P P (pe), (continued 15)

1. Cider. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

2. Perfumed ointment; esp., a fragrant unguent for the hair; pomatum; — originally made from apples.

POMANDER Po*man"der, n. Etym: [Sp. poma.] (a) A perfume to be carried with one, often in the form of a ball. (b) A box to contain such perfume, formerly carried by ladies, as at the end of a chain; — more properly pomander box. [Obs.] Bacon.

POMARINE Po"ma*rine, a. Etym: [Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having the nostril covered with a scale. Pomarine jager (Zoöl.), a North Atlantic jager (Stercorarius pomarinus) having the elongated middle tail feathers obtuse. The adult is black.

POMATUM Po*ma"tum, n. Etym: [See Pomade.]

Defn: A perfumed unguent or composition, chiefly used in dressing the hair; pomade. Wiseman.

POMATUM Po*ma"tum, v. t.

Defn: To dress with pomatum.

POME Pome, n. Etym: [L. pomum a fruit: cf. F. pomme apple. Cf. Pomade.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A fruit composed of several cartilaginous or bony carpels inclosed in an adherent fleshy mass, which is partly receptacle and partly calyx, as an apple, quince, or pear.

2. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: A ball of silver or other metal, which is filled with hot water, and used by the priest in cold weather to warm his hands during the service.

POME Pome, v. i. Etym: [Cf. F. pommer. See Pome, n.]

Defn: To grow to a head, or form a head in growing. [Obs.]

POMEGRANATE Pome"gran`ate, n. Etym: [OE. pomgarnet, OF. pome de grenate, F. grenade, L. pomum a fruit + granatus grained, having many grains or seeds. See Pome, and Garnet, Grain.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: The fruit of the tree Punica Granatum; also, the tree itself (see Balaustine), which is native in the Orient, but is successfully cultivated in many warm countries, and as a house plant in colder climates. The fruit is as large as an orange, and has a hard rind containing many rather large seeds, each one separately covered with crimson, acid pulp.

2. A carved or embroidered ornament resembling a pomegranate. Ex. xxviii. 33.

POMEL Pom"el, n.

Defn: A pommel. [Obs.] Chaucer.

POMELO Pom"e*lo, n. Etym: [Cf. Pompelmous.]

Defn: A variety of shaddock, called also grape fruit.

POMELY Pome"ly, a. Etym: [OF. pomelé, F. pommelé. See Pome.]

Defn: Dappled. [Obs.] "Pomely gray." Chaucer.

POMERANIAN Pom`e*ra"ni*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Pomerania, a province of Prussia on the Baltic Sea. — n.

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Pomerania. Pomeranian dog (Zoöl.), the loup-loup, or Spitz dog.

POMEWATER Pome"wa`ter, n.

Defn: A kind of sweet, juicy apple. [Written also pomwater.] Shak.

POMEY Pom"ey, n.; pl. Pomeys. Etym: [F. pommé grown round, or like an apple, p. p. of pommer to pome.] (Her.)

Defn: A figure supposed to resemble an apple; a roundel, — always of a green color.

POMFRET Pom"fret, n. Etym: [Perhaps corrupt. fr. Pg. pampano a kind of fish.] (Zoöl.) (a) One of two or more species of marine food fishes of the genus Stromateus (S. niger, S. argenteus) native of Southern Europe and Asia. (b) A marine food fish of Bermuda (Brama Raji).

POMICULTURE Po"mi*cul`ture, n. [L. pomum fruit + cultura culture.] (Hort.)

Defn: The culture of fruit; pomology as an art.

POMIFEROUS Po*mif"er*ous, a. Etym: [L. pomifer; pomum fruit + ferre to bear: cf. F. pomifère.] (Bot.) (a) Bearing pomes, or applelike fruits. (b) Bearing fruits, or excrescences, more or less resembling an apple.

POMMAGE Pom"mage (; 48), n.

Defn: See Pomage.

POMME Pom`mé", a. Etym: [F. See Pomey.] (Her.)

Defn: Having the ends terminating in rounded protuberances or single balls; — said of a cross.

POMME BLANCHE Pomme` blanche". Etym: [F., literally, white apple.]

Defn: The prairie turnip. See under Prairie.

POMMEL Pom"mel, n. Etym: [OE. pomel, OF. pomel, F. pommeau, LL. pomellus, fr. L. pomum fruit, LL. also, an apple. See Pome.]

Defn: A knob or ball; an object resembling a ball in form; as: (a) The knob on the hilt of a sword. Macaulay. (b) The knob or protuberant part of a saddlebow. (c) The top (of the head). Chaucer. (d) A knob forming the finial of a turret or pavilion.

POMMEL Pom"mel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pommeled or Pommelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Pommeling or Pommelling.]

Defn: To beat soundly, as with the pommel of a sword, or with something knoblike; hence, to beat with the fists. [Written also pummel.]

POMMELION Pom*mel"ion, n. Etym: [See Pommel: cf. LL. pomilio pygmy.] (Mil.)

Defn: The cascabel, or hindmost knob, of a cannon. [R.]

POMMETTE Pom`met`té", a. Etym: [F.]

Defn: Having two balls or protuberances at each end; — said of a cross.

POMOLOGICAL Po`mo*log"ic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. pomologique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to pomology.

POMOLOGIST Po*mol"o*gist, n.

Defn: One versed in pomology; one who culticvates fruit trees.

POMOLOGY Po*mol"o*gy, n. Etym: [L. pomum fruit + -logy: cf. F. pomologie.]

Defn: The science of fruits; a treatise on fruits; the cultivation of fruits and fruit trees.

POMONA Po*mo"na, n. Etym: [L., from pomum fruit.] (Class. Myth.)

Defn: The goddess of fruits and fruit trees.

POMP Pomp, n. Etym: [OE. pompe, F. pompe, L. pompa, fr. Gr. Pump a shoe.]

1. A procession distinguished by ostentation and splendor; a pageant. "All the pomps of a Roman triumph." Addison.

2. Show of magnificence; parade; display; power.

Syn. — Display; parade; pageant; pageantry; splendor; state; magnificence; ostentation; grandeur; pride.

POMP Pomp, v. i.

Defn: To make a pompons display; to conduct. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

POMPADOUR Pom"pa*dour, n.

Defn: A crimson or pink color; also, a style of dress cut low and square in the neck; also, a mode of dressing the hair by drawing it straight back from the forehead over a roll; — so called after the Marchioness de Pompadour of France. Also much used adjectively.

POMPANO Pom"pa*no, n. Etym: [Sp. pámpano.] [Written also pampano.] (Zoöl.)

1. Any one of several species of marine fishes of the genus Trachynotus, of which four species are found on the Atlantic coast of the United States; — called also palometa.

Note: They have a brilliant silvery or golden luster, and are highly esteemed as food fishes. The round pompano (T. thomboides) and the Carolina pompano (T. Carolinus) are the most common. Other species occur on the Pacific coast.

2. A California harvest fish (Stromateus simillimus), highly valued as a food fish. Pompano shell (Zoöl.), a small bivalve shell of the genus Donax; — so called because eaten by the pompano. [Florida]

POMPATIC Pom*pat"ic, a. Etym: [L. pompaticus.]

Defn: Pompous. [Obs.] Barrow.

POMPEIAN Pom*pe"ian, a. [L. Pompeianus.]

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, Pompeii, an ancient city of Italy, buried by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 a. d., and partly uncovered by modern excavations.

POMPEIAN RED Pompeian red. (Art)

Defn: A brownish red approaching maroon, supposed to be imitated from the color of the wall panels of houses in Pompeii, which were decorated during the last age of the Republic.

POMPELMOUS Pom"pel*mous, n.; pl. Pompelmouses. Etym: [D. pompelmoes; cf. G. pompelmuse, F. pamplemousse, and F. pompoléon.] (Bot.)

Defn: A shaddock, esp. one of large size.

POMPET Pom"pet, n. Etym: [OF. pompette.] (Print.)

Defn: The ball formerly used to ink the type.

POMPHOLYX Pom"pho*lyx, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr.

1. (Old Chem.)

