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Uttering few words; brief in speech. [R.]

The quality or state of being penetrant; power of entering or piercing; penetrating power of quality; as, the penetrancy of subtile effluvia.

Having the power of entering, piercing, or pervading; sharp; subtile; penetrative; as, a penetrating odor.

The act or process of penetrating, piercing, or entering; also, the act of mentally penetrating into, or comprehending, anything difficult. And to each in ward part, With gentle penetration, though unseen, Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep. Milton. A penetration into the difficulties of algebra. Watts.…

A bird tied by the foot, to serve as decoy to other birds by its fluttering.

The act or process of percolating, or filtering; filtration; straining. Specifically (Pharm.), the process of exhausting the virtues of a powdered drug by letting a liquid filter slowly through it.

Frivolous or bantering talk; a frivolous manner of treating any subject, whether serious or otherwise; light raillery. Hannah More.

Pestering; vexatious; troublesome. Used also as an intensive. [Colloq. & Low, U.S.] Judd.

The act of pestering, or the state of being pestered; vexation; worry. "The trouble and pesterment of children." B. Franklin.

An electrometer registering by photography.

A nephoscope registering by photography, commonly consisting of a pair of cameras used simultaneously.

An instrument for registering the movements of the diaphragm, or midriff, in respiration.

A filtering machine operated by air pressure.

A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; -- called also outlying picket.

Forcibly entering, or adapted to enter, at or by a point; perforating; penetrating; keen; -- used also figuratively; as, a piercing instrument, or thrust. "Piercing eloquence." Shak. -- Pier"cing*ly, adv. -- Pier"cing*ness, n.

e it is necessary to resist the thrust of an arch, etc. Some renowned metropolis With glistering spires and pinnacles around. Milton.

A light, repeated sound; a pattering, as of the rain. "The pitapat of a pretty foot." Dryden.

To make a pattering sound; to murmur; as, pittering streams. [Obs.] R. Greene.

A sound like that of alternating light beats. Also, a pattering of words.

Plastering used to finish architectural constructions, exterior or interior, especially that used for the lining of rooms. Ordinarly, mortar is used for the greater part of the work, and pure plaster of Paris for the moldings and ornaments.