Chapter 45

2. To form a plan of; to model; to lay out. [Obs.]

Church discipline is platformed in the Bible.

Milton.

Plat*hel"minth (?), n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Platyelminthes.

||Plat`hel*min"thes (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Platyelminthes.

Plat"in (?), n. (Mach.) See Platen.

Plat"i*na (?), n. [Sp. or NL. See Platinum.] (Chem.) Platinum.

Platina mohr, platinum black. -- Platina yellow, a pigment prepared from platinum.

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 or bright metal, as by mechanical means or by electro-magnetic deposition.

2. A thin coating of metal laid upon another metal.

3. A coating or defensive armor of metal (usually steel) plates.

Pla*tin"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, platinum; -- used specifically to designate those compounds in which the element has a higher valence, as contrasted with the platinous compounds; as, platinic chloride (PtCl4).

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Plat`i*ni*chlo"ric (?), a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, an acid consisting of platinic chloride and hydrochloric acid, and obtained as a brownish red crystalline substance, called platinichloric, or chloroplatinic, acid.

Plat`i*nif"er*ous (?), a. [Platinum + -ferous.] Yielding platinum; as, platiniferous sand.

Plat`i*ni*rid"i*um (?), n. (Chem. & Min.) A natural alloy of platinum and iridium occurring in grayish metallic rounded or cubical grains with platinum.

Plat"i*nize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Platinized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Platinizing (?).] To cover or combine with platinum.

Plat`i*no*chlo"ric (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid consisting of platinous chloride and hydrochloric acid, called platinochloric, or chloroplatinous, acid.

Plat`i*no*chlo"ride (?), n. (Chem.) A double chloride of platinum and some other metal or radical; a salt of platinochloric acid.

Plat`i*no*cy*an"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid compound of platinous cyanide and hydrocyanic acid. It is obtained as a cinnaber-red crystalline substance.

Plat`i*no*cy"a*nide (?), n. (Chem.) A double cyanide of platinum and some other metal or radical; a salt of platinocyanic acid.

Plat"i*node (?), n. [Platinum + Gr. &?; a way.] (Physics) A cathode. [R.]

Plat"i*noid (?), a. [Platinum + -oid.] Resembling platinum.

Plat"i*noid, n. (Chem.) An alloy of German silver containing tungsten; -- used for forming electrical resistance coils and standards.

Plat"i*no*type (?), n. [Platinum + -type.] (Photog.) 1. A permanent photographic picture or print in platinum black.

2. The process by which such pictures are produced.

Plat"i*nous (?), a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, platinum; -- used specifically to designate those compounds in which the element has a lower valence, as contrasted with the platinic compounds; as, platinous chloride (PtCl2).

Plat"i*num (?), n. [NL., fr. Sp. platina, from plata silver, LL. plata a thin plate of metal. See Plate, and cf. Platina.] (Chem.) A metallic element, intermediate in value between silver and gold, occurring native or alloyed with other metals, also as the platinum arsenide (sperrylite). It is heavy tin-white metal which is ductile and malleable, but very infusible, and characterized by its resistance to strong chemical reagents. It is used for crucibles, for stills for sulphuric acid, rarely for coin, and in the form of foil and wire for many purposes. Specific gravity 21.5. Atomic weight 194.3. Symbol Pt. Formerly called platina.

Platinum black (Chem.), a soft, dull black powder, consisting of finely divided metallic platinum obtained by reduction and precipitation from its solutions. It absorbs oxygen to a high degree, and is employed as an oxidizer. -- Platinum lamp (Elec.), a kind of incandescent lamp of which the luminous medium is platinum. See under Incandescent. -- Platinum metals (Chem.), the group of metallic elements which in their chemical and physical properties resemble platinum. These consist of the light platinum group, viz., rhodium, ruthenium, and palladium, whose specific gravities are about 12; and the heavy platinum group, viz., osmium, iridium, and platinum, whose specific gravities are over 21. -- Platinum sponge (Chem.), metallic platinum in a gray, porous, spongy form, obtained by reducing the double chloride of platinum and ammonium. It absorbs oxygen, hydrogen, and certain other gases, to a high degree, and is employed as an agent in oxidizing.

Plat"i*tude (?), n. [F., from plat flat. See Plate.] 1. The quality or state of being flat, thin, or insipid; flat commonness; triteness; staleness of ideas of language.