Defn: Impure zinc oxide.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A skin disease in which there is an eruption of bullæ, without inflammation or fever.

POMPILLION Pom*pil"lion, n.

Defn: An ointment or pomatum made of black poplar buds. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

POMPION Pom"pi*on, n. Etym: [OF. pompon. See Pumpkin.]

Defn: See Pumpion.

POMPIRE Pom"pire, n. Etym: [L. pomum a fruit, LL. also, an apple + pirum a pear.]

Defn: A pearmain. [Obs.]

POMPOLEON Pom*po"le*on, n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Pompelmous.

POM-POM Pom"-pom`, n. [Imitative.]

Defn: A Vickers-Maxim one-pounder automatic machine cannon using metallic ammunition fed from a lopped belt attached to the gun; — popularly so called from its peculiar drumming sound in action. Sometimes, any of other similar automatic cannons.

POMPON Pom"pon, n. Etym: [F.]

1. Any trifling ornament for a woman's dress or bonnet.

2. (Mil.)

Defn: A tuft or ball of wool, or the like, sometimes worn by soldiers on the front of the hat, instead of a feather.

POMPOSITY Pom*pos"i*ty, n.; pl. Pomposities (.

Defn: The quality or state of being pompous; pompousness. Thackeray.

POMPOSO Pom*po"so, a. & adv. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: Grand and dignified; in grand style.

POMPOUS Pomp"ous, a. Etym: [F. pompeux, L. pomposus. See Pomp.]

1. Displaying pomp; stately; showy with grandeur; magnificent; as, a pompous procession.

2. Ostentatious; pretentious; boastful; vainlorious; as, pompous manners; a pompous style. "Pompous in high presumption." Chaucer. he pompous vanity of the old schoolmistress. Thackeray. — Pom"ous*ly, adv. — Pomp"ous*ness, n.

POMPTINE Pomp"tine, a.

Defn: See Pontine.

POMWATER Pom"wa`ter, n.

Defn: Same as Pomewater.

PONCELET Ponce"let, n. [After Jean Victor Poncelet, French engineer.] (Physics)

Defn: A unit of power, being the power obtained from an expenditure of one hundred kilogram-meters of energy per second. One poncelet equals g watts, when g is the value of the acceleration of gravity in centimeters.

PONCHO Pon"cho, n.; pl. Ponchos (. Etym: [Sp.]

1. A kind of cloak worn by the Spanish Americans, having the form of a blanket, with a slit in the middle for the head to pass through. A kind of poncho made of rubber or painted cloth is used by the mounted troops in the United States service.

2. A trade name for camlets, or stout worsteds.

POND Pond, n. Etym: [Probably originally, an inclosed body of water, and the same word as pound. See Pound an inclosure.]

Defn: A body of water, naturally or artificially confined, and usually of less extent than a lake. "Through pond or pool." Milton. Pond hen (Zoöl.), the American coot. See Coot (a). — Pond lily (Bot.), the water lily. See under Water, and Illust. under 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 spice (Bot.), an American shrub (Tetranthera geniculata) of the Laurel family, with small oval leaves, and axillary clusters of little yellow flowers. The whole plant is spicy. It grows in ponds and swamps from Virginia to Florida. — Pond tortoise, Pond turtle (Zoöl.), any freshwater tortoise of the family Emydidæ. Numerous species are found in North America.

POND Pond, v. t.

Defn: To make into a pond; to collect, as water, in a pond by damming.

POND Pond, v. t. Etym: [See Ponder.]

Defn: To ponder. [Obs.] Pleaseth you, pond your suppliant's plaint. Spenser.

PONDER Pon"der, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pondered; p. pr. & vb. n. Pondering.] Etym: [L. ponderare, fr. pondus, ponderis, a weight, fr. pendere to weigh: cf. F. pondérer. See Pendant, and cf. Pound a weight.]

1. To weigh. [Obs.]

2. To weigh in the mind; to view with deliberation; to examine carefully; to consider attentively. Ponder the path of thy feet. Prov. iv. 26.

Syn. — To Ponder, Consider, Muse. To consider means to view or contemplate with fixed thought. To ponder is to dwell upon with long and anxious attention, with a view to some practical result or decision. To muse is simply to think upon continuously with no definite object, or for the pleasure it gives. We consider any subject which is fairly brought before us; we ponder a concern involving great interests; we muse on the events of childhood.

PONDER Pon"der, v. i.

Defn: To think; to deliberate; to muse; — usually followed by on or over. Longfellow.

PONDERABILITY Pon`der*a*bil"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. pondérabilité.]

Defn: The quality or state of being ponderable.

PONDERABLE Pon"der*a*ble, a. Etym: [L. ponderabilis: cf. F. pondérable.]

Defn: Capable of being weighed; having appreciable weight. — Pon"der*a*ble*ness, n.

PONDERAL Pon"der*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. pondéral.]

Defn: Estimated or ascertained by weight; — distinguished from numeral; as, a ponderal drachma. [R.] Arbuthnot.

PONDERANCE Pon"der*ance, n. Etym: [L. ponderans, p. pr. of ponderare to weigh: cf. OF. ponderant of weight.]

Defn: Weight; gravity. [R.] Gregory.

PONDERARY Pon"der*a*ry, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to weight; as, a ponderary system. [R.] M'Culloch.

PONDERATE Pon"der*ate, v. t. Etym: [L. ponderatus, p. p. of ponderare. See Ponder.]

Defn: To consider; to ponder. [R.]

PONDERATE Pon"der*ate, v. i.

Defn: To have weight or influence. [R.]

PONDERATION Pon`der*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. ponderatio: cf. F. pondération.]

Defn: The act of weighing. [R.] Arbuthnot.

PONDERER Pon"der*er, n.

Defn: One who ponders.

PONDERING Pon"der*ing, a.

Defn: Deliberating. — Pon"der*ing*ly, adv.

PONDEROSITY Pon`der*os"i*ty, n.; pl. Ponderosities. Etym: [OF. ponderosité.]

Defn: The quality or state of being ponderous; weight; gravity; heaviness, ponderousness; as, the ponderosity of gold. Ray.

PONDEROUS Pon"der*ous, a. Etym: [L. ponderosus, from pondus, -eris, a weight: cf. F. pondéreux. See Ponder.]

1. Very heavy; weighty; as, a ponderous shield; a ponderous load; the ponderous elephant. The sepulcher . . . Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws. Shak.

2. Important; momentous; forcible. "Your more ponderous and settled project." Shak.

3. Heavy; dull; wanting; lightless or spirit; as, a ponderous style; a ponderous joke. Ponderous spar (Min.), heavy spar, or barytes. See Barite.

PONDEROUSLY Pon"der*ous*ly, adv.

Defn: In a ponderous manner.

PONDEROUSNESS Pon"der*ous*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being ponderous; ponderosity.

PONDFISH Pond"fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of American fresh-water fishes belonging to the family Centrarchidæ; — called also pond perch, and sunfish.

Note: The common pondfish of New England (Lepomis gibbosus) is called also bream, pumpkin seed, and sunny. See Sunfish. The long-eared pondfish (Lepomis auritus) of the Eastern United States is distinguished by its very long opercular flap.

PONDWEED Pond"weed`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: Any aquatic plant of the genus Potamogeton, of which many species are found in ponds or slow-moving rivers. Choke pondweed, an American water weed (Anarcharis, or Elodea, Canadensis.) See Anacharis. — Horned pondweed, the Zannichellia palustris, a slender, branching aquatic plant, having pointed nutlets.

PONE Pone, n. Etym: [Of Amer. Indian origin.]

Defn: A kind of johnnycake. [Written also paune.] [Southern U. S.]

PONENT Po"nent, a. Etym: [OF., fr. It. ponente, properly, setting (applied to the setting sun), fr. L. ponens, p. pr. of ponere to set, put.]

Defn: Western; occidental. [R.] Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds. Milton.

PONGEE Pon*gee", n. Etym: [Of East Indian origin.]

Defn: A fabric of undyed silk from India and China.

PONGHEE Pon*ghee", n. Etym: [From the native name.]

