Palstave Pal"stave` noun [ Danish paalstav .] A peculiar bronze adz, used in prehistoric Europe about the middle of the bronze age. Dawkins.

Palster Pal"ster noun [ Dutch palsterstaf .] A pilgrim's staff. [ Obsolete] Halliwell.

Palsy Pal"sy noun ; plural Palsies . [ Middle English palesie , parlesy , Old French paralesie , French paralysie , Latin paralysis . See Paralysis .] (Medicine) Paralysis, complete or partial. See Paralysis . "One sick of the palsy ." Mark ii. 3.

Bell's palsy , paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face; -- so called from Sir Charles Bell , an English surgeon who described it. -- Scrivener's palsy . See Writer's cramp , under Writer . -- Shaking palsy , paralysis agitans , a disease usually occurring in old people, characterized by muscular tremors and a peculiar shaking and tottering gait.

Palsy Pal"sy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Palsied ; present participle & verbal noun Palsying .] To affect with palsy, or as with palsy; to deprive of action or energy; to paralyze.

Palsywort Pal"sy·wort` noun (Botany) The cowslip ( Primula veris ); -- so called from its supposed remedial powers. Dr. Prior.

Palter Pal"ter intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Paltered ; present participle & verbal noun Paltering .] [ See Paltry .] 1. To haggle. [ Obsolete] Cotgrave.

2. To act in insincere or deceitful manner; to play false; to equivocate; to shift; to dodge; to trifle.

Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter .

Shak.

Who never sold the truth to serve the hour,
Nor paltered with eternal God for power.

Tennyson.

3. To babble; to chatter. [ Obsolete]

Palter Pal"ter transitive verb To trifle with; to waste; to squander in paltry ways or on worthless things. [ Obsolete] " Palter out your time in the penal statutes." Beau. & Fl.

Palterer Pal"ter·er noun One who palters. Johnson.

Palterly Pal"ter·ly adjective & adverb Paltry; shabby; shabbily; paltrily. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.] "In palterly clothes." Pepys.

Paltock Pal"tock noun [ See Paletot .] A kind of doublet; a jacket. [ Obsolete] Piers Plowman.

Paltrily Pal"tri·ly adverb In a paltry manner.

Paltriness Pal"tri·ness noun The state or quality of being paltry.

Paltry Pal"try adjective [ Compar. Paltrier ; superl. Paltriest .] [ Confer Prov. English paltry refuse, rubbish, LG. paltering ragged, palte , palter , a rag, a tatter, Danish pialt , Swedish palta , plural paltor .] Mean; vile; worthless; despicable; contemptible; pitiful; trifling; as, a paltry excuse; paltry gold. Cowper.

The paltry prize is hardly worth the cost.

Byron.

Syn. -- See Contemptible .

Paludal Pa·lu"dal adjective [ Latin palus , - udis , a marsh.] Of or pertaining to marshes or fens; marshy. [ R.]

Paludal fever , malarial fever; -- so called because generated in marshy districts.

Paludament Pa·lu"da·ment noun See Paludamentum .

Paludamentum Pa·lu`da·men·tum noun ; plural Paladumenta (Rom. Antiq.) A military cloak worn by a general and his principal officers.

Paludicole Pa·lu"di·cole adjective [ Confer French paludicole .] (Zoology) Marsh-inhabiting; belonging to the Paludicolæ

Paludicolæ Pal`u·dic"o·læ noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin palus , -udis , a marsh + colere to inhabit.] (Zoology) A division of birds, including the cranes, rails, etc.

Paludina Pal`u·di"na noun ; plural Latin Paludinæ , English Paludinas . [ New Latin , from Latin palus , -udis , a marsh, pool.] (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of freshwater pectinibranchiate mollusks, belonging to Paludina , Melantho , and allied genera. They have an operculated shell which is usually green, often with brown bands. See Illust. of Pond snail , under Pond .

Paludinal Pal`u·di"nal adjective Inhabiting ponds or swamps.

Paludine Pal"u·dine adjective [ Latin palus , -udis , a marsh.] Of or pertaining to a marsh. Buckland.

Paludinous Pa·lu"di·nous adjective 1. (Zoology) (a) Paludinal. (b) Like or pertaining to the genus Paludina.

2. Of or pertaining to a marsh or fen. [ R.]

Paludism Pa·lu"dism noun (Medicine) The morbid phenomena produced by dwelling among marshes; malarial disease or disposition.

Paludose Pal"u·dose` adjective [ Latin paludosus marshy.] Growing or living in marshy places; marshy.

Palule Pal"ule noun (Zoology) See Palulus or Palus .

Palulus Pal"u·lus noun ; plural Paluli . [ New Latin , dim. of Latin palus a stake.] (Zoology) Same as Palus .

