nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: pecuniary Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia (“money”), itself from pecū (“cattle”) and thus related to fee. Pronunciation: /pɪˈkjuːn(jə)ɹi/, /pəˈkjuniˌɛɹi/ 1. Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial. Labels: not-comparable Example: Perhaps the reader will suppose after this that the doctor had some pecuniary interest of his own in arranging the squire's loans; or, at any rate, he will think that the squire must have thought so. Example: The views of philosophers, with few exceptions, have coincided with the pecuniary interests of their class.
Word: pedantry Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Italian pedanteria, equivalent to pedant + -ry. Compare also French pédanterie. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛd.ən.tɹi/ 1. An excessive attention to detail or rules. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: They had heard people call things pedantic, which they did not think were so ; for instance, a boy had once said that Harry himself was a pedant, for talking of the siege of Syracuse, and of the machines used there, because the boy knew nothing about them, and disliked reading. "Then you perceive," said his mother, "that the meaning of the word varies with the different degrees of knowledge of those who use it. I remember when it was thought pedantic for a woman to talk of some books, which are now the subject of common conversation. Sometimes old-fashioned learning, and sometimes useless learning, is called pedantry; and it is generally thought pedantic to produce any kind of learning that is so unusual, that it is not likely that the company is acquainted with it, or can be pleased by it. In short, pedantry may be said to be an ill-timed parade of knowledge." Example: Another point on which Smart insists is the distinction between serf and surf […] A distinction can of course be made, and without much difficulty, by those who think of it, and is made by those who have formed a habit of doing so; but the distinction is so rarely made as to amount almost to pedantry […] 2. An excessive attention to detail or rules. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I don’t want to listen to your pedantries anymore. Example: [T]he southern court of the ballium had become a flower-garden, with quaint terraces, statues, knots of flowers, clipped yews and hollies, and all the pedantries of the topiarian art. 3. An overly ambitious display of learning. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: peek Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English *peken, piken, pyken (“to peep”), probably a fusion of Middle English pepen (“to peep”) and keken, kiken (“to keek, look, spy”), equivalent to a blend of peep + keek. Perhaps also possibly a metathetic alteration of Middle English kepen, kipen, kypen (“to keep, look, observe, watch”). Pronunciation: /piːk/ 1. To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep. Labels: informal, intransitive Example: Close your eyes, and no peeking! 2. To be only slightly, partially visible, as if peering out from a hiding place. Labels: informal, intransitive Example: A pale strip of white skin peeked out from under his waistband. Example: Her brown skin peeked through the empty gap in her clothing. 3. To briefly move out of cover (to gather visual information). Labels: informal, intransitive Example: Sniper watching the site; don't peek. 4. To take a look at; to check out. Labels: informal, transitive Example: Peek my new shoes. 5. To retrieve (a value) from a memory address. Labels: dated, informal, transitive Example: We are peeking the value from the first index's memory location.
Word: peek Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English *peken, piken, pyken (“to peep”), probably a fusion of Middle English pepen (“to peep”) and keken, kiken (“to keek, look, spy”), equivalent to a blend of peep + keek. Perhaps also possibly a metathetic alteration of Middle English kepen, kipen, kypen (“to keep, look, observe, watch”). Pronunciation: /piːk/ 1. A quick glance or look. Labels: informal
Word: peek Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /piːk/ 1. Misspelling of pique. Labels: alt-of, informal, misspelling
Word: peel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English pelen, from Old English pilian and Old French peler, pellier; both from Latin pilō, pilāre (“to remove hair from, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pill. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. To remove the skin or outer covering of. Labels: transitive Example: I sat by my sister's bed, peeling oranges for her. Example: The skillful shepherd peeled me certain wands. 2. To remove something from the outer or top layer of. Labels: transitive Example: I peeled (the skin from) a banana and ate it hungrily. Example: We peeled the old wallpaper off in strips where it was hanging loose. 3. To become detached, come away, especially in flakes or strips; to shed skin in such a way. Labels: intransitive Example: I had been out in the sun too long, and my nose was starting to peel. 4. To remove one's clothing. Labels: intransitive Example: The children peeled by the side of the lake and jumped in. 5. To move, separate (off or away). Labels: intransitive Example: The scrum-half peeled off and made for the touchlines.