Defn: A Buddhist priest of the higher orders in Burmah. Malcom.

PONGO Pon"go, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any large ape; especially, the chimpanzee and the orang-outang.

PONIARD Pon"iard, n. Etym: [F. poignard (cf. It. pugnale, Sp. puñal), fr. L. pugio, -onis; probably akin to pugnus fist, or fr. pugnus fist, as held in the fist. See Pugnacious.]

Defn: A kind of dagger, — usually a slender one with a triangular or square blade. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. Shak.

PONIARD Pon"iard, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poniarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Poniarding.]

Defn: To pierce with a poniard; to stab. Cowper.

PONIBILITY Po`ni*bil"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. ponere to place.]

Defn: The capability of being placed or located. [Obs.] Barrow.

PONS Pons, n.; pl. Pontes. Etym: [L., a bridge.] (Anat.)

Defn: A bridge; — applied to several parts which connect others, but especially to the pons Varolii, a prominent band of nervous tissue situated on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata and connected at each side with the hemispheres of the cerebellum; the mesocephalon. See Brain. Pons asinorum. Etym: [L., literally, bridge of asses.] See Asses' bridge, under Ass.

PONTAGE Pon"tage (; 48), n. Etym: [LL. pontagium, from L. pons, pontis, a bridge: cf. F. pontage.] (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A duty or tax paid for repairing bridges. Ayliffe.

PONTEE Pon*tee", n. Etym: [F. pontil, pontis.] (Glass Making)

Defn: An iron rod used by glass makers for manipulating the hot glass; — called also, puntil, puntel, punty, and ponty. See Fascet.

PONTIC Pon"tic, a. Etym: [L. Ponticus, Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Pontus, Euxine, or Black Sea.

PONTIFEX Pon"ti*fex, n.; pl. Pontifices. Etym: [L.]

Defn: A high priest; a pontiff.

PONTIFF Pon"tiff, n. Etym: [F. pontife, L. pontifex, -ficis; pons, pontis, a bridge (perhaps originally, a way, path) + facere to make. Cf. Pontoon.]

Defn: A high priest. Especially: (a) One of the sacred college, in ancient Rome, which had the supreme jurisdiction over all matters of religion, at the head of which was the Pontifex Maximus. Dr. W. Smith. (b) (Jewish Antiq.) The chief priest. (c) (R. C. Ch.) The pope.

PONTIFIC Pon*tif"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. L. pontificius.]

1. Relating to, or consisting of, pontiffs or priests. "The pontific college with their augurs and flamens." Milton.

2. Of or pertaining to the pope; papal. Shenstone.

PONTIFICAL Pon*tif"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. pontificalis: cf. F. pontifical. See Pontiff.]

1. Of or pertaining to a pontiff, or high priest; as, pontifical authority; hence, belonging to the pope; papal.

2. Of or pertaining to the building of bridges. [R.] Now had they brought the work by wondrous art Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock Over the vexed abyss. Milton.

PONTIFICAL Pon*tif"ic*al, n. Etym: [F.]

1. A book containing the offices, or formulas, used by a pontiff. South.

2. pl.

Defn: The dress and ornaments of a pontiff. "Dressed in full pontificals." Sir W. Scott.

PONTIFICALITY Pon*tif`i*cal"i*ty, n.

Defn: The state and government of the pope; the papacy. [R.] Bacon.

PONTIFICALLY Pon*tif"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a pontifical manner.

PONTIFICATE Pon*tif"i*cate, n. Etym: [L. pontificatus: cf. F. pontificat. See Pontiff.]

1. The state or dignity of a high priest; specifically, the office of the pope. Addison.

2. The term of office of a pontiff. Milman.

PONTIFICATE Pon*tif"i*cate, v. i. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: To perform the duty of a pontiff.

PONTIFICE Pon"ti*fice, n. Etym: [L. pons, pontis, a bridge + facere to make. Cf. Pontiff.]

Defn: Bridgework; structure or edifice of a bridge. [R.] Milton.

PONTIFICIAL Pon`ti*fi"cial, a. Etym: [L. pontificius.]

Defn: Papal; pontifical. [Obs.] "Pontificial writers." Burton.

PONTIFICIAN Pon`ti*fi"cian, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the pontiff or pope. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

PONTIFICIAN Pon`ti*fi"cian, n.

Defn: One who adheres to the pope or papacy; a papist. [Obs.] Bp. Montagu.

PONTIL Pon"til, n.

Defn: Same as Pontee.

PONTILE Pon"tile, a. Etym: [L. pontilis pertaining to a bridge.] (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the pons Varolii. See Pons.

PONTINE Pon"tine, a. Etym: [L. Pontinus or Pomptinus, an appellation given to a district in Latium, near Pometia.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to an extensive marshy district between Rome and Naples. [Written also Pomptine.]

PONTLEVIS Pont"le*vis, n. Etym: [F., properly, a drawbridge.] (Man.)

Defn: The action of a horse in rearing repeatedly and dangerously.

PONTON Pon*ton", n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: See Pontoon.

PONTOON Pon*toon", n. Etym: [F. ponton (cf. It. pontone), from L. ponto, - onis, fr. pons, pontis, a bridge, perhaps originally, a way, path: cf. Gr. path, pathi, panthan. Cf. Punt a boat.]

1. (Mil.)

Defn: A wooden flat-bottomed boat, a metallic cylinder, or a frame covered with canvas, India rubber, etc., forming a portable float, used in building bridges quickly for the passage of troops.

2. (Naut.)

Defn: A low, flat vessel, resembling a barge, furnished with cranes, capstans, and other machinery, used in careening ships, raising weights, drawing piles, etc., chiefly in the Mediterranean; a lighter. Pontoon bridge, a bridge formed with pontoons. — Pontoon train, the carriages of the pontoons, and the materials they carry for making a pontoon bridge.

Note: The French spelling ponton often appears in scientific works, but pontoon is more common form.

PONTOONING Pon*toon"ing, n.

Defn: The act, art, or process of constructing pontoon bridges. "Army instruction in pontooning." Gen. W. T. Shermah.

PONTVOLANT Pont`vo*lant" (; F. ), n. Etym: [F. pont bridge + volant flying.] (Mil.)

Defn: A kind of light bridge, used in sieges, for surprising a post or outwork which has but a narrow moat; a flying bridge.

PONTY Pon"ty, n. (Class Making)

Defn: See Pontee.

PONY Po"ny, n.; pl. Ponies (. [Written also poney.] Etym: [Gael. ponaidh.]

1. A small horse.

2. Twenty-five pounds sterling. [Slang, Eng.]

3. A translation or a key used to avoid study in getting lessons; a crib. [College Cant]

4. A small glass of beer. [Slang] Pony chaise, a light, low chaise, drawn by a pony or a pair of ponies. — Pony engine, a small locomotive for switching cars from one track to another. [U.S.] — Pony truck (Locomotive Engine), a truck which has only two wheels. — Pony truss (Bridge Building), a truss which has so little height that overhead bracing can not be used.

POOD Pood, n. Etym: [Russ. pud'.]

Defn: A Russian weight, equal to forty Russian pounds or about thirty-six English pounds avoirdupois.

POODLE Poo"dle, n. Etym: [G. pudel.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A breed of dogs having curly hair, and often showing remarkable intelligence in the performance of tricks.

POOH Pooh, interj. Etym: [Of. imitative origin; cf. Icel. pu.]

Defn: Pshaw! pish! nonsense! — an expression of scorn, dislike, or contempt.

POOH-POOH Pooh`-pooh", v. t.

Defn: To make light of; to treat with derision or contempt, as if by saying pooh! pooh! [Colloq.] Thackeray.

POOKOO Poo"koo, n. Etym: [From the native name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A red African antelope (Kobus Vardoni) allied to the water buck.

POOL Pool, n. Etym: [AS. pol; akin to LG. pool, pohl, D. poel, G. pfuhl; cf. Icel. pollr, also W. pwll, Gael. poll.]

1. A small and rather deep collection of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream; a reservoir for water; as, the pools of Solomon. Wyclif. Charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool. Bacon. The sleepy pool above the dam. Tennyson.

