PIPE-LAYER little pipe-fish is the S. ophidion, about 5 or 6 inches long, and very slender. Pipe-layer (pip'lā-èr), n. A workman who lays gas mains, water or draining pipes. Pipe-laying (pīp'lā-ing), n. The act of laying down pipes for gas, water, and the like. Pipe-lee (pip'lē), n. Tobacco half-smoked to ashes in a pipe. G. A. Sala. Pipe-mouth (pip'mouth), n. A fish of the genus Fistularia, so called from the front of the head forming an elongated pipe-like tube. Pipe-office (pip'of-fis), n. See PIPE, 6. Piper (pip'er), n. 1. One who plays on a pipe or wind-instrument; a bagpiper.-2. A species of acanthopterygious fish found on our coast. It is the Trigla lyra of naturalists. 3. A sea urchin, Cidaris_papillata, common in the north seas.-To pay the piper. See under PAY. Piper (pip'er), n. [See PEPPER.] A genus of plants belonging to the nat. order Piperaceæ. See PEPPER. Piperaceae (pi-pèr-ā'sē-ē), n. pl. A small nat. order of shrubby or herbaceous exogens, of which the genus Piper is the type. These plants are exclusively confined to the hottest parts of the world, and abound in tropical America and the Indian Archipelago. The general properties of the order are aromatic, pungent, and stimulant, as in the peppers of the shops. See PEPPER. Piperaceous (pi-pèr-a'shus), a. [L. piper, pepper.] Of or belonging to the Piperaceae or pepper tribe of plants. Piperic (pi-per'ik), a. Produced from plants of the pepper family or from piperin.Piperic acid (C12H1004), an acid produced by boiling piperin with potash. Piperidge (pi'pėr-ij), n. [Corruption of Mod. L. berberis. See BARBERRY.] 1. A shrub, the barberry. Called also Piperidge Bush and Pepperidge.-2. The tupelo or black-gum, a tree with very tough wood, belonging to the genus Nyssa. Piperidin (pi-per'i-din), n. (C, H11 N.) A volatile basic substance produced by the action of alkalies on piperin. Piperin, Piperine (pi'per-in), n. 1. A concretion of volcanic ashes.-2. (C17 H19 NO3.) A peculiar crystalline substance extracted from black pepper. The crystals of piperin are transparent, and they assume the tetrahedral prismatic form with oblique summits; they are colourless, tasteless, inodorous; fusible, not volatile; they are soluble in alcohol, and with oil of vitriol give a red colour. Piperin also occurs in white pepper. Pipe-roll (pip'rōl), n. A great roll formerly kept in the exchequer, said to be so named from its resemblance to a pipe. See PIPE, 6. Pipe-staple, Pipe-stapple (pip'stap-1), n. [O.D. stapel, a stalk.] The stalk of a tobacco-pipe; also, a stalk of grass; a windlestraw. Sir W. Scott. [Scotch.] Pipe-stick (pip'stik), n. The wooden tube used in some tobacco-pipes. Pipe-stone (pīp'stōn), n. A variety of clayslate or argillite occurring in Oregon, which the Indians carve into bowls for tobaccopipes. It is of a grayish-blue or black colour. Pipe-tree (pip'trē), n. The lilac-tree, the Syringa vulgaris.-Pudding pipe-tree, the Cassia fistula, a tree which grows in the East Indies. The pulp of the pods is purgative. Pipette (pi-pet'), n. [Fr., a small pipe.] A small tube, generally of glass and terminating in a perforated point, used by chemists for transferring liquids. Pipe-wine (pip'win), n. pipe, as distinguished from that from the bottle. Shak. Wine from the 450 whistling sound.-3. Accompanied by the music of the peaceful pipe, rather than that of the martial trump or fife. Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time. Shak. 4. Simmering; boiling.-Piping hot, boiling hot; hissing hot: from the sound of boiling fluids. 'A nice pretty bit of ox-cheek, piping hot and dressed with a little of my own sauce.' Goldsmith. Piping (pip'ing), n. 1. The act of one who pipes.-2. Pipes, as for gas, water, &c., collectively.-3. In hort. a mode of propagating herbaceous plants having jointed stems, such as pinks, by taking slips or cuttings consisting of two joints and planting them under glass; also, one of these cuttings.4. A kind of cord trimming or fluting for dresses. A group of natives in blue cotton tunics, with red piping and tulwars by their sides. W. H. Russell. Piping-crow (pip'ing-krō), n. The Barita tibicen, a bird of New South Wales, remarkable for its musical powers. It learns to whistle tunes, and exhibits a great power of mimicking the voices of other birds. By some naturalists this bird is placed among the shrikes (Laniidae), by others among the crows (Corvida). Pipistrel, Pipistrelle (pi-pis'trel), n. [Fr. pipistrelle, It. pipistrello, vispistrello, vespistrello, from L. vespertilio, a bat.] A species of bat, the smallest of the kind. It is the common bat of Britain (Vespertilio pipistrella). Pipit (píp'it), n. [Probably imitative of its cry.] A common name of the birds of the genus Anthus, intermediate between larks and wagtails, but bearing a greater resemblance in its aspect to the former. See ANTHUS. Pipkin (pip'kin), n. [Dim. of pipe.] A small earthen boiler. Pipowder (pi'pou-der), a. See PIEPOUDRE. Pippin (pip'in), n. [Probably from the pips or spots on its skin; comp. O.D. pipping, D. pippeling, a pippin.] The name given to several kinds of apples; as, the golden pippin, the lemon pippin, the Kentish pippin, &c. We will eat a last year's pippin.' Shak. Pippin-face (pip'in-fās), n. A reddish, round, smooth face, suggesting a resemblance to a pippin. "The hard-headed man with the pippin-face.' Dickens. Pippin-faced (pip'in-fast),a. Having a round rosy face suggestive of a pippin. A little hard-headed, Ribstone pippin-faced man.' Dickens. Pippul-tree (pip'pul-trē),n. Same as Peepul tree. Pipra (pi'pra), n. A genus of passerine birds, known by the name of manakins, which in Pipra aureola. habit South America. Swainson has named them Piprina, and made them a sub-family of the family Ampelidæ, fruit-eaters or chatterers. See MANAKIN. Pipridae (pi'pri-dē), n. pl. Vigors' name for the manakins, a family of passerine birds. The genus Pipra is the type. See PIPRA. Pipewort (pip'wėrt), n. A British plant of the genus Eriocaulon, the E. septangulare, belonging to the nat. order Eriocau- Pipy (pi'pi), a. Resembling a pipe; formed loneæ. It is found in Skye, Coll, and a few of the neighbouring islands of the Hebrides. It is frequent in the north-west of Ireland. See ERIOCAULONEÆ. Pipi (pi'pi), n. The astringent pods of Casalpinia Pipai, sometimes imported along with divi-divi for tanning. They are very inferior to those of divi-divi. Pipidæ (pi'pi-dē), n. pl. The Surinam toads, a section of the Batrachia in which there are rarely teeth, and the mouth is destitute of a tongue. The typical genus is Pipa (which see). Piping (pip'ing), p. and a. 1. Playing on a pipe. Lowing herds, and piping swains.' Swift.