Chapter 41

Pis"til*late (?), a. (Bot.) Having a pistil or pistils; -- usually said of flowers having pistils but no stamens.

Pis`til*la"tion (?), n. [L. pistillum a pestle.] The act of pounding or breaking in a mortar; pestillation. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

||Pis`til*lid"i*um (?), n.; pl. Pistillida (#). [NL., fr. E. pistil.] ||(Bot.) Same as Archegonium.

Pis`til*lif"er*ous (?), a. [Pistil + -ferous: cf. F. pistillifËre.] (Bot.) Pistillate.

Pis"til*lo*dy (?), n. [Pistil + Gr. &?; form.] (Bot.) The metamorphosis of other organs into pistils.

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.

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.

Pis"to*lade` (?), n. [F.] A pistol shot.

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.

Pis`to*leer" (?), n. [Cf. F. pistolier.] One who uses a pistol. [R.] Carlyle.

Pis"to*let` (?), n. [F., a dim. of pistole.] A small pistol. Donne. Beau. & Fl.

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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.

Pit (?), n. [OE. pit, put, AS. pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a well, pit.] 1. A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation; specifically: (a) The shaft of a coal mine; a coal pit. (b) A large hole in the ground from which material is dug or quarried; as, a stone pit; a gravel pit; or in which material is made by burning; as, a lime pit; a charcoal pit. (c) A vat sunk in the ground; as, a tan pit.

Tumble me into some loathsome pit.

Shak.

2. Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.

Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained.

Milton.

He keepth back his soul from the pit.

Job xxxiii. 18.

3. A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively.

The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits.

Lam. iv. 20.

4. A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body; as: (a) The hollow place under the shoulder or arm; the axilla, or armpit. (b) See Pit of the stomach (below). (c) The indentation or mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.

5. Formerly, that part of a theater, on the floor of the house, below the level of the stage and behind the orchestra; now, in England, commonly the part behind the stalls; in the United States, the parquet; also, the occupants of such a part of a theater.

6. An inclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats. "As fiercely as two gamecocks in the pit." Locke.

7. [Cf. D. pit, akin to E. pith.] (Bot.) (a) The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or seeds; a stone; as, a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc. (b) A depression or thin spot in the wall of a duct.

Cold pit (Hort.), an excavation in the earth, lined with masonry or boards, and covered with glass, but not artificially heated, -- used in winter for the storing and protection of half-hardly plants, and sometimes in the spring as a forcing bed. -- Pit coal, coal dug from the earth; mineral coal. -- Pit frame, the framework over the shaft of a coal mine. -- Pit head, the surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit or mine. -- Pit kiln, an oven for coking coal. -- Pit martin (Zoˆl.), the bank swallow. [Prov. Eng.] -- Pit of the stomach (Anat.), the depression on the middle line of the epigastric region of the abdomen at the lower end of the sternum; the infrasternal depression. -- Pit saw (Mech.), a saw worked by two men, one of whom stands on the log and the other beneath it. The place of the latter is often in a pit, whence the name. -- Pit viper (Zoˆl.), any viperine snake having a deep pit on each side of the snout. The rattlesnake and copperhead are examples. - - Working pit (Min.), a shaft in which the ore is hoisted and the workmen carried; -- in distinction from a shaft used for the pumps.

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.

||Pi"ta (?), n. [Sp.] (Bot.) (a) A fiber obtained from the Agave ||Americana and other related species, -- used for making cordage and ||paper. Called also pita fiber, and pita thread. (b) The plant which ||yields the fiber.

Pit`a*ha"ya (?), n. [Sp., prob. from the native name.] (Bot.) A cactaceous shrub (Cereus Pitajaya) of tropical America, which yields a delicious fruit.

Pit"a*pat` (?), adv. [An onomatopoetic reduplication of pat a light, quick blow.] In a flutter; with palpitation or quick succession of beats. Lowell. "The fox's heart went pitapat." L'Estrange.