2. A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle. "The filthy mantled pool beyond your cell." Shak.

POOL Pool, n. Etym: [F. poule, properly, a hen. See Pullet.] [Written also poule.]

1. The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a snare; also, the receptacle for the stakes.

2. A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game; a game of skill in pocketing the balls on a pool table.

Note: This game is played variously, but commonly with fifteen balls, besides one cue ball, the contest being to drive the most balls into the pockets. He plays pool at the billiard houses. Thackeray.

3. In rifle shooting, a contest in which each competitor pays a certain sum for every shot he makes, the net proceeds being divided among the winners.

4. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.

5. A combination of persons contributing money to be used for the purpose of increasing or depressing the market price of stocks, grain, or other commodities; also, the aggregate of the sums so contributed; as, the pool took all the wheat offered below the limit; he put $10,000 into the pool.

6. (Railroads)

Defn: A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.

7. (Law)

Defn: An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities. Pin pool, a variety of the game of billiards in which small wooden pins are set up to be knocked down by the balls. — Pool ball, one of the colored ivory balls used in playing the game at billiards called pool. — Pool snipe (Zoöl.), the European redshank. [Prov. Eng.] — Pool table, a billiard table with pockets.

POOL Pool, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pooled; p. pr. & vb. n. Pooling.]

Defn: To put together; to contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of; as, the companies pooled their traffic. Finally, it favors the poolingof all issues. U. S. Grant.

POOL Pool, v. i.

Defn: To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.

POOLER Pool"er, n.

Defn: A stick for stirring a tan vat.

POOLING Pool"ing, n. (Law)

Defn: The act of uniting, or an agreement to unite, an aggregation of properties belonging to different persons, with a view to common liabilities or profits.

POON Poon, n. Etym: [Canarese ponne.]

Defn: A name for several East Indian, or their wood, used for the masts and spars of vessels, as Calophyllum angustifolium, C. inophullum, and Sterculia foetida; — called also peon.

POONAC Poo"nac, n.

Defn: A kind of oil cake prepared from the cocoanut. See Oil cake, under Cake.

POONAH PAINTING Poo"nah paint`ing. [From Poona, in Bombay Province, India.]

Defn: A style of painting, popular in England in the 19th century, in which a thick opaque color is applied without background and with scarcely any shading, to thin paper, producing flowers, birds, etc., in imitation of Oriental work. Hence: Poonah brush, paper, painter, etc.

POONGA OIL Poon"ga oil`.

Defn: A kind of oil used in India for lamps, and for boiling with dammar for pitching vessels. It is pressed from the seeds of a leguminous tree (Pongamia glabra).

POOP Poop, n. (Arch.)

Defn: See 2d Poppy.

POOP Poop, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pooped; p. pr. & vb. n. Pooping.] Etym: [Cf. D. poepen. See Pop.]

Defn: To make a noise; to pop; also, to break wind.

POOP Poop, n. Etym: [F. poupe; cf. Sp. & Pg. popa, It. poppa; all fr. L. puppis.] (Naut.)

Defn: A deck raised above the after part of a vessel; the hindmost or after part of a vessel's hull; also, a cabin covered by such a deck. See Poop deck, under Deck. See also Roundhouse. With wind in poop, the vessel plows the sea. Dryden. The poop was beaten gold. Shak.

POOP Poop, v. t. (Naut.) (a) To break over the poop or stern, as a wave. "A sea which he thought was going to poop her." Lord Dufferin. (b) To strike in the stern, as by collision.

POOPED Pooped, p. p. & a. (Naut.) (a) Having a poop; furnished with a poop. (b) Struck on the poop.

POOPING Poop"ing, n. (Naut.)

Defn: The act or shock of striking a vessel's stern by a following wave or vessel.

POOR Poor, a. [Compar. Poorer (; 254); superl. Poorest.] Etym: [OE. poure or povre, OF. povre, F. pauvre, L. pauper; the first syllable of which is probably akin to paucus few (see Paucity, Few), and the second to parare to prepare, procure. See Few, and cf. Parade, Pauper, Poverty.]

1. Destitute of property; wanting in material riches or goods; needy; indigent.

Note: It is often synonymous with indigent and with necessitous denoting extreme want. It is also applied to persons who are not entirely destitute of property, but who are not rich; as, a poor man or woman; poor people.

2. (Law)

Defn: So completely destitute of property as to be entitled to maintenance from the public.

3. Hence, in very various applications:

Defn: Destitute of such qualities as are desirable, or might naturally be expected; as: (a) Wanting in fat, plumpness, or fleshiness; lean; emaciated; meager; as, a poor horse, ox, dog, etc. "Seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed." Gen. xli. 19. (b) Wanting in strength or vigor; feeble; dejected; as, poor health; poor spirits. "His genius . . . poor and cowardly." Bacon. (c) Of little value or worth; not good; inferior; shabby; mean; as, poor clothes; poor lodgings. "A poor vessel." Clarendon. (d) Destitute of fertility; exhausted; barren; sterile; — said of land; as, poor soil. (e) Destitute of beauty, fitness, or merit; as, a poor discourse; a poor picture. (f) Without prosperous conditions or good results; unfavorable; unfortunate; unconformable; as, a poor business; the sick man had a poor night. (g) Inadequate; insufficient; insignificant; as, a poor excuse. That I have wronged no man will be a poor plea or apology at the last day. Calamy.

4. Worthy of pity or sympathy; — used also sometimes as a term of endearment, or as an expression of modesty, and sometimes as a word of contempt. And for mine own poor part, Look you, I'll go pray. Shak. Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing. Prior.

5. Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Matt. v. 3. Poor law, a law providing for, or regulating, the relief or support of the poor. — Poor man's treacle (Bot.), garlic; — so called because it was thought to be an antidote to animal poison. [Eng] Dr. Prior. — Poor man's weatherglass (Bot.), the red-flowered pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), which opens its blossoms only in fair weather. — Poor rate, an assessment or tax, as in an English parish, for the relief or support of the poor. — Poor soldier (Zoöl.), the friar bird. — The poor, those who are destitute of property; the indigent; the needy. In a legal sense, those who depend on charity or maintenance by the public. "I have observed the more public provisions are made for the poor, the less they provide for themselves." Franklin.

POOR Poor, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small European codfish (Gadus minutus); — called also power cod.

POORBOX Poor"box`, n.

Defn: A receptacle in which money given for the poor is placed.

POORHOUSE Poor"house`, n.

Defn: A dwelling for a number of paupers maintained at public expense; an almshouse; a workhouse.

POOR-JOHN Poor"-john`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small European fish, similar to the cod, but of inferior quality. Poor-john and apple pies are all our fare. Sir J. Harrington.

POORLINESS Poor"li*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being poorly; ill health.

POORLY Poor"ly, adv.

1. In a poor manner or condition; without plenty, or sufficiency, or suitable provision for comfort; as, to live poorly.

2. With little or no success; indifferently; with little profit or advantage; as, to do poorly in business.

3. Meanly; without spirit. Nor is their courage or their wealth so low, That from his wars they poorly would retire. Dryden.

4. Without skill or merit; as, he performs poorly. Poorly off, not well off; not rich.

POORLY Poor"ly, a.

Defn: Somewhat ill; indisposed; not in health. "Having been poorly in health." T. Scott.

POORNESS Poor"ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being poor (in any of the senses of the adjective). Bacon.

POOR-SPIRITED Poor"-spir`it*ed, a.

Defn: Of a mean spirit; cowardly; base. — Poor"-spir`it*ed*ness, n.

POOR-WILL Poor"-will`, n. Etym: [So called in imitation of its note.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A bird of the Western United States (Phalænoptilus Nutalli) allied to the whip-poor-will.

POOR-WILLIE Poor"-wil`lie, n. Etym: [So called in imitation of its note.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The bar-tailed godwit. [Prov. Eng.]

POP Pop, n. Etym: [Of imitative origin. Cf. Poop.]

