Part 41
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."
Syn. -- Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. -- Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain degree of equality in situation, circumstances, etc., to its fullest exercise. Compassion is deep tenderness for another under severe or inevitable misfortune. Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior.
Pit"y (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pitied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pitying.] 1. To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Ps. ciii. 13.
2. To move to pity; -- used impersonally. [Obs.]
It pitieth them to see her in the dust.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.
Pit"y, v. i. To be compassionate; to show pity.
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy.
Jer. xiii. 14.
Pit"y*ing, a. Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word. -- Pit"y*ing*ly, adv.
||Pit`y*ri"a*sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?;, lit., bran.] ||(Med.) A superficial affection of the skin, characterized by ||irregular patches of thin scales which are shed in branlike ||particles.
||Pityriasis versicolor [NL.] (Med.), a parasitic disease of the skin, ||characterized by the development of reddish or brownish patches.
Pit"y*roid (?), a. [Gr. &?; bran + - oid.] Having the form of, or resembling, bran. Smart.
||Pi"˘ (?), adv. [It., fr. L. plus. See Plus.] (Mus.) A little more; ||as, pi˘ allegro, a little more briskly.
Piv"ot (?), n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe. See Pipe.] 1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.
2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.
3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.
4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; -- called also pivot man.
Pivot bridge, a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical axis. -- Pivot gun, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction. -- Pivot tooth (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.
Piv"ot, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pivoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Pivoting.] To place on a pivot. Clarke.
Piv"ot*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a pivot or turning point; belonging to, or constituting, a pivot; of the nature of a pivot; as, the pivotalopportunity of a career; the pivotal position in a battle.
Pix (?), n. & v. See Pyx.
{ Pix"y, Pix"ie } (?), n.; pl. Pixies (#). [For Pucksy, from Puck.] 1. An old English name for a fairy; an elf. [Written also picksy.]
2. (Bot.) A low creeping evergreen plant (Pyxidanthera barbulata), with mosslike leaves and little white blossoms, found in New Jersey and southward, where it flowers in earliest spring.
Pixy ring, a fairy ring or circle. [Prov. Eng.] -- Pixy stool (Bot.), a toadstool or mushroom. [Prov. Eng.]
Pix"y-led` (?), a. Led by pixies; bewildered.
||Piz`zi*ca"to (?). [It., pinched.] (Mus.) A direction to violinists to ||pluck the string with the finger, instead of using the bow. (Abrev. ||pizz.)
Piz"zle (?), n. [Cf. Prov. G. pissel, pesel, peisel, peserich, D. pees a tendon or spring.] The penis; -- so called in some animals, as the bull. Shak.
Pla`ca*bil"i*ty (?), n. [L. placabilitas: cf. F. placabilitÈ.] The quality or state of being placable or appeasable; placable disposition.
Pla"ca*ble (?), a. [L. placabilis, fr. placare to quiet, pacify: cf. F. placable. See Placate.] Capable of being appeased or pacified; ready or willing to be pacified; willing to forgive or condone.
Methought I saw him placable and mild.
Milton.
Pla"ca*ble*ness, n. The quality of being placable.
Pla*card" (?), n. [F., fr. plaquer to lay or clap on, plaque plate, tablet; probably from Dutch, cf. D. plakken to paste, post up, plak a flat piece of wood.] 1. A public proclamation; a manifesto or edict issued by authority. [Obs.]
All placards or edicts are published in his name.
Howell.
2. Permission given by authority; a license; as, to give a placard to do something. [Obs.] ller.
3. A written or printed paper, as an advertisement or a declaration, posted, or to be posted, in a public place; a poster.
4. (Anc. Armor) An extra plate on the lower part of the breastplate or backplate. PlanchÈ.
5. [Cf. Placket.] A kind of stomacher, often adorned with jewels, worn in the fifteenth century and later.
Pla*card", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Placarding.] 1. To post placards upon or within; as, to placard a wall, to placard the city.
2. To announce by placards; as, to placard a sale.
Plac"ate (?), n. Same as Placard, 4 & 5.
Pla"cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Placating.] [L. placatus, p. p. of placare to placate, akin to placere to please. See Please.] To appease; to pacify; to concilate. "Therefore is he always propitiated and placated." Cudworth.
Pla*ca"tion (?), n. [L. placatio.] The act of placating. [R.] Puttenham (1589).
Place (?), n. [F., fr. L. platea a street, an area, a courtyard, from Gr. platei^a a street, properly fem. of platy`s, flat, broad; akin to Skr. pthu, Lith. platus. Cf. Flawn, Piazza, Plate, Plaza.] 1. Any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space.