Pit"a*pat`, n. A light, repeated sound; a pattering, as of the rain. "The pitapat of a pretty foot." Dryden.

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 (?), v. t. [OE. picchen; akin to E. pick, pike.] 1. To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.

2. To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.

3. To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway. Knight.

4. To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.

5. To set or fix, as a price or value. [Obs.] Shak.

Pitched battle, a general battle; a battle in which the hostile forces have fixed positions; -- in distinction from a skirmish. -- To pitch into, to attack; to assault; to abuse. [Slang]

Pitch, v. i. 1. To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp. "Laban with his brethren pitched in the Mount of Gilead." Gen. xxxi. 25.

2. To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.

The tree whereon they [the bees] pitch.

Mortimer.

3. To fix one's choise; -- with on or upon.

Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the more easy.

Tillotson.

4. To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east.

Pitch and pay, an old aphorism which inculcates ready-money payment, or payment on delivery of goods. Shak.

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.

Pitch"-black` (?), a. Black as pitch or tar.

Pitch"blende` (?), n. [1st pitch + blende.] (Min.) A pitch-black mineral consisting chiefly of the oxide of uranium; uraninite. See Uraninite.

Pitch"-dark`, a. Dark as a pitch; pitch-black.

Pitch"er (?), n. 1. One who pitches anything, as hay, quoits, a ball, etc.; specifically (Baseball), the player who delivers the ball to the batsman.

2. A sort of crowbar for digging. [Obs.] Mortimer.

Pitch"er (?), n. [OE. picher, OF. pichier, OHG. pehhar, pehhri; 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.

Pitch"er*ful (?), n.; pl. Pitcherfuls (&?;). The quantity a pitcher will hold.

Pitch"-faced` (?), a. (Stone Cutting) Having the arris defined by a line beyond which the rock is cut away, so as to give nearly true edges; -- said of squared stones that are otherwise quarry-faced.

Pitch"fork` (?), n. A fork, or farming utensil, used in pitching hay, sheaves of grain, or the like.

Pitch"fork`, v. t. To pitch or throw with, or as with, a pitchfork.

He has been pitchforked into the footguards.

G. A. Sala.

Pitch"i*ness (?), n. [From Pitchy.] Blackness, as of pitch; darkness.

Pitch"ing, n. 1. The act of throwing or casting; a cast; a pitch; as, wild pitching in baseball.

2. The rough paving of a street to a grade with blocks of stone. Mayhew.

3. (Hydraul. Eng.) A facing of stone laid upon a bank to prevent wear by tides or currents.

Pitching piece (Carp.), the horizontal timber supporting the floor of a platform of a stairway, and against which the stringpieces of the sloping parts are supported.

Pitch"-ore` (?), n. (Min.) Pitchblende.

Pitch"stone` (?), n. (Geol.) An igneous rock of semiglassy nature, having a luster like pitch.

Pitch"work` (?), n. The work of a coal miner who is paid by a share of his product.

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.

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.

Pit"fall` (?), n. A pit deceitfully covered to entrap wild beasts or men; a trap of any kind. Sir T. North.

Pit"fall`ing, a. Entrapping; insnaring. [R.] "Full of . . . contradiction and pitfalling dispenses." Milton.

Pith (?), n. [AS. pi&?;a; 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) (Zoˆl.) 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.

Pith, v. t. (Physiol.) To destroy the central nervous system of (an animal, as a frog), as by passing a stout wire or needle up and down the vertebral canal.

||Pi*the"ci (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; an ape.] (Zoˆl.) A division ||of mammals including the apes and monkeys. Sometimes used in the ||sense of Primates.

Pith"e*coid (?), a. [Gr. &?; an ape + -oid.] (Zoˆl.) 1. Of or pertaining to the genus Pithecia, or subfamily PithecinÊ, which includes the saki, ouakari, and other allied South American monkeys.

