Part 50
Poi"ki*lo*cyte (poi"k*l*st), n. [Gr. poiki`los diversified, changeable + ky`tos hollow vessel.] (Physiol.) An irregular form of corpuscle found in the blood in cases of profound anÊmia, probably a degenerated red blood corpuscle.
{ Poi`ki*lo*ther"mal (-thr"mal), Poi`ki*lo*ther"mic (-thr"mk), } a. [Gr. poiki`los changeable + E. thermal, thermic.] (Physiol.) Having a varying body temperature. See Homoiothermal.
Poi`ki*lo*ther"mous (-ms), a. (Physiol.) Poikilothermal.
||Poin`ci*a"na (?), n. [NL. Named after M. de Poinci, a governor of the ||French West Indies.] (Bot.) A prickly tropical shrub (CÊsalpinia, ||formerly Poinciana, pulcherrima), with bipinnate leaves, and racemes ||of showy orange-red flowers with long crimson filaments.
The genus Poinciana is kept up for three trees of Eastern Africa, the Mascarene Islands, and India.
Poind (poind), v. t. [See Pound to confine.] 1. To impound, as cattle. [Obs. or Scot.] Flavel.
2. To distrain. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.
Poind"er (-r), n. 1. The keeper of a cattle pound; a pinder. [Obs. or Scot.] T. Adams.
2. One who distrains property. [Scot.] Jamieson.
||Poin*set"ti*a (poin*st"t*), n. [NL. Named after Joel R. Poinsett of ||South Carolina.] (Bot.) A Mexican shrub (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with ||very large and conspicuous vermilion bracts below the yellowish ||flowers.
Point (point), v. t. & i. To appoint. [Obs.] Spenser.
Point, n. [F. point, and probably also pointe, L. punctum, puncta, fr. pungere, punctum, to prick. See Pungent, and cf. Puncto, Puncture.] 1. That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.
2. An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; -- called also pointer.
3. Anything which tapers to a sharp, well- defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.
4. The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.
5. An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.
6. An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.
When time's first point begun Made he all souls.
Sir J. Davies.
7. A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.
And there a point, for ended is my tale.
Chaucer.
Commas and points they set exactly right.
Pope.
8. Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints. "A point of precedence." Selden. "Creeping on from point to point." Tennyson.
A lord full fat and in good point.
Chaucer.
9. That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.
He told him, point for point, in short and plain.
Chaucer.
In point of religion and in point of honor.
Bacon.
Shalt thou dispute With Him the points of liberty ?
Milton.
10. Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote. "Here lies the point." Shak.
They will hardly prove his point.
Arbuthnot.
11. A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.
This fellow doth not stand upon points.
Shak.
[He] cared not for God or man a point.
Spenser.
12. (Mus.) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time; as: (a) (Anc. Mus.) A dot or mark distinguishing or characterizing certain tones or styles; as, points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.; hence, a note; a tune. "Sound the trumpet - - not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war." Sir W. Scott. (b) (Mod. Mus.) A dot placed at the right hand of a note, to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half, as to make a whole note equal to three half notes, a half note equal to three quarter notes.
13. (Astron.) A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.
14. (Her.) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.
15. (Naut.) (a) One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point. (b) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails. See Reef point, under Reef.
16. (Anc. Costume) A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress. Sir W. Scott.
17. Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.
18. pl. (Railways) A switch. [Eng.]
19. An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer. [Cant, U. S.]
20. (Cricket) A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.
21. The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.
22. (Type Making) A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.
23. A tyne or snag of an antler.
24. One of the spaces on a backgammon board.
25. (Fencing) A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.
The word point is a general term, much used in the sciences,
## particularly in mathematics, mechanics, perspective, and physics, but
generally either in the geometrical sense, or in that of degree, or condition of change, and with some accompanying descriptive or qualifying term, under which, in the vocabulary, the specific uses are explained; as, boiling point, carbon point, dry point, freezing point, melting point, vanishing point, etc.
