Chapter 92

2. Indicating or proceeding from a decayed state of animal or vegetable matter; as, a putrid smell.

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 gangrenous inflammation of the fauces and pharynx.

Pu*trid"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. putriditÈ.] The quality of being putrid; putrefaction; rottenness.

Pu"trid*ness (?), n. Putridity. Floyer.

Pu"tri*fac`ted (?), a. [See Putrefy.] Putrefied. [Obs.]

What vermin bred of putrifacted slime.

Marston.

Pu`tri*fi*ca"tion (?), n. Putrefaction.

Pu"tri*fy (?), v. t. & i. To putrefy.

Pu"tri*lage (?), n. [F. putrilage, L. putrilago putrefaction.] That which is undergoing putrefaction; the products of putrefaction.

Pu"try (?), a. Putrid. [Obs.] Marston.

Pu"try, n. Putage. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Put"ter (?), n. 1. One who puts or plates.

2. Specifically, one who pushes the small wagons in a coal mine, and the like. [Prov. Eng.]

Put"ter (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Puttered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Puttering.] [See Potter.] To act inefficiently or idly; to trifle; to potter.

Put"ter-on` (?), n. An instigator. Shak.

Put"ti*er (?), n. One who putties; a glazier.

Put"ting (?), n. The throwing of a heavy stone, shot, etc., with the hand raised or extended from the shoulder; -- originally, a Scottish game.

Putting stone, a heavy stone used in the game of putting.

Put"tock (?), n. [Cf. Pout a young bird, Poult.] (Zoˆl.) (a) The European kite. (b) The buzzard. (c) The marsh harrier. [Prov. Eng.]

Put"tock, n. (Naut.) See Futtock. [Obs.]

Put"ty (?), n. [F. potÈe, fr. pot pot; what was formerly called putty being a substance resembling what is now called putty powder, and in part made of the metal of old pots. See Pot.] A kind of thick paste or cement compounded of whiting, or soft carbonate of lime, and linseed oil, when applied beaten or kneaded to the consistence of dough, -- used in fastening glass in sashes, stopping crevices, and for similar purposes.

Putty powder, an oxide of tin, or of tin and lead in various proportions, much used in polishing glass, metal, precious stones, etc.

Put"ty, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Puttied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Puttying.] To cement, or stop, with putty.

Put"ty-faced` (?), a. White-faced; -- used contemptuously. Clarke.

Put"ty*root` (?), n. (Bot.) An American orchidaceous plant (Aplectrum hyemale) which flowers in early summer. Its slender naked rootstock produces each year a solid corm, filled with exceedingly glutinous matter, which sends up later a single large oval evergreen plaited leaf. Called also Adam-and-Eve.

Put"-up (?), a. Arranged; plotted; -- in a bad sense; as, a put-up job. [Colloq.]

Pu"y (?), n. See Poy.

Puz"zel (?), n. [Cf. F. pucelle a virgin.] A harlot; a drab; a hussy. [Obs.] Shak.

Puz"zle (?), n. [For opposal, in the sense of problem. See Oppose, Pose, v.] 1. Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making.

2. The state of being puzzled; perplexity; as, to be in a puzzle.

Puz"zle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Puzzled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Puzzling (?).] 1. To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.

A very shrewd disputant in those points is dexterous in puzzling others.

Dr. H. More.

He is perpetually puzzled and perplexed amidst his own blunders.

Addison.

2. To make intricate; to entangle.

They disentangle from the puzzled skein.

Cowper.

The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, Puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with error.

Addison.

3. To solve by ingenuity, as a puzzle; -- followed by out; as, to puzzle out a mystery.

Syn. -- To embarrass; perplex; confuse; bewilder; confound. See Embarrass.

Puz"zle, v. i. 1. To be bewildered, or perplexed.

A puzzling fool, that heeds nothing.

L'Estrange.

2. To work, as at a puzzle; as, to puzzle over a problem.

Puz"zle*dom (?), n. The domain of puzzles; puzzles, collectively. C. Kingsley.

Puz"zle-head`ed (?), a. Having the head full of confused notions. Johnson.

Puz"zle*ment (?), n. The state of being puzzled; perplexity. Miss Mitford.

Puz"zler (?), n. One who, or that which, puzzles or perplexes.

Hebrew, the general puzzler of old heads.

Brome.

Puz"zling*ly (?), adv. In a puzzling manner.