2. Of or pertaining to the anthropoid apes in particular, or to the higher apes of the Old World, collectively.

Pith"ful (?), a. Full of pith. [R.] W. Browne.

Pith"i*ly (?), adv. In a pithy manner.

Pith"i*ness, n. The quality or state of being pithy.

Pith"less, a. Destitute of pith, or of strength; feeble. Dryden. "Pithless argumentation." Glandstone.

Pit"-hole` (?), n. A pit; a pockmark.

Pith"some (?), a. Pithy; robust. [R.] "Pithsome health and vigor." R. D. Blackmore.

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 (Zoˆl.), a large, rough, furrowed, oblong gall, formed on blackberry canes by a small gallfly (Diastrophus nebulosus).

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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.

Pit"i*er (?), n. One who pities. Gauden.

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.

Pit"i*less, a. 1. Destitute of pity; hard-hearted; merciless; as, a pitilessmaster; pitiless elements.

2. Exciting no pity; as, a pitiless condition.

-- Pit"i*less*ly, adv. -- Pit"i*less*ness, n.

Pit"man (?), n.; pl. Pitmen (&?;). 1. One who works in a pit, as in mining, in sawing timber, etc.

2. (Mach.) The connecting rod in a sawmill; also, sometimes, a connecting rod in other machinery.

Pi*tot's" tube` (?). (Hydraul.) A bent tube used to determine the velocity of running water, by placing the curved end under water, and observing the height to which the fluid rises in the tube; a kind of current meter.

Pit"pan` (?), n. A long, flat- bottomed canoe, used for the navigation of rivers and lagoons in Central America. Squier.

Pit"pat` (?), n. & adv. See Pitapat.

Pit"ta (pt"t), n. (Zoˆl.) Any one of a large group of bright-colored clamatorial birds belonging to Pitta, and allied genera of the family PittidÊ. Most of the species are varied with three or more colors, such as blue, green, crimson, yellow, purple, and black. They are called also ground thrushes, and Old World ant thrushes; but they are not related to the true thrushes.

The pittas are most abundant in the East Indies, but some inhabit Southern Asia, Africa, and Australia. They live mostly upon the ground, and feed upon insects of various kinds.

Pit"ta*cal (pt"t*kl), n. [Gr. pi`tta, pi`ssa, pitch + kalo`s beautiful: cf. F. pittacale.] (Chem.) A dark blue substance obtained from wood tar. It consists of hydrocarbons which when oxidized form the orange-yellow eupittonic compounds, the salts of which are dark blue.

Pit"tance (pt"tans), 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.

Pit"ted (-td), 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.

Pit"ter (?), n. A contrivance for removing the pits from peaches, plums, and other stone fruit.

Pit"ter, v. i. To make a pattering sound; to murmur; as, pittering streams. [Obs.] R. Greene.

Pit"tle-pat`tle (?), v. i. To talk unmeaningly; to chatter or prattle. [R.] Latimer.

Pi*tu"i*ta*ry (?), a. [L. pituita phlegm, pituite: cf. F. pituitarie.] (Anat.) (a) Secreting mucus or phlegm; as, the pituitary membrane, or the mucous membrane which lines the nasal cavities. (b) Of or pertaining to the pituitary body; as, the pituitary fossa.

Pituitary body or gland (Anat.), a glandlike body of unknown function, situated in the pituitary fossa, and connected with the infundibulum of the brain; the hypophysis. -- Pituitary fossa (Anat.), the ephippium.

Pit"u*ite (?), n. [L. pituita: cf. F. pituite. Cf. Pip a disease of fowls.] Mucus, phlegm.

Pi*tu"i*tous (?), a. [L. pituitosus: cf. F. pituiteux.] Consisting of, or resembling, pituite or mucus; full of mucus; discharging mucus.

Pituitous fever (Med.), typhoid fever; enteric fever.

Pit"y (?), n.; pl. Pities (#). [OE. pite, OF. pitÈ, pitiÈ, F. pitiÈ, 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."