Word: peel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English pelen, from Old English pilian and Old French peler, pellier; both from Latin pilō, pilāre (“to remove hair from, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pill. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. The skin or outer layer of a fruit, vegetable, etc. Labels: uncountable, usually 2. The action of peeling away from a formation. Labels: countable 3. A cosmetic preparation designed to remove dead skin or to exfoliate. Labels: countable
Word: peel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English peel, pele, from Anglo-Norman pel (compare modern French pieu), from Latin pālus (“stake”). Doublet of pole and pale. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. A stake. Labels: obsolete 2. A fence made of stakes; a stockade. Labels: obsolete 3. A small tower, fort, or castle; a keep. Labels: archaic
Word: peel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English pele, from Old French pele (modern French pelle), from Latin pāla, from the base of plangō (“fix, plant”). Doublet of pala. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. A shovel or similar instrument, now especially a pole with a flat disc at the end used for removing pizza or loaves of bread from a baker's oven. Example: “I will hit you with this pizza peel.” “I'll hit you with this wrench.” “All right, all right, I know we want to hit each other to death, but what if we didn't?” “Not happening, Green. There's enough peel here for you and the captain.” Example: Near-synonym: pizza paddle 2. A T-shaped implement used by printers and bookbinders for hanging wet sheets of paper on lines or poles to dry. 3. The blade of an oar. Labels: US, archaic
Word: peel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Unknown. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. An equal or match; a draw. Labels: Scotland 2. A takeout which removes a stone from play as well as the delivered stone.
Word: peel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Unknown. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. To play a peel shot.
Word: peel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Named from Walter H. Peel, a noted 19th-century croquet player. Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. To send through a hoop (of a ball other than one's own).
Word: peel Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Old French piller (“pillage”). Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. To plunder; to pillage, rob. Labels: archaic, transitive Example: But govern ill the nations under yoke, / Peeling their provinces. Example: O conſider my caſe, moſt blisfull Queen, […] Diſpell thoſe Clouds which hover 'twixt my King and his higheſt Counſell, […] that my great Law-making Court be forced to turn no more to polemicall Committees, […] but that they may come again to the old Parliamentary Rode, To the path of their Predeceſſours, to conſult of means how to ſweep away thoſe Cobwebs that hang in the Courts of Juſtice, and to make the Laws run in their right Channell; to retrench exceſſive fees, and finde remedies for the future, that the poor Client be not ſo peeled by his Lawyer, and made to ſuffer by ſuch monſtrous delays, that one may go from one Tropick to the other, and croſſe the Equinoctiall twenty times, before his ſute be done; […]
Word: peel Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. Alternative form of peal (“a small or young salmon”). Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: peel Part of Speech: verb Pronunciation: /piːl/, [pʰiːɫ], [pʰiəɫ] 1. Misspelling of peal (“to sound loudly”). Labels: alt-of, misspelling Example: 1825 June 25, "My Village Bells", in The Circulator of Useful Knowledge, Literature, Amusement, and General Information number XXVI, available in, 1825, The Circulator of Useful Amusement, Literature, Science, and General Information, page 401, Oh ! still for me let merry bells peel out their holy chime; Example: 1901 January 1, "Twentieth Century's Triumphant Entry", The New York Times, page 1, The lights flashed, the crowds sang,... bells peeled, bombs thundered,... and the new Century made its triumphant entry.
Word: Pegasus Part of Speech: name Etymology: From Late Middle English Pegase, Pegasus, from Latin Pēgasus, from Ancient Greek Πήγασος (Pḗgasos), traditionally associated with πηγή (pēgḗ, “spring, fountain, fountain fed by a spring”), especially used to denote springs of Ocean, where Perseus killed Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus sprang. Some have dismissed this as folk etymology and suggest a pre-Greek origin because of the -ασος suffix. First attested in the 14th century. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛɡ.ə.səs/ 1. A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon tamed and rode upon Pegasus when he defeated the Chimaera. Labels: Greek 2. A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon tamed and rode upon Pegasus when he defeated the Chimaera. Labels: Greek
Word: Pegasus Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Late Middle English Pegase, Pegasus, from Latin Pēgasus, from Ancient Greek Πήγασος (Pḗgasos), traditionally associated with πηγή (pēgḗ, “spring, fountain, fountain fed by a spring”), especially used to denote springs of Ocean, where Perseus killed Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus sprang. Some have dismissed this as folk etymology and suggest a pre-Greek origin because of the -ασος suffix. First attested in the 14th century. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛɡ.ə.səs/ 1. Any winged horse; a pterippus. Labels: also 2. Any winged horse; a pterippus. Labels: also, historical Example: Confidence in Corinthian Pegasi grew up in the Greek zone of the island in such a way that Pegasi became the accepted coin of the realm. 3. Poetic inspiration; muse. Labels: archaic
Word: pell-mell Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From French pêle-mêle, from Old French pesle-mesle, apparently a rhyme based on the stem of mesler (“to mix, meddle”). Compare meddle, melee. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛlˈmɛl/ 1. Hasty and uncontrolled. Example: Nor moody Beggars, ſtaruing for a time / Of pell-mell hauocke, and confusion. Example: These present the appearance of masses of water-worn gravel, mixed in the most pell mell confusion, the boulders being often of very large size; but I observed no striae, nor any of the blue tenacious clay of the Till, which it so much resembled.
Word: pell-mell Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From French pêle-mêle, from Old French pesle-mesle, apparently a rhyme based on the stem of mesler (“to mix, meddle”). Compare meddle, melee. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛlˈmɛl/ 1. In haste and chaos; uncontrolledly, confusedly. Labels: not-comparable Example: But ſeeing that there the murdring Enemie, / Peſle-meſle, purſued them like a ſtorme of hayle, / They gan retyre vvhere Iuba vvas encampt; […] Example: Never was there a great battle fought more pell-mell, since war began; never was valor so completely thrown away.