{ Puz"zo*lan (?), Puz`zo*la"na (?), } n. See Pozzuolana.

||Py*Ê"mi*a (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; pus + &?; blood.] (Med.) A form ||of blood poisoning produced by the absorption into the blood of ||morbid matters usually originating in a wound or local inflammation. ||It is characterized by the development of multiple abscesses ||throughout the body, and is attended with irregularly recurring ||chills, fever, profuse sweating, and exhaustion.

Py*Ê"mic (?), a. Of or pertaining to pyÊmia; of the nature of pyÊmia.

Pyc`nas*pid"e*an (?), a. [Gr. &?; thick, crowded + &?;, &?;, a shield.] (Zoˆl.) Having the posterior side of the tarsus covered with small irregular scales; -- said of certain birds.

||Pyc*nid"i*um (?), n.; pl. Pycnidia (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; crowded.] ||(Bot.) In certain fungi, a flask-shaped cavity from the surface of ||the inner walls of which spores are produced.

Pyc"nite (?), n. [Gr. &?; thick.] (Min.) A massive subcolumnar variety of topaz.

Pyc"no*dont (?), n. [Gr. &?; thick, crowded + &?;, &?;, a tooth.] (Paleon.) Any fossil fish belonging to the Pycnodontini. They have numerous round, flat teeth, adapted for crushing.

||Pyc`no*don"ti*ni (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) An extinct order of ganoid ||fishes. They had a compressed body, covered with dermal ribs ||(pleurolepida) and with enameled rhomboidal scales.

Pyc*nog"o*nid (?), n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Pycnogonida.

||Pyc`no*gon"i*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; thick crowded + &?; ||knee.] (Zoˆl.) A class of marine arthropods in which the body is ||small and thin, and the eight legs usually very long; -- called also ||Pantopoda.

The abdomen is rudimentary, and the triangular mouth is at the end of a tubular proboscis. Many of them live at great depths in the sea, and the largest of them measure two feet across the extended legs.

Pyc*nom"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; dense, compact + -meter.] (Physics) A specific gravity bottle; a standard flask for measuring and comparing the densities of liquids. [Also written pyknometer.]

Pyc"no*style (?), a. [Gr. &?; with the pillars close together; &?; close + &?; a column, pillar: cf. F. pycnostyle.] (Anc. Arch.) See under Intercolumniation. -n. A pycnostyle colonnade.

Pye (?), n. See 2d Pie (b).

Pye"bald` (?), a. See Piebald.

||Py`e*li"tis (?). n. [Gr. basin + - itis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the ||pelvis of the kidney.

Py*e"mi*a (?), n. (Med.) See Py∆mia.

Py"et (?), n. A magpie; a piet. [Prov. Eng.]

Here cometh the worthy prelate as pert as a pyet.

Sir W. Scott.

Py"gal (?), a. [Gr. &?; the rump.] (Anat.) Situated in the region of the rump, or posterior end of the backbone; -- applied especially to the posterior median plates in the carapace of chelonians.

{ Py"garg (?), ||Py*gar"gus (?), }[L. pygargus, Gr. &?;, literally, white rump; &?; the rump + white: cf. F. pygargue.] 1. (Zoˆl.) A quadruped, probably the addax, an antelope having a white rump. Deut. xiv. 5.

2. (Zoˆl.) (a) The female of the hen harrier. (b) The sea eagle.

||Py*gid"i*um (?), n.; pl. Pygidia (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, dim. of &?; ||the rump.] (Zoˆl.) The caudal plate of trilobites, crustacean, and ||certain insects. See Illust. of Limulus and Trilobite.

{ Pyg"my (?), Pyg*me"an (?), } a. [L. pygmaeus. See Pygmy.] Of or pertaining to a pygmy; resembling a pygmy or dwarf; dwarfish; very small. " Like that Pygmean race." Milton.

Pygmy antelope (Zoˆl.), the kleeneboc. -- Pygmy goose (Zoˆl.), any species of very small geese of the genus Nettapus, native of Africa, India, and Australia. -- Pygmy owl (Zoˆl.), the gnome. -- Pygmy parrot (Zoˆl.), any one of several species of very small green parrots (NasiternÊ), native of New Guinea and adjacent islands. They are not larger than sparrows.

Pyg"my, n.; pl. Pygmies (#). [L. pygmaeus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; the fist, a measure of length, the distance from the elbow to the knuckles, about 131 inches. Cf. Pugnacious, Fist.] [Written also pigmy.] 1. (Class. Myth.) One of a fabulous race of dwarfs who waged war with the cranes, and were destroyed.