-2. Having or giving out a shrill like a tube; tubular; hollow-stemmed. In desolate places, where dark moisture breeds The pipy hemlock to strange overgrowth. Keats. Piquancy (pik'an-si), n. The state or quality of being piquant; sharpness; pungency; tartness; severity; smartness; liveliness. Piquant (pë'kant), a. [Fr. piquer, to prick, to be sharp to the taste, to pique; of same origin as pick, pike, peak, &c.] 1. Making a lively, half-pleasing, half-painful impression on the organs of sense; sharp. 'As piquant to the tongue as salt.' Addison.-2. Racy; lively; sparkling; interesting; as, a piquant anecdote; a piquant style of female beauty. The most piquant passages in the lives of Miss Kennedy, Miss Davis, and Nancy Parsons.' PIRAMETER Craik.-3. Sharp or cutting to the feelings; keen; tart; pungent; severe. Men make their railleries as piquant as they can to wound the deeper. Dr. H. More. Piquantly (pe'kant-li), adv. In a piquant manner; with sharpness or pungency; tartly; smartly; lively. Piquantly though wittily taunted.' Locke. Pique (pēk), n. [Fr. See PIQUANT.] 1. An offence taken; slight anger, irritation, or displeasure at persons; feeling arising from wounded pride, vanity, or self-love; stinging vexation. Men take up piques and displeasures at others. Dr. H. More. Out of personal pique to those in service, he stands as a looker on when the government is attacked. Addison. If a man has once persuaded himself that long, costly, and bloody wars had arisen upon a point of ceremony, upon a personal pique, &c. De Quincey. 2. A strong desire or passion. Though he have the pique, and long, 'Tis still for something in the wrong. Hudibras. 3.† Point; nicety; punctilio. Add long prescriptions of established laws, And pique of honour to maintain a cause. Dryden, SYN. Displeasure, irritation, grudge, spite. Pique (pek), v.t. pret. & pp. piqued; ppr. piquing. [Fr. piquer. See PIQUANT.] 1. To offend; to nettle; to irritate; to sting; to fret; to excite a degree of anger. It expresses less than exasperate. I must first have a value for the thing I lose, before Cibber. it piques me. 2. To stimulate; to excite to action; to touch with envy, jealousy, or other passion. Piqued by Protogenes's fame, From Cos to Rhodes Apelles came. Prior. 3. With the reflexive pronoun, to pride or value one's self. Men pique themselves on their skill in the learned languages. Locke. 4. In the game of piquet, the right the elder hand has to count thirty or to play before the adversary counts one.-SYN. To offend, displease, irritate, provoke, fret, nettle, sting, goad, stimulate. Pique (pek), v.i. To cause irritation. Piqueer, Piqueerer (pik-er', pik-er'ėr). Same as Pickeer, Pickeerer. Piquet (pik'et), n. [Fr. pique, a pike, a lance, a spade at cards.] 1. Milit. a picket (which see).-2. A game at cards played between two persons, with thirty-two cards; all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes being set aside, the as de pique, or ace of spades, being the highest card Piquette (pe-ket'), n. Sour wine; a drink made in France by pouring water on the husks of grapes. Simmonds. Piqué-work (pē'kā-wèrk), n. A minute kind of buhl-work, employed to ornament objects of small size, as snuff-boxes, cardcases, and the like. Piracy (pi'ra-si), n. [See PIRATE.] 1. The act, practice, or crime of robbing on the high seas; the taking of property from others by open violence and without authority, on the sea; a crime that answers to robbery on land. In those days a Northman took to piracy as soon as his ship was launched as naturally as a cygnet takes to the water. Edin. Rev. Other acts besides robbery on the high seas are declared by statute to be piracy. Thus if any commander, or other seafaring person, betrays his trust and runs away with any ship, boat, goods, &c., or if he yields them up voluntarily to a pirate, or conspires to do any of these acts, he is adjudged a pirate. Also the trading with known pirates, or in any way aiding them, or confederating or corresponding with them, is deemed piracy. The dealing in slaves on the high. seas is likewise piracy.-2. Literary theft; any infringement on the law of copyright. Piragua (pi-ra'gwa), n. A rude canoe. See PIROGUE. Pirai (pi-ri'), n. The Serrasalmo Piraya, a voracious fresh-water fish of tropical America. Its jaws are armed with lancet-shaped teeth as sharp as those of the shark. Cattle when fording rivers are sometimes terribly bitten by them. The natives of Guiana sharpen their tiny arrows for the blow-pipe by drawing them between two of the teeth, which shave them to a point with their sharp edges. It is 3 or 4 feet in length. Called also Piraya. Pirameter (pi-ram'et-êr), n. [Gr. peira, a trial, and metron, measure.] The name given to an instrument for ascertaining the power required to draw carriages over roads. PIRAMIDIG Piramidig (pi-ram'i-dig), _n. A species of goatsucker is so called in Jamaica, from its note. It is the Caprimulgus virginianus or americanus. Piramis (pir'a-mis), n. [L. pyramis.] A pyramid. Beau. & FI Place me some god upon a pyramis, Higher than hills of earth. Pirate (pi'rāt), n. [L. pirata, from Gr. peirates, from peirao, to attempt.] 1. A robber on the high seas; one that by open violence takes the property of another on the high seas. In strictness, the word pirate is one who makes it his business to cruise for robbery or plunder; a freebooter on the seas. See PIRACY. There be land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-thieves, I mean pirates. Shak. 2. An armed ship or vessel which sails without a legal commission, for the purpose of plundering other vessels indiscriminately on the high seas.-3. A publisher, compiler, or bookseller who appropriates the literary labours of an author without compensation or permission. Pirate (pi'rat), v.i. pret. pirated; ppr. pirating. To play the pirate; to rob on the high seas. Pope. They advertised they would pirate his edition. Piratic (pi-rat'ik), a. Same as Piratical. Piratical (pi-rat'ik-al), a. [L. piraticus Gr. peiratikos, pertaining to pirates, piratic, piratical.] 1. Having the character of a pirate; robbing or plundering by open violence on the high seas; as, a piratical commander or ship.