Chapter 35

2. (Biol.) A believer in the theory that the fundamental phenomena of life are to be explained upon purely chemical and physical principles; -- opposed to vitalist.

Phys"ick*ing (?), p. pr. & vb. n. fr. Physic, v. t.

Phys"i*co- (?). [Fr. Gr. &?; natural, physical.] A combining form, denoting relation to, or dependence upon, natural causes, or the science of physics.

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 chemical agencies. Huxley.

Phys`i*co*log"ic (?), n. [Physico- + logic.] Logic illustrated by physics.

Phys`i*co*log"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to physicologic. Swift.

Phys`i*col"o*gy (?), n. [Physico- + -logy.] Physics. [R.] -- Phys`i*col"o*gist (#), n. [R.]

Phys`i*co-math`e*mat"ics (?), n. [Physico- + mathematics.] Mixed mathematics.

Phys`i*co-phi*los"o*phy (?), n. [Physico- + philosophy.] The philosophy of nature.

Phys`i*co-the*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Physico- + theology.] Theology or divinity illustrated or enforced by physics or natural philosophy.

Phys"ics (?), n. [See Physic.] The science of nature, or of natural objects; that branch of science which treats of the laws and properties of matter, and the forces acting upon it; especially, that department of natural science which treats of the causes (as gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, electricity, etc.) that modify the general properties of bodies; natural philosophy.

Chemistry, though a branch of general physics, is commonly treated as a science by itself, and the application of physical principles which it involves constitute a branch called chemical physics, which treats more especially of those physical properties of matter which are used by chemists in defining and distinguishing substances.

Phys"i*o*crat (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + &?; to rule.] One of the followers of Quesnay of France, who, in the 18th century, founded a system of political economy based upon the supremacy of natural order. F. A. Walker. -- Phys`i*o*crat"ic (#), a.

Phys`i*og"e*ny (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + root of &?; to be born.] (Biol.) The germ history of the functions, or the history of the development of vital activities, in the individual, being one of the branches of ontogeny. See Morphogeny. Haeckel.

Phys`i*og"no*mer (?), n. Physiognomist.

{ Phys`i*og*nom"ic (?), Phys`i*og*nom"ic*al (?), } a. [Gr. &?;: cf. F. physiognomonique.] Of or pertaining to physiognomy; according with the principles of physiognomy. -- Phys`i*og*nom"ic*al*ly, adv.

Phys`i*og*nom"ist (?), n. Same as Physiognomy, 1.

Phys`i*og"no*mist (?), n. [Cf. F. physiognomiste.] 1. One skilled in physiognomy. Dryden.

2. One who tells fortunes by physiognomy. Holland.

Phys`i*og"no*mize (?), v. t. To observe and study the physiognomy of. [R.] Southey.

Phys`i*og`no*mmon"ic (?), a. Physiognomic.

Phys`i*og"no*my (?), n.; pl. Physiognomies (#). [OE. fisonomie, phisonomie, fisnamie, OF. phisonomie, F. physiognomie, physiognomonie, from Gr. &?;; fy`sis nature + &?; one who knows or examines, a judge, fr. &?;, &?;, to know. See Physic, and Know, and cf. Phiz.] 1. The art and science of discovering the predominant temper, and other characteristic qualities of the mind, by the outward appearance, especially by the features of the face.

2. The face or countenance, with respect to the temper of the mind; particular configuration, cast, or expression of countenance, as denoting character.

3. The art telling fortunes by inspection of the features. [Obs.] Bale.

4. The general appearance or aspect of a thing, without reference to its scientific characteristics; as, the physiognomy of a plant, or of a meteor.

Phys`i*og"o*ny (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + go`nos birth.] The birth of nature. [R.] Coleridge.

{ Phys`i*o*graph"ic (?), Phys`i*o*graph"ic*al (?), } a. [Cf. F. physiographique.] Of or pertaining to physiography.