To hammer one golden grain of wit into a sheet of infinite platitude.

Motley.

2. A thought or remark which is flat, dull, trite, or weak; a truism; a commonplace.

Plat`i*tu`di*na"ri*an (?), n. One addicted to uttering platitudes, or stale and insipid truisms. "A political platitudinarian." G. Eliot.

Plat`i*tu"di*nize (?), v. i. To utter platitudes or truisms.

Plat`i*tu"di*nous (?), a. Abounding in platitudes; of the nature of platitudes; uttering platitudes. -- Plat`i*tu"di*nous*ness, n.

Plat"ly (?), a. Flatly. See Plat, a. [Obs.]

Plat"ness, n. Flatness. [Obs.] Palsgrave.

Pla*tom"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; flat + -meter.] See Planimeter.

{ Pla*ton"ic (?), Pla*ton"ic*al (?), } a. [L. Platonicus, Gr. &?;: cf. F. platonique.] 1. Of or pertaining to Plato, or his philosophy, school, or opinions.

2. Pure, passionless; nonsexual; philosophical.

Platonic bodies, the five regular geometrical solids; namely, the tetrahedron, hexahedron or cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. -- Platonic love, a pure, spiritual affection, subsisting between persons of opposite sex, unmixed with carnal desires, and regarding the mind only and its excellences; -- a species of love for which Plato was a warm advocate. -- Platonic year (Astron.), a period of time determined by the revolution of the equinoxes, or the space of time in which the stars and constellations return to their former places in respect to the equinoxes; -- called also great year. This revolution, which is caused by the precession of the equinoxes, is accomplished in about 26,000 years. Barlow.

Pla*ton"ic, n. A follower of Plato; a Platonist.

Pla*ton"ic*al*ly, adv. In a Platonic manner.

Pla"to*nism (?), n. [Cf. F. Platonisme.] 1. The doctrines or philosophy by Plato or of his followers.

Plato believed God to be an infinitely wise, just, and powerful Spirit; and also that he formed the visible universe out of preÎxistent amorphous matter, according to perfect patterns of ideas eternally existent in his own mind. Philosophy he considered as being a knowledge of the true nature of things, as discoverable in those eternal ideas after which all things were fashioned. In other words, it is the knowledge of what is eternal, exists necessarily, and is unchangeable; not of the temporary, the dependent, and changeable; and of course it is not obtained through the senses; neither is it the product of the understanding, which concerns itself only with the variable and transitory; nor is it the result of experience and observation; but it is the product of our reason, which, as partaking of the divine nature, has innate ideas resembling the eternal ideas of God. By contemplating these innate ideas, reasoning about them, and comparing them with their copies in the visible universe, reason can attain that true knowledge of things which is called philosophy. Plato's professed followers, the Academics, and the New Platonists, differed considerably from him, yet are called Platonists. Murdock.

2. An elevated rational and ethical conception of the laws and forces of the universe; sometimes, imaginative or fantastic philosophical notions.

Pla"to*nist (?), n. One who adheres to the philosophy of Plato; a follower of Plato. Hammond.

Pla"to*nize (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Platonized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Platonizing.] To adopt the opinion of Plato or his followers. Milner.

Pla"to*nize, v. t. To explain by, or accomodate to, the Platonic philosophy. Enfield.

Pla"to*ni`zer (?), n. One who Platonizes.

Pla*toon" (?), n. [F. peloton a ball of thread, a knot or group of men, a platoon, from pelote a ball formed of things wound round. See Pellet.] (Mil.) (a) Formerly, a body of men who fired together; also, a small square body of soldiers to strengthen the angles of a hollow square. (b) Now, in the United States service, half of a company.

Platt (?), n. (Mining) See Lodge, n. Raymond.

Platt"deutsch` (?), n. The modern dialects spoken in the north of Germany, taken collectively; modern Low German. See Low German, under German.

Plat"ten (?), v. t. [See Plat, a.] (Glass Making) To flatten and make into sheets or plates; as, to platten cylinder glass.

Plat"ter (?), n. [From Plat to braid.] One who plats or braids.

Plat"ter, n. [Probably fr. OF. platel, F. plateau. See Plateau.] A large plate or shallow dish on which meat or other food is brought to the table.