At all points, in every particular, completely; perfectly. Shak. -- At point, In point, At, In, or On, the point, as near as can be; on the verge; about (see About, prep., 6); as, at the point of death; he was on the point of speaking. "In point to fall down." Chaucer. "Caius Sidius Geta, at point to have been taken, recovered himself so valiantly as brought day on his side." Milton. -- Dead point. (Mach.) Same as Dead center, under Dead. -- Far point (Med.), in ophthalmology, the farthest point at which objects are seen distinctly. In normal eyes the nearest point at which objects are seen distinctly; either with the two eyes together (binocular near point), or with each eye separately (monocular near point). -- Nine points of the law, all but the tenth point; the greater weight of authority. -- On the point. See At point, above. -- Point lace, lace wrought with the needle, as distinguished from that made on the pillow. -- Point net, a machine-made lace imitating a kind of Brussels lace (Brussels ground). -- Point of concurrence (Geom.), a point common to two lines, but not a point of tangency or of intersection, as, for instance, that in which a cycloid meets its base. -- Point of contrary flexure, a point at which a curve changes its direction of curvature, or at which its convexity and concavity change sides. -- Point of order, in parliamentary practice, a question of order or propriety under the rules. -- Point of sight (Persp.), in a perspective drawing, the point assumed as that occupied by the eye of the spectator. -- Point of view, the relative position from which anything is seen or any subject is considered. -- Points of the compass (Naut.), the thirty-two points of division of the compass card in the mariner's compass; the corresponding points by which the circle of the horizon is supposed to be divided, of which the four marking the directions of east, west, north, and south, are called cardinal points, and the rest are named from their respective directions, as N. by E., N. N. E., N. E. by N., N. E., etc. See Illust. under Compass. -- Point paper, paper pricked through so as to form a stencil for transferring a design. -- Point system of type. See under Type. -- Singular point (Geom.), a point of a curve which possesses some property not possessed by points in general on the curve, as a cusp, a point of inflection, a node, etc. -- To carry one's point, to accomplish one's object, as in a controversy. -- To make a point of, to attach special importance to. -- To make, or gain, a point, accomplish that which was proposed; also, to make advance by a step, grade, or position. -- To mark, or score, a point, as in billiards, cricket, etc., to note down, or to make, a successful hit, run, etc. -- To strain a point, to go beyond the proper limit or rule; to stretch one's authority or conscience. -- Vowel point, in Hebrew, and certain other Eastern and ancient languages, a mark placed above or below the consonant, or attached to it, representing the vowel, or vocal sound, which precedes or follows the consonant.
Point (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pointed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pointing.] [Cf. F. pointer. See Point, n.] 1. To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end; as, to point a dart, or a pencil. Used also figuratively; as, to point a moral.
2. To direct toward an abject; to aim; as, to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort.
3. Hence, to direct the attention or notice of.
Whosoever should be guided through his battles by Minerva, and pointed to every scene of them.
Pope.
4. To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate; as, to point a composition.
5. To mark (as Hebrew) with vowel points.
6. To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to indicate, as if by pointing; as, the error was pointed out. Pope.
He points it, however, by no deviation from his straightforward manner of speech.
Dickens.
7. To indicate or discover by a fixed look, as game.
8. (Masonry) To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.
9. (Stone Cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.
To point a rope (Naut.), to taper and neatly finish off the end by interweaving the nettles. -- To point a sail (Naut.), to affix points through the eyelet holes of the reefs. -- To point off, to divide into periods or groups, or to separate, by pointing, as figures. -- To point the yards (of a vessel) (Naut.), to brace them so that the wind shall strike the sails obliquely. Totten.
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Point (point), v. i. 1. To direct the point of something, as of a finger, for the purpose of designating an object, and attracting attention to it; -- with at.
Now must the world point at poor Katharine.
Shak.
Point at the tattered coat and ragged shoe.
Dryden.
2. To indicate the presence of game by fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.
He treads with caution, and he points with fear.
Gay.
3. (Med.) To approximate to the surface; to head; -- said of an abscess.
To point at, to treat with scorn or contempt by pointing or directing attention to. -- To point well (Naut.), to sail close to the wind; -- said of a vessel.
Point"al (?), n. [From Point: cf. F. pointal an upright wooden prop, OF. pointille a prick or prickle.]
1. (Bot.) The pistil of a plant.
2. A kind of pencil or style used with the tablets of the Middle Ages. "A pair of tablets [i. e., tablets] . . . and a pointel." Chaucer.
3. (Arch.) See Poyntel. [Obs. or R.]
Point`-blank" (?), n. [F. point point + blanc white.] 1. The white spot on a target, at which an arrow or other missile is aimed. [Obs.] Jonson.
2. (Mil.) (a) With all small arms, the second point in which the natural line of sight, when horizontal, cuts the trajectory. (b) With artillery, the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal.
Point`-blank", a. 1. Directed in a line toward the object aimed at; aimed directly toward the mark.
2. Hence, direct; plain; unqualified; -- said of language; as, a point-blank assertion.
Point-blank range, the extent of the apparent right line of a ball discharged. -- Point-blank shot, the shot of a gun pointed directly toward the object to be hit.
Point`-blank", adv. In a point- blank manner.
To sin point-blank against God's word.
Fuller.
Point` d'ap`pui" (?). [F.] (Mil.) See under Appui.
{ Point`-de*vice", Point`-de*vise" } (?), a. [OE. at point devis; at at + point point, condition + devis exact, careful, OF. devis fixed, set. See Device.] Uncommonly nice and exact; precise; particular.