Word: pell-mell Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French pêle-mêle, from Old French pesle-mesle, apparently a rhyme based on the stem of mesler (“to mix, meddle”). Compare meddle, melee. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛlˈmɛl/ 1. Alternative form of pall mall (“ball game”). Labels: alt-of, alternative, uncountable
Word: pelt Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The noun is inherited from Middle English pelt (“skin of a sheep, especially without the wool”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Middle English pellet (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”), from Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet, and Old French pelete, pelette (“thin layer, film, skin; epidermis; foreskin”), from pel (“skin; garment made of animal skin, pelisse”) (from Latin pellis (“animal skin, hide, pelt; leather; garment made of animal skin”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”)) + -ete (diminutive suffix); or * from Late Latin peletta, pelleta, pelletta (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Norwegian Bokmål pels (“fur; fur coat”) * Norwegian Nynorsk pels (“fur; fur coat”) Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification). Example: Perhaps the reason why he [a stuffed fox] seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too. Example: My people got themselves pelts and pelts—there was such a trapping as comes but few times in a life. Pelts and pelts, the silver and the grey—fine pelts. 2. The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning. Labels: also, figuratively 3. The fur or hair of a living animal. Example: Near-synonym: coat Example: The Cauſes and the Signs ſhall next be told, / Of ev'ry Sickneſs that infects the Fold [of sheep]. / A ſcabby Tetter on their pelts vvill ſtick, / VVhen the ravv Rain has pierc'd 'em to the quick: […] 4. Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair. Labels: Ireland, humorous, informal Example: Put on your dress, ye shameless witch, standin' there in your pelt I'll take a strap to, for havin' the conceit out of you, for by your idling had lost me the sup of gin to keep the breath of life in me. Cover your scut, or I'll welt the skin off it. 5. A garment made from animal skins. Labels: obsolete 6. The body of any quarry killed by a hawk; also, a dead bird given to a hawk for food. Labels: obsolete Example: If two [hawks] are flown they are certain to fell the game at once, and the falconer is always flurried by their violent propensity to crab over the "pelt."
Word: pelt Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The noun is inherited from Middle English pelt (“skin of a sheep, especially without the wool”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Middle English pellet (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”), from Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet, and Old French pelete, pelette (“thin layer, film, skin; epidermis; foreskin”), from pel (“skin; garment made of animal skin, pelisse”) (from Latin pellis (“animal skin, hide, pelt; leather; garment made of animal skin”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”)) + -ete (diminutive suffix); or * from Late Latin peletta, pelleta, pelletta (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Norwegian Bokmål pels (“fur; fur coat”) * Norwegian Nynorsk pels (“fur; fur coat”) Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. To remove the skin from (an animal); to skin. Labels: transitive Example: Let us take a typical case of a mink farmer here in Connecticut who is being forced to throw in the sponge this coming fall. […] He pelts from 3500 to 4000 minks a year and has a huge investment of several thousand dollars tied up in his mink business. 2. Chiefly followed by from: to remove (the skin) from an animal. Labels: transitive Example: A gentleman (long agoe) lent him an old velvet ſaddle, […] [He] preſently untruſſeth, and pelts the out-ſide from the lining, […] with it he made him a caſe, or cover, for a dublet, which hath caſed and coverd his nakednes ever ſince: […] 3. To remove feathers from (a bird). Labels: obsolete, rare, transitive Example: A Man took an Eagle, Pelted her VVings, and put her among his Hens. Somebody came and bought This Eagle, and preſently Nevv-Feather'd her.
Word: pelt Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English pelt, pelte; further origin uncertain, probably a variant of Late Middle English pilten (“to push, thrust; to strike; to cast down, humble; to incite, induce; to place, put; to extend, reach forward with”) [and other forms], possibly from Old English *pyltan, from Late Latin *pultiare, from Latin pultāre (“to beat, knock, strike”), the frequentative of pellere, the present active infinitive of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to hurl; to banish, eject, expel, thrust out; to beat, strike; to set in motion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive, push”). The noun is derived from the verb. Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower. Labels: transitive Example: [D]azed and blinded, she bent her head as if to let the pelt of jagged hail, the drench of dirty water, bespatter her unrebuked. Example: Kas is awakened by the furious pelts of rain hitting the tin roof, and he rolls over, pulling his sleeping wife tightly into his arms. 2. A blow or stroke from something thrown. Labels: transitive Example: [T]he cripple, in falling, gave him ſuch a good pelt on the head vvith his crutch, that the blood follovved. 3. A verbal insult; a jeer, a jibe, a taunt. Labels: figuratively, transitive 4. A fit of anger; an outburst, a rage. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: The pope [Innocent IV] being in this pelt, Ægidus, a Spanish cardinal, thus interposed his gravity: […] 5. An act of moving quickly; a rush. Labels: transitive Example: It's a good day off us anyhow, and they're all going south-west by south full pelt as hard as they can go.