-2. Pertaining to or consisting in piracy; as, a piratical trade or occupation. 3. Practising literary theft. The errors of the press were multiplied by pirati Pope. cal printers. Piratically (pi-rat'ik-al-li), adv. In a piratical manner; by piracy. Piraya (pi-rä'ya), n. Same as Pirai. Pirl (perl), v.t. To spin as a top; to twist or twine, as in forming horse-hair into fishinglines; to wind wire of gold or silver. Pirn (pern), n. A bobbin; a spool; a reel; the reel of a fishing-rod. Pirnie (pir'ni), n. A woollen nightcap made in Kilmarnock, of different colours or stripes. Simmonds. [Scotch.] Pirogue (pi-rōg'), n. [Fr. pirogue, Sp. piragua; originally a W. Indian word.] 1. A 451 though properly they differ from them in having both sides alike, and in being formed from one piece of wood. Called also Periagua and Piragua.-2. A narrow ferryboat carrying two masts and a leeboard. [United States.] Pirouette (pir'ö-et), n. [Fr. ; origin unknown.] 1. In dancing, a rapid whirling on the point of one foot, which can be repeated by balletdancers many times in succession.-2. In the manege, the sudden short turn of a horse, so as to bring his head suddenly in the opposite direction to where it was before. Pirouette (pir'o-et),v.i. pret. pirouetted; ppr. pirouetting. To perform a pirouette; to turn upon one leg, or upon the toes, as in dancing. Pirry, Pirrie (per'ri), n. [Sc. pirr, pirrie, A pirrie came, and set my ship on sands. Pisang (pis'ang), n. ing to fish or fishing, from piscis, a fish, piscor, to fish.] In law, the right or privilege of fishing in another man's waters. Piscationt (pis-ka'shon), n. [L. piscatio. See PISCARY.] The act or practice of fishing. Sir T. Browne. Piscator (pis-ka'tor), n. [L.] A fisherman; an angler. Iz. Walton. Piscatorial (pis-ka-to'ri-al), a. Relating to fishing; piscatory. Piscatory (pis'ka-to-ri), a. [L. piscatorius, pertaining to fishermen, from piscator, a fisherman, from piscis, a fish.] Relating to fishermen or to fishing; pertaining to angling; as, the piscatory art. 'Piscatory eclogues.' Addison. Pisces (pis'sez), n. pl. [L. piscis, a fish] 1. In astron. the Fishes, the twelfth sign or constellation in the zodiac, next to Aries. It is denoted by the character X, and represented by two fishes tied together by the tails. According to the Egyptian mythology the Pisces were hieroglyphic of the spring season, when the fishing commences.2. The name of the first great subdivision of vertebrate animals, or the class fishes, characterized by a branchial respiration, a bilocular heart, fins with osseous rays in the median line of the body, and for the most part a covering of scales. The first class of the Vertebrata is that of the Fishes (Pisces), which may be broadly defined as including vertebrate animals which are provided with gills throughout the whole of life; the heart when present consists (except in Dipnoi) of a single auricle and a single ventricle; the blood is cold; the limbs when present are in the form of fins, or expansions of the integument; and there is neither an amnion nor allantois in the embryo, unless the latter is represented by the urinary bladder.' H. A. Nicholson. Piscicultural (pis-i-kul'tu-ral), a. Connected with or relating to pisciculture. Pisciculture (pis-i-kul'tür), n. [L. piscis, a fish, and cultura, culture, from colo, cultum, to cultivate.] The breeding, rearing, preservation, feeding, and fattening of fish by artificial means; fish culture. Pisciculture has been practised from very early ages. It appears to have been in use in ancient Egypt, and was followed in China in early times on a very large scale. It was revived in this country by Mr. Shaw of Drumlanrig in 1833. One great point in modern pisciculture is the propagation and rearing of young fish in artificial ponds with the view of introducing fish previously not found in the locality. Salmon and trout ova have been sent from Britain, and successfully propagated in Australia and New Zealand. The art has now come into general favour and is widely followed, very many rivers having on their banks breeding and rearing establishments for the purpose of increasing the stock of fish in the streams. A very successful effort has been carried out at Stormontfield, near Perth, on the Tay. From Huningue, near Basel, on the Rhine, millions of ova are annually despatched to England, Germany, Spain, and other countries. The art is every year receiving greater de PISOLITIC velopment, and promises to become yet an important department of commercial industry. Pisciculturist (pis-i-kul'tür-ist), n. One who practises pisciculture; one who rears fish. Piscidia (pis-sid'i-a), n. [L. piscis, a fish, and cædo, to kill, because the leaves, bark, and twigs are used for the purpose of stupefying fish.] A genus of plants, nat. order Leguminosæ. The species are West Indian trees, with broad unequally pinnate leaves, and terminal panicles of white and red flowers. The bark of the root of P. Erythrina (dogwood tree) is a powerful narcotic, and is used as a substitute for opium, and also for poisoning fish. The timber of this tree is heavy, resinous, and almost imperishable; hence it makes excellent piles for docks and wharfs. Pisciform (pis'i-form), a. [L. piscis, a fish, and forma, shape.] Having the shape of a fish. Piscina (pis'si-na), n. [L., a cistern, a fishpond, from piscis, a fish.] A niche on the south side of the altar in churches, containing or having attached a small basin and water drain, through which the priest empties the water in which he washes his hands, and also that in which the chalice is rinsed. Piscinal (pis'si-nal), a. Belonging to a piscina or to a fish-pond. Piscina, Fiefield, Essex. Piscine (pis'sin), a. [L. piscis, a fish.] Pertaining to fish or fishes; as, piscine remains. Piscivorous (pis-siv'o-rus), a. [L. piscis, a fish, and voro, to eat.] Feeding or subsisting on fishes. The meat is swallowed into the crop, or into a kind of antestomach observed in piscivorous birds. Ray. Pisé (pē-zā), n. [Fr., from L. piso, pinso, to bray, as in a mortar.] In arch. stiff earth or clay used to construct walls, being rammed into moulds as it is carried up. This mode of building is as old as the days of Pliny, and is still used in France as well as in several districts of England. Pish (pish), exclam. A word expressing contempt. It is not words that shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips.