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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



782 words match “ORB”

PENDENTIVE n.
The part of a groined vault which is supported by, and springs from, one pier or corbel.
PERIASTRON n.
That point, in the real or apparent orbit of one star revolving around another, at which the former is nearest to the latter.
PERIGEE; PERIGEUM n.
That point in the orbit of the moon which is nearest to the earth; -- opposed to Ant: apogee. It is sometimes, but rarely, used of the nearest points of other orbits, as of a comet, a planet, etc. Called also epigee, epigeum.
PERIHELION; PERIHELIUM n.
That point of the orbit of a planet or comet which is nearest to the sun; -- opposed to Ant: aphelion.
PERMIT v.
suffer to be done; to tolerate; to put up with. What things God doth neither command nor forbid . . . he permitteth with approbation either to be done or left undone. Hooker.
PERSIST v.
. If they persist in pointing their batteries against particular persons, no laws of war forbid the making reprisals. Addison. Some positive, persisting fops we know, Who, if once wrong, will needs be always so. Pope. That face persists. It floats up; it turns over in my mind. Mrs. Browning.
PERSISTENT a.
Remaining beyond the period when parts of the same kind sometimes fall off or are absorbed; permanent; as, persistent teeth or gills; a persistent calyx; -- opposed to deciduous, and caducous.
PHTHIRIASIS n.
A disease (morbus pediculous) consisting in the excessive multiplication of lice on the human body.
PHYSIC n.
A physician. [R.] Shak. Physic nut (Bot.), a small tropical American euphorbiaceous tree (Jatropha Curcas), and its seeds, which are well flavored, but contain a drastic oil which renders them dangerous if eaten in large quantities.
PIGMENTAL; PIGMENTARY a.
ining to pigments; furnished with pigments. Dunglison. Pigmentary degeneration (Med.), a morbid condition in which an undue amount of pigment is deposited in the tissues.
PLANE n.
ontaining, some designated astronomical line, circle, or other curve; as, the plane of an orbit; the plane of the ecliptic, or of the equator.
PLANET n.
A celestial body which revolves about the sun in an orbit of a moderate degree of eccentricity. It is distinguished from a comet by the absence of a coma, and by having a less eccentric orbit. See Solar system.
PLATE n.
A horizontal timber laid upon a wall, or upon corbels projecting from a wall, and supporting the ends of other timbers; also used specifically of the roof plate which supports the ends of the roof trusses or, in simple work, the feet of the rafters.
PLATINUM n.
vided metallic platinum obtained by reduction and precipitation from its solutions. It absorbs oxygen to a high degree, and is employed as an oxidizer. -- Platinum lamp (Elec.), a kind of incandescent lamp of which the luminous medium is platinum. See under Incandescent. -- Platinum metals (Chem.), the group of metal…
PLEDGET n.
t of lint, laid over a wound, ulcer, or the like, to exclude air, retain dressings, or absorb the matter discharged.
POINSETTIA n.
A Mexican shrub (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with very large and conspicuous vermilion bracts below the yellowish flowers.
POISON n.
Any agent which, when introduced into the animal organism, is capable of producing a morbid, noxious, or deadly effect upon it; as, morphine is a deadly poison; the poison of pestilential diseases.
POND n.
most common kinds are air-breathing snails (Pulmonifera) belonging to Limnæa, Physa, Planorbis, and allied genera. The operculated species are pectinibranchs, belonging to Melantho, Valvata, and various other genera. -- Pond spice (Bot.), an American shrub (Tetranthera geniculata) of the Laurel family, with small ova…
PORE v.
To look or gaze steadily in reading or studying; to fix the attention; to be absorbed; -- often with on or upon, and now usually with over."Painfully to pore upon a book." Shak. The eye grows weary with poring perpetually on the same thing. Dryden.
POSTOCULAR a.
Same as Postorbital.
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