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Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." Milton.

veral varieties, as the white-, the red-, the yellow-flowered, etc. Formerly called also primerole, primerolles.

Being in its prime. [Obs.] "The youth of primy nature." Shak.

The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, - - as distinguished from an accessory.

A prince; one invested with sovereignty. "Next upstood Nisroch, of principalities the prime." Milton.

plane faces or sides, and two equal and parallel triangular ends or bases; -- used in experiments on refraction, dispersion, etc.

Belonging to the earliest period or state; original; primitive; primeval; as, the pristine state of innocence; the pristine manners of a people; pristine vigor.

One who, when indicted for crime, confessed it, and accused others, his accomplices, in order to obtain pardon; a state's evidence.

The crime of destroying one's offspring, either in the womb or after birth. Bouvier.

rate, or to due comparative relation; to proportion; as, to proportionate punishment to crimes.

To pursue with the intention of punishing; to accuse of some crime or breach of law, or to pursue for redress or punishment, before a legal tribunal; to proceed against judicially; as, to prosecute a man for trespass, or for a riot. To acquit themselves and prosecute their foes. Milton.

To try or to ascertain by an experiment, or by a test 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.

To impose a penalty upon; to afflict with pain, loss, or suffering for a crime or fault, either with or without a view to the offender's amendment; to cause to suffer in retribution; to chasten; as, to punish traitors with death; a father punishes his child for willful disobedience. A greater power Now ruled him, punis…

Any pain, suffering, or loss inflicted on a person because of a crime or offense. I never gave them condign punishment. Shak. The rewards and punishments of another life. Locke.

The clearing of one's self from a crime of which one was publicly suspected and accused. It was either canonical, which was prescribed by the canon law, the form whereof used in the spiritual court was, that the person suspected take his oath that he was clear of the matter objected against him, and bring his honest ne…

o clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime. When that he hath purged you from sin. Chaucer. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Ps. li. 7.

Pleasantry or slight satire; banter; jesting language; satirical merriment. Let raillery be without malice or heat. B. Jonson. Studies employed on low objects; the very naming of them is sufficient to turn them into raillery. Addison.

To use pleasantry, or satirical merriment.

lock (Firearms), one in which the hammer rebounds to half cock after striking the cap or primer.

A tool used for applying a fresh percussion cap or primer to a cartridge shell in reloading it.