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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)


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 139 of 206.
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Pourer Pour"er noun One who pours.

Pourlieu Pour"lieu noun See Purlieu .

Pourparler Pour`par`ler" noun [ French] (Diplomacy) A consultation preliminary to a treaty.

Pourparty Pour`par"ty noun ; plural Pourparties . [ See Purparty .] (Law) A division; a divided share.

To make pourparty , to divide and apportion lands previously held in common.

Pourpoint Pour"point noun [ French] A quilted military doublet or gambeson worn in the 14th and 15th centuries; also, a name for the doublet of the 16th and 17th centuries worn by civilians.

Pourpresture Pour·pres"ture noun (Law) See Purpresture .

Poursuivant Pour"sui·vant noun See Pursuivant .

Pourtray Pour·tray" transitive verb See Portray .

Pourveyance Pour·vey"ance noun See Purveyance .

Pousse Pousse (pōs) noun Pulse; pease. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Pousse-café Pousse"-ca`fé" noun [ French, from pousser to push + café coffee.] A drink served after coffee at dinner, usually one of several liqueurs, or cordials, of different specific gravities poured so as to remain separate in layers; hence, such a drink of cordials served at any time.

Poussette Pous·sette" (pō*sĕt") noun [ French, pushpin, from pousser to push. See Push .] A movement, or part of a figure, in the contradance. Dickens.

Poussette Pous·sette" intransitive verb To perform a certain movement in a dance. [ R.] Tennyson.

Down the middle, up again, poussette , and cross.
J. & H. Smith.

Pout Pout (pōt) noun [ French poulet . See Poult .] The young of some birds, as grouse; a young fowl. Carew.

Pout Pout (pōt) intransitive verb To shoot pouts. [ Scot.]

Pout Pout (pout) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pouted ; present participle & verbal noun Pouting .] [ Middle English pouten , of uncertain origin; confer Prov. pot lip, Prov. French potte , faire la potte to pout, W. pwdu to pout, be sullen, poten , potten , a paunch, belly.] 1. To thrust out the lips, as in sullenness or displeasure; hence, to look sullen.

Thou poutest upon thy fortune and thy love.
Shak.

2. To protrude. " Pouting lips." Dryden.

Pout Pout noun A sullen protrusion of the lips; a fit of sullenness. "Jack's in the pouts ." J. & H. Smith.

Pout Pout noun [ Confer Eelpout .] (Zoology) The European whiting pout or bib.

Eel pout . (Zoology) See Eelpout . -- Horn pout , or Horned pout . (Zoology) See Bullhead (b) .

Pouter Pout"er (-ẽr) noun 1. One who, or that which, pouts.

2. [ Confer English pout , and German puter turkey.] (Zoology) A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for the extent to which it is able to dilate its throat and breast.

Pouting Pout"ing noun Childish sullenness.

Poutingly Pout"ing·ly adverb In a pouting, or a sullen, manner.

Povert Pov"ert (pŏv"ẽrt) noun Poverty. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Poverty Pov"er·ty (pŏv"ẽr*tȳ) noun [ Middle English poverte , Old French poverté , French pauvreté , from Latin paupertas , from pauper poor. See Poor .] 1. The quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need. "Swathed in numblest poverty ." Keble.

The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty .
Prov. xxiii. 21.

2. Any deficiency of elements or resources that are needed or desired, or that constitute richness; as, poverty of soil; poverty of the blood; poverty of ideas.

Poverty grass (Botany) , a name given to several slender grasses (as Aristida dichotoma , and Danthonia spicata ) which often spring up on old and worn-out fields.

Syn. -- Indigence; penury; beggary; need; lack; want; scantiness; sparingness; meagerness; jejuneness. Poverty , Indigence , Pauperism . Poverty is a relative term; what is poverty to a monarch, would be competence for a day laborer. Indigence implies extreme distress, and almost absolute destitution. Pauperism denotes entire dependence upon public charity, and, therefore, often a hopeless and degraded state.

Powan, Powen Pow"an, Pow"en noun (Zoology) A small British lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeoides , or C. ferus ); -- called also gwyniad and lake herring .

