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

Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. The mere perdition of the Turkish fleet. Shak. If we reject the truth, we seal our own perdition. J. M. Mason.

Of or pertaining to pessimism; characterized by pessimism; gloomy; foreboding. "Giving utterance to pessimistic doubt." Encyc. Brit.

great numbers. I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. Shak. Pestilence weed (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Dr. Prior.

A handsome American butterfly (Euphydryas, or Melitæa, Phaëton). The upper side of the wings is black, with orange-red spots and marginal crescents, and several rows of cream-colored spots; -- called also Baltimore.

The act or process by which articulate sounds are uttered; the utterance of articulate sounds; articulate speech.

A South American butterfly (Ithonia phono) having nearly transparent wings.

A description of the laws of the human voice, or sounds uttered by the organs of speech.

The science or doctrine of the elementary sounds uttered by the human voice in speech, including the various distinctions, modifications, and combinations of tones; phonetics. Also, a treatise on sounds.

Any butterfly of the genus Pieris and related genera. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage.

An Oriental dish consisting of rice boiled with mutton, fat, or butter. [Written also pilau.]

See Butterwort.

To perform, as a tune, by playing on a pipe, flute, fife, etc.; to utter in the shrill tone of a pipe. A robin . . . was piping a few querulous notes. W. Irving.

also caruck. -- Piping frog (Zoöl.), a small American tree frog (Hyla Pickeringii) which utters a high, shrill note in early spring. -- Piping hot, boiling hot; hissing hot; very hot. [Colloq.] Milton.

In a flutter; with palpitation or quick succession of beats. Lowell. "The fox's heart went pitapat." L'Estrange.

plex machine for planing wood, especially boards, containing usually a rapidly revolving cutter, which chips off the surface in small shavings as the piece to be planed is passed under it by feeding apparatus.

ure the foliage of plants, as Lygus lineolaris, which damages wheat and trees. -- Plant cutter (Zoöl.), a South American passerine bird of the genus Phytotoma, family Phytotomidæ. It has a serrated bill with which it cuts off the young shoots and buds of plants, often doing much injury. -- Plant louse (Zoöl.), any sm…

is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked. Plantain cutter, or Plantain eater (Zoöl.), any one of several large African birds of the genus Musophaga, or family Musophagidæ, especially Musophaga violacea. See Turaco. They are allied to the cuckoos. -- Plantain squirrel (Zoöl.), a Ja…

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

To utter platitudes or truisms.