Pitying Pit"y·ing adjective Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word. --
Pit"y*ing*ly ,
adverb
Pityriasis Pit`y·ri"a·sis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ..., from ..., lit., bran.]
(Medicine) A superficial affection of the skin, characterized by irregular patches of thin scales which are shed in branlike particles. Pityriasis Pit`y·ri"a·sis noun (Veter.) A disease of domestic animals characterized by dry epithelial scales, and due to digestive disturbances and alteration of the function of the sebaceous glands.
Pityroid Pit"y·roid adjective [ Greek ... bran +
- oid .]
Having the form of, or resembling, bran. Smart.
Pivot Piv"ot noun [ F.; probably akin to Italian
piva pipe, French
pipe . See
Pipe .]
1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns. 2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch. 3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise. 4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; -- called also pivot man . Pivot bridge ,
a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span , turns about a central vertical axis. --
Pivot gun ,
a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction. --
Pivot tooth (Dentistry) ,
an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.
Pivot Piv"ot transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Pivoted ;
present participle & verbal noun Pivoting .]
To place on a pivot. Clarke.
Pivotal Piv"ot·al adjective Of or pertaining to a pivot or turning point; belonging to, or constituting, a pivot; of the nature of a pivot; as, the pivotal opportunity of a career; the pivotal position in a battle.
Pix Pix noun & v. See Pyx .
Pixy-led Pix"y-led` adjective Led by pixies; bewildered.
Pixy, Pixie Pix"y, Pix"ie noun ;
plural Pixies . [ For
Pucksy , from
Puck .]
1. An old English name for a fairy; an elf. [ Written also
picksy .]
2. (Botany) A low creeping evergreen plant ( Pyxidanthera barbulata ), with mosslike leaves and little white blossoms, found in New Jersey and southward, where it flowers in earliest spring. Pixy ring ,
a fairy ring or circle. [ Prov. Eng.] --
Pixy stool (Botany) ,
a toadstool or mushroom. [ Prov. Eng.]
Piü Pi"ü adverb [ Italian , from Latin
plus . See
Plus .]
(Mus.) A little more; as, piü allegro, a little more briskly.
Pizzicato Piz`zi·ca"to [ Italian , pinched.] (Mus.) A direction to violinists to pluck the string with the finger, instead of using the bow. (Abrev. pizz.)
Pizzle Piz"zle noun [ Confer Prov. German
pissel ,
pesel ,
peisel ,
peserich , Dutch
pees a tendon or spring.]
The penis; -- so called in some animals, as the bull. Shak.
Placability Pla`ca·bil"i·ty noun [ Latin
placabilitas : confer French
placabilité .]
The quality or state of being placable or appeasable; placable disposition.
Placable Pla"ca·ble adjective [ Latin
placabilis , from
placare to quiet, pacify: confer French
placable . See
Placate .]
Capable of being appeased or pacified; ready or willing to be pacified; willing to forgive or condone. Methought I saw him placable and mild.
Milton.
Placableness Pla"ca·ble·ness noun The quality of being placable.
Placard Pla·card" noun [ French, from
plaquer to lay or clap on,
plaque plate, tablet; probably from Dutch, confer Dutch
plakken to paste, post up,
plak a flat piece of wood.]
1. A public proclamation; a manifesto or edict issued by authority. [ Obsolete]
All placards or edicts are published in his name.
Howell. 2. Permission given by authority; a license; as, to give a placard to do something. [ Obsolete]
ller. 3. A written or printed paper, as an advertisement or a declaration, posted, or to be posted, in a public place; a poster. 4. (Anc. Armor) An extra plate on the lower part of the breastplate or backplate. Planché. 5. [ Confer
Placket .]
A kind of stomacher, often adorned with jewels, worn in the fifteenth century and later.
Placard Pla·card" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Placarded ;
present participle & verbal noun Placarding .]
1. To post placards upon or within; as, to placard a wall, to placard the city. 2. To announce by placards; as, to placard a sale.
Placate Plac"ate noun Same as Placard , 4 & 5.
Placate Pla"cate transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Placated ;
present participle & verbal noun Placating .] [ Latin
placatus , past participle of
placare to placate, akin to
placere to please. See
Please .]
To appease; to pacify; to concilate. "Therefore is he always propitiated and
placated ."
