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To strip or tear off; to remove by stripping, as the skin of an animal, the bark of a tree, etc.

look forth from concealment; to make the first appearance. When flowers first peeped, and trees did blossoms bear. Dryden.

A sacred tree (Ficus religiosa) of the Buddhists, a kind of fig tree which attains great size and venerable age. See Bo tree. [Written also pippul tree, and pipal tree.]

ulinus). It is noted for its elegant pendulous purselike nest, made of the down of willow trees and lined with feathers.

Having, or arranged in, five vertical ranks, as the leaves of an apple tree or a cherry tree.

A North American tree (Nyssa multiflora) with very tough wood, handsome oval polished leaves, and very acid berries, -- the sour gum, or common tupelo. See Tupelo. [Written also piperidge and pipperidge.] Pepperidge bush (Bot.), the barberry.

gar flavored with peppermint. Peppermint camphor. (Chem.) Same as Menthol. -- Peppermint tree (Bot.), a name given to several Australian species of gum tree (Eucalyptus amygdalina, E. piperita, E. odorata, etc.) which have hard and durable wood, and yield an essential oil.

An American tree (Diospyros Virginiana) and its fruit, found from New York southward. The fruit is like a plum in appearance, but is very harsh and astringent until it has been exposed to frost, when it becomes palatable and nutritious. Japanese persimmon, Diospyros Kaki and its red or yellow edible fruit, which outwar…

Peruvian balsam. See Balsam of Peru, under Balsam. -- Peruvian bark, the bitter bark of trees of various species of Cinchona. It acts as a powerful tonic, and is a remedy for malarial diseases. This property is due to several alkaloids, as quinine, cinchonine, etc., and their compounds; -- called also Jesuit's bark,…

A pear tree. See Pirie. [Obs.]

A genus of palms including the date tree.

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.

A genus of South American palm trees, the seeds of which furnish the substance called vegetable ivory.

A fibrous product of two Brazilian palm trees (Attalea funifera and Leopoldinia Piassaba), -- used in making brooms, and for other purposes. Called also piaçaba and piasaba.

A genus of coniferous trees of the northen hemisphere, including the Norway spruce and the American black and white spruces. These trees have pendent cones, which do not readily fall to pieces, in this and other respects differing from the firs.

The seed of a Brazilian lauraceous tree (Nectandra Puchury) of a taste and smell between those of nutmeg and of sassafras, -- sometimes used medicinally. Called also sassafras nut.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc.

Pi. By cock and pie, an adjuration equivalent to "by God and the service book." Shak. -- Tree pie (Zoöl.), any Asiatic bird of the genus Dendrocitta, allied to the magpie. -- Wood pie. (Zoöl.) See French pie, under French.

on wood (Bot.), a name in the West Indies for the wood of several very different kinds of trees, species of Dipholis, Diospyros, and Coccoloba. -- Pigeon woodpecker (Zoöl.), the flicker. -- Prairie pigeon. (Zoöl.) (a) The upland plover. (b) The golden plover. [Local, U.S.]

The bitter-flavored nut of a species of hickory (Carya glabra, or porcina); also, the tree itself.