Phys`i*og"ra*phy (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + -graphy: cf. F. physiographie.] The science which treats of the earth's exterior physical features, climate, life, etc., and of the physical movements or changes on the earth's surface, as the currents of the atmosphere and ocean, the secular variations in heat, moisture, magnetism, etc.; physical geography.

Phys`i*ol"a*try (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + &?; service.] The worship of the powers or agencies of nature; materialism in religion; nature worship. "The physiolatry of the Vedas." M. Williams.

Phys`i*ol"o*ger (?), n. A physiologist.

Phys`i*o*log"ic (?), a. [L. physiologicus, Gr. &?;: cf. F. physiologique.] Physiological.

Phys`i*o*log"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to physiology; relating to the science of the functions of living organism; as, physiological botany or chemistry.

Phys`i*o*log"ic*al*ly, adv. In a physiological manner.

Phys`i*ol"o*gist (?), n. [Cf. F. physiologiste.] One who is versed in the science of physiology; a student of the properties and functions of animal and vegetable organs and tissues.

Phys`i*ol"o*gize (?), v. i. To speculate in physiology; to make physiological investigations. Cudworth.

Phys`i*ol"o*gy (?), n.; pl. Physiologies (#). [L. physiologia, Gr. &?;; fy`sis nature + &?; discourse: cf. F. physiologie.] 1. The science which treats of the phenomena of living organisms; the study of the processes incidental to, and characteristic of, life.

It is divided into animal and vegetable physiology, dealing with animal and vegetable life respectively. When applied especially to a study of the functions of the organs and tissues in man, it is called human physiology.

2. A treatise on physiology.

Mental physiology, the science of the functions and phenomena of the mind, as distinguished from a philosophical explanation of the same.

Phys`i*oph"y*ly (?), n. [Gr. fy`sis nature + &?; a clan.] (Biol.) The tribal history of the functions, or the history of the paleontological development of vital activities, -- being a branch of phylogeny. See Morphophyly. Haeckel.

Phy*sique" (?), n. [F. See Physic.] The natural constitution, or physical structure, of a person.

With his white hair and splendid physique.

Mrs. Stowe.

Phys"no*my (?), n. Physiogmony. [Obs.]

Phys"o*clist, n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Physoclisti.

||Phys`o*clis"ti (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a bellows + &?; to ||close.] (Zoˆl.) An order of teleost in which the air bladder has no ||opening.

Phys"o*grade (?), n. [Gr. &?; a bellows + L. gradi to walk, go.] (Zoˆl.) Any siphonophore which has an air sac for a float, as the Physalia.

||Phy*soph"o*rÊ (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a bellows + &?; to bear.] ||(Zoˆl.) An order of Siphonophora, furnished with an air sac, or ||float, and a series of nectocalyces. See Illust. under Nectocalyx.

Phy"so*pod (?), n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Physopoda; a thrips.

||Phy*sop"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a bellows + -poda.] ||(Zoˆl.) Same as Thysanoptera.

Phy`so*stig"mine (?), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid found in the Calabar bean (the seed of Physostigma venenosum), and extracted as a white, tasteless, substance, amorphous or crystalline; -- formerly called eserine, with which it was regarded as identical.

||Phy*sos"to*mi (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a bellows + &?; mouth.] ||(Zoˆl.) An order of fishes in which the air bladder is provided with ||a duct, and the ventral fins, when present, are abdominal. It ||includes the salmons, herrings, carps, catfishes, and others.

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Phy*sos"to*mous (?), a. (Zoˆl.) (a) Having a duct to the air bladder. (b) Pertaining to the Physostomi.

||Phy*tel"e*phas (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a plant + &?; the elephant; ||also, ivory.] (Bot.) A genus of South American palm trees, the seeds ||of which furnish the substance called vegetable ivory.

Phy*tiv"o*rous (?), a. [Phyto- + L. vorare to eat greedily.] Feeding on plants or herbage; phytophagous; as, phytivorous animals. Ray.