The attendants . . . speedly brought in several large, smoking platters, filled with huge pieces of beef.

Sir W. Scott.

Plat"ter-faced` (?), a. Having a broad, flat face.

Plat"ting (?), n. Plaited strips or bark, cane, straw, etc., used for making hats or the like.

Plat"y (?), a. Like a plate; consisting of plates.

Plat"y- (?). A combining form from Gr. platy`s broad, wide, flat; as, platypus, platycephalous.

{ Plat`y*ce*phal"ic (?), Plat`y*ceph"a*lous (?), } a. [Platy + Gr. &?; head.] (Anat.) Broad-headed.

Plat`yc*ne"mic (?), a. [Platy + Gr. &?; leg: cf. F. platycnÈmique.] (Anat.) Of, relating to, or characterized by, platycnemism.

Pla*tyc"ne*mism (?), n. (Anat.) Lateral flattening of the tibia.

Plat`y*cú"li*an (?), a. [Platy + Gr. &?; hollow.] (Anat.) Flat at the anterior and concave at the posterior end; -- said of the centra of the vertebrÊ of some extinct dinouaurs.

||Plat`y*el*min"thes (?), n. pl. [NL. See Platy-, and Helminthes.] ||(Zoˆl.) A class of helminthes including the cestodes, or tapeworms, ||the trematodes, and the turbellarians. Called also flatworms.

||Plat`y*hel"mi*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Platyelminthes. ||[Written also Platyelmia.]

Pla*tym"e*ter (?), n. [Platy + -meter.] (Elec.) An apparatus for measuring the capacity of condensers, or the inductive capacity of dielectrics.

Plat"y*pod (?), n. [Platy + - pod.] (Zoˆl.) An animal having broad feet, or a broad foot.

||Pla*typ"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Prosobranchiata.

||Pla*typ"te*ra (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; broad + &?; a wing.] ||(Zoˆl.) A division of Pseudoneuroptera including the species which ||have four broad, flat wings, as the termites, or white-ants, and the ||stone flies (Perla).

Plat"y*pus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; + &?; foot.] (Zoˆl.) The duck mole. See under Duck.

Plat"y*rhine (?), a. [Platy + Gr. &?;, &?;, nose.] (Anat.) Having the nose broad; -- opposed to leptorhine. -- n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Platyrhini.

||Plat`y*rhi"ni (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; broad + &?;, &?;, nose.] ||(Zoˆl.) A division of monkeys, including the American species, which ||have a broad nasal septum, thirty-six teeth, and usually a prehensile ||tail. See Monkey. [Written also Platyrrhini.]

Plaud (?), v. t. To applaud. [Obs.] Chapman.

Plau"dit (?), n. [From L. plaudite do ye praise (which was said by players at the end of a performance), 2d pers. pl. imperative of plaudere. Cf. Plausible.] A mark or expression of applause; praise bestowed.

Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng.

Longfellow.

Syn. -- Acclamation; applause; encomium; commendation; approbation; approval.

Plau"di*to*ry (?), a. Applauding; commending.

Plau`si*bil"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. plausibilitÈ.] 1. Something worthy of praise. [Obs.]

Integrity, fidelity, and other gracious plausibilities.

E. Vaughan.

2. The quality of being plausible; speciousness.

To give any plausibility to a scheme.

De Quincey.

3. Anything plausible or specious. R. Browning.

Plau"si*ble (?), a. [L. plausibilis praiseworthy, from plaudere, plausum, to applaud, clap the hands, strike, beat.] 1. Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready. [Obs.] Bp. Hacket.

2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious; as, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. "Plausible and popular arguments." Clarendon.

3. Using specious arguments or discourse; as, a plausible speaker.

Syn. -- Plausible, Specious. Plausible denotes that which seems reasonable, yet leaves distrust in the judgment. Specious describes that which presents a fair appearance to the view and yet covers something false. Specious refers more definitely to the act or purpose of false representation; plausible has more reference to the effect on the beholder or hearer. An argument may by specious when it is not plausible because its sophistry is so easily discovered.

Plau"si*ble*ize (?), v. t. To render plausible. [R.]

Plau"si*ble*ness, n. Quality of being plausible.

Plau"si*bly, adv. 1. In a plausible manner.

2. Contentedly, readily. [Obs.]

The Romans plausibly did give consent.