Word: pelt Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Uncertain; possibly related to pelting (“mean, paltry”) (obsolete), peltry (“rubbish, trash; an unpleasant thing”) (chiefly Scotland, obsolete), and paltry (“of little value, trashy, trivial; contemptibly unimportant, despicable”), possibly from a Germanic language such as Middle Low German palte, palter (“cloth; rag, shred”), from Old Saxon *paltro, *palto (“cloth; rag”), from Proto-Germanic *paltrô, *paltô (“patch; rag, scrap”). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but the word is possibly a wanderwort from *polto- (“cloth”). Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. A tattered or worthless piece of clothing; a rag. Labels: Scotland, archaic, transitive 2. Anything in a ragged and worthless state; rubbish, trash. Labels: Scotland, archaic, broadly, transitive
Word: pelt Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Uncertain; possibly related to palter (“to talk insincerely; to prevaricate or equivocate in speech or actions; to haggle; to babble, chatter; (rare) to trifle”), further etymology unknown. The Oxford English Dictionary takes the view that any relation to pelting (“mean, paltry”) (obsolete) and paltry (“of little value, trashy, trivial; contemptibly unimportant, despicable”) is unlikely. Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. To bargain for a better deal; to haggle. Labels: intransitive, obsolete, transitive
Word: pelt Part of Speech: noun Etymology: A variant of pelta, borrowed from Latin pelta, from Ancient Greek πέλτη (péltē, “small crescent-shaped leather shield of Thracian design”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps either from Thracian, or ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”). Pronunciation: /pɛlt/ 1. Alternative form of pelta. Labels: historical, obsolete, rare, transitive 2. Alternative form of pelta. Labels: obsolete, rare, transitive
Word: pend Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French pendre (“to hang”), from Late Latin pendĕre, from Latin pendēre. Pronunciation: /pɛnd/, /pɪnd/ 1. To hang down; to cause something to hang down Labels: obsolete 2. To arch over (something); to vault. Labels: Scotland, obsolete 3. To hang in reliance on; to depend (on or upon); to be contingent on. Labels: obsolete Example: pending upon certain powerful motives
Word: pend Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French pendre (“to hang”), from Late Latin pendĕre, from Latin pendēre. Pronunciation: /pɛnd/, /pɪnd/ 1. An archway; especially, a vaulted passageway leading through a tenement-style building from the main street, giving access to the rear of the building or an internal courtyard. Labels: Scotland
Word: pend Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Compare pen (“to shut in”). Pronunciation: /pɛnd/, /pɪnd/ 1. To pen; to confine. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: soche frowarde creatures as many women are, ought rather to be pended vp in a cage of iron
Word: pend Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Back-formation from pending. Pronunciation: /pɛnd/, /pɪnd/ 1. To consider pending; to delay or postpone (something). Labels: transitive Example: The latest list of detainees would be pended and they would be allowed to return to their homes on a temporary basis.
Word: pend Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /pɛnd/, /pɪnd/ 1. oil cake Labels: India, uncountable
Word: perscrutation Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Latin perscrūtātiō, from the past participle stem of perscrūtor. Pronunciation: /pəː.skɹuːˈteɪʃən/, /pɚ.skɹuːˈteɪʃən/ 1. A thorough searching; a minute inquiry or scrutiny. Labels: rare Example: The first and universall reasons are of a hard perscrutation. Example: Such guessing, visioning, dim perscrutation of the momentous future: the very clothmakers, old women, all townsfolk speak of it
Word: perforce Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From Middle English par force, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French par force (“by force”). Pronunciation: /pəˈfɔːs/, /pɚˈfɔɹs/ 1. By constraint of circumstances; of necessity; as a matter of course. Labels: not-comparable Example: Mr. Wickham's happiness and her own were perforce delayed a little longer, and Mr. Collins's proposal accepted with as good a grace as she could.. Example: "Keep fast thy hold, for by such stairs as these," The Master said, panting as one fatigued, "Must we perforce depart from so much evil." 2. By force. Labels: archaic, not-comparable Example: If ſhe denie, Lord Hastings goe with him, And from her iealous Armes pluck him perforce. Example: For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know Thou must restore.
Word: perforce Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English par force, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French par force (“by force”). Pronunciation: /pəˈfɔːs/, /pɚˈfɔɹs/ 1. To force; to compel. Labels: obsolete
Word: peripatetic Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From French péripatétique, from Latin peripatēticus, from Ancient Greek περιπατητικός (peripatētikós, “given to walking around”), from περιπατέω (peripatéō, “to walk around”), from περί (perí, “around”) (English peri-)+ πατέω (patéō, “to walk”). Pronunciation: /ˌpɛɹ.ɪ.pəˈtɛt.ɪk/, /ˌpɛɹ.ə.pəˈtɛt.ɪk/ 1. Tending to walk about. 2. Constantly travelling. Example: Near-synonyms: itinerant, nomadic Example: After peripatetic upbringing that took her from America to Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and England, [Mary-Kay] Wilmers read French and Russian at Oxford. 3. Alternative letter-case form of Peripatetic. Labels: alt-of, capitalized, usually Example: The true peripatetic school. Example: Demetreius of Phalerum, a peripatetic philosopher of the fourth century B.C., wrote an amatory treatise entitled Eroticus - no longer, however, extant.