Palus Pa"lus noun ; plural Pali . [ Latin , a stake.] (Zoology) One of several upright slender calcareous processes which surround the central part of the calicle of certain corals.

Palustral Pa·lus"tral adjective [ Latin paluster , -ustris .] Of or pertaining to a bog or marsh; boggy. [ R.]

Palustrine Pa·lus"trine adjective Of, pertaining to, or living in, a marsh or swamp; marshy.

Paly Pal"y adjective [ From Pale , adjective ] Pale; wanting color; dim. [ Poetic] Shak. Whittier.

Paly Pal"y adjective [ Confer French palé . See Pale a stake.] (Her.) Divided into four or more equal parts by perpendicular lines, and of two different tinctures disposed alternately.

Palæo- Pa"læ·o- See Paleo- .

Palæographer Pa`læ·og"ra·pher noun , Pa`læ*o*graph"ic adjective , etc. See Paleographer , Paleographic , etc.

Palæotype Pa"læ·o·type noun [ Palæo- + -type .] (Phon.) A system of representing all spoken sounds by means of the printing types in common use. Ellis. -- Pa`læ*o*typ"ic*al adjective -- Pa`læ*o*typ"ic*al*ly , adverb

Palæstra Pa·læs"tra noun See Palestra .

Palæstric Pa·læs"tric adjective See Palestric .

Palætiologist Pa·læ`ti·ol"o·gist noun One versed in palætiology.

Palætiology Pa·læ`ti·ol"o·gy noun [ Pal æo- + ætiology .] The science which explains, by the law of causation, the past condition and changes of the earth. -- Pa*læ`ti*o*log"ic*al adjective

Pam Pam noun [ From Palm victory; confer trump , from triumph .] The knave of clubs. [ Obsolete] Pope.

Pament Pa"ment noun A pavement. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Pampano Pam"pa·no noun [ Spanish ] (Zoology) Same as Pompano .

Pampas Pam"pas noun plural [ Spanish , from Peruv. pampa a field, plain.] Vast plains in the central and southern part of the Argentine Republic in South America. The term is sometimes used in a wider sense for the plains extending from Bolivia to Southern Patagonia.

Pampas cat (Zoology) , a South American wild cat ( Felis pajeros ). It has oblique transverse bands of yellow or brown. It is about three and a half feet long. Called also straw cat . -- Pampas deer (Zoology) , a small, reddish-brown, South American deer ( Cervus, or Blastocerus, campestris ). -- Pampas grass (Botany) , a very tall ornamental grass ( Gynerium argenteum ) with a silvery-white silky panicle. It is a native of the pampas of South America.

Pamper Pam"per transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pampered ; present participle & verbal noun Pampering .] [ Confer LG. pampen , slampampen , to live luxuriously, pampe thick pap, and English pap .]

1. To feed to the full; to feed luxuriously; to glut; as, to pamper the body or the appetite. "A body . . . pampered for corruption." Dr. T. Dwight.

2. To gratify inordinately; to indulge to excess; as, to pamper pride; to pamper the imagination. South.

Pampered Pam"pered adjective Fed luxuriously; indulged to the full; hence, luxuriant. " Pampered boughs." Milton. " Pampered insolence." Pope. -- Pam"pered*ness , noun Bp. Hall.

Pamperer Pam"per·er noun One who, or that which, pampers. Cowper.

Pamperize Pam"per·ize transitive verb To pamper. [ R.] Sydney Smith.

Pampero Pam·pe"ro noun [ Spanish , from pampa a plain.] A violent wind from the west or southwest, which sweeps over the pampas of South America and the adjacent seas, often doing great damage. Sir W. Parish.

Pamperos Pam·pe"ros noun plural ; sing. Pampero [ Spanish American.] (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians inhabiting the pampas of South America.

Pamphlet Pam"phlet noun [ Middle English pamflet , pamfilet , paunflet , possibly from Old French palme the palm of the hand, French paume (see Palm ) + Old French fueillet a leaf, dim. of fueil , m., French feuille , f., from Latin folium , plural folia , thus meaning, a leaf to be held in the hand; or perhaps through old French, from Latin Pamphila , a female historian of the first century who wrote many epitomes; probably , however, from Old French Pamflette , the Old French name given to Pamphilus , a poem in Latin verse of the 12th century, pamphlets being named from the popularity of this poem.] 1. A writing; a book. Testament of love.

Sir Thomas More in his pamphlet of Richard the Third.

Ascham.

2. A small book consisting of a few sheets of printed paper, stitched together, often with a paper cover, but not bound; a short essay or written discussion, usually on a subject of current interest.

Pamphlet Pam"phlet intransitive verb To write a pamphlet or pamphlets. [ R.] Howell.

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