Phy"to- (?). [See Physic.] A combining form from Gr. fyto`n a plant; as, phytochemistry, phytography.

Phy`to*chem"ic*al (?), a. Relating to phytochemistry. R. Hunt.

Phy"to*chem"is*try (?), n. [Phyto- + chemistry.] Chemistry in its relation to vegetable bodies; vegetable chemistry. R. Hunt.

Phy*toch"i*my (?), n. [F. phytochimie; Gr. &?; a plant + F. chimie chemistry.] Phytochemistry. [Obsoles.]

{ Phy`to*gen"e*sis (?), Phy*tog"e*ny (?), } n. [Phyto- + genesis, or root of Gr. &?; to be born.] The doctrine of the generation of plants.

Phy`to*ge"o*graph"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to phytogeography.

Phy`to*ge*og"ra*phy (?), n. [Phyto- + geography.] The geographical distribution of plants.

Phy`to*glyph"ic (?), a. Relating to phytoglyphy.

Phy*tog"ly*phy (?), n. [Phyto- + Gr. &?; to engrave.] See Nature printing, under Nature.

Phy`to*graph"ic*al (?), a. [Cf. F. phytographique.] Of or pertaining to phytography.

Phy*tog"ra*phy (?), n. [Phyto- + -graphy: cf. F. phytographie.] The science of describing plants in a systematic manner; also, a description of plants.

Phy"toid (?), a. [Phyto- + - oid.] Resembling a plant; plantlike.

||Phy`to*lac"ca (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; plant + It. lacca lac.] ||(Bot.) A genus of herbaceous plants, some of them having berries ||which abound in intensely red juice; poke, or pokeweed.

Phy"to*lite (?), n. [Phyto- + -lite: cf. F. phytolithe.] An old name for a fossil plant.

Phy`to*li*thol"o*gist (?), n. One versed in phytolithology; a paleobotanist.

Phy`to*li*thol"o*gy (?), n. [Phyto- + lithology.] The branch of science which treats of fossil plants; -- usually called paleobotany, sometimes paleophytology.

Phy`to*log"ic*al (?), a. [Cf. F. phytologique.] Of or pertaining to phytology; botanical.

Phy*tol"o*gist (?), n. One skilled in phytology; a writer on plants; a botanist. Evelyn.

Phy*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Phyto- + -logy: cf. F. phytologie.] The science of plants; a description of the kinds and properties of plants; botany. Sir T. Browne.

{ Phy"to*mer (?), Phy*tom"e*ron (?), } n. [NL. phytomeron, fr. Gr. &?; plant + &?; share.] (Bot.) An organic element of a flowering plant; a phyton.

||Phy"ton (?), n.; pl. Phytons (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; plant.] (Bot.) ||One of the parts which by their repetition make up a flowering plant, ||each being a single joint of a stem with its leaf or leaves; a ||phytomer.

Phy*ton"o*my (?), n. [Phyto- + Gr. &?; law: cf. F. phytonomie.] The science of the origin and growth of plants.

Phy`to*pa*thol"o*gist (?), n. One skilled in diseases of plants.

Phy`to*pa*thol"o*gy (?), n. [Phyto- + pathology.] The science of diseases to which plants are liable.

||Phy*toph"a*ga (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a plant + &?; to eat.] ||(Zoˆl.) A division of Hymenoptera; the sawflies.

Phy`to*phag"ic (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Phytophagous.

Phy*toph"a*gous (?), a. [Phyto- + Gr. &?; to eat.] (Zoˆl.) Feeding on plants; herbivorous; as, a phytophagous animal.

Phy*toph"a*gy (?), n. The eating of plants.

Phy`to*phys`i*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Phyto- + physiology.] Vegetable physiology.

Phy*tot"o*mist (?), n. One versed in phytotomy.

