Pleuropneumonia noun [ Pleuro- + pneumonia .] (Medicine) Inflammation of the pleura and lungs; a combination of pleurisy and pneumonia, esp. a kind of contagions and fatal lung plague of cattle.

Pleuroptera noun pl [ New Latin , from Greek ... side + ... wing.] (Zoology) A group of Isectivora, including the colugo.

Pleurosigma noun [ New Latin See Pleuro- , and Sigma .] (Botany) A genus of diatoms of elongated elliptical shape, but having the sides slightly curved in the form of a letter S . Pleurosigma angulatum has very fine striations, and is a favorite object for testing the high powers of microscopes.

Pleurosteon noun ; plural Latin Pleurostea , English -ons . [ New Latin , from Greek ... a rib + ... a bone.] (Anat.) The antero- lateral piece which articulates the sternum of birds.

Pleurothotonus noun [ New Latin , from Greek pleyro`qen from the side + to`nos a stretching.] (Medicine) A species of tetanus, in which the body is curved laterally. Quain. Dunglison.

Pleurotoma noun ; plural Latin Pleurotomæ , English Pleurotomas . [ New Latin , from Greek ... the side + tomh` a cut.] (Zoology) Any marine gastropod belonging to Pleurotoma , and ether allied genera of the family Pleurotmidæ . The species are very numerous, especially in tropical seas. The outer lip has usually a posterior notch or slit.

Plevin noun [ Old French plevine . See Replevin .] A warrant or assurance. [ Obsolete]

Plexiform adjective [ Plexus + -form : confer French Plexiforme .] Like network; complicated. Quincy.

Pleximeter noun [ Greek ... stroke, percussion (from ... to strike) + -meter .] (Medicine) A small, hard, elastic plate, as of ivory, bone, or rubber, placed in contact with body to receive the blow, in examination by mediate percussion. [ Written also plexometer .]

Plexure noun [ See Plexus .] The act or process of weaving together, or interweaving; that which is woven together. H. Brooke.

Plexus noun ; plural Latin Plexus , English Plexuses . [ Latin , a twining, braid, from plectere , plexum , to twine, braid.]
1. (Anat.) A network of vessels, nerves, or fibers.

2. (Math.) The system of equations required for the complete expression of the relations which exist between a set of quantities. Brande & C.

Plexus noun A network; an intricate or interwoven combination of elements or parts in a coherent structure.

In the perception of a tree the reference to an object is circumscribed and directed by a plexus of visual and other presentations.

G. F. Stout.

Pley v. & noun See Play . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Pley adjective Full See Plein . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Pleyt noun (Nautical) An old term for a river boat.

Pliability noun The quality or state of being pliable; flexibility; as, pliability of disposition. " Pliability of movement." Sir W. Scott.

Pliable adjective [ French, from plier to bend, to fold. See Ply , v. ]
1. Capable of being plied, turned, or bent; easy to be bent; flexible; pliant; supple; limber; yielding; as, willow is a pliable plant.

2. Flexible in disposition; readily yielding to influence, arguments, persuasion, or discipline; easy to be persuaded; -- sometimes in a bad sense; as, a pliable youth. " Pliable she promised to be." Dr. H. More.

-- Pli"a*ble*ness , noun -- Pli"a*bly , adverb

Pliancy noun The quality or state of being pliant in sense; as, the pliancy of a rod. "Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind." Wordsworth.

Pliant adjective [ French pliant , present participle of plier to bend. See Ply , v. ]
1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking; flexible; pliable; lithe; limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart.

The will was then ductile and pliant to right reason.

South.

2. Favorable to pliancy. [ R.] "A pliant hour." Shak. -- Pli"ant*ly , adverb -- Pli"ant*ness , noun

Plica noun [ Late Latin , a fold, from Latin plicare to fold. See Ply , v. ]
1. (Medicine) A disease of the hair ( Plica polonica ), in which it becomes twisted and matted together. The disease is of Polish origin, and is hence called also Polish plait . Dunglison.

2. (Botany) A diseased state in plants in which there is an excessive development of small entangled twigs, instead of ordinary branches.

3. (Zoology) The bend of the wing of a bird.

Plicate, Plicated adjective [ Latin plicatus , past participle of plicare to fold.] Plaited; folded like a fan; as, a plicate leaf. -- Pli"cate*ly adverb

Plication noun A folding or fold; a plait. Richardson.

Plicature noun [ Latin plicatura , from plicare to fold.] A fold; a doubling; a plication. Dr. H. More.

Plicidentine noun [ Late Latin plica fold + English dentine .] (Anat.) A form of dentine which shows sinuous lines of structure in a transverse section of the tooth.

Plied imperfect & past participle of Ply .

Pliers noun plural [ From Ply to bend, fold.] A kind of small pinchers with long jaws, -- used for bending or cutting metal rods or wire, for handling small objects such as the parts of a watch, etc.

