Pearlfish Pearl"fish` noun (Zoology) Any fish whose scales yield a pearl-like pigment used in manufacturing artificial pearls, as the bleak, and whitebait.
Pearlins, Pearlings Pearl"ins, Pearl"ings noun plural [ Prob. a corruption of
purflings . See
Purfle .]
A kind of lace of silk or thread. [ Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
Pearlite, Pearlstone Pearl"ite, Pearl"stone` noun (Min.) A glassy volcanic rock of a grayish color and pearly luster, often having a spherulitic concretionary structure due to the curved cracks produced by contraction in cooling. See Illust. under Perlitic .
Pearlwort Pearl"wort` noun (Botany) A name given to several species of Sagina , low and inconspicuous herbs of the Chickweed family.
Pearly Pearl"y adjective 1. Containing pearls; abounding with, or yielding, pearls; as, pearly shells. Milton. 2. Resembling pearl or pearls; clear; pure; transparent; iridescent; as, the pearly dew or flood.
Pearmain Pear"main noun (Botany) The name of several kinds of apples; as, the blue pearmain , winter pearmain , and red pearmain .
Peart Peart adjective [ A variant of
pert ,
adjective ]
Active; lively; brisk; smart; -- often applied to convalescents; as, she is quite peart to-day. [ O. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.]
There was a tricksy girl, I wot, albeit clad in gray,
As peart as bird, as straight as bolt, as fresh as flowers in May.
Warner (1592).
Peasant Peas"ant noun [ Old French
païsant (the
i being perhaps due to confusion with the present participle of verbs),
païsan , French
paysan , from Old French & French
pays country, from Latin
pagus the country. See
Pagan .]
A countryman; a rustic; especially, one of the lowest class of tillers of the soil in European countries. Syn. -- Countryman; rustic; swain; hind.
Peasant Peas"ant adjective Rustic, rural. Spenser.
Peasantlike Peas"ant·like` adjective Rude; clownish; illiterate.
Peasantly Peas"ant·ly adjective Peasantlike. [ Obsolete]
Milton.
Peasantry Peas"ant·ry noun 1. Peasants, collectively; the body of rustics. "A bold
peasantry ."
Goldsmith. 2. Rusticity; coarseness. [ Obsolete]
p. Butler.
Peascod Peas"cod` noun The legume or pericarp, or the pod, of the pea.
Pease Pease noun ; obsolete
pl .
Peases ,
Peasen . [ See
Pea .]
1. A pea. [ Obsolete] "A
peose ." "Bread . . . of beans and of
peses ."
Piers Plowman. 2. A plural form of Pea . See the Note under Pea .
Peastone Pea"stone` noun (Min.) Pisolite.
Peasweep Peas"weep` noun [ So called from its note.] [ Prov. Eng.]
(Zoology) (a) The pewit, or lapwing. (b) The greenfinch.
Peat Peat noun [ Confer
Pet a fondling.]
A small person; a pet; -- sometimes used contemptuously. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Peat Peat noun [ Prob. for
beat , prop., material used to make the fire burn
better , from Anglo-Saxon
b...tan to better, mend (a fire),
b...t advantage. See
Better ,
Boot advantage.]
A substance of vegetable origin, consisting of roots and fibers, moss, etc., in various stages of decomposition, and found, as a kind of turf or bog, usually in low situations, where it is always more or less saturated with water. It is often dried and used for fuel. Peat bog ,
a bog containing peat; also, peat as it occurs in such places; peat moss. --
Peat moss .
(a) The plants which, when decomposed, become peat .
(b) A fen producing peat .
(c) (Botany) Moss of the genus Sphagnum , which often grows abundantly in boggy or peaty places. --
Peat reek ,
the reek or smoke of peat; hence, also, the peculiar flavor given to whisky by being distilled with peat as fuel. [ Scot.]
Peaty Peat"y adjective Composed of peat; abounding in peat; resembling peat.
Peavey, Peavy Pea"vey, Pea"vy noun [ Said to be from the inventor's name.]
(Lumbering) A cant hook having the end of its lever armed with a spike.
Peba Pe"ba noun [ Confer Portuguese
peba .]
(Zoology) An armadillo ( Tatusia novemcincta ) which is found from Texas to Paraguay; -- called also tatouhou .
Pebble Peb"ble noun [ Anglo-Saxon
papolstān ; confer Latin
papula pimple, mote. See
Stone .]
1. A small roundish stone or bowlder; especially, a stone worn and rounded by the action of water; a pebblestone. "The
pebbles on the hungry beach."
Shak. As children gathering pebbles on the shore.
Milton. 2. Transparent and colorless rock crystal; as, Brazilian pebble ; -- so called by opticians. Pebble powder ,
slow-burning gunpowder, in large cubical grains. --
Scotch pebble ,
varieties of quartz, as agate, chalcedony, etc., obtained from cavities in amygdaloid.
Pebble Peb"ble transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Pebbled ;
present participle & verbal noun Pebbling .]
