Pulverate transitive verb [ Latin pulveratus , past participle of pulverare to pulverize. See Pulverize .] To beat or reduce to powder or dust; to pulverize. [ R.]

Pulverine noun [ Latin pulvis , pulveris , dust, powder; confer French pulvérin .] Ashes of barilla. Ure.

Pulverizable adjective Admitting of being pulverized; pulverable. Barton.

Pulverization noun [ Confer French pulvérisation .] The action of reducing to dust or powder.

Pulverize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pulverized ; present participle & verbal noun Pulverizing .] [ French pulvériser , Latin pulverizare , from pulvis dust, powder. See Powder .] To reduce of fine powder or dust, as by beating, grinding, or the like; as, friable substances may be pulverized by grinding or beating, but to pulverize malleable bodies other methods must be pursued.

Pulverize intransitive verb To become reduced to powder; to fall to dust; as, the stone pulverizes easily.

Pulverizer noun One who, or that which, pulverizes.

Pulverous adjective [ Confer Latin pulvereus , from pulvis , pulveris , dust, powder.] Consisting of dust or powder; like powder.

Pulverulence noun The state of being pulverulent; abundance of dust or powder; dustiness.

Pulverulent adjective [ Latin pulverulentus , from pulvis , pulveris , dust, powder: confer French pulvérulent .] Consisting of, or reducible to, fine powder; covered with dust or powder; powdery; dusty.

Pulvil noun [ Italian polviglio , from Latin pulvis , pulveris , dust, powder: confer Spanish polvillo .] A sweet-scented powder; pulvillio. [ Written also pulville .] [ Obsolete] Gay.

Pulvil transitive verb To apply pulvil to. [ Obsolete] Congreve.

Pulvillio, Pulvillo noun [ See Pulvil .] A kind of perfume in the form of a powder, formerly much used, -- often in little bags.

Smells of incense, ambergris, and pulvillios .

Addison.

Pulvillus noun ; plural Pulvilli . [ Latin , a little cushion.] (Zoology) One of the minute cushions on the feet of certain insects.

Pulvinar noun [ Latin , a cushion.] (Anat.) A prominence on the posterior part of the thalamus of the human brain.

Pulvinate, Pulvinated adjective [ Latin pulvinatus , from pulvinus a cushion, an elevation.]
1. (Architecture) Curved convexly or swelled; as, a pulvinated frieze. Brande & C.

2. (Zoology) Having the form of a cushion.

Pulvinic adjective [ From Vulpinic , by transposition of the letters.] (Chemistry) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained by the decomposition of vulpinic acid, as a white crystalline substance.

Pulvinulus noun ; plural Pulvinuli . [ Latin , a little mound.] (Zoology) Same as Pulvillus .

Puma (pū"mȧ) noun [ Peruv. puma .] (Zoology) A large American carnivore ( Felis concolor ), found from Canada to Patagonia, especially among the mountains. Its color is tawny, or brownish yellow, without spots or stripes. Called also catamount , cougar , American lion , mountain lion , and panther or painter .

Pume noun (Zoology) A stint.

Pumicate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pumicated ; present participle & verbal noun Pumicating .] [ Latin pumicatus , past participle of pumicare to pumicate, from pumex . See Pumice .] To make smooth with pumice. [ R.]

Pumice noun [ Latin pumex , pumicis , probably akin to spuma foam: confer Anglo-Saxon pumic- stān. Confer Pounce a powder, Spume .] (Min.) A very light porous volcanic scoria, usually of a gray color, the pores of which are capillary and parallel, giving it a fibrous structure. It is supposed to be produced by the disengagement of watery vapor without liquid or plastic lava. It is much used, esp. in the form of powder, for smoothing and polishing. Called also pumice stone .

Pumice stone Same as Pumice .

Pumiced adjective (Far.) Affected with a kind of chronic laminitis in which there is a growth of soft spongy horn between the coffin bone and the hoof wall. The disease is called pumiced foot , or pumice foot .

Pumiceous adjective [ Latin pumiceus .] Of or pertaining to pumice; resembling pumice.