Phy*tot"o*my (?), n. [Phyto- + Gr. &?; to cut.] The dissection of plants; vegetable anatomy.

||Phy`to*zo*a"ri*a (?), n. pl. [NL. See Phytozoˆn.] (Zoˆl.) Same as ||Infusoria.

||Phy`to*zo"ˆn (?), n.; pl. Phytozoa (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; + &?; an ||animal.] (Zoˆl.) A plantlike animal. The term is sometimes applied to ||zoˆphytes.

Phyz (?), n. See Phiz.

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*aÁ"a*ba (?), n. See Piassava.

Pi"a*cle (?), n. [L. piaculum a propitiatory sacrifice, that which requires expiation, a wicked action, fr. piare to appease, to expiate, pius pious.] A heinous offense which requires expiation. [R.] Howell.

Pi*ac"u*lar (?), a. [L. piacularis: cf. F. piaculaire.] 1. Expiatory; atoning. Sir G. C. Lewis.

2. Requiring expiation; criminal; atrociously bad. "Piacular pollution." De Quincey.

Pi*ac`u*lar"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being piacular; criminality; wickedness. De Quincey.

Pi*ac"u*lous (?), a. Same as Piacular.

Pi"al (?), a. (Anat.) Pertaining to the pia mater.

||Pi"a ma"ter (?). [NL., fr. L. pia (fem. of pius tender, kind) + mater ||mother.] (Anat.) The delicate and highly vascular membrane ||immediately investing the brain and spinal cord.

||Pian (?), n. [Pg. pian, epian, or. Sp. pian; from the native name in ||South America: cf. F. pian.] (Med.) The yaws. See Yaws.

Pi"a*net` (?), n. [Cf. Pie magpie.] (Zoˆl.) (a) The magpie. [Written also pianate, and pyenate.] (b) The lesser woodpecker. [Obs.] Bailey.

Pi*a*nette" (?), n. [Dim. of piano.] (Mus.) A small piano; a pianino.

||Pi`a*ni"no (?), n. [It., dim. of piano, adj. See Piano.] (Mus.) A ||pianette, or small piano.

||Pi`a*nis"si*mo (?), a.[It., superl. of piano.] (Mus.) Very soft; -- a ||direction to execute a passage as softly as possible. (Abbrev. pp.)

Pi*an"ist (?), n. [Cf. F. pianiste, It. pianista.] A performer, esp. a skilled performer, on the 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.

Pi*an"o*graph (?), n. [Piano + -graph.] (Mus.) A form of melodiograph applied to a piano.

Pi"a*pec (?), n. [Cf. Pie a magpie.] (Zoˆl.) A West African pie (Ptilostomus Senegalensis).

Pi"a*rist (?), n. [L. pius pious.] (R. C. Ch.) One of a religious order who are the regular clerks of the Scuole Pie (religious schools), an institute of secondary education, founded at Rome in the last years of the 16th century. Addis & Arnold.

Pi*as"sa*va (?), n. [Pg. piasaba.] A fibrous product of two Brazilian palm trees (Attalea funifera and Leopoldinia Piassaba), -- used in making brooms, and for other purposes. Called also piaÁaba and piasaba.

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.

Pi*as"tre (?), n. See Piaster.

Pi*a"tion (?), n. [L. piatio. See Piacle.] The act of making atonement; expiation. [Obs.]

||Pi*at"ti (?), n. pl. [It., prop., plates.] (Mus.) Cymbals. [Written ||also pyatti.]

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.

Pib"corn` (?), n. [W. pib pipe + corn horn.] (Mus.) A wind instrument or pipe, with a horn at each end, -- used in Wales.

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.

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. (Zoˆl.) 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

||Pic`a*dor" (?), n. [Sp.] A horseman armed with a lance, who in a ||bullfight receives the first attack of the bull, and excites him by ||picking him without attempting to kill him.

