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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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Perversity Per·ver"si·ty noun [ Latin perversitas : confer French perversité .] The quality or state of being perverse; perverseness.

Perversive Per·ver"sive adjective Tending to pervert.

Pervert Per·vert" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Perverted ; present participle & verbal noun Perverting .] [ French pervertir , Latin pervertere , perversum ; per + vertere to turn. See Per- , and Verse .] 1. To turnanother way; to divert. [ Obsolete]

Let's follow him, and pervert the present wrath.

Shak.

2. To turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt; also, to misapply; to misinterpret designedly; as, to pervert one's words. Dryden.

He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve.

Milton.

Pervert Per·vert" intransitive verb To become perverted; to take the wrong course. [ R.] Testament of Love.

Pervert Per"vert noun One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error, especially in religion; -- opposed to convert . See the Synonym of Convert .

That notorious pervert , Henry of Navarre.

Thackeray.

Perverter Per·vert"er noun One who perverts (a person or thing). "His own parents his perverters ." South. "A perverter of his law." Bp. Stillingfleet.

Pervertible Per·vert"i·ble adjective Capable of being perverted.

Pervestigate Per·ves"ti·gate transitive verb [ Latin pervestigatus , past participle of pervestigare .] To investigate thoroughly. [ Obsolete]

Pervestigation Per·ves`ti·ga"tion noun [ Latin pervestigatio .] Thorough investigation. [ Obsolete] Chillingworth.

Pervial Per"vi·al adjective [ See Pervious .] Pervious. [ Obsolete] -- Per"vi*al*ly , adverb [ Obsolete] Chapman.

Pervicacious Per`vi·ca"cious adjective [ Latin pervicax , -acis .] Obstinate; willful; refractory. [ Obsolete] -- Per`vi*ca"cious*ly , adverb -- Per`vi*ca"cious*ness , noun [ Obsolete]

Pervicacity Per`vi·cac"i·ty noun Obstinacy; pervicaciousness. [ Obsolete] Bentley.

Pervicacy Per"vi·ca·cy noun [ Latin pervicacia .] Pervicacity. [ Obsolete]

Pervigilation Per·vig`i·la"tion noun [ Latin pervigilatio , from pervigilare .] Careful watching. [ Obsolete]

Pervious Per"vi·ous adjective [ Latin pervis ; per + via a way. See Per- , and Voyage .] 1. Admitting passage; capable of being penetrated by another body or substance; permeable; as, a pervious soil.

[ Doors] . . . pervious to winds, and open every way.

Pope.

2. Capable of being penetrated, or seen through, by physical or mental vision. [ R.]

God, whose secrets are pervious to no eye.

Jer. Taylor.

3. Capable of penetrating or pervading. [ Obsolete] Prior.

4. (Zoology) Open; -- used synonymously with perforate , as applied to the nostrils or birds.

Perviousness Per"vi·ous·ness noun The quality or state of being pervious; as, the perviousness of glass. Boyle.

Pervis Per"vis noun See Parvis .

Pery Per"y noun A pear tree. See Pirie . [ Obsolete]

Peræopod Pe·ræ"o·pod noun [ Greek ... on the opposite side + -pod .] (Zoology) One of the thoracic legs of a crustacean. See Illust. of Crustacea .

Pes Pes noun ; plural Pedes . [ Latin , the foot.] (Anat.) The distal segment of the hind limb of vertebrates, including the tarsus and foot.

Pesade Pe·sade" noun [ French] (Man.) The motion of a horse when, raising his fore quarters, he keeps his hind feet on the ground without advancing; rearing.

Pesage Pes"age noun [ French, from peser to weigh.] A fee, or toll, paid for the weighing of merchandise.

Pesane Pes"ane noun (Anc. Armor.) See Pusane .

Pesanted Pes"ant·ed adjective [ French pesant heavy.] Made heavy or dull; debased. [ Obsolete] " Pesanted to each lewd thought's control." Marston.

Peschito Pe·schit"o noun See Peshito .

Pese Pese noun [ See Pea .] A pea. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Peseta Pe·se"ta noun [ Spanish ] A Spanish silver coin, and money of account, equal to about nineteen cents, and divided into 100 centesimos.

Peshito, Peshitto Pe·shit"o, Pe·shit"to noun [ Syriac peshîtâ simple.] The earliest Syriac version of the Old Testament, translated from Hebrew; also, the incomplete Syriac version of the New Testament. [ Written also peschito .]

Pesky Pes"ky adjective [ Etymol. uncertain.] Pestering; vexatious; troublesome. Used also as an intensive. [ Colloq. & Low, U.S.] Judd.

Peso Pe"so noun [ Spanish ] A Spanish dollar; also, an Argentine, Chilian, Colombian, etc., coin, equal to from 75 cents to a dollar; also, a pound weight.