Shak.

Plau"sive (?), a. [L. plaudere, plausum, to applaud.] 1. Applauding; manifesting praise. Young.

2. Plausible, specious. [Obs.] Shak.

Play (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Played (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Playing.] [OE. pleien, AS. plegian, plegan, to play, akin to plega play, game, quick motion, and probably to OS. plegan to promise, pledge, D. plegen to care for, attend to, be wont, G. pflegen; of unknown origin. &radic;28. Cf. Plight, n.] 1. To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot.

As Cannace was playing in her walk.

Chaucer.

The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play!

Pope.

And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword.

Keble.

2. To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.

"Nay," quod this monk, "I have no lust to pleye."

Chaucer.

Men are apt to play with their healths.

Sir W. Temple.

3. To contend, or take part, in a game; as, to play ball; hence, to gamble; as, he played for heavy stakes.

4. To perform on an instrument of music; as, to play on a flute.

One that . . . can play well on an instrument.

Ezek. xxxiii. 32.

Play, my friend, and charm the charmer.

Granville.

5. To act; to behave; to practice deception.

His mother played false with a smith.

Shak.

6. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate; to act; as, the fountain plays.

The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play.

Cheyne.

7. To move gayly; to wanton; to disport.

Even as the waving sedges play with wind.

Shak.

The setting sun Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.

Addison.

All fame is foreign but of true desert, Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.

Pope.

8. To act on the stage; to personate a character.

A lord will hear your play to- night.

Shak.

Courts are theaters where some men play.

Donne.

To play into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit. -- To play off, to affect; to feign; to practice artifice. -- To play upon. (a) To make sport of; to deceive.

Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight.

Shak.

(b) To use in a droll manner; to give a droll expression or application to; as, to play upon words.

Play, v. t. 1. To put in action or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump.

First Peace and Silence all disputes control, Then Order plays the soul.

Herbert.

2. To perform music upon; as, to play the flute or the organ.

3. To perform, as a piece of music, on an instrument; as, to play a waltz on the violin.

4. To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute; as, to play tricks.

Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will Her virgin fancies.

Milton.

5. To act or perform (a play); to represent in music action; as, to play a comedy; also, to act in the character of; to represent by acting; to simulate; to behave like; as, to play King Lear; to play the woman.

Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.

Sir W. Scott.

6. To engage in, or go together with, as a contest for amusement or for a wager or prize; as, to play a game at baseball.

7. To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.

To play off, to display; to show; to put in exercise; as, to play off tricks. -- To play one's cards, to manage one's means or opportunities; to contrive. -- Played out, tired out; exhausted; at the end of one's resources. [Colloq.]

Play, n. 1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.

2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game.

John naturally loved rough play.

Arbuthnot.

3. The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement, or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as, to lose a fortune in play.

4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. "The next who comes in play." Dryden.

5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action.

A play ought to be a just image of human nature.

Dryden.

6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play.

7. Performance on an instrument of music.

8. Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action. "To give them play, front and rear." Milton.

The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them.

Moxon.

9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth.

Play actor, an actor of dramas. Prynne. -- Play debt, a gambling debt. Arbuthnot. -- Play pleasure, idle amusement. [Obs.] Bacon. -- A play upon words, the use of a word in such a way as to be capable of double meaning; punning. -- Play of colors, prismatic variation of colors. -- To bring into play, To come into play, to bring or come into use or exercise. -- To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed.

I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play.

Macaulay.

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||Pla"ya (?), n. [Sp.] A beach; a strand; in the plains and deserts of ||Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, a broad, level spot, on which ||subsequently becomes dry by evaporation. Bartlett.

Play"bill` (?), n. A printed programme of a play, with the parts assigned to the actors.

Play"book` (?), n. A book of dramatic compositions; a book of the play. Swift.

Play"day` (?), n. A day given to play or diversion; a holiday. Swift.

Play"er (?), n. 1. One who plays, or amuses himself; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler. Shak.

2. One who plays any game.

3. A dramatic actor. Shak.

4. One who plays on an instrument of music. "A cunning player on a harp." 1 Sam. xvi. 16.

5. A gamester; a gambler.

Play"fel`low (?), n. A companion in amusements or sports; a playmate. Shak.