-Is't possible? Shak. Pish (pish), v.i. To express contempt. He turned over your Homer, shook his head, and pished at every line of it. Pope. Pisiform (pi'si-form), a. [L. pisum, a pea, and forma, form.] Having the form of a pea, as the ossification in tendons at joints; having a structure resembling peas. Granular iron ore is called pisiform iron ore, from its containing small rounded masses of the size of a pea. 'Masses of pisiform argilla ceous iron ore.' Kirwan. Pismire (pis'mir), n. [E. piss, and mire=D. mier, Sw. myra, Icel. maurr, an ant. So named because it discharges an irritant fluid which the vulgar regard as urine. Comp. Gr. myrmex, an ant.] The ant or emmet. Nettled and stung with pismires.' Shak. See ANT. Pisnet, Puisnet (pis'net), n. A kind of shoe worn in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Pisolite (pi'sō-lit), n. [Gr. pison, a pea, and lithos, a stone.] A carbonate of lime slightly coloured by the oxide of iron. It occurs in little globular concretions of the size of a pea or larger, which usually contain each a grain of sand as a nucleus. These concretions in union sometimes compose entire beds of secondary mountains. Pisolite differs from oolite only in the greater size of the particles of which it is made up. Called also Calcareous Tufa, Pea-grit, and Peastone. Pisolitic (pi-sō-lit'ik), a. In mineral. composed of pisolite; containing pisolite; resembling pisolite. PISOPHALT Pisophalt (pis'ō-falt), n. A corrupt spelling of Pissasphalt (which see). Piss (pis), v.i. [Fr. pisser, D. and G. pissen, Sw. pissa, Dan. pisse, W. pisaw, to make water.] To discharge the liquor secreted by the kidneys and lodged in the urinary bladder; to urinate. Piss (pis), v.t. To eject, as urine. Shak. Piss (pis), n. Urine; the liquor secreted by the kidneys into the bladder of an animal, and discharged through the proper channel. Piss-a-bed (pis'a-bed), n. [From the diuretic properties of the expressed juice of the root.] The dandelion. [Vulgar.] Pissasphalt, Pissasphaltum (pis'as-falt, pis-as-falt'um), n. [Gr. pissasphalton-pissa, turpentine, and asphaltos, asphalt; Sp. pisasfalto.] Earth-pitch; a soft bitumen of the consistence of tar, black, and of a strong smell. It is inflammable, and intermediate between petroleum and asphalt, containing a greater relative quantity of liquid hydrocarbons, &c., than the latter. Written also Pisasphalt and Pisophalt. Piss-burnt (pis'bèrnt), a. Stained brown, as if scorched, with urine. Johnson. [Vulgar.] Pisselæum (pis-el-e'um), n. [Gr. pissa, pitch, and elaion, oil.] An oily matter obtained from boiling pitch. Dunglison. Pisspot (pis'pot), n. A chamber-pot. It would vex one more to be knocked on the head with a pisspot than a thunder-bolt. Pope. Pist, Piste (pēst), n. [Fr. piste, It. pesta, a track, from L. pistus, pp. of pinso, pistum, to pound, to beat in a mortar, to bruise.] The track or footprint of a horseman on the ground he goes over. Pistachio (pis-ta'shi-ō), n. Same as Fistachionut. Bacon. Pistachio-nut (pis-ta'shi-ō-nut), n. [See PISTACIA.] The nut of the Pistacia vera. It contains a kernel of a pale greenish colour, of a pleasant taste, resembling that of the almond, and yielding a well-tasted oil. It is wholesome and nutritive, and is used at dessert, and for astringent emulsions. See PISTACIA. Pistachio-tree (pis-tä'shi-ō-trē), n. [Sp. pistachio. See PISTACIA.] Same as Pistacia. Pistacia (pis-tā'shi-a), n. [L. pistacia, Gr. pistakia, from Per. pista, the pistachio tree.] Pistacia vera. A genus of small trees of from 15 to 20 feet high, with pinnate leaves, and axillary panicles of small apetalous flowers, nat. order Anacardiaceæ. P. vera yields the pistachionuts of the shops, which form a considerable article of commerce. (See PISTACHIO-NUT.) The tree is a native of Western Asia, but is cultivated all over the south of Europe, where the fruit is in request for confectionery and for the dessert. Mastic is the produce of P. Lentiscus. P. Terebinthus, or turpentine tree, yields Chios turpentine. Pistacite, Pistazite (pis'ta-sit, pis'ta-zit). See EPIDOTE. Pistareen (pis-ta-rēn'), n. An old Spanish silver coin of the value of 9d. sterling. Pistell, n. An epistle; a short lesson. Chaucer. Pistia (pis'ti-a), n. A genus of tropical waterweeds of the nat. order Pistiacere of some botanists and Lemnaces of others. The plants consist of a rose-shaped tuft of wedge-shaped, slightly concave, notched or round-topped leaves, 2 to 5 inches long, of a delicate pale pea-green, covered with fine hairs. Pistiaceæ (pis-ti-a'sē-ē). See LEMNACEÆ. Pistil (pis'til), n. [L. pistillum, a pestle, a dim. from pinso, pistum, to pound, to beat 452 b in a mortar.] In bot. the seed-bearing organ of a flower, consisting of the ovary, the stigma, and often also of a style. In the figure, a is the style, b the stigma; the ovary is concealed in the flower. Each modified leaf which forms the pistil is called a carpel, the two edges of which, coming into contact, cohere, and form the placenta. The form of the pistil must depend on that of the carpels, on their number, and on their arrangement. A simple pistil is formed Pistil. of a single carpel, and a compound pistil of several carpels. Pistillary (pis'til-la-ri), a. In bot. of or belonging to the pistil.-Pistillary cord, a channel which passes from the stigma through the style into the ovary. Pistillate (pis'til-lat), a. Having a pistil. Pistillationt (pis-til-la'shon), n. [L. pistillum, a pestle.] The act of pounding in a mortar. Pistillidia (pis-til-lid′i-a), n. pl. [L. pistillum, a pistil, and Gr. eidos, resemblance.] In bot. (a) organs in mosses having the apparent functions of pistils. (b) Young spore-cases, the archegonia in ferns. Pistilliferous (pis-til-lif'èr-us), a. [Pistil, and L. fero, to bear.] In bot. having a pistil without stamens, as a female flower. Pistol (pis'tol), n. [Fr. pistole, pistolet; It. and Sp. pistola, a pistol; said to be from Pistoia, a town near Florence where little poniards were made, called in France first pistoyers, then pistoliers, and finally pistolets. From being applied to diminutive poniards the name came to be given to miniature firearms.] A small firearm, or the smallest firearm used, designed to be fired with one hand only. Pistols are of different lengths, some of them being so small as to be carried in the pocket. Those now used are generally of the kind called revolvers. Pistol (pis'tol), v.t. pret. & pp. pistolled; Pistols were introduced into England in 1521. ppr. pistolling. [Fr. pistoler.] To shoot with a pistol. Those Sons of Freedom would have pistolled, stabbed-in some way slain-that man by coward hands. Dickens. Pistolade (pis'to-lad), n. The discharge of a pistol; a pistol-shot. Pistole (pis-tōl'), n. [Fr. The same word as the above, according to Littré, who says that as the pistol (Fr. pistolet) was a small firearm, the gold half-crown was called pistole pistolet, in pleasantry, as being a diminutive of the crown, in the same way as a small loaf is called pistolet at Brussels. ] An old gold coin current in Spain, France, and some neighbouring states, valued on an average at about 168. sterling. Pistolett (pis'tol-et), n. [Fr.] 1. A small pistol.