Plasterly Plas"ter·ly adjective Resembling plaster of Paris. [ R.] "Out of gypseous or plasterly ground." Fuller.

Plasterwork Plas"ter·work` noun Plastering used to finish architectural constructions, exterior or interior, especially that used for the lining of rooms. Ordinarly, mortar is used for the greater part of the work, and pure plaster of Paris for the moldings and ornaments.

Plastery Plas"ter·y adjective Of the nature of plaster.

The stone . . . is a poor plastery material.

Clough.

Plastic Plas"tic (plăs"tĭk) adjective [ Latin plasticus , Greek ..., from ... to form, mold: confer French plastique .] 1. Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator. Prior.

See plastic Nature working to his end.

Pope.

2. Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; -- used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child.

3. Pertaining or appropriate to, or characteristic of, molding or modeling; produced by, or appearing as if produced by, molding or modeling; -- said of sculpture and the kindred arts, in distinction from painting and the graphic arts.

Medallions . . . fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the palmy days of Italian art.

J. S. Harford.

Plastic clay (Geol.) , one of the beds of the Eocene period; -- so called because used in making pottery. Lyell. -- Plastic element (Physiol.) , one that bears within the germs of a higher form. -- Plastic exudation (Medicine) , an exudation thrown out upon a wounded surface and constituting the material of repair by which the process of healing is effected. -- Plastic foods . (Physiol.) See the second Note under Food . -- Plastic force . (Physiol.) See under Force . -- Plastic operation , an operation in plastic surgery. -- Plastic surgery , that branch of surgery which is concerned with the repair or restoration of lost, injured, or deformed parts of the body.

Plastical Plas"tic·al adjective See Plastic . [ R.]

Plastically Plas"tic·al·ly adverb In a plastic manner.

Plasticity Plas·tic"i·ty noun [ Confer French plasticité .] 1. The quality or state of being plastic.

2. (Physiol.) Plastic force. Dunglison.

Plastid, Plastide Plas"tid, Plas"tide noun [ Greek ..., ..., a creator.] 1. (Biol.) A formative particle of albuminous matter; a monad; a cytode. See the Note under Morphon . Haeckel.

2. (Botany) One of the many minute granules found in the protoplasm of vegetable cells. They are divided by their colors into three classes, chloroplastids, chromoplastids, and leucoplastids.

Plastidozoa Plas`ti·do·zo"a noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ..., ..., creator + ... animal.] (Zoology) Same as Protoza .

Plastidule Plas"ti·dule noun [ Dim. from Plastid .] (Biol.) One of the small particles or organic molecules of protoplasm. Haeckel.

Plastin Plas"tin noun [ Greek ... to form, mold.] (Biol.) A substance associated with nuclein in cell nuclei, and by some considered as the fundamental substance of the nucleus.

Plastography Plas·tog"ra·phy noun [ Greek ...; ... fored, molded + ... to write.] 1. The art of forming figures in any plastic material.

2. Imitation of handwriting; forgery.

Plastron Plas"tron noun [ French plastron breastplate, plastron, Late Latin plastra a thin plate of metal. See Plaster .] 1. A piece of leather stuffed or padded, worn by fencers to protect the breast. Dryden.

3. (Anc. Armor) An iron breastplate, worn under the hauberk.

3. (Anat.) The ventral shield or shell of tortoises and turtles. See Testudinata .

4. A trimming for the front of a woman's dress, made of a different material, and narrowing from the shoulders to the waist.

Plat Plat transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Platted ; present participle & verbal noun Platting .] [ See Plait .] To form by interlaying interweaving; to braid; to plait. "They had platted a crown of thorns." Matt. xxvii. 29.

Plat Plat noun Work done by platting or braiding; a plait.

Her hair, nor loose, nor tied in formal plat .

Shak.

Plat Plat noun [ Confer Plat flat, which perhaps caused this spelling, and Plot a piece of ground.] A small piece or plot of ground laid out with some design, or for a special use; usually, a portion of flat, even ground.

This flowery plat , the sweet recess of Eve.

Milton.

I keep smooth plat of fruitful ground.

Tennyson.

Plat Plat transitive verb To lay out in plats or plots, as ground.

Plat Plat adjective [ French plat . See Plate , noun ] Plain; flat; level. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Plat Plat adverb 1. Plainly; flatly; downright. [ Obsolete]

But, sir, ye lie, I tell you plat .

Rom. of R.

2. Flatly; smoothly; evenly. [ Obsolete] Drant.

Plat Plat noun 1. The flat or broad side of a sword. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.] Chaucer.