Play"fere` (?), n. [Play + 1st fere.] A playfellow. [Obs.] [Also, playfeer, playphere.] Holinsheld.

Play"ful (?), a. Sportive; gamboling; frolicsome; indulging a sportive fancy; humorous; merry; as, a playful child; a playful writer. -- Play"ful*ly, adv. -- Play"ful*ness, n.

Play"game` (?), n. Play of children. Locke.

Play"go`er (?), n. One who frequents playhouses, or attends dramatic performances.

Play"go`ing, a. Frequenting playhouses; as, the playgoing public. -- n. The practice of going to plays.

Play"ground` (?), n. A piece of ground used for recreation; as, the playground of a school.

Play"house` (?), n. [AS. pleghs.] 1. A building used for dramatic exhibitions; a theater. Shak.

2. A house for children to play in; a toyhouse.

Play"ing, a. & vb. n. of Play.

Playing cards. See under Card.

Play"mak`er (?), n. A playwright. [R.]

Play"mate` (?), n. A companion in diversions; a playfellow.

Play"some (?), a. Playful; wanton; sportive. [R.] R. Browning. -- Play"some*ness, n. [R.]

Playte (?), n. (Naut.) See Pleyt.

Play"thing` (?), n. A thing to play with; a toy; anything that serves to amuse.

A child knows his nurse, and by degrees the playthings of a little more advanced age.

Locke.

Play"time` (?), n. Time for play or diversion.

Play"wright` (?), n. A maker or adapter of plays.

Play"writ`er (?), n. A writer of plays; a dramatist; a playwright. Lecky.

||Pla"za (?), n. [Sp. See Place.] A public square in a city or town.

Plea (?), n. [OE. plee, plai, plait, fr. OF. plait, plaid, plet, LL. placitum judgment, decision, assembly, court, fr. L. placitum that which is pleasing, an opinion, sentiment, from placere to please. See Please, and cf. Placit, Plead.] 1. (Law) That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause; in a stricter sense, an allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer; in a still more limited sense, and in modern practice, the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's declaration and demand. That which the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or justified by the defendant's plea. In chancery practice, a plea is a special answer showing or relying upon one or more things as a cause why the suit should be either dismissed, delayed, or barred. In criminal practice, the plea is the defendant's formal answer to the indictment or information presented against him.

2. (Law) A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas. See under Common.

The Supreme Judicial Court shall have cognizance of pleas real, personal, and mixed.

Laws of Massachusetts.

3. That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in justification; an excuse; an apology. "Necessity, the tyrant's plea." Milton.

No plea must serve; 't is cruelty to spare.

Denham.

4. An urgent prayer or entreaty.

Pleas of the crown (Eng. Law), criminal actions.

Pleach (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pleached (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Pleaching.] [Cf. OF. plaissier to bend, and also F. plisser to plait, L. plicare, plicitum, to fold, lay, or wind together. Cf. Plash to pleach.] To unite by interweaving, as branches of trees; to plash; to interlock. "The pleached bower." Shak.

Plead (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pleaded (colloq. Plead (?) or Pled); p. pr. & vb. n. Pleading.] [OE. pleden, plaiden, OF. plaidier, F. plaider, fr. LL. placitare, fr. placitum. See Plea.] 1. To argue in support of a claim, or in defense against the claim of another; to urge reasons for or against a thing; to attempt to persuade one by argument or supplication; to speak by way of persuasion; as, to plead for the life of a criminal; to plead with a judge or with a father.

O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!

Job xvi. 21.

2. (Law) To present an answer, by allegation of fact, to the declaration of a plaintiff; to deny the plaintiff's declaration and demand, or to allege facts which show that ought not to recover in the suit; in a less strict sense, to make an allegation of fact in a cause; to carry on the allegations of the respective parties in a cause; to carry on a suit or plea. Blackstone. Burrill. Stephen.

3. To contend; to struggle. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Plead (?), v. t. 1. To discuss, defend, and attempt to maintain by arguments or reasons presented to a tribunal or person having uthority to determine; to argue at the bar; as, to plead a cause before a court or jury.

Every man should plead his own matter.

Sir T. More.

In this sense, argue is more generally used by lawyers.

2. To allege or cite in a legal plea or defense, or for repelling a demand in law; to answer to an indictment; as, to plead usury; to plead statute of limitations; to plead not guilty. Kent.