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A large genus of evergreen coniferous trees, mostly found in the northern hemisphere. The genus formerly included the firs, spruces, larches, and hemlocks, but is now limited to those trees which have the primary leaves of the branchlets reduced to mere scales, and the secondary ones (pine needles) acicular, and usuall…

atoid worm (Oxyurus vermicularis), which is parasitic chiefly in the rectum of man. It is most common in children and aged persons.

pepper (Piper nigrum) is the type. There are about a dozen genera and a thousand species, mostly tropical plants with pungent and aromatic qualities.

pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as, a piteous case. Spenser. The most piteous tale of Lear. Shak.

or meanness; miserable; paltry; contemptible; despicable. That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Shak.

ht-colored clamatorial birds belonging to Pitta, and allied genera of the family Pittidæ. Most of the species are varied with three or more colors, such as blue, green, crimson, yellow, purple, and black. They are called also ground thrushes, and Old World ant thrushes; but they are not related to the true thrushes.…

Fig.: To vex; to tease; to harass. She will plague the man that loves her most. Spenser.

Expressive of sorrow or melancholy; mournful; sad. "The most plaintive ditty." Landor. -- Plain"tive*ly, adv. -- Plain"tive*ness, n.

vered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain 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…

Of, pertaining to, or characterizing, the most recent division of the Tertiary age.

(Zoöl.), any one of numerous small, slender moths, belonging to the family Pterophoridæ. Most of them have the wings deeply divided into two or more plumelike lobes. Some species are injurious to the grapevine. -- Plume nutmeg (Bot.), an aromatic Australian tree (Atherosperma moschata), whose numerous carpels are tip…

ry; lyric or Pindaric poetry. "The planetlike music of poetry." Sir P. Sidney. She taketh most delight In music, instruments, and poetry. Shak.

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.

eet in length and weighs 1,600 pounds. It is partially amphibious, very powerful, and the most carnivorous of all the bears. The fur is white, tinged with yellow. Called also White bear. See Bear. -- Polar body, cell, or globule (Biol.), a minute cell which separates by karyokinesis from the ovum during its maturation…

iples prescribed by the constitution or the legislature, and in the exercise of which the most local governmental organizations should participate as far as possible (Burgess). Under this limitation the police power, as affecting persons, is the power of the state to protect the public against the abuse of individual l…

A coherent mass of pollen, as in the milkweed and most orchids.

Pairing with more than one female. Most deer, cattle, and sheep are polygamous. Darwin.

Bearing fruit repeatedly, as most perennial plants; polycarpic.

Nymphæa. -- Pond snail (Zoöl.), any gastropod living in fresh-water ponds or lakes. The 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 spic…

Firm; determined; fixed. "A most posed . . . and grave behavior." [Obs.] Urquhart.