2. Hence, a short, insignificant person; a dwarf.

Pygmies are pygmies still, though perched on Alps. And pyramids are pyramids in vales.

Young.

||Py`go*bran"chi*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. pugh` the rump + &?; a ||gill.] (Zoˆl.) A division of opisthobranchiate mollusks having the ||branchiÊ in a wreath or group around the anal opening, as in the ||genus Doris.

Py"go*pod (?), n. [Gr. pygh` rump + -pod.]

1. (Zoˆl.) One of the Pygopodes.

2. (Zoˆl.) Any species of serpentiform lizards of the family PygopodidÊ, which have rudimentary hind legs near the anal cleft, but lack fore legs.

||Py*gop"o*des (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) A division of swimming birds ||which includes the grebes, divers, auks, etc., in which the legs are ||placed far back.

Py*gop"o*dous (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the Pygopodes.

Py"go*style (?), n. [Gr. pygh` the rump + &?; a pillar.] (Anat.) The plate of bone which forms the posterior end of the vertebral column in most birds; the plowshare bone; the vomer. It is formed by the union of a number of the last caudal vertebrÊ, and supports the uropigium.

Py"in (?), n. [Gr. &?; pus.] (Physiol. (Chem.) An albuminoid constituent of pus, related to mucin, possibly a mixture of substances rather than a single body.

||Py*ja"ma (?), n. [Hind. pe- jma, literally, leg clothing.] In India ||and Persia, thin loose trowsers or drawers; in Europe and America, ||drawers worn at night, or a kind of nightdress with legs. [Written ||also paijama.]

Pyk"ar (?), n. An ancient English fishing boat.

||Py"la n.; pl. L. PylÊ (#), E. Pylas (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; an ||entrance.] (Anat.) The passage between the iter and optocúle in the ||brain. B. G. Wilder.

Pyl"a*gore (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; PylÊ, or ThermopylÊ, where the Amphictyonic council met + &?; to assemble: cf. F. pylagore.] (Gr. Antiq.) a deputy of a State at the Amphictyonic council.

||Py*lan"gi*um (?), n.; pl. Pylangia (&?;). [NL., from Gr. &?; an ||entrance + &?; a vessel.] (Anat.) The first and undivided part of the ||aortic trunk in the amphibian heart. -- Py*lan"gi*al (#), a.

||Py"lon (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a gateway.] (a) A low tower, having ||a truncated pyramidal form, and flanking an ancient Egyptian gateway.

Massive pylons adorned with obelisks in front.

J. W. Draper.

(b) An Egyptian gateway to a large building (with or without flanking towers).

Py*lor"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. pylorique.] (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the pylorus; as, the pyloric end of the stomach.

||Py*lo"rus (?), n.; pl. Pylori (#). [L., fr. Gr. &?; pylorus, gate ||keeper; &?; a gate + &?; watcher, guardian.] (Anat.) (a) The opening ||from the stomach into the intestine. (b) A posterior division of the ||stomach in some invertebrates.

Pyne (?), n. & v. See Pine. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Py*noun" (?), n. A pennant. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Py`o*cy"a*nin (?), n. [Gr. &?; pus + &?; dark blue.] (Physiol. (Chem.) A blue coloring matter found in the pus from old sores, supposed to be formed through the agency of a species of bacterium (Bacillus pyocyaneus).

Py`o*gen"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; pus + root of &?; to be born.] (Med.) Producing or generating pus.

Py"oid (?), a. [Gr. &?; pus + -- oid.] (Med.) Of or pertaining to pus; of the nature of, or like, pus.

Pyoid corpuscles (Med.), cells of a size larger than pus corpuscles, containing two or more of the latter.

Py`op*neu`mo*tho"rax (?), n. [Gr. &?; pus + E. pneumothorax.] (Med.) Accumulation of air, or other gas, and of pus, in the pleural cavity.

Py"ot (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The magpie. See Piet.

Py`o*xan"those (?), n. [Gr. &?; pus + &?; yellow.] (Physiol. (Chem.) A greenish yellow crystalline coloring matter found with pyocyanin in pus.

Pyr"a*canth (?), n. [Gr. &?; fire + &?; a thorn, prickly plant.] (Bot.) The evergreen thorn (CratÊgus Pyracantha), a shrub native of Europe.