Word: peripatetic Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French péripatétique, from Latin peripatēticus, from Ancient Greek περιπατητικός (peripatētikós, “given to walking around”), from περιπατέω (peripatéō, “to walk around”), from περί (perí, “around”) (English peri-)+ πατέω (patéō, “to walk”). Pronunciation: /ˌpɛɹ.ɪ.pəˈtɛt.ɪk/, /ˌpɛɹ.ə.pəˈtɛt.ɪk/ 1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant. 2. Alternative letter-case form of Peripatetic (“Aristotelian”). Labels: alt-of, capitalized, usually Example: He who would think clearly must think like a peripatetic even if he is unwilling to walk like one.
Word: philander Part of Speech: noun Etymology: As a verb, first seen in the 1824 play Philandering: Or, The Rose Queen, by Samuel Beazley. From the given name Philander, used for love interest or suitor stock characters in several 18th century stories and poems, from Ancient Greek Φίλανδρος (Phílandros), name of the mythological son of the nymph Acacallis and the god Apollo. Semantically disconnected from the adjective φίλανδρος (phílandros, “loving one’s husband; excessively attracted to males, slutty, boy crazy”). Pronunciation: /fɪˈlændə/, /fɪˈlændəɹ/ 1. A lover. Example: Yes, I'll baste you together, you and your Philander! 2. A South American opossum, bare-tailed woolly opossum, of species Caluromys philander (syn. Didelphis philander). 3. A greater bilby, an Australian marsupial of species Macrotis lagotis (syn. Perameles lagotis). Labels: obsolete
Word: philander Part of Speech: verb Etymology: As a verb, first seen in the 1824 play Philandering: Or, The Rose Queen, by Samuel Beazley. From the given name Philander, used for love interest or suitor stock characters in several 18th century stories and poems, from Ancient Greek Φίλανδρος (Phílandros), name of the mythological son of the nymph Acacallis and the god Apollo. Semantically disconnected from the adjective φίλανδρος (phílandros, “loving one’s husband; excessively attracted to males, slutty, boy crazy”). Pronunciation: /fɪˈlændə/, /fɪˈlændəɹ/ 1. To woo women; to play the male flirt. Labels: intransitive Example: You can't be philandering after her again.
Word: phlegmatic Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English fleumatik, flewmatik, flematik, fleumatyke, flewmatyk, from Old French fleumatique, from Latin phlegmaticus, from Ancient Greek φλεγματικός (phlegmatikós), from φλέγμα (phlégma), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with mildness, coldness, sluggishness, and indifference. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots, with modern pronunciation following this new spelling. Pronunciation: /flɛɡˈmætɪk/ 1. Not easily excited to action or passion; calm; sluggish. Example: Calm and phlegmatic, with a clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English composure which Angelica Kauffmann has so skilfully represented on canvas. Example: 2013, A.O. Scott, “How It Looks to Think: Watch Her,” Rev. of Hannah Arendt, dir. by Margarethe von Trotta, New York Times 29 May 2013: C1. Print. Their friendship (immortalized in a splendid volume of letters that has clearly served as one of Ms. von Trotta's sources) is a fascinating study in cultural and temperamental contrast, an impulsive and witty American paired with a steady, phlegmatic German. 2. Generating, causing, or full of phlegm. Example: cold and phlegmatic bodies Example: Near-synonyms: phlegmish, phlegmy
Word: phlegmatic Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English fleumatik, flewmatik, flematik, fleumatyke, flewmatyk, from Old French fleumatique, from Latin phlegmaticus, from Ancient Greek φλεγματικός (phlegmatikós), from φλέγμα (phlégma), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with mildness, coldness, sluggishness, and indifference. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots, with modern pronunciation following this new spelling. Pronunciation: /flɛɡˈmætɪk/ 1. One who has a phlegmatic disposition.