1. A small, sharp, quick explosive sound or report; as, to go off with a pop. Addison.

2. An unintoxicating beverage which expels the cork with a pop from the bottle containing it; as, ginger pop; lemon pop, etc. Hood.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European redwing. [Prov. Eng.] Pop corn. (a) Corn, or maize, of peculiar excellence for popping; especially, a kind the grains of which are small and compact. (b) Popped corn; which has been popped.

POP Pop, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Popped; p. pr. & vb. n. Popping.]

1. To make a pop, or sharp, quick sound; as, the muskets popped away on all sides.

2. To enter, or issue forth, with a quick, sudden movement; to move from place to place suddenly; to dart; — with in, out, upon, off, etc. He that killed my king . . . Popp'd in between the election and my hopes. Shak. A trick of popping up and down every moment. Swift.

3. To burst open with a pop, when heated over a fire; as, this corn pops well.

POP Pop, v. t.

1. To thrust or push suddenly; to offer suddenly; to bring suddenly and unexpectedly to notice; as, to pop one's head in at the door. He popped a paper into his hand. Milton.

2. To cause to pop; to cause to burst open by heat, as grains of Indian corn; as, to pop corn or chestnuts. To pop off, to thrust away, or put off promptly; as, to pop one off with a denial. Locke. — To pop the question, to make an offer of marriage to a lady. [Colloq.] Dickens.

POP Pop, adv.

Defn: Like a pop; suddenly; unexpectedly. "Pop goes his plate." Beau. & Fl.

POPE Pope, n. Etym: [AS. papa, L. papa father, bishop. Cf. Papa, Papal.]

1. Any ecclesiastic, esp. a bishop. [Obs.] Foxe.

2. The bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. See Note under Cardinal.

3. A parish priest, or a chaplain, of the Greek Church.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A fish; the ruff. Pope Joan, a game at cards played on a round board with compartments. — Pope's eye, the gland surrounded with fat in the middle of the thigh of an ox or sheep. R. D. Blackmore. — Pope's nose, the rump, or uropygium, of a bird. See Uropygium.

POPEDOM Pope"dom, n. Etym: [AS. papedom.]

1. The place, office, or dignity of the pope; papal dignity. Shak.

2. The jurisdiction of the pope.

POPELING Pope"ling, n.

1. A petty or deputy pope.

2. An adherent of the pope. [R.] Marlowe.

POPELOTE Pop"e*lote, n.

Defn: A word variously explained as "a little puppet," "a little doll," or "a young butterfly." Cf. Popet. [Obs.] So gay a popelote, so sweet a wench. Chaucer.

POPERY Pop"er*y, n.

Defn: The religion of the Roman Catholic Church, comprehending doctrines and practices; — generally used in an opprobrious sense.

POPE'S HEAD Pope's head.

Defn: A long-handled brush for dusting ceilings, etc., also for washing windows. [Cant]

POPET Pop"et, n.

Defn: A puppet. [Obs.] Chaucer.

POPGUN Pop"gun`, n.

Defn: A child's gun; a tube and rammer for shooting pellets, with a popping noise, by compression of air.

POPINJAY Pop"in*jay, n. Etym: [OE. popingay, papejay, OF. papegai, papegaut; cf. Pr. papagai, Sp. & Pg. papagayo, It. pappagallo, LGr. gallus cock, or the same word as E. jay, F. geai. Cf. Papagay.]

1. (Zoöl.) (a) The green woodpecker. (b) A parrot. The pye and popyngay speak they know not what. Tyndale.

2. A target in the form of a parrot. [Scot.]

3. A trifling, chattering, fop or coxcomb. "To be so pestered with a popinjay." Shak.

POPISH Pop"ish, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the pope; taught or ordained by the pope; hence, of or pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church; — often used opprobriously. — Pop"ish*ly, adv. — Pop"ish*ness, n.

POPLAR Pop"lar, n. Etym: [OE. popler, OF. poplier, F. peuplier, fr. L. populus poplar.] (Bot.)

1. Any tree of the genus Populus; also, the timber, which is soft, and capable of many uses.

Note: The aspen poplar is Populus tremula and P. tremuloides; Balsam poplar is P. balsamifera; Lombardy poplar (P. dilatata) is a tall, spiry tree; white poplar is Populus alba.

2. The timber of the tulip tree; — called also white poplar. [U.S.]

POPLEXY Po*plex"y, n.

Defn: Apoplexy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

POPLIN Pop"lin, n. Etym: [F. popeline, papeline.]

Defn: A fabric of many varieties, usually made of silk and worsted, - - used especially for women's dresses. Irish poplin, a fabric with silk warp and worsted weft, made in Ireland.

POPLITEAL Pop*lit"e*al, a. Etym: [From L. poples, -itis, the ham.] (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the ham; in the region of the ham, or behind the knee joint; as, the popliteal space.

POPLITIC Pop*lit"ic, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Popliteal.

POPOVTSY Po*pov"tsy, n. pl. [Russ., prop., those having popes or priests.]

Defn: See Raskolnik.

POPPER Pop"per, n.

Defn: A utensil for popping corn, usually a wire basket with a long handle.

POPPER Pop"per, n.

Defn: A dagger. [Obs.] Chaucer.

POPPET Pop"pet, n.

1. See Puppet.

2. (Naut.)

Defn: One of certain upright timbers on the bilge ways, used to support a vessel in launching. Totten.

3. (Mach.)

Defn: An upright support or guide fastened at the bottom only. Poppet head, Puppet head. See Headstock (a).

POPPIED Pop"pied, a. Etym: [See 1st Poppy.]

1. Mingled or interspersed with poppies. "Poppied corn." Keats.

2. Affected with poppy juice; hence, figuratively, drugged; drowsy; listless; inactive. [R.] The poppied sails doze on the yard. Lowell.

POPPING Pop"ping,

Defn: a. & n. from Pop. Popping crease. (Cricket) See under Crease.

POPPLE Pop"ple, v. i. Etym: [Cf. Pop.]

Defn: To move quickly up and down; to bob up and down, as a cork on rough water; also, to bubble. Cotton.

POPPLE Pop"ple, n.

1. The poplar. [Prov. Eng. & Local, U. S.]

2. Tares. [Obs.] "To sow popple among wheat." Bale.

POPPY Pop"py, n.; pl. Poppies. Etym: [OE. popy, AS. popig, L. papaver.] (Bot.)

Defn: Any plant or species of the genus Papaver, herbs with showy polypetalous flowers and a milky juice. From one species (Papaver somniferum) opium is obtained, though all the species contain it to some extent; also, a flower of the plant. See Illust. of Capsule. California poppy (Bot.), any yellow-flowered plant of the genus Eschscholtzia. — Corn poppy. See under Corn. — Horn, or Horned, poppy. See under Horn. — Poppy bee (Zoöl.), a leaf-cutting bee (Anthocopa papaveris) which uses pieces cut from poppy petals for the lining of its cells; — called also upholsterer bee. — Prickly poppy (Bot.), Argemone Mexicana, a yellow-flowered plant of the Poppy family, but as prickly as a thistle. — Poppy seed, the seed the opium poppy (P. somniferum). — Spatling poppy (Bot.), a species of Silene (S. inflata). See Catchfly.

POPPY; POPPYHEAD Pop"py, Pop"py*head`, n. Etym: [F. poupée doll, puppet. See Puppet.] (Arch.)

Defn: A raised ornament frequently having the form of a final. It is generally used on the tops of the upright ends or elbows which terminate seats, etc., in Gothic churches.

POPULACE Pop"u*lace, n. Etym: [F. populace, fr. It. popolaccio, popolazzo, fr. popolo people, L. populus. See People.]

Defn: The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, — comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, office, education, or profession. Pope. To . . . calm the peers and please the populace. Daniel. They . . . call us Britain's barbarous populaces. Tennyson.

Syn. — Mob; people; commonalty.

POPULACY Pop"u*la*cy, n.

Defn: Populace. [Obs.] Feltham.

POPULAR Pop"u*lar, a. Etym: [L. popularis, fr. populus people: cf. F. populaire. See People.]