-2. A diminutive of pistole, a Spanish coin. Donne. Piston (pis'ton), n. [Fr. and Sp. piston, from L. pinso, pistum, to beat, to pound, to press. See PESTLE.] In, mach. a movable piece, generally of a cylindrical form, so fitted as to occupy the sectional area of a tube, such as the barrel of a pump or the cylinder of a steam-engine, and capable of being driven alternately in two directions by pressure on either of its sides. One of its sides is fitted to a rod, called the piston-rod, to which it either imparts reciprocatory motion, as in the steamengine, where the motion given to the piston-rod is communicated to the machinery; or by Section of Steam Cylinder which it is itself made to move, as in the pump. Two cc, Steam Ports. sorts of pistons are used in pumps; one hollow with a valve, used in the sucking pump, and the other a and Piston. a, Piston. bb, Piston-rod. PITCH solid, which is employed in the forcing pump, and is called a plunger.- Pistonpacking, a material, such as hempen cord, or a device, such as metallic rings, springs, &c., placed round a piston, to cause it to fit closely within its cylinder, and at the same time allow its free backward and forward motion. Piston-rod (pis'ton-rod), n. See PISTON. Piston-spring (pis'ton-spring), n. A coil around or inside a piston, which, by expanding, acts as packing. Pisum (pi'sum), n. [L., a pea.] The pea, a genus of plants of the nat. order Leguminosa. See PEA. Pit (pit), n. [A. Sax. pitt, pytt, a hole, a pit; D. put, Icel. pittr, a well; from L. puteus (Fr. puits), a well.] 1. A hollow or cavity more or less deep, either natural or made by digging in the earth; as, (a) the shaft of a mine; a coal-mine. (b) In founding, a cavity or hollow scooped in the floor to receive cast-metal. (c) A vat in tanning, bleaching, dyeing, &c. (d) A sunken place where charcoal is piled for burning. (e) In hort. an excavation in the soil, generally covered by a glazed frame, for protecting many kinds of plants.-2. A deep place; an abyss with the definite article sometimes used for the abode of evil spirits, sometimes for the grave or the place of the dead. Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Ps. xxx. 3 3. A deep concealed hole in the ground for snaring wild beasts.-4. Any hollow, cavity, or depression in the flesh; as, the arm pits; the pit of the stomach; the pits left on the flesh by a pustule of the small-pox.-5. A place or area where cocks or dogs are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.-6. That part of a theatre which is on the floor of the house, somewhat below the level of the stage, and behind the orchestra. 7. The stone of a fruit, as of a cherry or plum. [Local American.]—The bottomless pit, hell. Rev. xx. 1.-Pit and gallows, in feudal times, a privilege granted by the crown to the barons, by which they were empowered to drown the women condemned for theft in a pit, and to hang the men on a gallows. Pit (pit), v.t. pret. & pp. pitted; ppr. pitting. 1. To lay in a pit or hole. "They lived like beasts and were pitted like beasts.' Granger. 2. To form a little pit or hollow in; to mark with little hollows, as by the pustules of the small-pox. An anasarca, a species of dropsy, is characterized by the shining and softness of the skin, which gives way to the least impression, and remains pitted for some time. Sharpe. 3. To set in competition; to set against one another, as in combat; lit. like cocks in a pit. Pit (pit), v.t. To put. [Scotch.] Pita (pé'ta), n. [Sp.] A name of the Agave americana or maguey, and other species of the same genus; also of the useful fibre obtained from them. Pitance + (pit'ans), n. [See PITTANCE.] A mess of victuals. Chaucer. Pitapat (pit'a-pat), adv. [A kind of reduplication of pat, a slight blow.] In a flutter; with palpitation or quick succession of beats. 'A lion meets him, and the fox's heart went pitapat.' Sir R. L'Estrange. Pitapat (pit'a-pat), n. A light quick step. Now I hear the pitapat of a pretty foot, through the dark alley. Dryden. Pitch (pich), n. [A softened form of O.E. and Sc. pik, A. Sax. pic, from L. pix, picis, pitch.] A thick, tenacious oily substance, commonly obtained by the inspissation of tar (whether of wood, coal, or bone), or by boiling it until all the volatile matters are driven off, and the residuum has acquired a proper consistence. It is extensively used in ship-building for closing up the seams, for preserving wood from the effects of water, for coating iron-work to keep it from rusting, for making artificial asphalt, and for various other purposes. See TAR, BURGUNDY PITCH.-Jew's pitch, mineral pitch, bitu men. He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith. Ecclus, xiii. 1. Pitch (pich), v.t. 1. To smear or cover over with pitch; as, to pitch the seams of a ship. 'Pitch it within and without with pitch.' Gen. vi. 14.-2. To blacken; to darken. 'The welkin pitched with sudden cloud.' Addi son. Pitch (pich), v.t. [O.E. picche, to pierce, to pick, to peck, also to dart or throw, a soft PITCH ened form of pick, pike; comp. W. piciaw, to dart; pig, a point, &c. See PICK.] 1. To fix or plant, as stakes or pointed instruments; to fix by means of such; hence, to set in array; to marshal or arrange in order; as, to pitch a tent or pavilion, that is, to set the stakes; to pitch a camp. 'Sharp stakes .. they pitched in the ground.' Shak. There is no need to mention the learning of a fit, or the unfitness of an ignorant minister, more than that he, which describeth the manner how to pitch a field, should speak of moderation and sobriety in diet. Hooker. -Pitched battle. See under BATTLE. 2. To fling or throw, generally with a definite purpose or aim; to cast forward; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch one in the mire or down a precipice; to pitch hay or sheaves of corn. The next ball is a beautifully pitched ball for the outer stump. T. Hughes. 