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Expressing fretfulness and discontent, or unjustifiable dissatisfaction; as, a peevish answer.

To pierce into by the mind; to arrive at the inner contents or meaning of, as of a mysterious or difficult subject; to comprehend; to understand. Things which here were too subtile for us to penetrate. Ray.

oduced by the successive contraction of the muscular fibers of their walls, forcing their contents onwards; as, peristaltic movement. -- Per`i*stal"tic*al*ly, adv.

Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. "That placid aspect and meek regard." Milton. "Sleeping . . . the placid sleep of infancy." Macaulay.

Contentedly, readily. [Obs.] The Romans plausibly did give consent. Shak.

pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy. I pray to God that it may plesen you. Chaucer. What next I bring shall please thee, be assured. Milton.

Warfare; war; hence, contention; opposition. [Obs.]

One who does not try for honors, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman. [Cambridge Univ., Eng.]

Figuratively: The quality of being heavy with important contents, issue, significance, etc.; unusual consequence or capacity; fertility. Fuller.

Heavy with important contents, significance, or issue; full of consequence or results; weighty; as, pregnant replies. " A pregnant argument." Prynne. " A pregnant brevity." E. Everett.

To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something. From sweet kernels pressed, She tempers dulcet creams. Milton. And I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. Gen. xl. 11.

or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3.

The low, murmuring sound made by a cat to express contentment or pleasure. [Written also purr.]

Apt or disposed to quarrel; given to brawls and contention; easily irritated or provoked to contest; irascible; choleric.

Not giving offense; not exciting disorder or trouble; not turbulent; gentle; mild; meek; contented. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 1 Pet. iii. 4. I will sit as quiet as a lamb. Shak.

nked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank. And range with humble livers in content. Shak.

To bring to acquiescence, content, or quiet submission; as, to reconcile one's self to affictions.

the reversal of the natural direction in which the current or contents flow through a tube or cavity of the body. Quain.

To continue pining; to feel inward discontent which preys on the spirits; to indulge in envy or complaint; to murmur. But Lachesis thereat gan to repine. Spenser. What if the head, the eye, or ear repined To serve mere engines to the ruling mind Pope.

Rest; quiet. In the reposure of most soft content. Marston.