Py"ral (?), a. Of or pertaining to a pyre. [R.]

Pyr"a*lid (?), n. [L. pyralis, -idis, a kind of winged insect.] (Zoˆl.) Any moth of the family PyralidÊ. The species are numerous and mostly small, but some of them are very injurious, as the bee moth, meal moth, hop moth, and clover moth.

Pyr"a*mid (?), n. [L. pyramis, -idis, fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, of Egyptian origin: cf. F. pyramide.]

1. A solid body standing on a triangular, square, or polygonal base, and terminating in a point at the top; especially, a structure or edifice of this shape.

2. (Geom.) A solid figure contained by a plane rectilineal figure as base and several triangles which have a common vertex and whose bases are sides of the base.

3. pl. (Billiards) The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot. [Eng.]

Altitude of a pyramid (Geom.), the perpendicular distance from the vertex to the plane of the base. -- Axis of a pyramid (Geom.), a straight line drawn from the vertex to the center of the base. -- Earth pyramid. (Geol.) See Earth pillars, under Earth. -- Right pyramid (Geom.) a pyramid whose axis is perpendicular to the base.

Py*ram`i*dal (?), a. [Cf. F. pyramidal.]

1. Of or pertaining to a pyramid; in the form of a a pyramid; pyramidical; as, pyramidal cleavage.

The mystic obelisks stand up Triangular, pyramidal.

Mrs. Browning.

<! p. 1169 !>

2. (Crystallog.) Same as Tetragonal.

Pyramidal numbers (Math.), certain series of figurate numbers expressing the number of balls or points that may be arranged in the form of pyramids. Thus 1, 4, 10, 20, 35, etc., are triangular pyramidal numbers; and 1, 5, 14, 30, 55, etc., are square pyramidal numbers.

Py*ram"i*dal (?), n. (Anat.) One of the carpal bones. See Cuneiform, n., 2 (b).

Py*ram"i*dal*ly, adv. Like a pyramid.

{ Pyr`a*mid"ic (?), Pyr`a*mid"ic*al (?), } a. Of or pertaining to a pyramid; having the form of a pyramid; pyramidal. " A pyramidical rock." Goldsmith. "Gold in pyramidic plenty piled." Shenstone. -- Pyr`a*mid"ic*al*ly, adv. Pyr`a*mild"ic*al*ness, n.

||Pyr`a*mid"i*on (?), n.; pl. Pyramidia (#). [NL., from L. pyramis. See ||Pyramid.] The small pyramid which crowns or completes an obelisk.

Py*ram"i*doid (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, pyramid + -id: cf. F. pyramidoÔde.] A solid resembling a pyramid; -- called also pyramoid. Barlow.

||Pyr"a*mis (?), n.; pl. Pyramides (#). [L.] A pyramid.

Pyr"a*moid (?), n. See Pyramidoid.

Py*rar"gy*rite (?), n. [Gr. &?; fire + &?; silver.] (Min.) Ruby silver; dark red silver ore. It is a sulphide of antimony and silver, occurring in rhombohedral crystals or massive, and is of a dark red or black color with a metallic adamantine luster.

Pyre (?), n. [L. pure, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; fire. See Fire.] A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt.

For nine long nights, through all the dusky air, The pyres thick flaming shot a dismal glare.

Pope.

||Py*re"na (?), n.; pl. PyrenÊ (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, the stone of ||fruit.] (Bot.) A nutlet resembling a seed, or the kernel of a drupe. ||Gray.

Py"rene (?), n. [Gr. &?; fire.] (Chem.) One of the less volatile hydrocarbons of coal tar, obtained as a white crystalline substance, C16H10.

Py"rene, n. (Bot.) Same as Pyrena.

Pyr`e*ne"an (?), a. [L. Pyrenaei (sc. montes) the Pyrenees, fr. Pyrene, Gr.&?; a daughter of Bebryx, beloved by Hercules, and buried upon these mountains.] Of or pertaining to the Pyrenees, a range of mountains separating France and Spain. -- n. The Pyrenees. Shak.

Py*re"noid (?), n. [Gr. &?; like a kernel. See Pyrena, and -oid.] (Zoˆl.) A transparent body found in the chromatophores of certain Infusoria.

Pyr"eth*rin (?), n. [NL. Pyrethrum, generic name of feverfew, Gr. &?; feverfew.] (Chem.) A substance resembling, and isomeric with, ordinary camphor, and extracted from the essential oil of feverfew; -- called also Pyrethrum camphor.