3. In music, to regulate or set the key-note of.-4. To fix, as a value or price. 'Whose vulture thought doth pitch the price so high.' Shak.-5. To pave or face with stones, as an embankment. E. H. Knight; Simmonds. Pitch (pich), v.i. 1. To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight. Take a branch of the tree on which the bees pitch, and wipe the hive. Mortimer. 2. To plunge or fall headlong; as, to pitch from a precipice; to pitch on the head.3. To fix choice: with on or upon. Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the most easy. Tillotson. 4 To fix a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp. Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. Gen. xxxi. 25. 5. Naut. to rise and fall, as the head and stern of a ship passing over waves. A slight motion on the part of the vessel now and then seemed to suggest the possibility of pitching to. a very uncomfortable extent. Dickens. -To pitch into, to attack; to assault. [Slang.] -Pitch and pay, pay down at once; pay ready money. Let senses rule; the word is 'Pitch and pay: Pitch (pich), n. [See the verb.] 1. A point or degree of elevation or depression; height or depth; degree; rate. The lowest pitch of abject fortune.' Milton. Alcibiades was one of the best orators of his age, notwithstanding he lived when learning was at its highest pitch. Addison. As if an eagle flew aloft, and then Stoop'd from its highest pitch to pounce a wren. Cowper. Such was the pitch of baseness to which the Roman people sank by allowing their rulers to encroach upon their rights. Brougham. 2. Highest rise; height; loftiness. 'Boniface the Third, in whom was the pitch of pride, and height of aspiring haughtiness.' Fuller. A beauty-waning and distressed widow, Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts To base declension and loath'd bigamy. Shak. 3. Size; stature. 'So like in person, garb, and pitch. Hudibras.-4. The point where a declivity begins, or the declivity itself; descent; slope; inclination; also, the degree of slope or inclination; as, the pitch of a hill or roof. See below.-5. A throw; a toss; a cast or jerk of something from the hand.-Pitch and toss, a game in which the players determine the order of tossing by pitching coins at a mark.-6. In music, the degree of acuteness or graveness of a note; the position of a sound with reference to the number of vibrations in a given time which produce it; the relative height of a sound. Any sound less acute than some other sound is said to be of a lower pitch than that other sound.-Concert pitch, in musical performances, the degree of acuteness or gravity generally adopted for some one given note, and by which every other note is governed. In England and Germany the concert pitch of the middle C of the pianoforte is the sound produced by a wire giving 528 vibrations per second; in France it is somewhat lower.-7. In certain technical senses, a distance between two points; as, (a) the distance between the centres of two adjacent teeth in a cog-wheel, measured on the pitchline, which is concentric with the axis of revolution, and at such a distance from the base of the teeth as to have an equal rate of motion with a similar line in the cog-wheel with which it engages. (b) The distance between any two successive convolutions of 453 a screw measured in a direction parallel to the axis; the pitch of a propeller-screw is the length measured along the axis of a complete turn. (c) The distance between the paddles of a steam-ship, measured on the circle which passes through their centres. (d) The distance between the stays of marine and other steam boilers. (e) The distance apart from centre to centre of a rivet. 8. In mining, a lode or portion of a lode worked by a miner, who receives a certain portion of the ore raised, or its value.-9. A fixed locality for a street-seller doing business, or a street-singer, musician, and such like performing; the site of a travelling exhibition. Mayhew. [Slang.]-Pitch of an arch, the rise or versed sine of an arch. -Pitch of a roof, the inclination of a roof; which is expressed in angles, in parts of the span, or in the proportion which the rafters bear to the span. The common pitch has a rafter three quarters the length of the span; the Gothic has a rafter the whole length of the span; the Elizabethan, longer than the span; the Greek, an angle of 12° to 16°; and the Roman, an angle of 23° to 24°.-Pitch of a saw, the inclination of the face of the teeth. Pitch-black (pich'blak), a. Black as pitch. Pitch-blende (pich'blend), n. A mineral found in Saxony; it is a compound of the oxides of uranium and iron, and generally contains very many other metals. Pitch-chain (pich'chan), n. A chain composed of metallic plates bolted or rivetted together, to work in the teeth of wheels. Pitch-circle (pich'sèr-kl), n. In toothed wheels, the circle which would bisect all the teeth. When two wheels are in gear, they are so arranged that their pitch-circles touch one another. Called also Pitch-line. Pitch-coal (pich'kōl), n. 1. A kind of bituminous coal. Dana.-2. Same as Jet. Brande & Cox. Pitch-dark (pich'därk), a. Dark as pitch; very dark. Pitcher (pich'èr), n. 1. One who pitches.2. A pointed instrument for piercing the ground. Pitcher (pich'èr), n. [0. Fr. picher, pichier, pechier, O.It. pecchero, from O.H.G. pechar, behhar, a beaker. See BEAKER.] 1. An earthen vessel with a spout for holding liquors; an earthen or metallic vessel for holding water for domestic purposes; a water-pot, jug, or jar with ears. 'A man bearing a pitcher of water.' Mark xiv. 13.Pitchers have ears, a cautionary proverb, signifying there may be listeners overhearing us. The saying has arisen from the double meaning of ear. In the form little pitchers have long ears, it applies to children. Not in my house, Lucentio, for, you know, 2. In bot. a modification of the leaf occurring in some plants and resembling a pitcher, the body of the pitcher being the petiole, and the lid the lamina of the leaf. Pitcher-plant (pich'èr-plant), n. A name given to several plants, from their pitchershaped leaves, the best known of which is the Nepenthes distillatoria, a native of China and the East Indies, and belonging to the nat, order Nepenthaceae. It is a herbaceous plant, and grows in marshy situations. The leaves are sessile, oblong, and terminated at the extremities by a cylindrical hollow vessel resembling a common water-pitcher, which contains a fluid secreted by the plant itself. This pitcher is furnished with a lid which opens and shuts, and which is regarded as the true blade of the leaf. See CEPHALOTUS, DARLINGTONIA, and NEPENTHACEÆ. Pitch-farthing (pich'far-THing), n. as Chuck-farthing Pitch-fieldt (pich'feld), n. A pitched battle. Beau. & Fl. Pitcher-plant (Nepenthes distillatoria). Same Pitchfork (pich'fork), n. 1. A fork or farming utensil used in lifting or throwing hay or sheaves of grain.