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One addicted to uttering platitudes, or stale and insipid truisms. "A political platitudinarian." G. Eliot.

Abounding in platitudes; of the nature of platitudes; uttering platitudes. -- Plat`i*tu"di*nous*ness, n.

An instrument for determining and registering the variations in the size or volume of a limb, as the arm or leg, and hence the variations in the amount of blood in the limb. -- Pleth`ys*mo*graph"ic, a.

Act of ploutering; floundering; act or sound of splashing. [Scot. & Dial.Eng.]

A self-registering rain gauge.

The act of voting, or of registering a vote. Polling booth, a temporary structure where the voting at an election is done; a polling place.

empt. And for mine own poor part, Look you, I'll go pray. Shak. Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing. Prior.

A trifling, chattering, fop or coxcomb. "To be so pestered with a popinjay." Shak.

f with trifles; to labor with little purpose, energy, of effect; to trifle; to pother. Pottering about the Mile End cottages. Mrs. Humphry Ward.

; hence, to shut out; to hinder; to stop; to impede. The valves preclude the blood from entering the veins. E. Darwin.

the preliminaries to a negotiation or duel; to take one's preliminaries the year before entering college.

ements; a previous illness. The dull sound . . . previous to the storm, Rolls o'er the muttering earth. Thomson. Previous question. (Parliamentary Practice) See under Question, and compare Closure. -- Previous to, before; -- often used adverbially for previously. "Previous to publication." M. Arnold. "A policy . . . h…

The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.

Intellectually deep; entering far into subjects; reaching to the bottom of a matter, or of a branch of learning; thorough; as, a profound investigation or treatise; a profound scholar; profound wisdom.

The act of uttering with articulation; the act of giving the proper sound and accent; utterance; as, the pronunciation of syllables of words; distinct or indistinct pronunciation.

Uttering confidently; dogmatical. [Obs.] Bacon.

Affording protection; sheltering; defensive. " The favor of a protective Providence." Feltham. Protective coloring (Zoöl.), coloring which serves for the concealment and preservation of a living organism. Cf. Mimicry. Wallace. -- Protective tariff (Polit. Econ.), a tariff designed to secure protection (see Protection,…

face is that any figure drawn upon it can be displaced in any way without tearing it or altering in size any of its elements.

at a rut shall be between the wheels. Every creature that met us would rely on us for quartering. De Quincey.

In quarters, or quarterings; as, to bear arms quarterly; in four or more parts; -- said of a shield thus divided by lines drawn through it at right angles.