Pumiciform adjective [ Pumice + -form .] Resembling, or having the structure of, pumice.

Pummace noun Same as Pomace .

Pummel noun & transitive verb Same as Pommel .

Pump (pŭmp) noun [ Probably so called as being worn for pomp or ornament. See Pomp .] A low shoe with a thin sole. Swift.

Pump noun [ Akin to Dutch pomp , German pumpe , French pompe ; of unknown origin.] An hydraulic machine, variously constructed, for raising or transferring fluids, consisting essentially of a moving piece or piston working in a hollow cylinder or other cavity, with valves properly placed for admitting or retaining the fluid as it is drawn or driven through them by the action of the piston.

» for various kinds of pumps, see Air pump , Chain pump , and Force pump ; also, under Lifting , Plunger , Rotary , etc.

Circulating pump (Steam Engine) , a pump for driving the condensing water through the casing, or tubes, of a surface condenser. -- Pump brake . See Pump handle , below. -- Pump dale . See Dale . -- Pump gear , the apparatus belonging to a pump. Totten. -- Pump handle , the lever, worked by hand, by which motion is given to the bucket of a pump. -- Pump hood , a semicylindrical appendage covering the upper wheel of a chain pump. -- Pump rod , the rod to which the bucket of a pump is fastened, and which is attached to the brake or handle; the piston rod. -- Pump room , a place or room at a mineral spring where the waters are drawn and drunk. [ Eng.] -- Pump spear . Same as Pump rod , above. -- Pump stock , the stationary part, body, or barrel of a pump. -- Pump well . (Nautical) See Well .

Pump transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pumped (pŭmt; 215); present participle & verbal noun pumping .]
1. To raise with a pump, as water or other liquid.

2. To draw water, or the like, from; to from water by means of a pump; as, they pumped the well dry; to pump a ship.

3. Figuratively, to draw out or obtain, as secrets or money, by persistent questioning or plying; to question or ply persistently in order to elicit something, as information, money, etc.

But pump not me for politics.

Otway.

Pump intransitive verb To work, or raise water, a pump.

Pumpage noun That which is raised by pumps, or the work done by pumps.

The pumpage last year amounted to . . . gallons.

Sci. Amer.

Pumper noun One who pumps; the instrument or machine used in pumping. Boyle.

Pumpernickel noun [ G.] A sort of bread, made of unbolted rye, which forms the chief food of the Westphalian peasants. It is acid but nourishing.

Pumpet noun A pompet.

Pumpet ball (Print.) , a ball for inking types; a pompet.

Pumping adjective & noun from pump .

Pumping engine , a steam engine and pump combined for raising water. See Steam engine .

Pumpion noun (Botany) See Pumpkin .

Pumpkin noun [ For older pompion , pompon , Old French pompon , Latin pepo , peponis , Greek ..., properly, cooked by the sun, ripe, mellow; -- so called because not eaten till ripe. Confer Cook , noun ] (Botany) A well-known trailing plant ( Cucurbita pepo ) and its fruit, -- used for cooking and for feeding stock; a pompion.

Pumpkin seed . (a) The flattish oval seed of the pumpkin . (b) (Zoology) The common pondfish.

Pumy adjective [ Confer Prov. English pummer big, large, and English pomey pommel.] Large and rounded. [ Obsolete]

A gentle stream, whose murmuring wave did play
Amongst the pumy stones.

Spenser.

Pun transitive verb [ See Pound to beat.] To pound. [ Obsolete]

He would pun thee into shivers with his fist.

Shak.

Pun noun [ Confer Pun to pound, Pound to beat.] A play on words which have the same sound but different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation. Addison.

A better put on this word was made on the Beggar's Opera, which, it was said, made Gay rich, and Rich gay.

Walpole.

Pun intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Punned ; present participle & verbal noun Punning .] To make puns, or a pun; to use a word in a double sense, especially when the contrast of ideas is ludicrous; to play upon words; to quibble. Dryden.

Pun transitive verb To persuade or affect by a pun. Addison.

Puna noun [ Spanish , of Peruv. origin.] A cold arid table-land, as in the Andes of Peru.