1. Of or pertaining to the common people, or to the whole body of the people, as distinguished from a select portion; as, the popular voice; popular elections. "Popular states." Bacon. "So the popular vote inclines." Milton. The commonly held in popular estimation are greatest at a distance. J. H. Newman.

2. Suitable to common people; easy to be comprehended; not abstruse; familiar; plain. Homilies are plain popular instructions. Hooker.

3. Adapted to the means of the common people; possessed or obtainable by the many; hence, cheap; common; ordinary; inferior; as, popular prices; popular amusements. The smallest figs, called popular figs, . . . are, of all others, the basest and of least account. Holland.

4. Beloved or approved by the people; pleasing to people in general, or to many people; as, a popular preacher; a popular law; a popular administration.

5. Devoted to the common people; studious of the favor of the populace. [R.] Such popular humanity is treason. Addison.

6. Prevailing among the people; epidemic; as, a popular disease. [Obs.] Johnson. Popular action (Law), an action in which any person may sue for penalty imposed by statute. Blackstone.

POPULARES Pop`u*la"res, n. pl. Etym: [L.]

Defn: The people or the people's party, in ancient Rome, as opposed to the optimates.

POPULARITY Pop`u*lar"i*ty, n.; pl. Popularities. Etym: [L. popularitas an effort to please the people: cf. F. popularité.]

1. The quality or state of being popular; especially, the state of being esteemed by, or of being in favor with, the people at large; good will or favor proceeding from the people; as, the popularity of a law, statesman, or a book. A popularity which has lasted down to our time. Macaulay.

2. The quality or state of being adapted or pleasing to common, poor, or vulgar people; hence, cheapness; inferiority; vulgarity. This gallant laboring to avoid popularity falls into a habit of affectation. B. Jonson.

3. Something which obtains, or is intended to obtain, the favor of the vulgar; claptrap. Popularities, and circumstances which . . . sway the ordinary judgment. Bacon.

4. The act of courting the favor of the people. [Obs.] "Indicted . . . for popularity and ambition." Holland.

5. Public sentiment; general passion. [R.] A little time be allowed for the madness of popularity to cease. Bancroft.

POPULARIZATION Pop`u*lar*i*za"tion, n.

Defn: The act of making popular, or of introducing among the people.

POPULARIZE Pop"u*lar*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Popularized; p. pr. & vb. n. Popularizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. populariser.]

Defn: To make popular; to make suitable or acceptable to the common people; to make generally known; as, to popularize philosophy. "The popularizing of religious teaching." Milman.

POPULARIZER Pop"u*lar*i`zer, n.

Defn: One who popularizes.

POPULARLY Pop"u*lar*ly, adv.

Defn: In a popular manner; so as to be generally favored or accepted by the people; commonly; currently; as, the story was popularity reported. The victor knight, Bareheaded, popularly low had bowed. Dryden.

POPULARNESS Pop"u*lar*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being popular; popularity. Coleridge.

POPULATE Pop"u*late, a. Etym: [L. populus people. See People.]

Defn: Populous. [Obs.] Bacon.

POPULATE Pop"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Populated; p. pr. & vb. n. Populating.]

Defn: To furnish with inhabitants, either by natural increase or by immigration or colonization; to cause to be inhabited; to people.

POPULATE Pop"u*late, v. i.

Defn: To propagate. [Obs.] Great shoals of people which go on to populate. Bacon.

POPULATION Pop`u*la"tion, n. Etym: [L. populatio: cf. F. population.]

1. The act or process of populating; multiplication of inhabitants.

2. The whole number of people, or inhabitants, in a country, or portion of a country; as, a population of ten millions.

POPULATOR Pop"u*la`tor, n.

Defn: One who populates.

POPULICIDE Pop"u*li*cide`, n. Etym: [L. populus people + caedere to kill.]

Defn: Slaughter of the people. [R.]

POPULIN Pop"u*lin, n. Etym: [L. populus poplar: cf. F. populine.] (Chem.)

Defn: A glycoside, related to salicin, found in the bark of certain species of the poplar (Populus), and extracted as a sweet white crystalline substance.

POPULISM Pop"u*lism, n. (U. S. Politics)

Defn: The political doctrines advocated by the People's party.

POPULIST Pop"u*list, n. [L. populus people + -ist.] (U. S. Politics)

Defn: A member of the People's party. — Pop`u*lis"tic (#), a.

POPULOSITY Pop`u*los"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. populositas: cf. F. populosité.]

Defn: Populousness.[Obs.]

POPULOUS Pop"u*lous, a. Etym: [L. populosus, fr. populus people: cf. F. populeux.]

1. Abounding in people; full of inhabitants; containing many inhabitants in proportion to the extent of the country. Heaven, yet populous, retains Number sufficient to possess her realms. Milton.

2. Popular; famous. [Obs.] J. Webster.

3. Common; vulgar. [Obs.] Arden of Feversham.

4. Numerous; in large number. [Obs.] "The dust . . . raised by your populous troops." Shak. — Pop"u*lous*ly, adv. — Pop"u*lous*ness, n.

PORAILLE Po*raille", n. Etym: [OF. pouraille. See Poor.]

Defn: Poor people; the poor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PORBEAGLE Por"bea`gle, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A species of shark (Lamna cornubica), about eight feet long, having a pointed nose and a crescent-shaped tail; — called also mackerel shark. [Written also probeagle.]

PORCATE Por"cate, a. Etym: [L. porca a ridge between two furrows.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having grooves or furrows broader than the intervening ridges; furrowed.

PORCELAIN Por"ce*lain, n. (Bot.)

Defn: Purslain. [Obs.]

PORCELAIN Por"ce*lain (277), n. Etym: [F. porcelaine, It. porcellana, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (Cypræa porcellana), from a dim. fr. L. porcus pig, probably from the resemblance of the shell in shape to a pig's back. Porcelain was called after this shell, either on account of its smoothness and whiteness, or because it was believed to be made from it. See Pork.]

Defn: A fine translucent or semitransculent kind of earthenware, made first in China and Japan, but now also in Europe and America; — called also China, or China ware. Porcelain, by being pure, is apt to break. Dryden. Ivory porcelain, porcelain with a surface like ivory, produced by depolishing. See Depolishing. — Porcelain clay. See under Clay. — Porcelain crab (Zoöl.), any crab of the genus Porcellana and allied genera (family Porcellanidæ). They have a smooth, polished carapace. — Porcelain jasper. (Min.) See Porcelanite. — Porcelain printing, the transferring of an impression of an engraving to porcelain. — Porcelain shell (Zoöl.), a cowry.

PORCELAINIZED Por"ce*lain*ized, a. (Geol.)

Defn: Baked like potter's lay; — applied to clay shales that have been converted by heat into a substance resembling porcelain.

PORCELANEOUS; PORCELLANEOUS Por`ce*la"ne*ous, Por`cel*la"ne*ous, a.

1. Of or pertaining to porcelain; resembling porcelain; as, porcelaneous shells.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having a smooth, compact shell without pores; — said of certain Foraminifera.

PORCELANITE Por"ce*la*nite, n. Etym: [Cf. F. porcelanite.] (Min.)

Defn: A semivitrified clay or shale, somewhat resembling jasper; — called also porcelain jasper.

PORCELANOUS; PORCELLANOUS Por"ce*la`nous, Por"cel*la`nous, a.

Defn: Porcelaneous. Ure.

PORCH Porch, n. Etym: [F. porche, L. porticus, fr. porta a gate, entrance, or passage. See Port a gate, and cf. Portico.]

1. (Arch.)

Defn: A covered and inclosed entrance to a building, whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof. Sometimes the porch is large enough to serve as a covered walk. See also Carriage porch, under Carriage, and Loggia. The graceless Helen in the porch I spied Of Vesta's temple. Dryden.

2. A portico; a covered walk. [Obs.] Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find find us. Shak. The Porch, a public portico, or great hall, in Athens, where Zeno, the philosopher, taught his disciples; hence, sometimes used as equivalent to the school of the Stoics. It was called "h poiki`lh stoa`. [See Poicile.]