Cudworth.
Placation Pla·ca"tion noun [ Latin
placatio .]
The act of placating. [ R.]
Puttenham (1589).
Place Place noun [ French, from Latin
platea a street, an area, a courtyard, from Greek
platei^a a street, properly fem. of
platy`s , flat, broad; akin to Sanskrit
prthu , Lithuanian
platus . Confer
Flawn ,
Piazza ,
Plate ,
Plaza .]
1. Any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space. Here is the place appointed.
Shak. What place can be for us
Within heaven's bound?
Milton. The word place has sometimes a more confused sense, and stands for that space which any body takes up; and so the universe is a place .
Locke. 2. A broad way in a city; an open space; an area; a court or short part of a street open only at one end. "Hangman boys in the market
place ."
Shak. 3. A position which is occupied and held; a dwelling; a mansion; a village, town, or city; a fortified town or post; a stronghold; a region or country. Are you native of this place ?
Shak. 4. Rank; degree; grade; order of priority, advancement, dignity, or importance; especially, social rank or position; condition; also, official station; occupation; calling. "The enervating magic of
place ."
Hawthorne. Men in great place are thrice servants.
Bacon. I know my place as I would they should do theirs.
Shak. 5. Vacated or relinquished space; room; stead (the departure or removal of another being or thing being implied). "In
place of Lord Bassanio."
Shak. 6. A definite position or passage of a document. The place of the scripture which he read was this.
Acts viii. 32. 7. Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding; as, he said in the first place . 8. Reception; effect; -- implying the making room for. My word hath no place in you.
John viii. 37. 9. (Astron.) Position in the heavens, as of a heavenly body; -- usually defined by its right ascension and declination, or by its latitude and longitude. Place of arms (Mil.) ,
a place calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, etc., as a fort which affords a safe retreat for hospitals, magazines, etc. Wilhelm. --
High place (Script.) ,
a mount on which sacrifices were offered. "Him that offereth in the
high place ."
Jer. xlviii. 35. --
In place ,
in proper position; timely. --
Out of place ,
inappropriate; ill-timed; as, his remarks were out of place . --
Place kick (Football) ,
the act of kicking the ball after it has been placed on the ground. --
Place name ,
the name of a place or locality. London Academy. --
To give place ,
to make room; to yield; to give way; to give advantage. "Neither
give place to the devil."
Eph. iv. 27. "Let all the rest
give place ."
Shak. --
To have place ,
to have a station, room, or seat; as, such desires can have no place in a good heart. --
To take place .
(a) To come to pass; to occur; as, the ceremony will not take place . (b) To take precedence or priority. Addison. (c) To take effect; to prevail. "If your doctrine
takes place ."
Berkeley. "But none of these excuses would
take place ."
Spenser. - -
To take the place of ,
to be substituted for. Syn. -- Situation; seat; abode; position; locality; location; site; spot; office; employment; charge; function; trust; ground; room; stead.
Place Place transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Placed ;
present participle & verbal noun Placing .] [ Confer French
placer . See
Place ,
noun ]
1. To assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown.
Shak. 2. To put or set in a particular rank, office, or position; to surround with particular circumstances or relations in life; to appoint to certain station or condition of life; as, in whatever sphere one is placed . Place such over them to be rulers.
Ex. xviii. 21. 3. To put out at interest; to invest; to loan; as, to place money in a bank. 4. To set; to fix; to repose; as, to place confidence in a friend. "My resolution 's
placed ."
Shak. 5. To attribute; to ascribe; to set down. Place it for her chief virtue.
Shak. To place (a person),
to identify him. [ Colloq. U.S.]
Syn. -- See
Put .
Place Place noun (Racing) The position of first, second, or third at the finish, esp. the second position. In betting, to win a bet on a horse for place it must, in the United States, finish first or second, in England, usually, first, second, or third.
Place Place transitive verb 1. (Racing) To determine or announce the place of at the finish. Usually, in horse racing only the first three horses are placed officially. 2. (Rugby Football) To place-kick ( a goal).
Place-kick Place"-kick` transitive verb & i. To make a place kick; to make (a goal) by a place kick. --
Place"- kick`er ,
noun
Place-proud Place"-proud` adjective Proud of rank or office. Beau. & Fl.