2. A plot; a plan; a design; a diagram; a map; a chart. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.] "To note all the islands, and to set them down in plat ." Hakluyt.

Platan Plat"an noun [ Latin platanus . See Plane the tree.] [ Written also platane .] The plane tree. Tennyson.

Platanist Plat"a·nist noun [ Latin platanista a sort of fish, Greek ...: confer French plataniste .] (Zoology) The soosoo.

Platanus Plat"a·nus noun [ See Plane the tree.] (Botany) A genus of trees; the plane tree.

Platband Plat"band` noun [ French plate- bande ; plat , plate , flat, level + bande a band.] 1. A border of flowers in a garden, along a wall or a parterre; hence, a border.

2. (Architecture) (a) A flat molding, or group of moldings, the width of which much exceeds its projection, as the face of an architrave. (b) A list or fillet between the flutings of a column.

Plate Plate noun [ Old French plate a plate of metal, a cuirsas, French plat a plate, a shallow vessel of silver, other metal, or earth, from plat flat, Greek .... See Place , noun ] 1. A flat, or nearly flat, piece of metal, the thickness of which is small in comparison with the other dimensions; a thick sheet of metal; as, a steel plate .

2. Metallic armor composed of broad pieces.

Mangled . . . through plate and mail.

Milton.

3. Domestic vessels and utensils, as flagons, dishes, cups, etc., wrought in gold or silver.

4. Metallic ware which is plated, in distinction from that which is genuine silver or gold.

5. A small, shallow, and usually circular, vessel of metal or wood, or of earth glazed and baked, from which food is eaten at table.

6. [ Confer Spanish plata silver.] A piece of money, usually silver money. [ Obsolete] "Realms and islands were as plates dropp'd from his pocket." Shak.

7. A piece of metal on which anything is engraved for the purpose of being printed; hence, an impression from the engraved metal; as, a book illustrated with plates ; a fashion plate .

8. A page of stereotype, electrotype, or the like, for printing from; as, publisher's plates .

9. That part of an artificial set of teeth which fits to the mouth, and holds the teeth in place. It may be of gold, platinum, silver, rubber, celluloid, etc.

10. (Architecture) A horizontal timber laid upon a wall, or upon corbels projecting from a wall, and supporting the ends of other timbers; also used specifically of the roof plate which supports the ends of the roof trusses or, in simple work, the feet of the rafters.

11. (Her.) A roundel of silver or tinctured argent.

12. (Photog.) A sheet of glass, porcelain, metal, etc., with a coating that is sensitive to light.

13. A prize giving to the winner in a contest.

» Plate is sometimes used in an adjectival sense or in combination, the phrase or compound being in most cases of obvious signification; as, plate basket or plate -basket, plate rack or plate -rack.

Home plate . (Baseball) See Home base , under Home . -- Plate armor . (a) See Plate , noun , 2. (b) Strong metal plates for protecting war vessels, fortifications, and the like. -- Plate bone , the shoulder blade, or scapula. -- Plate girder , a girder, the web of which is formed of a single vertical plate, or of a series of such plates riveted together. -- Plate glass . See under Glass . -- Plate iron , wrought iron plates. -- Plate layer , a workman who lays down the rails of a railway and fixes them to the sleepers or ties. -- Plate mark , a special mark or emblematic figure stamped upon gold or silver plate, to indicate the place of manufacture, the degree of purity, and the like; thus, the local mark for London is a lion. -- Plate paper , a heavy spongy paper, for printing from engraved plates. Fairholt. -- Plate press , a press with a flat carriage and a roller, -- used for printing from engraved steel or copper plates. -- Plate printer , one who prints from engraved plates. -- Plate printing , the act or process of printing from an engraved plate or plates. -- Plate tracery . (Architecture) See under Tracery . - - Plate wheel (Mech.) , a wheel, the rim and hub of which are connected by a continuous plate of metal, instead of by arms or spokes.

Plate Plate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Plated ; present participle & verbal noun Plating .] 1. To cover or overlay with gold, silver, or other metals, either by a mechanical process, as hammering, or by a chemical process, as electrotyping.

2. To cover or overlay with plates of metal; to arm with metal for defense.

Thus plated in habiliments of war.

Shak.

3. To adorn with plated metal; as, a plated harness.

4. To beat into thin, flat pieces, or laminæ.

5. To calender; as, to plate paper.

Plate Plate noun 1. (Baseball) A small five-sided area (enveloping a diamond- shaped area one foot square) beside which the batter stands and which must be touched by some part of a player on completing a run; -- called also home base , or home plate .