You are rather point-devise in your accouterments.
Shak.
Thus he grew up, in logic point-devise, Perfect in grammar, and in rhetoric nice.
Longfellow.
{ Point`-de*vice", Point`-de*vise", } adv. Exactly. [Obs.] Shak.
Point"ed (?), a. 1. Sharp; having a sharp point; as, a pointed rock.
2. Characterized by sharpness, directness, or pithiness of expression; terse; epigrammatic; especially, directed to a particular person or thing.
His moral pleases, not his pointed wit.
Pope.
Pointed arch (Arch.), an arch with a pointed crown. -- Pointed style (Arch.), a name given to that style of architecture in which the pointed arch is the predominant feature; -- more commonly called Gothic.
-- Point"ed*ly, adv. -- Point"ed*ness, n.
Point"el (?), n. [From Point. Cf. Pointal.] See Pointal.
Point"er (?), n. One who, or that which, points. Specifically: (a) The hand of a timepiece. (b) (Zoˆl.) One of a breed of dogs trained to stop at scent of game, and with the nose point it out to sportsmen. (c) pl. (Astron.) The two stars (Merak and Dubhe) in the Great Bear, the line between which points nearly in the direction of the north star. See Illust. of Ursa Major. (b) pl. (Naut.) Diagonal braces sometimes fixed across the hold.
Point"ing, n. 1. The act of sharpening.
2. The act of designating, as a position or direction, by means of something pointed, as a finger or a rod.
3. The act or art of punctuating; punctuation.
4. The act of filling and finishing the joints in masonry with mortar, cement, etc.; also, the material so used.
5. The rubbing off of the point of the wheat grain in the first process of high milling.
6. (Sculpt.) The act or process of measuring, at the various distances from the surface of a block of marble, the surface of a future piece of statuary; also, a process used in cutting the statue from the artist's model.
Point`ing*stock` (?), n. An object of ridicule or scorn; a laughingstock. Shak.
Point"less, a. Having no point; blunt; wanting keenness; obtuse; as, a pointless sword; a pointless remark.
Syn. -- Blunt; obtuse, dull; stupid.
Point"less*ly, adv. Without point.
Point"let*ed (?), a. (Bot.) Having a small, distinct point; apiculate. Henslow.
Poin"trel (?), n. A graving tool. Knight.
Points"man (?), n.; pl. - men (-men). A man who has charge of railroad points or switches. [Eng.]
Poise (?), n. [OE. pois, peis, OF. pois, peis, F. poids, fr. L. pensum a portion weighed out, pendere to weigh, weigh out. Cf. Avoirdupois, Pendant, Poise, v.] [Formerly written also peise.] 1. Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend; heaviness. "Weights of an extraordinary poise." Evelyn.
2. The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
3. The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest. Bentley.
4. That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
Men of unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment.
Dryden.
Poise (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poised, (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Poising.] [OE. poisen, peisen, OF. & F. peser, to weigh, balance, OF. il peise, il poise, he weighs, F. il pËse, fr. L. pensare, v. intens. fr. pendere to weigh. See Poise, n., and cf. Pensive.] [Formerly written also peise.] 1. To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.
2. To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.
Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky; Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie.
Dryden.
3. To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality.
Shak.
To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit.
Dryden.
4. To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.
He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence.
South.
5. To weigh (down); to oppress. [Obs.]
Lest leaden slumber peise me down to- morrow.
Shak.
Poise, v. i. To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
The slender, graceful spars Poise aloft in air.
Longfellow.
Pois"er (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The balancer of dipterous insects.
Poi"son (?), n. [F. poison, in Old French also, a potion, fr. L. potio a drink, draught, potion, a poisonous draught, fr. potare to drink. See Potable, and cf. Potion.] 1. Any agent which, when introduced into the animal organism, is capable of producing a morbid, noxious, or deadly effect upon it; as, morphine is a deadly poison; the poison of pestilential diseases.
2. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as, the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.