Pessary Pes"sa·ry noun ; plural Pessaries . [ Latin pessarium , pessum , pessus , Greek ...: confer French pessaire .] (Medicine) (a) An instrument or device to be introduced into and worn in the vagina, to support the uterus, or remedy a malposition. (b) A medicinal substance in the form of a bolus or mass, designed for introduction into the vagina; a vaginal suppository.

Pessimism Pes"si·mism noun [ Latin pessimus worst, superl. of pejor worse: confer French pessimisme . Confer Impair .] 1. (Metaph.) The opinion or doctrine that everything in nature is ordered for or tends to the worst, or that the world is wholly evil; -- opposed to optimism .

2. A disposition to take the least hopeful view of things.

Pessimist Pes"si·mist noun [ Latin pessimus worst: confer French pessimiste .] 1. (Metaph.) One who advocates the doctrine of pessimism; -- opposed to optimist .

2. One who looks on the dark side of things.

Pessimist, Pessimistic Pes"si·mist, Pes`si·mis"tic adjective (Metaph.) Of or pertaining to pessimism; characterized by pessimism; gloomy; foreboding. "Giving utterance to pessimistic doubt." Encyc. Brit.

Pessimistical Pes`si·mis"tic·al adjective Pessimistic.

Pessimize Pes"si·mize intransitive verb To hold or advocate the doctrine of pessimism. London Sat. Rev.

Pessulus Pes"su·lus noun ; plural Pessuli . [ Latin , a bolt.] (Anat.) A delicate bar of cartilage connecting the dorsal and ventral extremities of the first pair of bronchial cartilages in the syrinx of birds.

Pest Pest noun [ Latin pestis : confer French peste .] 1. A fatal epidemic disease; a pestilence; specif., the plague.

England's sufferings by that scourge, the pest .

Cowper.

2. Anything which resembles a pest; one who, or that which, is troublesome, noxious, mischievous, or destructive; a nuisance. "A pest and public enemy." South.

Pestalozzian Pes`ta·loz"zi·an adjective Belonging to, or characteristic of, a system of elementary education which combined manual training with other instruction, advocated and practiced by Jean Henri Pestalozzi (1746-1827), a Swiss teacher. -- noun An advocate or follower of the system of Pestalozzi.

Pestalozzianism Pes`ta·loz"zi·an·ism noun The system of education introduced by Pestalozzi.

Pester Pes"ter transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pestered ; present participle & verbal noun Pestering .] [ Abbrev. from impester , from Old French empaistrier , empestrer , to entangle the feet or legs, to embarrass, French emp ê trer ; prefix em- , en- (L. in in) + Late Latin pastorium , pastoria , a fetter by which horses are prevented from wandering in the pastures, from Latin pastorius belonging to a herdsman or shepherd, pastor a herdsman. See In , and Pasture , Pastor .] 1. To trouble; to disturb; to annoy; to harass with petty vexations.

We are pestered with mice and rats.

Dr. H. More.

A multitude of scribblers daily pester the world.

Dryden.

2. To crowd together in an annoying way; to overcrowd; to infest. [ Obsolete] Milton.

All rivers and pools . . . pestered full with fishes.

Holland.

Pesterer Pes"ter·er noun One who pesters or harasses.

Pesterment Pes"ter·ment noun The act of pestering, or the state of being pestered; vexation; worry. "The trouble and pesterment of children." B. Franklin.

Pesterous Pes"ter·ous adjective Inclined to pester. Also, vexatious; encumbering; burdensome. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Pestful Pest"ful adjective Pestiferous. "After long and pestful calms." Coleridge.

Pesthouse Pest`house" noun A house or hospital for persons who are infected with any pestilential disease.

Pestiduct Pes"ti·duct noun [ Latin pestis pest + ductus a leading, from ducere to lead.] That which conveys contagion or infection. [ Obsolete] Donne.

Pestiferous Pes·tif"er·ous adjective [ Latin pestiferus , pestifer ; pestis pest + ferre to bear: confer French pestifère .] 1. Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious; as, pestiferous bodies. "Poor, pestiferous creatures begging alms." Evelyn. "Unwholesome and pestiferous occupations." Burke.

2. Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue.

Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held.

Shak.

Pestiferously Pes·tif"er·ous·ly adverb In a pestiferuos manner.

Pestilence Pes"ti·lence noun [ French pestilence , Latin pestilentia . See Pestilent .] 1. Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

The pestilence That walketh in darkness.

Ps. xci. 6.

2. Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers.

I'll pour this pestilence into his ear.

Shak.

Pestilence weed (Botany) , the butterbur coltsfoot ( Petasites vulgaris ), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Dr. Prior.

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 64 of 206.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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