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-- Canada pitch, the resinous exudation of the hemlock tree (Abies Canadensis); hemlock gum. -- Jew's pitch, bitumen. -- Mineral pitch. See Bitumen and Asphalt. -- Pitch coal (Min.), bituminous coal. -- Pitch peat (Min.), a black homogeneous peat, with a waxy luster. -- Pitch pine (Bot.), any one of several spec…

Destitute of pith, or of strength; feeble. Dryden. "Pithless argumentation." Glandstone.

s, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. "Plausible and popular arguments." Clarendon.

claim of another; to urge reasons for or against a thing; to attempt to persuade one by argument or supplication; to speak by way of persuasion; as, to plead for the life of a criminal; to plead with a judge or with a father. O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor! Job xvi. 21.…

The act of advocating, defending, or supporting, a cause by arguments.

Flexible in disposition; readily yielding to influence, arguments, persuasion, or discipline; easy to be persuaded; -- sometimes in a bad sense; as, a pliable youth. "Pliable she promised to be." Dr. H. More. -- Pli"a*ble*ness, n. -- Pli"a*bly, adv.

A capsule of plant, especially a legume; a dry dehiscent fruit. See Illust. of Angiospermous.

A brown bitter gum extracted from the rootstalk of the May apple (Podophyllum peltatum). It is a complex mixture of several substances.

Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote. "Here lies the point." Shak. They will hardly prove his point. Arbuthnot.

A polemic argument or controversy.

ps, and for boiling with dammar for pitching vessels. It is pressed from the seeds of a leguminous tree (Pongamia glabra).

A food made by boiling some leguminous or farinaceous substance, or the meal of it, in water or in milk, making of broth or thin pudding; as, barley porridge, milk porridge, bean porridge, etc.

adorn with pictures. [R.] Spear and helmets thronged, and shields Various with boastful arguments potrayed. Milton.

Hence: The ground which any one takes in an argument or controversy; the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis; as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position. Let not the proof of any position depend on the…

sidered as self-evident; a truth to which assent may be demanded or challenged, without argument or evidence.

n an intellectual or moral sense; having great influence; as, potent interest; a potent argument. Cross potent. (Her.) See Illust. (7) of Cross.

energy in action; as, the power of steam in moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. "The power of fancy." Shak.

ighty; efficacious; intense; as, a powerful man or beast; a powerful engine; a powerful argument; a powerful light; a powerful vessel. The powerful grace that lies In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities. Shak.

s. Applied also to the sharp-tailed grouse. -- Prairie clover (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus Petalostemon, having small rosy or white flowers in dense terminal heads or spikes. Several species occur in the prairies of the United States. -- Prairie dock (Bot.), a coarse composite plant (Silphium terebinthac…

rest in the cause. Bacon. (b) A phrase often used to signify claiming the benefit of an argument. See under Aid. Mozley & W.