PORCINE Por"cine, a. Etym: [L. porcinus, from porcus a swine. See Pork.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to swine; characteristic of the hog. "Porcine cheeks." G. Eliot.

PORCUPINE Por"cu*pine, n. Etym: [OE. porkepyn, porpentine, OF. porc-espi, F. porc-épic (cf. It. porco spino, porco spinoso, Sp. puerco espino, puerco espin, fr. L. porcus swine + spina thorn, spine). The last part of the French word is perhaps a corruption from the It. or Sp.; cf. F. épi ear, a spike of grain, L. spica. See Pork, Spike a large nail, Spine.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any Old Word rodent of the genus Hystrix, having the back covered with long, sharp, erectile spines or quills, sometimes a foot long. The common species of Europe and Asia (Hystrix cristata) is the best known.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any species of Erethizon and related genera, native of America. They are related to the true porcupines, but have shorter spines, and are arboreal in their habits. The Canada porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus) is a well known species. Porcupine ant-eater (Zoöl.), the echidna. — Porcupine crab (Zoöl.), a large spiny Japanese crab (Acantholithodes hystrix). — Porcupine disease (Med.). See Ichthyosis. — Porcupine fish (Zoöl.), any plectognath fish having the body covered with spines which become erect when the body is inflated. See Diodon, and Globefish. — Porcupine grass (Bot.), a grass (Stipa spartea) with grains bearing a stout twisted awn, which, by coiling and uncoiling through changes in moisture, propels the sharp-pointed and barbellate grain into the wool and flesh of sheep. It is found from Illinois westward. See Illustration in Appendix. — Porcupine wood (Bot.), the hard outer wood of the cocoa palm; — so called because, when cut horizontally, the markings of the wood resemble the quills of a porcupine.

PORE Pore, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. porus, Gr. Fare, v.]

1. One of the minute orifices in an animal or vegetable membrane, for transpiration, absorption, etc.

2. A minute opening or passageway; an interstice between the constituent particles or molecules of a body; as, the pores of stones.

PORE Pore, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pored; p. pr. & vb. n. Poring.] Etym: [OE. poren, of uncertain origin; cf. D. porren to poke, thrust, Gael. purr.]

Defn: 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.

POREBLIND Pore"blind`, a. Etym: [Probably influenced by pore, v. See Purblind.]

Defn: Nearsighted; shortsighted; purblind. [Obs.] Bacon.

PORER Por"er, n.

Defn: One who pores.

PORGY Por"gy, n.; pl. Porgies. Etym: [See Paugie.] (Zoöl.) (a) The scup. (b) The sailor's choice, or pinfish. (c) The margate fish. (d) The spadefish. (e) Any one of several species of embiotocoids, or surf fishes, of the Pacific coast. The name is also given locally to several other fishes, as the bur fish. [Written also porgee, porgie, and paugy.]

PORIFERA Po*rif"e*ra, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. L. porus pore + ferre to bear.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A grand division of the Invertebrata, including the sponges; — called also Spongiæ, Spongida, and Spongiozoa. The principal divisions are Calcispongiæ, Keratosa or Fibrospongiæ, and Silicea.

PORIFERAN Po*rif"er*an, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Polifera.

PORIFERATA Po*rif`e*ra"ta, n. pl. Etym: [NL.]

Defn: The Polifera.

PORIFORM Po"ri*form, a. Etym: [L. porus pore + -form: cf. F. poriforme.]

Defn: Resembling a pore, or small puncture.

PORIME Po"rime, n. Etym: [Gr. (Math.)

Defn: A theorem or proposition so easy of demonstration as to be almost self-evident. [R.] Crabb.

PORINESS Por"i*ness, n.

Defn: Porosity. Wiseman.

PORISM Po"rism, n. Etym: [Gr. porisme.]

1. (Geom.)

Defn: A proposition affirming the possibility of finding such conditions as will render a certain determinate problem indeterminate or capable of innumerable solutions. Playfair.

2. (Gr. Geom.)

Defn: A corollary. Brande & C.

Note: Three books of porisms of Euclid have been lost, but several attempts to determine the nature of these propositions and to restore them have been made by modern geometers.

PORISMATIC; PORISMATICAL Po`ris*mat"ic, Po`ris*mat"ic*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a porism; poristic.

PORISTIC; PORISTICAL Po*ris"tic, Po*ris"tic*al, a.Etym: [Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a porism; of the nature of a porism.

PORITE Po"rite, n. Etym: [Cf. F. porite. See Pore, n.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any coral of the genus Porites, or family Poritidæ.

PORITES Po*ri"tes, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An important genus of reef-building corals having small twelve- rayed calicles, and a very porous coral. Some species are branched, others grow in large massive or globular forms.

PORK Pork, n. Etym: [F. porc, L. porcus hog, pig. See Farrow a litter of pigs, and cf. Porcelain, Porpoise.]

Defn: The flesh of swine, fresh or salted, used for food.

PORKER Pork"er, n.

Defn: A hog. Pope.

PORKET Pork"et, n. Etym: [Dim. of F. porc. See Pork.]

Defn: A young hog; a pig. [R.] Dryden. W. Howitt.

PORKLING Pork"ling, n.

Defn: A pig; a porket. Tusser.

PORKWOOD Pork"wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The coarse-grained brownish yellow wood of a small tree (Pisonia obtusata) of Florida and the West Indies. Also called pigeon wood, beefwood, and corkwood.

PORNERASTIC Por`ne*ras"tic, a. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: Lascivious; licentious. [R.] F. Harrison.

PORNOGRAPHIC Por`no*graph"ic, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to pornography; lascivious; licentious; as, pornographic writing.

PORNOGRAPHY Por*nog"ra*phy, n. Etym: [Gr. -graphy.]

1. Licentious painting or literature; especially, the painting anciently employed to decorate the walls of rooms devoted to bacchanalian orgies.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A treatise on prostitutes, or prostitution.

POROSITY Po*ros"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. porosité.]

Defn: The quality or state of being porous; — opposed to density.

POROTIC Po*rot"ic, n. Etym: [Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A medicine supposed to promote the formation of callus.

POROTYPE Po"ro*type, n. [See Pore, n., and -type.]

Defn: A copy of a print, writing, etc., made by placing it upon a chemically prepared paper which is acted upon by a gas which permeates the paper of the print, writing, etc.

POROUS Por"ous, a. Etym: [Cf. F. poreux. See Pore, n.]

Defn: Full of pores; having interstices in the skin or in the substance of the body; having spiracles or passages for fluids; permeable by liquids; as, a porous skin; porous wood. "The veins of porous earth." Milton.

POROUSLY Por"ous*ly, adv.

Defn: In a porous manner.

POROUSNESS Por"ous*ness, n.

1. The quality of being porous.

2. The open parts; the interstices of anything. [R.] They will forcibly get into the porousness of it. Sir K. Digby.

PORPENTINE Por"pen*tine, n.

Defn: Porcupine. [Obs.] Shak.

PORPESSE Por"pesse, n.

Defn: A porpoise. [Obs.]

PORPHYRACEOUS Por`phy*ra"ceous, a.

Defn: Porphyritic.

PORPHYRE Por"phyre, n.

Defn: Porphyry. [Obs.] Locke.

PORPHYRITE Por"phy*rite, n. (Min.)

Defn: A rock with a porphyritic structure; as, augite porphyrite.

PORPHYRITIC Por`phy*rit"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. porphyritique.] (Min.)

Defn: Relating to, or resembling, porphyry, that is, characterized by the presence of distinct crystals, as of feldspar, quartz, or augite, in a relatively fine-grained base, often aphanitic or cryptocrystalline.

PORPHYRIZATION Por`phy*ri*za"tion, n.

Defn: The act of porphyrizing, or the state of being porphyrized.

PORPHYRIZE Por`phy*rize, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. porphyriser, Gr.

Defn: To cause to resemble porphyry; to make spotted in composition, like porphyry.

PORPHYROGENITISM Por`phy*ro*gen"i*tism, n. Etym: [LL. porphyro genitus, fr. Gr.

