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e smallest firearm used, intended to be fired from one hand, -- now of many patterns, and bearing a great variety of names. See Illust. of Revolver. Pistol carbine, a firearm with a removable but- piece, and thus capable of being used either as a pistol or a carbine. -- Pistol pipe (Metal.), a pipe in which the blast…

sed by orchestras, as in concerts, etc. -- Diametral pitch (Gearing), the distance which bears the same relation to the pitch proper, or circular pitch, that the diameter of a circle bears to its circumference; it is sometimes described by the number expressing the quotient obtained by dividing the number of teeth in…

Platelike; having irregular, platelike, bony scales, often bearing spines; pertaining to the placoids.

A treelike perennial herb (Musa paradisiaca) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See Musa.

A subdivision of Carnivora having plantigrade feet. It includes the bears, raccoons, and allied species.

A plantigrade animal, or one that walks or steps on the sole of the foot, as man, and the bears.

so called because used in making pottery. Lyell. -- Plastic element (Physiol.), one that bears within the germs of a higher form. -- Plastic exudation (Med.), an exudation thrown out upon a wounded surface and constituting the material of repair by which the process of healing is effected. -- Plastic foods. (Physiol…

, drawn by horses, mules, oxen, or other power, for turning up the soil to prepare it for bearing crops; also used to furrow or break up the soil for other purposes; as, the subsoil plow; the draining plow. Where fern succeeds ungrateful to the plow. Dryden.

Downy; bearing down.

The son of Jason and Ceres, and the god of wealth. He was represented as bearing a cornucopia, and as blind, because his gifts were bestowed without discrimination of merit.

A stalk which bears the fructification in some lichens, as in the so-called reindeer moss.

The two stars (Merak and Dubhe) in the Great Bear, the line between which points nearly in the direction of the north star. See Illust. of Ursa Major. (b) pl. (Naut.)

A large North American herb of the genus Phytolacca (P. decandra), bearing dark purple juicy berries; -- called also garget, pigeon berry, pocan, and pokeweed. The root and berries have emetic and purgative properties, and are used in medicine. The young shoots are sometimes eaten as a substitute for asparagus, and the…

stronomical instrument, as an equatorial, which is parallel to the earths axis. -- Polar bear (Zoöl.), a large bear (Ursus, or Thalarctos, maritimus) inhabiting the arctic regions. It sometimes measures nearly nine feet in length and weighs 1,600 pounds. It is partially amphibious, very powerful, and the most carnivor…

onding to the hallux in the hind limb; the thumb. In birds, the pollex is the joint which bears the bastard wing.

The oxlip. So called because the peduncle bears a many-flowered umbel. See Oxlip. (b) A bulbous flowering plant of the genus Narcissus (N. Tazetta, or N. polyanthus of some authors). See Illust. of Narcissus.

Bearing fruit repeatedly, or year after year.

Belonging to the Polygamia; bearing both hermaphrodite and unisexual flowers on the same plant.

The condition or state of a plant which bears both perfect and unisexual flowers.

olyp, the hydra. -- Polyp stem (Zoöl.), that portion of the stem of a siphonophore which bears the polypites, or feeding zooids.