-2. A tuning-fork. Pitchfork (pich'fork), v.t. 1. To lift or PITEOUS throw with a pitchfork. Hence-2. To put suddenly or accidentally into any position. (Originally intended for the church) he has been pitchforked into the Foot-guards. G. A. Sala. Pitchiness (pich'i-nes), n. State or quality of being pitchy; blackness; darkness. [Rare.] Pitching-pence (pich'ing-pens), n. Money, commonly a penny, paid for pitching or setting down every bag of corn or pack of goods in a fair or market. Pitching-piece (pich'ing-pes), n. See APRON-PIECE. Α Pitching-stable (pich'ing-sta-bl), n. variety of Cornish granite used for paving. See PITCH-CIRCLE. Pitch-line (pich'lin), n. Pitch-mineral (pich'min-êr-al), n. The same as Bitumen or Asphalt. Pitch-opal (pich'o-pal), n. An inferior kind of common opal. Pitch-ore (pich'or), n. Pitch-blende, an ore of uranium. Pitch-pine (pich'pin), n. The Pinus Picea, a pine so called from its abounding in resin ous matter which yields pitch. The same name is also given to the Pinus rigida of the United States and the Pinus palustris of Georgia. Pitch-pipe (pich'pip), n. An instrument used in regulating the pitch or elevation of the key or leading note of a tune. It is either in the form of a flute or free reed pipe tuned to a given pitch. The flute pipe may have a piston and a range of adjustment whereby all the semitone degrees within its compass may be produced with mechanical exactness. The reed pipe has a given note. Pitch-plaster (pich'plas-tér), n. A plaster of Burgundy pitch. Pitch-pot (pich'pot), n. A large iron pot used for the purpose of boiling pitch. Pitch-stone (pich'ston), n. The glassy form of felstone, also called Retinite. It looks like solid pitch, and has an imperfectly conchoidal fracture. It contains microscopic crystals of felspar. Its colours are several shades of green, black with green, brown, or gray; brown, tinged with red, green, or yellow, sometimes yellowish or blue. Pitchurim-bean (pich'u-rim-ben), n. One of the isolated lobes of the drupe of Nectandra Puchury, a South American species of laurel, much used by chocolate makers as a substitute for vanilla. Called also Sassafras Nut, from the flavour, which resembles that of sassafras bark. Spelled also Pichurimbean. Pitch-wheel (pich'whel), n. One of two toothed wheels which work together. Pitch-work (pich'wèrk), n. Work done in a mine by those working on the arrangement that they receive a certain proportion of the output. Pitchy (pich'i), a. 1. Partaking of the qualities of pitch; like pitch. Woodward. 2. Smeared with pitch. Dryden.-3. Black; dark; dismal. The pitchy night.' Shak. Pitcoal (pit'köl), n. Mineral coal; common coal dug out of pits. Pit-cock (pit'kok), n. Same as Pet-cock. Piteous (pit'e-us), a. [See PITY.] 1. Fitted to excite pity; moving pity or compassion; mournful; affecting; lamentable; sorrowful; as, a piteous look; a piteous case or condition. The most piteous tale of Lear.' Shak. PITEOUSLY "The most piteous cry of the poor souls.' Shak. Vain would be all attempts to convey the horror which thrilled the gathering spectators of this piteous tragedy. De Quincey. 2. Compassionate; affected by pity. 'Piteous of his case.' Pope.-3. Pitiful; paltry; poor. 'Piteous amends.' Milton.-SYN. Sorrowful, mournful, affecting, doleful, woful, rueful, wretched, miserable, pitiable, compassionate, tender. Piteously (pit'e-us-li), adv. In a piteous manner. Word it, prithee, piteously. Shak. Piteousness (pit'e-us-nes), n. The state or condition of being piteous. Pitfall (pit'fal), n. A pit slightly covered so that animals fall into it and are caught. "The net nor lime, the pitfall nor the gin.' Shak. Pitfall + (pit'fal), v. t. To lead into a pitfall; to ensnare. 'Not full of cranks and contradictions and pitfalling dispenses.' Milton. Pit-fish (pit'fish), n. A small fish of the Indian Sea, about the size of a smelt, of a green and yellow colour. It has the power of protruding or retracting its eyes at plea sure. The framework of Pit-frame (pit'frām), n. a coal-pit. Pith (pith), n. [A. Sax. pitha, D. pit, marrow, pith, kernel.] 1. A cylindrical or angular column of cellular tissue arising at the neck of the stem of an exogenous plant and terminating at the leaf-buds, with all of which it is in direct communication. It forms the centre of a stem, and fills the medullary sheath or tube which is covered over by the wood. Its use is to act as a reservoir of nutritious matter for the young leaves when first developing. In endogens there is no pith.-2. In anat. the spinal cord or marrow of an animal; also, the central or medullary part of hair. "The spinal marrow or pith.' Ray. The pith of the coarse body-hair.' Owen.-3. Strength, vigour, or force. Since these arms of mine had seven years' pith." Shak.4. Energy; cogency; concentrated force; closeness and vigour of thought and style; as, his discourse wanted pith. 5. Condensed substance or matter; quintessence. Perhaps you mark'd not what's the pith of all.' Shak.-6. Weight; moment; importance. Enterprises of great pith and moment.' Shak. Pith (pith), v. t. To sever the spinal cord of. Pithecia (pi-the'si-a), n. The fox-tail monkey. See SAKI. Pithecoid (pi-the'koid), a. [Gr. pithēkos, an ape, and eidos, likeness.] Pertaining to or including apes of the highest division; resembling an ape; ape-like; partaking of the qualities of an ape. A skull (the Neanderthal skull) of low type, possibly that of an idiot, but quite removed from the pithecoid type, which some naturalists of more than ordinary humility are content to accept as one of the earlier shapes through which upward looking' man passed in his long progress from some unknown ancestor in the possibly miocene period. Quart. Rev. Pithecus (pi-the'kus), n. [Gr. pithēkos, an Men who, dry and pithless, are debarred 2. Wanting cogency or concentrated force. The pithless argumentation which we too often allow to monopolize the character of what is prudent and practical. Gladstone. Pithole (pit'hōl), n. A small hollow made by a pustule of smallpox. I have known a lady, sick of the small pocks, only to keep her face from pitholes, take cold, strike them in again, kick up the heels, and vanish! Beau. & Fl. Pithy (pith'i), a. 1. Consisting of pith; containing pith; abounding with pith; as, a 454 pithy substance; a pithy stem.