Word: physiognomy Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Inherited from Middle English phisonomie, from Anglo-Norman phisenomie, Middle French phisonomie et al., ultimately from Late Latin physiognomia, from Ancient Greek φυσιογνωμία (phusiognōmía, “physiology”), from φύσις (phúsis, “physique, appearance”) + γνώμη (gnṓmē, “means of knowing”). Middle English phisonomie would regularly develop into *physnomy /ˈfɪznəmi/ (forms of this type are common in Early Modern English, such as fisnomie in All's Well that Ends Well); the modern spelling and pronunciation are due to learned influence. Pronunciation: /fɪziˈɒnəmi/, /fɪziˈɒɡnəmi/, /fɪziˈɑ(ɡ)nəmi/ 1. The art or pseudoscience of deducing the predominant temper and other characteristic qualities of the mind from the outward appearance, especially from the features of the face. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Known still less than Della Porta is the figure of Camillo Baldi, an early-seventeenth-century Bolognese physician and university professor who advanced the discussion from the study of physiognomy and skull sizes to the study of characteriology based on writing. I am still not sure what to make of this treatise on onychomancy, that is, divining by observing the fingernails, except that he accounted for the practice as an example of the acute application of observational technique to the signs and symbols left by intelligent nature for humans to decipher in view of some benefit. Example: During a period of peak popularity in the 19ᵗʰ Century, the field of physiognomy became more sinister and racist than its quirky manifestation during the time of ancient Greeks. 2. The face or countenance, with respect to the temper of the mind; particular configuration, cast, or expression of countenance, as denoting character. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Faith ſir a has an Engliſh maine, but his fiſnomie is more hotter in France then there. Example: The Negro transported into the same countries has also undergone remarkable changes. His colour has paled, his features have improved, and his physiognomy is altered. “In the space of 150 years,” says M. Elisée Reclus, “they have passed a good fourth of the distance which separates them from the whites, as far as external appearance goes.” 3. The art of telling fortunes by inspection of the features. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. The general appearance or aspect of a thing, without reference to its scientific characteristics. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the physiognomy of a plant; of a meteor Example: According to artists, the lion is the most difficult of all animals to paint, on account of the prodigious mobility of his physiognomy. Rosa Bonheur was able, thanks to her inimitable art, to catch and reproduce the fugitive facial expressions of the kingly beast [...]
Word: pice Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Hindi पैसा (paisā, “money”). Pronunciation: /paɪs/ 1. Alternative form of paisa, especially (historical) in the form of coins worth 20 cash. Labels: alt-of, alternative
Word: pipette Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French pipette, from pipe + -ette. Pronunciation: /pɪˈpɛt/, /paɪˈpɛt/ 1. A small tube, often with an enlargement or bulb in the middle, and usually graduated, used for transferring or delivering measured quantities of a liquid.
Word: pipette Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From French pipette, from pipe + -ette. Pronunciation: /pɪˈpɛt/, /paɪˈpɛt/ 1. To transfer or measure the volume of a liquid using a pipette. Example: Thereʼs another man near him, pipetting something into a series of small glass vials.
Word: piquet Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French piquet. Pronunciation: /pɪˈkɛt/, /pɪˈkeɪ/ 1. A game of cards for two people, with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes being set aside. Labels: uncountable Example: Maria my love you look grave. Come, you sit down to Piquet with Mr. Surface. Example: The two wedding parties met constantly in each other's apartments. After two or three nights the gentlemen of an evening had a little piquet, as their wives sate and chatted apart.
Word: piquet Part of Speech: noun 1. Archaic form of picket. Labels: alt-of, archaic
Word: piquet Part of Speech: verb 1. Archaic form of picket. Labels: alt-of, archaic
Word: plagiarist Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Latin plagium Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Latin plagiārius English plagiary Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English plagiarist From plagiary + -ist. Pronunciation: /ˈpleɪd͡ʒəɹɪst/ 1. One who plagiarizes; or lifts the words, writings, or ideas of another, and passes them off as his or her own, thus engaging in plagiarism; a literary thief.
Word: planchette Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French planchette. By surface analysis, French planche + -ette. Pronunciation: /plænˈʃɛt/ 1. A small plank. 2. A type of Ouija board. (A small tablet of wood supported on casters and having a pencil attached. The characters produced by the pencil on paper, while the hand rests on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes interpreted as of oracular or supernatural import.) 3. A plane table. 4. One of the round colored dots pressed into paper money, used to distinguish authentic currency from counterfeit currency. Labels: Canada Example: Some general security features to look for in both Canadian and American currency are . . .small green dots or "planchettes" randomly embedded throughout the paper that glow under ultraviolet light.
Word: planner Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-? Proto-Indo-European *pel-? Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *pléh₂-n̥t-eh₂ Proto-Italic *plāntā? Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k-der. Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂nk /*gteh₂ Proto-Italic *plānktā Latin planta Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin plantāre Old French French planterdeverb. French plant French planbor. English plan English -er English planner From plan + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈplænɚ/ 1. One who plans. Example: Johnny is a good planner. He starts his work in time to get it finished by the deadline. Example: Ms. Gunston is a planner for the county. 2. A notebook or software in which one keeps reminders of items such as appointments, tasks, projects, and contacts. 3. Synonym of filled pause.