Placebo Pla·ce"bo noun [ Latin , I shall please, fut. of
placere to please.]
1. (R. C. Ch.) The first antiphon of the vespers for the dead. 2. (Medicine) A prescription intended to humor or satisfy. To sing placebo ,
to agree with one in his opinion; to be complaisant to. Chaucer.
Placeful Place"ful adjective In the appointed place. [ Obsolete]
Placeless Place"less adjective Having no place or office.
Placeman Place"man noun ;
plural Placemen One who holds or occupies a place; one who has office under government. Sir W. Scott. Place"ment noun [ Confer French
placement .]
1. The act of placing, or the state of being placed. 2. Position; place.
Placenta Pla·cen"ta noun ;
plural Latin
Placentć , English
Placentas . [ Latin , a cake, Greek ... a flat cake, from ... flat, from ..., ..., anything flat and broad.]
1. (Anat.) The vascular appendage which connects the fetus with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the afterbirth. » In most mammals the placenta is principally developed from the allantois and chorion, and tufts of vascular villi on its surface penetrate the blood vessels of the parental uterus, and thus establish a nutritive and excretory connection between the blood of the fetus and that of the parent, though the blood itself does not flow from one to the other.
2. (Botany) The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules or seeds are attached.
Placental Pla·cen"tal adjective 1. Of or pertaining to the placenta; having, or characterized by having, a placenta; as, a placental mammal. 2. (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the Placentalia.
Placental Pla·cen"tal noun (Zoology) One of the Placentalia.
Placentalia Plac`en·ta"li·a noun plural [ New Latin ]
(Zoology) A division of Mammalia including those that have a placenta, or all the orders above the marsupials.
Placentary Pla·cen"ta·ry adjective Having reference to the placenta; as, the placentary system of classification.
Placentation Plac`en·ta"tion noun 1. (Anat.) The mode of formation of the placenta in different animals; as, the placentation of mammals. 2. (Botany) The mode in which the placenta is arranged or composed; as, axile placentation ; parietal placentation .
Placentiferous Plac`en·tif"er·ous adjective [
Placenta +
-ferous .]
(Bot. & Zoology) Having or producing a placenta.
Placentiform Pla·cen"ti·form adjective [
Placenta +
-form .]
(Botany) Having the shape of a placenta, or circular thickened disk somewhat thinner about the middle.
Placentious Pla·cen"tious adjective [ See
Please .]
Pleasing; amiable. [ Obsolete] "A
placentious person."
Fuller.
Placer Pla"cer noun One who places or sets. Spenser.
Placer Plac"er noun [ Spanish ]
A deposit of earth, sand, or gravel, containing valuable mineral in particles, especially by the side of a river, or in the bed of a mountain torrent. [ U.S.]
Placet Pla"cet noun [ Latin
placet it pleases.]
1. A vote of assent, as of the governing body of a university, of an ecclesiastical council, etc. 2. The assent of the civil power to the promulgation of an ecclesiastical ordinance. Shipley. The king . . . annulled the royal placet .
J. P. Peters.
Placid Plac"id adjective [ Latin
placidus , originally, pleasing, mild, from
placere to please: confer French
placide . See
Please .]
Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. "That
placid aspect and meek regard."
Milton. "Sleeping . . . the
placid sleep of infancy."
Macaulay.
Placidity Pla·cid"i·ty noun [ Latin
placiditas : confer French
placidité .]
The quality or state of being placid; calmness; serenity. Hawthorne.
Placidly Plac"id·ly adverb In a placid manner.
Placidness Plac"id·ness noun The quality or state of being placid.
Placit Plac"it noun [ Latin
placitum . See
Plea .]
A decree or determination; a dictum. [ Obsolete] "The
placits and opinions of other philosophers."
Evelyn.
Placitory Plac"i·to·ry adjective [ See
Placit .]
Of or pertaining to pleas or pleading, in courts of law. [ Obsolete]
Clayton.
Placitum Plac"i·tum noun ;
plural Placita . [ Late Latin See
Placit .]
1. A public court or assembly in the Middle Ages, over which the sovereign president when a consultation was held upon affairs of state. Brande & C. 2. (Old Eng. Law) A court, or cause in court. 3. (Law) A plea; a pleading; a judicial proceeding; a suit. Burrill.