-2. Containing concentrated force; forcible; energetic; as, a pithy word or expression. This pithy speech prevailed, and all agreed. Dryden. 3. Uttering energetic words or expressions. In all these Goodman Fact was very short but pithy: Addison. for he was a plain home-spun man. Pitiable (pit'i-a-bl), a. Deserving pity; worthy of or exciting compassion: applied to persons or things; as, a pitiable condition. Everything that is pitiable.' Jer. Taylor, "The pitiable wretchedness of Philoctetes.' Observer. The pitiable persons relieved are constantly under Atterbury. your eye. If ye have grieved, Ye are too mortal to be pitiable, And power to die disproveth right to grieve. E. B. Browning. Pitiableness (pit'i-a-bl-nes), n. State of being pitiable. The pitiableness of his ignorance.' Kettlewell. Pitiably (pit'i-a-bli), adv. In a pitiable manner. Pitiedly † (pit'id-li), adv. In a situation to be pitied. He is properly, and, pitiedly to be counted alone, that is illiterate. Feltham. Pitier (pit'i-ér), n. One who pities. Bp. Pitiful (pit'i-ful), a. [See PITY.] 1. Full of pity; tender; compassionate; having a heart to feel sorrow and sympathy for the distressed. Jam. v. 11. Our hearts you see not, they are pitiful; Shak. 2. Miserable; moving compassion; as, a sight most pitiful; a pitiful condition. In faith, 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 3. To be pitied for its littleness or meanness; paltry; insignificant; contemptible; despicable; as, pitiful conduct. That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Shak. -Contemptible, Despicable, Paltry, Pitiful. See under CONTEMPTIBLE. Pitifully (pit'i-ful-li), adv. In a pitiful manner: (a) with compassion. Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts. Common Prayer. (b) Wretchedly; so as to excite pity. Would sigh and groan as pitifully as other men.' Tillotson. (c) Contemptibly. Those men who give themselves airs of bravery on reflecting upon the last scenes of others may behave the most pitifully in their own. Richardson. Pitifulness (pit'i-ful-nes), n. The state or quality of being pitiful. Sir P. Sidney. Pitiless (pit'i-les), a. 1. Destitute of pity; hard-hearted; as, a pitiless master. The pelting of the pitiless storm.' Shak. 2. Exciting no pity; unpitied. 'So do I perish pitiless, through fear.' Sir J. Davies. SYN. Hard-hearted, cruel, merciless, unmerciful, compassionless, unsympathizing. Pitilessly (pit'i-les-li), adv. In a pitiless manner. Pitilessness (pit'i-les-nes), n. The state of being pitiless. Pitman (pit'man), n. 1. One who works in A B a pit, as in coal-mining, in sawing timber, &c.-2. In mach. the rod which connects a rotary with a reciprocating object, as that which couples a crank with a saw-gate, or a steam-piston with its crank-shaft, &c. Pitot's Tube (pi'tōz tūb), n. In hydraulics, an instrument for ascertaining the velocity of water in rivers, &c.; a current meter. It consists in its simplest form of a bent glass-tube A, which is held in the water in such a manner that its lower end is horizontal, and opposed to the direction of the flowing water. In consequence of the momentum of the moving fluid the level rises within the tube to a height B, proportional to the velocity of the stream. Thus, let the height of B above the level of the external water be h, then the velocity of the stream = √2 g h, in which is a coefficient, determined for the particular instrument by experiment. Pitot's Tube. cer. PITY Pitous, a. Piteous; compassionate; merciful; exciting compassion. Chaucer. Pitously, adv. Piteously; pitifully. ChauA very long, narrow, Pitpan (pit'pan), n. flat-bottomed, trough-like canoe, with thin and flat projecting ends, used for the navigation of rivers and lagoons in Central America. Pit-pat (pit'pat), n. and adv. Same as Pitapat. Pit-saw (pit'sa), n. A large saw used for One half of this pittance was even given him in Pitter (pit'èr), v.i. To murmur; to patter. And when his pittering streams are low and thin.' Greene. Pittikins+ (pit'i-kinz), interj. A diminutive of pity used interjectionally, generally in conjunction with od's for God's. 'Od's pittikins, can it be.' Shak. Pittizite, Pitticite (pit'i-zit, pit'i-sit), n. [From Gr. pittizo, pissizō, to be pitchy, from pitta, pissa, pitch.] Pitchy iron ore; an arsenato-sulphate of iron occurring in reniform masses. Pittle-pattle † (pit'l-pat'l), v. i. [An imitative word; comp. prattle, tattle, &c.] To talk unmeaningly or flippantly. Pittosporaceæ (pit'tō-spō-rā”sē-ē), n. pl. The pittosporads, a natural order of polypetalous hypogynous exogens, allied to Polygalaceæ. The species, of which about 100 are known, are trees or erect or twining shrubs, mostly natives of extra-tropical Australia, having alternate simple leaves, regular symmetrical flowers, imbricated petals, and alternating stamens. The order includes about a dozen genera, of which the best known are Pittosporum, Billardiera, and Sollya, frequent ornaments of British hothouses. Pittosporad (pit'tō-spō-rad), n. Any plant Pituitary (pi-tu'i-ta-ri), a. [L. pituita, phlegm, rheum.] In anat. concerned in the secretion of phlegm or mucus; as, the pituitary membrane which lines the nostrils and sinuses communicating with the nose.-Pituitary body or gland, a small oval body on the lower side of the brain, formerly supposed to secrete the mucus of the nostrils. -Pituitary stem, the infundibulum of the brain. Pituitous (pi-tu'it-us), a. [L. pituitosus.] Consisting of mucus; full of mucus, or resembling it in qualities. Pit-work (pit'werk), n. In mining, the pumping and lifting apparatus of a mineshaft. Pity (pit'i), n. [Fr. pitié, from L. pietas, piety, from pius, pious. See PIOUS.] 1. The feeling or suffering of one person excited by the distresses of another; commiseration; compassion. Careless their merits or their faults to scan, -To have pity upon, to take pity upon, generally to show one's pity towards by some benevolent act. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the |