Powder Pow"der noun [ Middle English poudre , pouldre , French poudre , Old French also poldre , puldre , Latin pulvis , pulveris : confer pollen fine flour, mill dust, English pollen . Confer Polverine , Pulverize .] 1. The fine particles to which any dry substance is reduced by pounding, grinding, or triturating, or into which it falls by decay; dust.

Grind their bones to powder small.
Shak.

2. An explosive mixture used in gunnery, blasting, etc.; gunpowder. See Gunpowder .

Atlas powder , Baking powder , etc. See under Atlas , Baking , etc. -- Powder down (Zoology) , the peculiar dust, or exfoliation, of powder-down feathers. -- Powder- down feather (Zoology) , one of a peculiar kind of modified feathers which sometimes form patches on certain parts of some birds. They have a greasy texture and a scaly exfoliation. - - Powder-down patch (Zoology) , a tuft or patch of powder-down feathers. -- Powder hose , a tube of strong linen, about an inch in diameter, filled with powder and used in firing mines. Farrow. -- Powder hoy (Nautical) , a vessel specially fitted to carry powder for the supply of war ships. They are usually painted red and carry a red flag. -- Powder magazine , or Powder room . See Magazine , 2. -- Powder mine , a mine exploded by gunpowder. See Mine . -- Powder monkey (Nautical) , a boy formerly employed on war vessels to carry powder; a powder boy. -- Powder post . See Dry rot , under Dry . -- Powder puff . See Puff , noun

Powder Pow"der transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Powdered ; present participle & verbal noun Powdering .] [ French poudrer .] 1. To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder; to comminute; to pulverize; to triturate.

2. To sprinkle with powder, or as with powder; to be sprinkle; as, to powder the hair.

A circling zone thou seest
Powdered with stars.
Milton.

3. To sprinkle with salt; to corn, as meat. [ Obsolete]

Powder Pow"der intransitive verb 1. To be reduced to powder; to become like powder; as, some salts powder easily.

2. To use powder on the hair or skin; as, she paints and powders .

Powder-posted Pow"der-post`ed adjective Affected with dry rot; reduced to dust by rot. See Dry rot , under Dry . [ U.S.]

Powdered Pow"dered adjective 1. Reduced to a powder; sprinkled with, or as with, powder.

2. Sprinkled with salt; salted; corned. [ Obsolete]

Powdered beef, pickled meats.
Harvey.

3. (Her.) Same as Semé . Walpole.

Powderflask Pow"der·flask` noun A flask in which gunpowder is carried, having a charging tube at the end.

Powderhorn Pow"der·horn` noun A horn in which gunpowder is carried.

Powdering Pow"der·ing adjective & noun from Powder , transitive verb

Powdering tub . (a) A tub or vessel in which meat is corned or salted . (b) A heated tub in which an infected lecher was placed for cure. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Powdermill Pow"der·mill` noun A mill in which gunpowder is made.

Powdery Pow"der·y adjective 1. Easily crumbling to pieces; friable; loose; as, a powdery spar.

2. Sprinkled or covered with powder; dusty; as, the powdery bloom on plums.

3. Resembling powder; consisting of powder. "The powdery snow." Wordsworth.

Powdike Pow"dike noun [ Scot. pow , pou , a pool, a watery or marshy place, from English pool .] A dike a marsh or fen. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Powdry Pow"dry adjective See Powdery .

Power Pow"er noun (Zoology) Same as Poor , the fish.

Power Pow"er noun [ Middle English pouer , poer , Old French poeir , pooir , French pouvoir , noun & v., from Late Latin potere , for Latin posse , potesse , to be able, to have power. See Possible , Potent , and confer Posse comitatus .] 1. Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for action or performance; capability of producing an effect, whether physical or moral: potency; might; as, a man of great power ; the power of capillary attraction; money gives power . "One next himself in power , and next in crime." Milton.

2. Ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength, force, or energy in action; as, the power of steam in moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. "The power of fancy." Shak.

3. Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; -- called also passive power ; as, great power of endurance.

Power , then, is active and passive; faculty is active power or capacity; capacity is passive power .
Sir W. Hamilton.