Here is the place appointed.
Shak.
What place can be for us Within heaven's bound?
Milton.
The word place has sometimes a more confused sense, and stands for that space which any body takes up; and so the universe is a place.
Locke.
2. A broad way in a city; an open space; an area; a court or short part of a street open only at one end. "Hangman boys in the market place." Shak.
3. A position which is occupied and held; a dwelling; a mansion; a village, town, or city; a fortified town or post; a stronghold; a region or country.
Are you native of this place?
Shak.
4. Rank; degree; grade; order of priority, advancement, dignity, or importance; especially, social rank or position; condition; also, official station; occupation; calling. "The enervating magic of place." Hawthorne.
Men in great place are thrice servants.
Bacon.
I know my place as I would they should do theirs.
Shak.
5. Vacated or relinquished space; room; stead (the departure or removal of another being or thing being implied). "In place of Lord Bassanio." Shak.
6. A definite position or passage of a document.
The place of the scripture which he read was this.
Acts viii. 32.
7. Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding; as, he said in the first place.
8. Reception; effect; -- implying the making room for.
My word hath no place in you.
John viii. 37.
9. (Astron.) Position in the heavens, as of a heavenly body; -- usually defined by its right ascension and declination, or by its latitude and longitude.
Place of arms (Mil.), a place calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, etc., as a fort which affords a safe retreat for hospitals, magazines, etc. Wilhelm. -- High place (Script.), a mount on which sacrifices were offered. "Him that offereth in the high place." Jer. xlviii. 35. -- In place, in proper position; timely. -- Out of place, inappropriate; ill-timed; as, his remarks were out of place. -- Place kick (Football), the act of kicking the ball after it has been placed on the ground. -- Place name, the name of a place or locality. London Academy. -- To give place, to make room; to yield; to give way; to give advantage. "Neither give place to the devil." Eph. iv. 27. "Let all the rest give place." Shak. -- To have place, to have a station, room, or seat; as, such desires can have no place in a good heart. -- To take place. (a) To come to pass; to occur; as, the ceremony will not take place. (b) To take precedence or priority. Addison. (c) To take effect; to prevail. "If your doctrine takes place." Berkeley. "But none of these excuses would take place." Spenser. - - To take the place of, to be substituted for.
Syn. -- Situation; seat; abode; position; locality; location; site; spot; office; employment; charge; function; trust; ground; room; stead.
Place (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Placing (?).] [Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.] 1. To assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown.
Shak.
2. To put or set in a particular rank, office, or position; to surround with particular circumstances or relations in life; to appoint to certain station or condition of life; as, in whatever sphere one is placed.
Place such over them to be rulers.
Ex. xviii. 21.
3. To put out at interest; to invest; to loan; as, to place money in a bank.
4. To set; to fix; to repose; as, to place confidence in a friend. "My resolution 's placed." Shak.
5. To attribute; to ascribe; to set down.
Place it for her chief virtue.
Shak.
To place (a person), to identify him. [Colloq. U.S.]
Syn. -- See Put.
||Pla*ce"bo (?), n. [L., I shall please, fut. of placere to please.] 1. ||(R. C. Ch.) The first antiphon of the vespers for the dead.
2. (Med.) A prescription intended to humor or satisfy.
To sing placebo, to agree with one in his opinion; to be complaisant to. Chaucer.
Place"ful (?), a. In the appointed place. [Obs.]
Place"less, a. Having no place or office.
Place"man (?), n.; pl. Placemen (&?;). One who holds or occupies a place; one who has office under government. Sir W. Scott.
Place"ment (?), n. [Cf. F. placement.] 1. The act of placing, or the state of being placed.
2. Position; place.
Pla*cen"ta (?), n.; pl. L. PlacentÊ (#), E. Placentas (#). [L., a cake, Gr. &?; a flat cake, from &?; flat, fr. &?;, &?;, anything flat and broad.] 1. (Anat.) The vascular appendage which connects the fetus with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the afterbirth.
In most mammals the placenta is principally developed from the allantois and chorion, and tufts of vascular villi on its surface penetrate the blood vessels of the parental uterus, and thus establish a nutritive and excretory connection between the blood of the fetus and that of the parent, though the blood itself does not flow from one to the other.
2. (Bot.) The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules or seeds are attached.
Pla*cen"tal (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to the placenta; having, or characterized by having, a placenta; as, a placental mammal.
2. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the Placentalia.
Pla*cen"tal, n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Placentalia.
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