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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



328 words match “FIGURATIVE”

PIG-HEADED a.
Having a head like a pig; hence, figuratively: stupidity obstinate; perverse; stubborn. B. Jonson. -- Pig"-head`ed*ness, n.
PILL n.
Figuratively, something offensive or nauseous which must be accepted or endured. Udall. Pill beetle (Zoöl.), any small beetle of the genus Byrrhus, having a rounded body, with the head concealed beneath the thorax. -- Pill bug (Zoöl.), any terrestrial isopod of the genus Armadillo, having the habit of rolling itself i…
PILLAR n.
Figuratively, that which resembles such a pillar in appearance, character, or office; a supporter or mainstay; as, the Pillars of Hercules; a pillar of the state. "You are a well-deserving pillar." Shak. By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire. Milton.
PILLORY v.
Figuratively, to expose to public scorn. Gladstone.
PILOT n. 2 definitions
Figuratively: A guide; a director of another through a difficult or unknown course.
PINCH v.
Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money. Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation. Sir W. Raleigh.
PINION n.
A wing, literal or figurative. Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. Pope.
PIRACY n.
"Sometimes used, in a quasi-figurative sense, of violation of copyright; but for this, infringement is the correct and preferable term." Abbott.
PIT n.
overed deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively. The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits. Lam. iv. 20.
PIVOT n.
Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.
PLAITED a.
Folded; doubled over; braided; figuratively, involved; intricate; artful. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides. Shak.
PLANE v.
Figuratively, to make plain or smooth. [R.] What student came but that you planed her path. Tennyson.
PLASTIC a.
Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; - - used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child.
PLATFORM n.
A plat; a plan; a sketch; a model; a pattern. Used also figuratively. [Obs.] Bacon.
PLIANT a.
ng; flexible; pliable; lithe; limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart. The will was then ductile and pliant to right reason. South.
PLUNGE v. 2 definitions
thrust; as, to plunge the body into water; to plunge a dagger into the breast. Also used figuratively; as, to plunge a nation into war. "To plunge the boy in pleasing sleep." Dryden. Bound and plunged him into a cell. Tennyson. We shall be plunged into perpetual errors. I. Watts.
POCKET n.
a small bag inserted in a garment for carrying small articles, particularly money; hence, figuratively, money; wealth.
POINT n. 2 definitions
t off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion. And there a point, for ended is my tale. Chaucer. Commas and points they set exactly right. Pope.
POPPIED a.
Affected with poppy juice; hence, figuratively, drugged; drowsy; listless; inactive. [R.] The poppied sails doze on the yard. Lowell.
PORT n.
ay ride secure from storms; a sheltered inlet, bay, or cove; a harbor; a haven. Used also figuratively.
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