Word: plaque Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”), from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch, stain”), from Old Dutch *plagga (“patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”). The word is cognate with Middle Low German placke, plagge (“small stain, scraps, rags, thin grass”), German Placken (“spot, patch”), Saterland Frisian plak, plakke (“a blow, slap”), Swedish plagg (“clothing, garment”). Compare plack. Pronunciation: /plæk/, /plɑːk/, /plak/, [pʰl̥æk], /plaːk/ 1. Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such as a brooch. Labels: countable 2. A piece of flat metal with writing on it, attached to a building, monument, or other structure to remind people of a person or an event. Labels: countable 3. A small card representing an amount of money, used for betting in casinos; a sort of gaming chip. Labels: countable Example: But on this June evening when Bond walked through the 'kitchen' into the salle privée, it was with a sensation of confidence and cheerful anticipation that he changed a million francs into plaques of fifty mille and took a seat […] 4. A clearing in a bacterial lawn caused by a virus. Labels: countable 5. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system: any flat, thin musical instrument. Labels: countable Example: blown plaques Example: aconcussion plaques 6. A broad patch of abnormal tissue distinguishable from surrounding tissue, especially a broad papule (“inflamed, irritated patch”) on the skin. Labels: countable 7. An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: amyloid plaque Example: apleural plaque 8. An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn't entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time. 9. An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease. Labels: uncountable 10. An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease. Labels: countable
Word: plash Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English plasch, plasche, plash, plashe (“pool of standing water, marshy place; torrent of water (?)”), from Late Old English plæsċ, plesċ (“pool; puddle”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *plask (“pool”); further etymology unknown, probably ultimately onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing. cognates * German platschen (“to splash”) * Middle Dutch plasch, plas (“pool”) (modern Dutch plas (“pool, watering hole”), plassen (“to splash, splatter”); Middle French plache (“pool”), plascq (“damp meadow”); Anglo-Norman plasseis (“marshes”, plural)) * West Frisian plaskje (“to splash, splatter”) Pronunciation: /plæʃ/ 1. A small pool of standing water; a marshy pond; also, a puddle; (uncountable) marshy land; mire. Labels: Midlands, North, Northern-England, countable Example: And ſo than they of Bruges began to ſhote gonnes at thẽ. And than they of Gaũt diſcharged at ones thre .C. gonnes at one ſhotte: and ſo tourned a bout the plaſſhe of water and cauſed the ſon⸝ to be in the eyen of thẽ of Bruges⸝ the which greued them ſore: […] Example: Out of the vvound the redblood flovved freſh, / That vnderneath his feet ſoone made a purple pleſh.
Word: plash Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Probably onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing. The noun is attested earlier than the verb. It is not clear whether this word is related to plash (“small pool of standing water”) (see etymology 1). The interjection is derived from the noun. As regards the noun, compare German Platsch (noun), platsch (interjection). As regards the verb, compare Early Dutch plasschen, plassen (“to splash in water”); Middle Low German plasken, plassen (“to splash”); Swedish plaska (“to splash”). Pronunciation: /plæʃ/ 1. A sound made by something hitting the surface of water or some other liquid, or by water or some other liquid hitting something; also, an act causing this sound; a splash. Example: One ſhip that Lycius did ſhrowd with faithful Orontes / In ſight of captayne was ſwaſht with a royſterus heapefloud. / Downe the pilot tumbleth with plaſh round ſummoned headlong, / Thriſe the grauel thumping in whirlpoole plunged, is hooule'd: […] Example: The mildew drops fell one by one, / With tinkling plash, upon the stone. 2. A heavy fall of rain; a downpour. Labels: UK, dialectal Example: Penthouses five stories high, not so much for the protection of the people in the street as to keep the plash of heavy rain from the house windows, so that these might be the more safely open. 3. A splash of light on a surface. Labels: figuratively, obsolete, rare Example: The waterfall, scattering its vanishing gems; the tall grove of hemlocks, with moss on their stems, like plashes of sunlight; […]
Word: plash Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Probably onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing. The noun is attested earlier than the verb. It is not clear whether this word is related to plash (“small pool of standing water”) (see etymology 1). The interjection is derived from the noun. As regards the noun, compare German Platsch (noun), platsch (interjection). As regards the verb, compare Early Dutch plasschen, plassen (“to splash in water”); Middle Low German plasken, plassen (“to splash”); Swedish plaska (“to splash”). Pronunciation: /plæʃ/ 1. To hit (someone or something) with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; to splash. Labels: also, figuratively, transitive Example: When the halcyon is sporting far out on the seas, / In the beach's bright ripple thou plashest thy wings, / And tossest the spray from the shore-eddied rings. 2. To hit (someone or something) with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; to splash. Labels: also, figuratively, transitive Example: to plash a wall in imitation of granite 3. To agitate or plunge into (water or some other liquid), causing it to splash. Labels: Shetland, archaic, transitive Example: Then, loa ye, from Tenedos through ſtanding deepe floud apeaſed^([sic – meaning appeared?]) / (I ſhiuer in telling) two ſerpents monſterus ouglie / Plaſht the water ſulcking to the ſhoare moſt haſtily ſwinging. Example: [U]nleſs they lay themſelves dovvn to be trampl'd under foot, plaſh'd like Mortar, or abjure their Religion, the ſame Calamities, the ſame Slaughters, hang over their Heads, […] 4. To hit the surface of water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; also, to move in water with a splashing sound; to splash. Labels: intransitive Example: Thro thick and thin they ſcour'd about, / Plaſhin thro Dubs and Sykes, […] Example: At last, by hap, through some young trees it [a lance] struck, / And, plashing among bedded pebbles, stuck / In the middle of a brook,— […] 5. Of water or some other liquid: to hit something, or to move about, with a splashing sound; to splash. Labels: also, figuratively, intransitive Example: [T]he ſalt vvater plaſhes and froaths to ſee it ſelf ſo ſuddenly reſiſted: but the moiſt breath uſually vaporing in or upon the Seas makes it ſometimes turbulent. Example: The stream is so slender, that the gentlest breeze suffices to disturb its descent, and to scatter its pure sweet waters over the face of the cliff. But in that deep forest there is seldom a breath of wind; so that, plashing continually upon one spot, the fount has worn its own little channel of white sand, by which it finds its way to the river. 6. To hit someone or something with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound. Labels: Shetland, archaic, intransitive Example: In clammie waies he treaddeth by and by, / And plasheth and sprayeth all that be him nye. Example: For blood of Martyrs vvell is ſaid to be the Churches Seede, / VVhere Maſſacres haue plaſhed there is ſpread a triple Breede.