Pliform adjective [ Ply a fold + -form .] In the form of a ply, fold, or doubling. [ Obsolete] Pennant.

Plight obsolete imperfect & past participle of Plight , to pledge. Chaucer.

Plight transitive verb [ Middle English pliten ; probably through Old French, from Late Latin plectare , Latin plectere . See Plait , Ply .] To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [ Obsolete] "To sew and plight ." Chaucer.

A plighted garment of divers colors.

Milton.

Plight noun A network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment. [ Obsolete] "Many a folded plight ." Spenser.

Plight noun [ Middle English pliht danger, engagement, Anglo-Saxon pliht danger, from pleón to risk; akin to Dutch plicht duty, German pflicht , Danish pligt . √28. Confer Play .]
1. That which is exposed to risk; that which is plighted or pledged; security; a gage; a pledge. "That lord whose hand must take my plight ." Shak.

2. [ Perh. the same word as plight a pledge, but at least influenced by Old French plite , pliste , ploit , ploi , a condition, state; confer English plight to fold, and French pli a fold, habit, plier to fold, English ply .] Condition; state; -- risk, or exposure to danger, often being implied; as, a luckless plight . "Your plight is pitied." Shak.

To bring our craft all in another plight

Chaucer.

Plight transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Plighted ; present participle & verbal noun Plighting .] [ Anglo-Saxon plihtan to expose to danger, pliht danger;cf. D. ver plichten to oblige, engage, impose a duty, G. ver pflichten , Swedish för plikta , Dan. for pligte . See Plight , noun ]
1. To pledge; to give as a pledge for the performance of some act; as, to plight faith, honor, word; -- never applied to property or goods. " To do them plighte their troth." Piers Plowman.

He plighted his right hand
Unto another love, and to another land.

Spenser.

Here my inviolable faith I plight .

Dryden.

2. To promise; to engage; to betroth.

Before its setting hour, divide
The bridegroom from the plighted bride.

Sir W. Scott.

Plighter noun One who, or that which, plights.

Plim intransitive verb [ Confer Plump .] To swell, as grain or wood with water. [ Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Plimsoll's mark (Nautical) A mark conspicuously painted on the port side of all British sea-going merchant vessels, to indicate the limit of submergence allowed by law; -- so called from Samuel Plimsoll , by whose efforts the act of Parliament to prevent overloading was procured.

Plinth noun [ Latin plinthus , Greek ... a brick or tile, a plinth, perhaps akin to English flint : confer French plinthe .] (Architecture) In classical architecture, a vertically faced member immediately below the circular base of a column; also, the lowest member of a pedestal; hence, in general, the lowest member of a base; a sub-base; a block upon which the moldings of an architrave or trim are stopped at the bottom. See Illust. of Column .

Pliocene adjective [ Written also pleiocene .] [ Greek ... more + ... new, recent.] (Geol.) Of, pertaining to, or characterizing, the most recent division of the Tertiary age.

Pliocene noun (Geol.) The Pliocene period or deposits.

Pliohippus noun [ New Latin , from English plio cene + Greek ... horse.] (Paleon.) An extinct genus of horses from the Pliocene deposits. Each foot had a single toe (or hoof), as in the common horse.

Pliosaurus noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... greater + ... lizard.] (Paleon.) An extinct genus of marine reptiles allied to Plesiosaurus, but having a much shorter neck.

Plitt noun [ Russian plete .] An instrument of punishment or torture resembling the knout, used in Russia.

Ploc noun [ French] (Nautical) A mixture of hair and tar for covering the bottom of a ship.

Ploce noun [ Latin , from Greek ... complication, from ... to entwine.] (Rhet.) A figure in which a word is separated or repeated by way of emphasis, so as not only to signify the individual thing denoted by it, but also its peculiar attribute or quality; as, "His wife 's a wife indeed." Bailey.

Plod intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Plodded ; present participle & verbal noun Plodding .] [ Gf. Gael. plod a clod, a pool; also, to strike or pelt with a clod or clods.]
1. To travel slowly but steadily; to trudge. Shak.

2. To toil; to drudge; especially, to study laboriously and patiently. " Plodding schoolmen." Drayton.

Plod transitive verb To walk on slowly or heavily.

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way.

Gray.

Plodder noun One who plods; a drudge.

Plodding adjective Progressing in a slow, toilsome manner; characterized by laborious diligence; as, a plodding peddler; a plodding student; a man of plodding habits. -- Plod"ding*ly , adverb

Plonge transitive verb [ See Plunge .] To cleanse, as open drains which are entered by the tide, by stirring up the sediment when the tide ebbs.

Plongée noun [ French See Plunge .] (Mil.) A slope or sloping toward the front; as, the plongée of a parapet; the plongée of a shell in its course. [ Sometimes written plonge .]