Pic"a*mar` (?), n. [L. pix, picis, pitch + amarus bitter.] (Chem.) An oily liquid hydrocarbon extracted from the creosote of beechwood tar. It consists essentially of certain derivatives of pyrogallol.

Pic"a*pare (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The finfoot.

Pic"ard (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of Adamites in the fifteenth century; -- so called from one Picard of Flanders. See Adamite.

Pic`a*resque" (?), a. [F., fr. Sp. picaro rogue.] Applied to that class of literature in which the principal personage is the Spanish picaro, meaning a rascal, a knave, a rogue, an adventurer.

||Pi*ca"ri*Ê (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. picus a woodpecker.] (Zoˆl.) An ||extensive division of birds which includes the woodpeckers, toucans, ||trogons, hornbills, kingfishers, motmots, rollers, and goatsuckers. ||By some writers it is made to include also the cuckoos, swifts, and ||humming birds.

Pi*ca"ri*an (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to PicariÊ. -- n. One of the PicariÊ.

Pic`a*roon" (?), n. [Sp. picaron, aug. of picaro roguish, n., a rogue.] One who plunders; especially, a plunderer of wrecks; a pirate; a corsair; a marauder; a sharper. Sir W. Temple.

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.]

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.

Pic"cage (?), n. [LL. piccadium, fr. F. piquer to prick.] (O. Eng. Law) Money paid at fairs for leave to break ground for booths. Ainsworth.

Pic"ca*lil`li (?), n. A pickle of various vegetables with pungent species, -- originally made in the East Indies.

||Pic"co*lo (?), n. [It., small.] 1. (Mus.) A small, shrill flute, the ||pitch of which is an octave higher than the ordinary flute; an octave ||flute.

2. (Mus.) A small upright piano.

3. (Mus.) An organ stop, with a high, piercing tone.

Pice (?), n. [Hind. pais] A small copper coin of the East Indies, worth less than a cent. Malcom.

||Pic"e*a (?), n. [L., the pitch pine, from pix, picis, pitch.] (Bot.) ||A genus of coniferous trees of the northen hemisphere, including the ||Norway spruce and the American black and white spruces. These trees ||have pendent cones, which do not readily fall to pieces, in this and ||other respects differing from the firs.

Pi"cene (?), n. [See Piceous.] (Chem.) A hydrocarbon (C&?;H&?;) extracted from the pitchy residue of coal tar and petroleum as a bluish fluorescent crystalline substance.

Pic"e*ous (?), a. [L. piceus, fr. pix, picis, pitch.] Of or pertaining to pitch; resembling pitch in color or quality; pitchy.

Pi"chey (?), n. [Native name.] (Zoˆl.) A Brazilian armadillo (Dasypus minutus); the little armadillo. [Written also pichiy.]

||Pi`chi*ci*a"go (?), n. [Native name.] (Zoˆl.) A small, burrowing, ||South American edentate (Chlamyphorus truncatus), allied to the ||armadillos. The shell is attached only along the back. [Written also ||pichyciego.]

Pich"u*rim bean` (?). (Bot.) The seed of a Brazilian lauraceous tree (Nectandra Puchury) of a taste and smell between those of nutmeg and of sassafras, -- sometimes used medicinally. Called also sassafras nut.

||Pi"ci (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. picus a woodpecker.] (Zoˆl.) A ||division of birds including the woodpeckers and wrynecks.

Pi"ci*form (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to Piciformes.

||Pic`i*for"mes (?), n. pl. [NL. See Picus, and -Form.] (Zoˆl.) A group ||of birds including the woodpeckers, toucans, barbets, colies, ||kingfishes, hornbills, and some other related groups.

Pi"cine (?), a. (Zoˆl.) 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.

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Pick (?), v. i. 1. To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?

Dryden.

2. To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

3. To steal; to pilfer. "To keep my hands from picking and stealing." Book of Com. Prayer.

To pick up, to improve by degrees; as, he is picking up in health or business. [Colloq. U.S.]

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 toothpick; a picklock.