Poison ash. (Bot.) (a) A tree of the genus Amyris (A. balsamifera) found in the West Indies, from the trunk of which a black liquor distills, supposed to have poisonous qualities. (b) The poison sumac (Rhus venenata). [U. S.] -- Poison dogwood (Bot.), poison sumac. -- Poison fang (Zoˆl.), one of the superior maxillary teeth of some species of serpents, which, besides having the cavity for the pulp, is either perforated or grooved by a longitudinal canal, at the lower end of which the duct of the poison gland terminates. See Illust. under Fang. -- Poison gland (Biol.), a gland, in animals or plants, which secretes an acrid or venomous matter, that is conveyed along an organ capable of inflicting a wound. -- Poison hemlock (Bot.), a poisonous umbelliferous plant (Conium maculatum). See Hemlock. -- Poison ivy (Bot.), a poisonous climbing plant (Rhus Toxicodendron) of North America. It is common on stone walls and on the trunks of trees, and has trifoliate, rhombic-ovate, variously notched leaves. Many people are poisoned by it, if they touch the leaves. See Poison sumac. Called also poison oak, and mercury. -- Poison nut. (Bot.) (a) Nux vomica. (b) The tree which yields this seed (Strychnos Nuxvomica). It is found on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. -- Poison oak (Bot.), the poison ivy; also, the more shrubby Rhus diversiloba of California and Oregon. -- Poison sac. (Zoˆl.) Same as Poison gland, above. See Illust. under Fang. -- Poison sumac (Bot.), a poisonous shrub of the genus Rhus (R. venenata); -- also called poison ash, poison dogwood, and poison elder. It has pinnate leaves on graceful and slender common petioles, and usually grows in swampy places. Both this plant and the poison ivy (Rhus Toxicodendron) have clusters of smooth greenish white berries, while the red-fruited species of this genus are harmless. The tree (Rhus vernicifera) which yields the celebrated Japan lacquer is almost identical with the poison sumac, and is also very poisonous. The juice of the poison sumac also forms a lacquer similar to that of Japan.
Syn. -- Venom; virus; bane; pest; malignity. -- Poison, Venom. Poison usually denotes something received into the system by the mouth, breath, etc. Venom is something discharged from animals and received by means of a wound, as by the bite or sting of serpents, scorpions, etc. Hence, venom specifically implies some malignity of nature or purpose.
Poi"son, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poisoned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Poisoning.] [Cf. OF. poisonner, F. empoissoner, L. potionare to give to drink. See Poison, n.]
1. To put poison upon or into; to infect with poison; as, to poison an arrow; to poison food or drink. "The ingredients of our poisoned chalice." Shak.
2. To injure or kill by poison; to administer poison to.
If you poison us, do we not die ?
Shak.
3. To taint; to corrupt; to vitiate; as, vice poisons happiness; slander poisoned his mind.
Whispering tongues can poison truth.
Coleridge.
Poi"son, v. i. To act as, or convey, a poison.
Tooth that poisons if it bite.
Shak.
Poi"son*a*ble (?), a. 1. Capable of poisoning; poisonous. [Obs.] "Poisonable heresies." Tooker.
2. Capable of being poisoned.
Poi"son*er (?), n. One who poisons. Shak.
Poi"son*ous (?), a. Having the qualities or effects of poison; venomous; baneful; corrupting; noxious. Shak. -- Poi"son*ous*ly, adv. -- Poi"son*ous*ness, n.
Poi"son*some (?), a. Poisonous.[Obs.] Holland.
Poi"sure (?), n. [See Poise.] Weight. [Obs.]
Poi"trel (?), n. [OE. poitrel, F. poitrail, fr. L. pectorale a breastplate, fr. pectoralis, a. See Pectoral, a.] (Anc. Armor) The breastplate of the armor of a horse. See Peytrel. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Poize (?), n. See Poise. [Obs.]
Po*kal" (?), n. [G.] A tall drinking cup.
Poke (?), n. (Bot.) A large North American herb of the genus Phytolacca (P. decandra), bearing dark purple juicy berries; -- called also garget, pigeon berry, pocan, and pokeweed. The root and berries have emetic and purgative properties, and are used in medicine. The young shoots are sometimes eaten as a substitute for asparagus, and the berries are said to be used in Europe to color wine.
Poke, n. [AS. poca, poha, pohha; akin to Icel. poki, OD. poke, and perh. to E. pock; cf. also Gael. poca, and OF. poque. Cf. Pock, Pocket, Pouch.] 1. A bag; a sack; a pocket. "He drew a dial from his poke." Shak.
They wallowed as pigs in a poke.
Chaucer.
2. A long, wide sleeve; -- called also poke sleeve.
To boy a pig a poke (that is, in a bag), to buy a thing without knowledge or examination of it. Camden.
Poke, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Poking.] [Cf. LG. poken to prick, pierce, thrust, pok a dagger, knife, D. pook, G. pocken to beat, also Ir. poc a blow, Gael. puc to push.] 1. To thrust or push against or into with anything pointed; hence, to stir up; to excite; as, to poke a fire.
He poked John, and said "Sleepest thou ?"
Chaucer.
2. To thrust with the horns; to gore.
3. [From 5th Poke, 3.] To put a poke on; as, to poke an ox. [Colloq. U. S.]
To poke fun, to excite fun; to joke; to jest. [Colloq.] -- To poke fun at, to make a butt of; to ridicule. [Colloq.]