Word: plash Part of Speech: intj Etymology: Probably onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing. The noun is attested earlier than the verb. It is not clear whether this word is related to plash (“small pool of standing water”) (see etymology 1). The interjection is derived from the noun. As regards the noun, compare German Platsch (noun), platsch (interjection). As regards the verb, compare Early Dutch plasschen, plassen (“to splash in water”); Middle Low German plasken, plassen (“to splash”); Swedish plaska (“to splash”). Pronunciation: /plæʃ/ 1. Used to represent the sound made by something hitting the surface of water or some other liquid, or by water or some other liquid hitting something. Labels: obsolete Example: In the ooze generally the water comes half-way up the shoe, and we go plash, plash, plash, in the lawn-like glade.
Word: plash Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English *plashen (attested by the present participle form plashynge), from Anglo-Norman plaissier, plaisser, Old French plaissier, plaisser, and Old French plaissier (“to bend; to interlace”) (modern French plaisser (regional)), from Late Latin *plaxus, a variant of Latin plexus, the perfect passive participle of plectō (“to braid, plait, weave; to bend; to turn; to twist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold; to plait, weave”). Doublet of pleach. The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Old French plesce (“enclosure surrounded by hedges”) (Middle French plesse, Middle English plaishes (“hedges forming an enclosure, palisade of hedges or wattles”), modern French plaisse, plesse (“enclosure surrounded by hedges; hedge; branch of a hedge”)) Pronunciation: /plæʃ/ 1. A plant stem which has been partly cut, bent down, and intertwined with other stems to make or repair a hedge; also, a bush, hedge, etc., which has been pleached in this manner; a pleach. Labels: UK, archaic, dialectal, transitive Example: [T]he freſh fragrant flovvers of Divine Poeſie and Morall Philoſophy could not like vvell to be removed, nor tranſported to thoſe thorny places and plaſhes of the Lavv. Example: In the plaſhing of your Quick, avoid tvvo extreams, firſt the laying of it too lovv and too thick, vvhich makes the Sap run all into the Shoots, and leaves the plaſhes vvithout nouriſhment, vvhich vvith the thickneſs of the Hedge kills them: Secondly, avoid the laying of them too high, as is commonly uſed in the North, vvhich dravvs all the Sap into the plaſhes, and ſo makes but ſmall Shoots at the bottom, and by that means makes the Hedges ſo thin, that it neither preſerves it ſelf from the Cattles croping, nor prevents their going through: […]
Word: plasticity Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Hellenic *plátʰyō Proto-Hellenic *pláťťō? Ancient Greek πλάσσω (plássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Ancient Greek -τις (-tis) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós) Ancient Greek πλᾰστῐκός (plăstĭkós)der. Latin plasticusder. English plastic Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English plasticity From plastic + -ity. Pronunciation: /ˌplæs.ˈtɪs.ɪ.ti/, /ˌplɑːs.ˈtɪs.ɪ.ti/, [ˌpʰlæs.ˈtɪs.ɪ.ti], [ˌpʰlæs.ˈtɪs.ɪ.ɾi], [ˌplæs.ˈtɪs.ɪ.ɾi] 1. The quality or state of being plastic. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: In place of a stinger, a male bee or wasp has hardened genitalia […] used for grasping the female during mating and transferring sperm. Male genitalia are a showcase of structural plasticity. 2. The property of a solid body whereby it undergoes a permanent change in shape or size when subjected to a stress exceeding a particular value (the yield value). Labels: countable, uncountable