Pyr"eth*rine (?), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid extracted from the root of the pellitory of Spain (Anacyclus pyrethrum).

Py*ret"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; burning heat, fever, from &?; fire: cf. F. pyrÈtique.] (Med.) Of or pertaining to fever; febrile.

Pyr`e*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; fever + -logy: cf. F. pyrÈtologie.] (Med.) A discourse or treatise on fevers; the doctrine of fevers. Hooper.

||Py*rex"i*a (?), n.; pl. PyrexiÊ (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; to be ||feverish, akin to &?; fever.] (Med.) The febrile condition.

{ Py*rex"i*al (?), Py*rex"ic*al (?), } a. (Med.) Of or pertaining to fever; feverish.

Pyr"gom (?), n. [Gr. &?; a place furnished with towers, fr. &?; a tower.] (Min.) A variety of pyroxene; -- called also fassaite.

Pyr*he`li*om"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; fire + &?; sun + -meter.] (Physics) An instrument for measuring the direct heating effect of the sun's rays.

Py*rid"ic (?), a. (Physiol. Chem.) Related to, or formed from, pyridin or its homologues; as, the pyridic bases.

Pyr"i*dine (?), n. [From Gr. &?; fire.] (Physiol. Chem.) A nitrogenous base, C5H5N, obtained from the distillation of bone oil or coal tar, and by the decomposition of certain alkaloids, as a colorless liquid with a peculiar pungent odor. It is the nucleus of a large number of organic substances, among which several vegetable alkaloids, as nicotine and certain of the ptomaÔnes, may be mentioned. See Lutidine.

Pyr"i*dyl (?), n. [Pyridine + -yl.] (Chem.) A hypothetical radical, C5H4N, regarded as the essential residue of pyridine, and analogous to phenyl.

Pyr"i*form (?), a. [L. pyrum, pirum, a pear + -form: cf. F. pyriforme, piriforme.] Having the form of a pear; pear- shaped.

Pyr`i*ta"ceous (?), a. (Min.) Of or pertaining to pyrites. See Pyritic.

Pyr"ite (?), n.; pl. Pyrites (#). [Cf. F. pyrite. See Pyrites.] (Min.) A common mineral of a pale brass- yellow color and brilliant metallic luster, crystallizing in the isometric system; iron pyrites; iron disulphide.

Hence sable coal his massy couch extends, And stars of gold the sparkling pyrite blends.

E. Darwin.

Py*ri"tes (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; fire. See Pyre.] (Min.) A name given to a number of metallic minerals, sulphides of iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, and tin, of a white or yellowish color.

The term was originally applied to the mineral pyrite, or iron pyrites, in allusion to its giving sparks when struck with steel.

Arsenical pyrites, arsenopyrite. -- Auriferous pyrites. See under Auriferous. -- Capillary pyrites, millerite. -- Common pyrites, isometric iron disulphide; pyrite. -- Hair pyrites, millerite. -- Iron pyrites. See Pyrite. -- Magnetic pyrites, pyrrhotite. -- Tin pyrites, stannite. -- White iron pyrites, orthorhombic iron disulphide; marcasite. This includes cockscomb pyrites (a variety of marcasite, named in allusion to its form), spear pyrites, etc. -- Yellow, or Copper, pyrites, the sulphide of copper and iron; chalcopyrite.

{ Py*rit"ic (?), Py*rit"ic*al (?), } a. (Min.) Of or pertaining to pyrites; consisting of, or resembling, pyrites.

Pyr`i*tif"er*ous (?), a. [Pyrites + -ferous.] (Min.) Containing or producing pyrites.

Pyr"i*tize (?), v. t. [Cf. F. pyritiser.] To convert into pyrites.

Pyr`i*to*he"dral (?), a. [See Pyritohedron.] (Crystallog.) Like pyrites in hemihedral form.

Pyr`i*to*he"dron (?), n. [Pyrite + Gr. &?; base.] (Crystallog.) The pentagonal dodecahedron, a common form of pyrite.

Pyr"i*toid (?), n. [Pyrite + - oid.] (Crystallog.) Pyritohedron. [R.]

Pyr`i*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; of fire + -logy.] The science of blowpipe analysis.

Pyr"i*tous (?), a. Pyritic.

{ Pyro-, Pyr- }. [Gr. &?;, &?;, fire.] Combining forms designating fire or heat; specifically (Chem.), used to imply an actual or theoretical derivative by the action of heat; as in pyrophosphoric, pyrosulphuric, pyrotartaric, pyrotungstic, etc.

