), any American grouse of the genus Tympanuchus, especially T. Americanus (formerly T. cupido), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. A...

Pro*tu"ber*ance (?), n. [Cf. F. protubÈrance. See Protuberant.] That which is protuberant swelled or pushed beyond the surrounding or adjacent surface; a swelling or tumor on th...

3. (Law) To pursue with the intention of punishing; to accuse of some crime or breach of law, or to pursue for redress or punishment, before a legal tribunal; to proceed against...

Syn. -- Auspicious; favorable; kind. -- Propitious, Auspicious. Auspicious (from the ancient idea of auspices, or omens) denotes "indicative of success," or "favored by incident...

3. To allege or adduce in proof, support, or vendication; to offer in excuse; as, the law of nations may be pleaded in favor of the rights of ambassadors. Spenser.

{ Pen*tel"ic (?), Pen*tel"i*can (?), } a. Of or pertaining to Mount Pentelicus, near Athens, famous for its fine white marble quarries; obtained from Mount Pentelicus; as, the P...

5. (R. C. Ch.) (a) An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc. Its chief...

Putrid fever (Med.), typhus fever; -- so called from the decomposing and offensive state of the discharges and diseased textures of the body. -- Putrid sore throat (Med.), a gan...

Pho"to*type (?), n. [Photo- + -type.] A plate or block with a printing surface (usually in relief) obtained from a photograph; also, any one of the many methods of processes by...

2. That which is moving onward in an orderly, stately, or solemn manner; a train of persons advancing in order; a ceremonious train; a retinue; as, a procession of mourners; the...

Pe`ri*o*dic"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Periodicities (#). [Cf. F. pÈriodicitÈ.] The quality or state of being periodical, or regularly recurrent; as, the periodicity in the vital phenome...

Pre*fig"ure (?; 135), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prefigured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Prefiguring.] [F. prÈfigurer, or L. praefigurare, praefiguratum; prae before + figurare to figure. See...

Syn. -- To allow; let; grant; admit; suffer; tolerate; endure; consent to. -- To Allow, Permit, Suffer, Tolerate. To allow is more positive, denoting (at least originally and et...

Provost marshal (often pronounced &?;). (a) (Mil.) An officer appointed in every army, in the field, to secure the prisoners confined on charges of a general nature. He also per...

Proof charge (Firearms), a charge of powder and ball, greater than the service charge, fired in an arm, as a gun or cannon, to test its strength. -- Proof impression. See under...

Pre*mon`stra*ten"sian (?), n. [F. prÈmontrÈ, fr. PrÈmontrÈ, fr. L. pratum monstratum.] (R. C. Ch.) One of a religious order of regular canons founded by St. Norbert at PrÈmontrÈ...

||Phan`er*o*ga"mi*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; visible (fr. &?; to ||bring to light) + &?; marriage.] (Bot.) That one of the two primary ||divisions of the vegetable kingdom...

2. That which is produced, yielded, or made, whether naturally, or by the application of intelligence and labor; as, the productions of the earth; the productions of handicraft;...

||Pseu`do*hal"ter (?), n.; pl. Pseudohalteres (#). [NL. See Pseudo-, ||and Halteres.] (Zoˆl.) One of the rudimentary front wings of certain ||insects (Stylops). They resemble th...

Diving petrel, any bird of the genus Pelecanoides. They chiefly inhabit the southern hemisphere. -- Fulmar petrel, Giant petrel. See Fulmar. -- Pintado petrel, the Cape pigeon....

{ Pyr`o*lig"ne*ous (?), Pyr`o*lig"nic (?), } a. [Pyro-+ L. lignum wood: cf. F. pyroligneux.] (Old Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, the acid liquid obtained in the distillat...

6. (Theol.) Among Trinitarians, one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost); an hypostasis. "Three persons and one God." Bk. of Com. P...

Pred"a*to*ry (?), a. [L. praedatorius, fr. praedari to plunder, fr. praeda prey. See Prey.] 1. Characterized by plundering; practicing rapine; plundering; pillaging; as, a preda...

Pre*cau"tion (?), n. [F. prÈcation, L. praecautio, fr. praecavere, praecautum, to guard against beforehand; prae before + cavere be on one's guard. See Pre-, and Caution.] 1. Pr...

Pho*nau"to*graph (?), n. [Phono- + Gr. &?; self + -graph.] (Physics) An instrument by means of which a sound can be made to produce a visible trace or record of itself. It consi...

Phi*lan"thro*py (?), n. [L. philanthropia, Gr. &?;: cf. F. philanthropie.] Love to mankind; benevolence toward the whole human family; universal good will; desire and readiness...

5. The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe; hence,...

Quoin (kwoin or koin; 277), n. [See Coin, and cf. Coigne.] 1. (Arch.) Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material...