To grain (leather) so as to produce a surface covered with small rounded prominences.
Pebbled Peb"bled adjective Abounding in pebbles. Thomson.
Pebblestone Peb"ble·stone` A pebble; also, pebbles collectively. "Chains of pebblestone ." Marlowe.
Pebbly Peb"bly adjective Full of pebbles; pebbled. "A hard,
pebbly bottom."
Johnson.
Pebrine Pe`brine" noun [ French]
An epidemic disease of the silkworm, characterized by the presence of minute vibratory corpuscles in the blood.
Pecan Pe·can" noun [ Confer French
pacane the nut.]
(Botany) A species of hickory ( Carya olivæformis ), growing in North America, chiefly in the Mississippi valley and in Texas, where it is one of the largest of forest trees; also, its fruit, a smooth, oblong nut, an inch or an inch and a half long, with a thin shell and well-flavored meat. [ Written also
pacane .]
Pecary Pec"a·ry noun (Zoology) See Peccary .
Peccability Pec`ca·bil"i·ty noun The state or quality of being peccable; lability to sin. The common peccability of mankind.
Dr. H. More.
Peccable Pec"ca·ble adjective [ Confer French
peccable . See
Peccant .]
Liable to sin; subject to transgress the divine law. "A frail and
peccable mortal."
Sir W. Scott.
Peccadillo Pec`ca·dil"lo noun ;
plural Peccadillos . [ Spanish
pecadillo , dim. of
pecado a sin, from Latin
peccatum . See
Peccant .]
A slight trespass or offense; a petty crime or fault. Sir W. Scott.
Peccancy Pec"can·cy noun [ Latin
peccantia .]
1. The quality or state of being peccant. 2. A sin; an offense. W. Montagu.
Peccant Pec"cant adjective [ Latin
peccans ,
-antis , present participle of
peccare to sin: confer French
peccant .]
1. Sinning; guilty of transgression; criminal; as, peccant angels. Milton. 2. Morbid; corrupt; as, peccant humors. Bacon. 3. Wrong; defective; faulty. [ R.]
Ayliffe.
Peccant Pec"cant noun An offender. [ Obsolete]
Whitlock.
Peccantly Pec"cant·ly adverb In a peccant manner.
Peccary Pec"ca·ry noun ;
plural Peccaries . [ From the native South American name: confer French
pécari , Spanish
pecar .]
(Zoology) A pachyderm of the genus Dicotyles . » The collared peccary, or tajacu (
Dicotyles torquatus ), is about the size and shape of a small hog, and has a white ring aroung the neck. It ranges from Arkansas to Brazil. A larger species (
D. labiatus ), with white cheeks, is found in South America.
Peccavi Pec·ca"vi [ Latin ] I have sinned; -- used colloquially to express confession or acknowledgment of an offense. Aubrey.
Pecco Pec"co noun See Pekoe .
Peck Peck noun [ Perh. akin to
pack ; or, orig., an indefinite quantity, and from
peck , v. (below): confer also French
picotin a peak.]
1. The fourth part of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; as, a peck of wheat. "A
peck of provender."
Shak. 2. A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. "A
peck of uncertainties and doubts."
Milton.
Peck Peck transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Pecked ;
present participle & verbal noun Pecking .] [ See
Pick ,
v. ]
1. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree. 2. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements. 3. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up . Addison. This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas.
Shak. 4. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree.
Peck Peck intransitive verb 1. To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument. Carew. 2. To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat. [ The hen] went pecking by his side.
Dryden. To peck at ,
to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease.
Peck Peck noun A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument.
Pecker Peck"er noun 1. One who, or that which, pecks; specif., a bird that pecks holes in trees; a woodpecker. 2. An instrument for pecking; a pick. Garth. Flower pecker .
(Zoology) See under Flower .
Peckish Peck"ish adjective Inclined to eat; hungry. [ Colloq.] "When shall I feel
peckish again?"
Beaconsfield.
Peckled Pec"kled adjective Speckled; spotted. [ Obsolete]
Pecopteris Pe·cop"te·ris noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... to comb + ... a kind of fern.]
(Paleon.) An extensive genus of fossil ferns; -- so named from the regular comblike arrangement of the leaflets.
Pecora Pec"o·ra noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin
pecus . See
Pecuniary .]
(Zoology) An extensive division of ruminants, including the antelopes, deer, and cattle.
Pectate Pec"tate noun (Chemistry) A salt of pectic acid.
Pecten Pec"ten noun [ Latin
pecten ,
- inis , a comb, a kind of shellfish. See
Pectinate .]
1. (Anat.) (a) A vascular pigmented membrane projecting into the vitreous humor within the globe of the eye in birds, and in many reptiles and fishes; -- also called marsupium . (b) The pubic bone. 2. (Zoology) Any species of bivalve mollusks of the genus Pecten , and numerous allied genera (family Pectinidæ ); a scallop. See Scallop . 3. (Zoology) The comb of a scorpion. See Comb , 4 (b) .
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