Py"ro (?), n. (Photog.) Abbreviation of pyrogallic acid. [Colloq.]

Pyr`o*a*ce"tic (?), a. [Pyro- + acetic: cf. F. pyroacÈtique.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, and designating, a substance (acetone) obtained by the distillation of the acetates. It is now called also pyroacetic ether, and formerly was called pyroacetic spirit.

Pyr`o*ac"id (?), n. [Pyro- + acid.] (Chem.) An acid obtained by sybjecting another acid to the action of heat. Cf. Pyro-.

Pyr`o*an`ti*mo"nate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of pyroantimonic acid.

Pyr`o*an`ti*mon"ic (?), a. [Pyro- + antimonic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid of antimony analogous to pyrophosphoric acid.

Pyr`o*ar"se*nate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of pyroarsenic acid.

Pyr`o*ar*sen"ic (?), a. [Pyro- + arsenic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to or designating, an acid of arsenic analogous to pyrophosphoric acid.

Pyr`o*bo"rate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of pyroboric acid.

Pyr`o*bo"ric (?), a. [Pyro- + boric.] (Chem.) Pertaining to derived from, or designating, an acid, H2B4O7 (called also tetraboric acid), which is the acid ingredient of ordinary borax, and is obtained by heating boric acid.

Pyr`o*cat"e*chin (?), n. [Pyro- + catechu.] (Chem.) A white crystalline substance, C6H4(OH)2, of the phenol series, found in various plants; -- so called because first obtained by distillation of gum catechu. Called also catechol, oxyphenol. etc.

Pyr"o*chlore (?), n. [Pyro- + Gr. &?; pale green.] (Min.) A niobate of calcium, cerium, and other bases, occurring usually in octahedrons of a yellowish or brownish color and resinous luster; -- so called from its becoming grass-green on being subjected to heat under the blowpipe.

Pyr`o*cit"ric (?), a. [Pyro- + citric: cf. F. pyrocitrique.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, any one of three acids obtained by the distillation of citric acid, and called respectively citraconic, itaconic, and mesaconic acid.

Pyr"o*coll (pr"*kl), n. [Puro- + Gr. ko`lla glue.] (Chem.) A yellow crystalline substance allied to pyrrol, obtained by the distillation of gelatin.

Pyr`o*e*lec"tric (?), a. [Pyro- + electric.] (Physics) Pertaining to, or dependent on, pyroelectricity; receiving electric polarity when heated.

Pyr`o*e*lec"tric, n. (Physics) A substance which becomes electrically polar when heated, exhibiting opposite charges of statical electricity at two separate parts, especially the two extremities.

Pyr`o*e`lec*tric"i*ty (?), n. (Physics) Electricity developed by means of heat; the science which treats of electricity thus developed.

Pyr`o*gal"late (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of pyrogallic acid; an ether of pyrogallol.

Pyr`o*gal"lic (?), a. [Pyro- + gallic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid called pyrogallol. See Pyrogallol.

Pyr`o*gal"lol (?), n. [Pyrogallic + -ol.] (Chem.) A phenol metameric with phloroglucin, obtained by the distillation of gallic acid as a poisonous white crystalline substance having acid properties, and hence called also pyrogallic acid. It is a strong reducer, and is used as a developer in photography and in the production of certain dyes.

Pyr"o*gen (?), n. [See Pyrogenous.] 1. Electricity. [R.]

2. (Physiol. Chem.) A poison separable from decomposed meat infusions, and supposed to be formed from albuminous matter through the agency of bacteria.

Pyr`o*gen"ic (?), a. [Pyro- + -gen + -ic.] (Physiol.) Producing heat; -- said of substances, as septic poisons, which elevate the temperature of the body and cause fever.

Py*rog"e*nous (?), a. [Gr. &?; fire + genous: cf. F. purogËne, Gr. &?;.] Produced by fire; igneous. Mantell. .

Pyr`og*nos"tic (?), a. [Pyro- + Gr. &?; to know.] (Min.) Of or pertaining to characters developed by the use of heat; pertaining to the characters of minerals when examined before the blowpipe; as, the pyrognostic characters of galena.

Pyr`og*nos"tics (?), n. pl. (Min.) The characters of a mineral observed by the use of the blowpipe, as the degree of fusibility, flame coloration, etc.