4. The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government.

Power is no blessing in itself but when it is employed to protect the innocent.
Swift.

5. The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe; hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity. "The powers of darkness." Milton.

And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Matt. xxiv. 29.

6. A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host. Spenser.

Never such a power . . .
Was levied in the body of a land.
Shak.

7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o... good things. [ Colloq.] Richardson.

8. (Mech.) (a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an engine of twenty horse power .

» The English unit of power used most commonly is the horse power . See Horse power .

(b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power ; steam power ; hand power , etc. (c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end.

» This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force , is improper and is becoming obsolete.

(d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power .

» Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a power press.

9. (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a number into itself; as, a square is the second power , and a cube is third power , of a number.

10. (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc. I. Watts.

The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers , drove the grossness . . . into a received belief.
Shak.

11. (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it multiplies the apparent surface.

12. (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment. Wharton.

13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power .

» Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the winds and waves, electricity and magnetism, gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings; and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.

Mechanical powers . See under Mechanical . -- Power loom , or Power press . See Def. 8 (d) , note. -- Power of attorney . See under Attorney . -- Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.) , the result of substituting the coördinates of any point in that expression which being put equal to zero forms the equation of the curve; as, x 2 + y 2 - 100 is the power of the point x, y , relative to the circle x 2 + y 2 - 100 = 0 .

Powerable Pow"er·a·ble adjective 1. Capable of being effected or accomplished by the application of power; possible. [ R.] J. Young.

2. Capable of exerting power; powerful. Camden.

Powerful Pow"er·ful adjective 1. Full of power; capable of producing great effects of any kind; potent; mighty; efficacious; intense; as, a powerful man or beast; a powerful engine; a powerful argument; a powerful light; a powerful vessel.

The powerful grace that lies
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities.
Shak.

2. (Mining) Large; capacious; -- said of veins of ore.

Syn. -- Mighty; strong; potent; forcible; efficacious; energetic; intense.

-- Pow"er*ful*ly , adverb -- Pow"er*ful*ness , noun

Powerless Pow"er·less adjective Destitute of power, force, or energy; weak; impotent; not able to produce any effect. -- Pow"er*less*ly , adverb -- Pow"er*less*ness , noun

Powldron Powl"dron noun [ Old French espauleron , from espaule shoulder, French épaule .] Same as Pauldron .

Powp Powp intransitive verb See Poop , intransitive verb [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Powter Pow"ter (pou"tẽr) noun (Zoology) See Pouter .

Powwow Pow"wow` noun 1. A priest, or conjurer, among the North American Indians.

Be it sagamore, sachem, or powwow .
Longfellow.

2. Conjuration attended with great noise and confusion, and often with feasting, dancing, etc., performed by Indians for the cure of diseases, to procure success in hunting or in war, and for other purposes.

3. Hence: Any assembly characterized by noise and confusion; a noisy frolic or gathering. [ Colloq. U. S.]

Powwow Pow"wow` intransitive verb 1. To use conjuration, with noise and confusion, for the cure of disease, etc., as among the North American Indians.

2. Hence: To hold a noisy, disorderly meeting. [ Colloq. U. S.]

Pox Pox noun [ For pocks , Middle English pokkes . See Pock . It is plural in form but is used as a singular.] (Medicine) Strictly, a disease by pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, -- the smallpox, the chicken pox, and the vaccine and the venereal diseases.

» Pox , when used without an epithet, as in imprecations, formerly signified smallpox ; but it now signifies syphilis .

Pox Pox transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Poxed ; present participle & verbal noun Poxing .] To infect with the pox, or syphilis.

Poy Poy noun [ Old French apui , apoi , a support, prop., staff, French appui , from Old French apuier , apoier , to support, French appuyer , from à to (L. ad ) + Old French pui , poi , a rising ground, hill, Latin podium . See Podium , Pew .] 1. A support; -- used in composition; as, tea poy .

2. A ropedancer's balancing pole. Johnson.

3. A long boat hook by which barges are propelled against the stream. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Poy nette Poy nette" noun [ Confer Point .] A bodkin. [ Obsolete]

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
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