2. One of the thin parts of the bricket of an animal.

3. A very light steel racing horsehoe.

4. Loosely, a sporting contest for a prize; specif., in horse racing, a race for a prize, the contestants not making a stake.

5. Skins for fur linings of garments, sewed together and roughly shaped, but not finally cut or fitted. [ Furrier's Cant]

6. (Hat Making) The fine nap (as of beaver, hare's wool, musquash, nutria, or English black wool) on a hat the body of which is of an inferior substance.

Plate-gilled Plate"-gilled` adjective (Zoology) Having flat, or leaflike, gills, as the bivalve mollusks.

Plateau Pla·teau" noun ; plural French Plateaux (F. ...; E. ...), English Plateaus . [ French, from Old French platel , properly a little plate. See Plate .] 1. A flat surface; especially, a broad, level, elevated area of land; a table- land.

2. An ornamental dish for the table; a tray or salver.

Plateful Plate"ful noun ; plural Platefuls Enough to fill a plate; as much as a plate will hold.

Platel Pla"tel noun [ Old French See Plateau .] A small dish.

Platen Plat"en noun [ French platine , from plat flat. See Plate , and confer Platin .] (Machinery) (a) The part of a printing press which presses the paper against the type and by which the impression is made. (b) Hence, an analogous part of a typewriter, on which the paper rests to receive an impression. (c) The movable table of a machine tool, as a planer, on which the work is fastened, and presented to the action of the tool; -- also called table .

Plater Plat"er noun One who plates or coats articles with gold or silver; as, a silver plater .

2. A machine for calendering paper.

Plater Plat"er noun (Horse Racing) A horse that runs chiefly in plate, esp. selling-plate, races; hence, an inferior race horse.

Plateresque Plat`er·esque" adjective [ Spanish resco , from plata silver.] (Architecture) Resembling silver plate; -- said of certain architectural ornaments.

Platetrope Plat"e·trope noun [ Greek ... breadth + ... to turn.] (Anat.) One of a pair of a paired organs.

Platform Plat"form` noun [ Plat , adjective + -form : confer French plateforme .] 1. A plat; a plan; a sketch; a model; a pattern. Used also figuratively. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

2. A place laid out after a model. [ Obsolete]

lf the platform just reflects the order.

Pope.

3. Any flat or horizontal surface; especially, one that is raised above some particular level, as a framework of timber or boards horizontally joined so as to form a roof, or a raised floor, or portion of a floor; a landing; a dais; a stage, for speakers, performers, or workmen; a standing place.

4. A declaration of the principles upon which a person, a sect, or a party proposes to stand; a declared policy or system; as, the Saybrook platform ; a political platform . "The platform of Geneva." Hooker.

5. (Nautical) A light deck, usually placed in a section of the hold or over the floor of the magazine. See Orlop .

Platform car , a railway car without permanent raised sides or covering; a f...at. -- Platform scale , a weighing machine, with a flat platform on which objects are weighed.

Platform Plat"form` transitive verb 1. To place on a platform. [ R.]

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

Church discipline is platformed in the Bible.

Milton.

Plathelminth Plat·hel"minth noun (Zoology) One of the Platyelminthes.

Plathelminthes Plat`hel·min"thes noun plural [ New Latin ] (Zoology) Same as Platyelminthes .

Platin Plat"in noun (Machinery) See Platen .

Platina Plat"i·na noun [ Spanish or New Latin See Platinum .] (Chemistry) Platinum.

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

Plating Plat"ing noun 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.

Platinic Pla·tin"ic adjective (Chemistry) 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 (PtCl ₄ ).

Platinichloric Plat`i·ni·chlo"ric adjective (Chemistry) 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 .

Platiniferous Plat`i·nif"er·ous adjective [ Platinum + -ferous .] Yielding platinum; as, platiniferous sand.

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

Platinize Plat"i·nize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Platinized ; present participle & verbal noun Platinizing .] To cover or combine with platinum.

Platinochloric Plat`i·no·chlo"ric adjective (Chemistry) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid consisting of platinous chloride and hydrochloric acid, called platinochloric, or chloroplatinous, acid .

Platinochloride Plat`i·no·chlo"ride noun (Chemistry) A double chloride of platinum and some other metal or radical; a salt of platinochloric acid.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
You are here: Webster > Letter P > Page 102 of 206.
« Previous ¦94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 ¦ Next »