Defn: The principle of succession in royal families, especially among the Eastern Roman emperors, by which a younger son, if born after the accession of his father to the throne, was preferred to an elder son who was not so born. Sir T. Palgrave.

PORPHYRY Por"phy*ry, n.; pl. Porphyries. Etym: [F. porphyre, L. porphyrites, fr. Gr. Purple.] (Geol.)

Defn: A term used somewhat loosely to designate a rock consisting of a fine-grained base (usually feldspathic) through which crystals, as of feldspar or quartz, are disseminated. There are red, purple, and green varieties, which are highly esteemed as marbles. Porphyry shell (Zoöl.), a handsome marine gastropod shell (Oliva porphyria), having a dark red or brown polished surface, marked with light spots, like porphyry.

PORPITA Por"pi*ta, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of bright-colored Siphonophora found floating in the warmer parts of the ocean. The individuals are round and disk-shaped, with a large zooid in the center of the under side, surrounded by smaller nutritive and reproductive zooids, and by slender dactylozooids near the margin. The disk contains a central float, or pneumatocyst.

PORPOISE Por"poise, n. Etym: [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See Pork, and Fish.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any small cetacean of the genus Phocæna, especially P. communis, or P. phocæna, of Europe, and the closely allied American species (P. Americana). The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called also harbor porpoise, herring hag, puffing pig, and snuffer.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A true dolphin (Delphinus); — often so called by sailors. Skunk porpoise, or Bay porpoise (Zoöl.), a North American porpoise (Lagenorhynchus acutus), larger than the common species, and with broad stripes of white and yellow on the sides. See Illustration in Appendix.

PORPORINO Por`po*ri"no, n. Etym: [It.]

Defn: A composition of quicksilver, tin, and sulphur, forming a yellow powder, sometimes used by mediæval artists, for the sake of economy, instead of gold. Fairholt.

PORPUS Por"pus, n.

Defn: A porpoise. [Obs.] Swift.

PORRACEOUS Por*ra"ceous, a. Etym: [L. porraceus, from porrum, porrus, a leek.]

Defn: Resembling the leek in color; greenish. [R.] "Porraceous vomiting." Wiseman.

PORRECT Por*rect", a. Etym: [L. porrectus, p. p. of porrigere to stretch out before one's self, to but forth.]

Defn: Extended horizontally; stretched out.

PORRECTION Por*rec"tion, n. Etym: [L. porrectio: cf. F. porrection.]

Defn: The act of stretching forth.

PORRET Por"ret, n. Etym: [F. porrette, fr. L. porrum, porrus, leek. See Porraceous.]

Defn: A scallion; a leek or small onion. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

PORRIDGE Por"ridge, n. Etym: [Probably corrupted fr. pottage; perh. influenced by OE. porree a kind of pottage, OF. porrée, fr. L. porrum, porrus, leek. See Pottage, and cf. Porringer.]

Defn: A food made by boiling some leguminous or farinaceous substance, or the meal of it, in water or in milk, making of broth or thin pudding; as, barley porridge, milk porridge, bean porridge, etc.

PORRINGER Por"rin*ger, n. Etym: [OE. pottanger, for pottager; cf. F. potager a soup basin. See Porridge.]

Defn: A porridge dish; esp., a bowl or cup from which children eat or are fed; as, a silver porringer. Wordsworth.

PORT Port, n. Etym: [From Oporto, in Portugal, i. e., the port, L. portus. See Port harbor.]

Defn: A dark red or purple astringent wine made in Portugal. It contains a large percentage of alcohol.

PORT Port, n. Etym: [AS. port, L. portus: cf. F. port. See Farm, v., Ford, and 1st, 3d, & 4h Port.]

1. A place where ships may ride secure from storms; a sheltered inlet, bay, or cove; a harbor; a haven. Used also figuratively.

Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads. Shak. We are in port if we have Thee. Keble.

2. In law and commercial usage, a harbor where vessels are admitted to discharge and receive cargoes, from whence they depart and where they finish their voyages. Free port. See under Free. — Port bar. (Naut,) (a) A boom. See Boom, 4, also Bar, 3. (b) A bar, as of sand, at the mouth of, or in, a port. — Port charges (Com.), charges, as wharfage, etc., to which a ship or its cargo is subjected in a harbor. — Port of entry, a harbor where a customhouse is established for the legal entry of merchandise. — Port toll (Law), a payment made for the privilege of bringing goods into port. — Port warden, the officer in charge of a port; a harbor master.

PORT Port, n. Etym: [F. porte, L. porta, akin to portus; cf. AS. porte, fr. L. porta. See Port a harbor, and cf. Porte.]

1. A passageway; an opening or entrance to an inclosed place; a gate; a door; a portal. [Archaic] Him I accuse The city ports by this hath entered. Shak. Form their ivory port the cherubim Forth issuing. Milton.

2. (Naut.)

Defn: An opening in the side of a vessel; an embrasure through which cannon may be discharged; a porthole; also, the shutters which close such an opening. Her ports being within sixteen inches of the water. Sir W. Raleigh.

3. (Mach.)

Defn: A passageway in a machine, through which a fluid, as steam, water, etc., may pass, as from a valve to the interior of the cylinder of a steam engine; an opening in a valve seat, or valve face. Air port, Bridle port, etc. See under Air, Bridle, etc. — Port bar (Naut.), a bar to secure the ports of a ship in a gale. — Port lid (Naut.), a lid or hanging for closing the portholes of a vessel. — Steam port, and Exhaust port (Steam Engine), the ports of the cylinder communicating with the valve or valves, for the entrance or exit of the steam, respectively.

PORT Port, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ported; p. pr. & vb. n. Porting.] Etym: [F. porter, L. portare to carry. See Port demeanor.]

1. To carry; to bear; to transport. [Obs.] They are easily ported by boat into other shires. Fuller.

2. (Mil.)

Defn: To throw, as a musket, diagonally across the body, with the lock in front, the right hand grasping the small of the stock, and the barrel sloping upward and crossing the point of the left shoulder; as, to port arms. Began to hem him round with ported spears. Milton. Port arms, a position in the manual of arms, executed as above.

PORT Port, n. Etym: [F. port, fr. porter to carry, L. portare, prob. akin to E. fare, v. See Port harbor, and cf. Comport, Export, Sport.]

Defn: The manner in which a person bears himself; deportment; carriage; bearing; demeanor; hence, manner or style of living; as, a proud port. Spenser. And of his port as meek as is a maid. Chaucer. The necessities of pomp, grandeur, and a suitable port in the world. South.

PORT Port, n. Etym: [Etymology uncertain.] (Naut.)

Defn: The larboard or left side of a ship (looking from the stern toward the bow); as, a vessel heels to port. See Note under Larboard. Also used adjectively.

PORT Port, v. t. (Naut.)

Defn: To turn or put to the left or larboard side of a ship; — said of the helm, and used chiefly in the imperative, as a command; as, port your helm.

PORTA Por"ta, n.; pl. Portæ. Etym: [L., a gate. See Port a hole.] (Anat.) (a) The part of the liver or other organ where its vessels and nerves enter; the hilus. (b) The foramen of Monro. B. G. Wilder.

PORTABILITY Port`a*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being portable; fitness to be carried.

PORTABLE Port"a*ble, a. Etym: [L. portabilis, fr. portare to carry: cf. F. portable. See Port demeanor.]

1. Capable of being borne or carried; easily transported; conveyed without difficulty; as, a portable bed, desk, engine. South.

2. Possible to be endured; supportable. [Obs.] How light and portable my pain seems now! Shak. Portable forge. See under Forge. — Portable steam engine. See under Steam engine.

PORTABLENESS Port"a*ble*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being portable; portability.

PORTACE Por"tace (; 48), n.

Defn: See Portass. [Obs.]

PORTAGE Port"age (; 48), n. Etym: [From 2d Port.] (Naut.) (a) A sailor's wages when in port. (b) The amount of a sailor's wages for a voyage.

PORTAGE Port"age, n. Etym: [3d Port.]

Defn: A porthole. [Obs.] Shak.

PORTAGE Por"tage, n. Etym: [F., from porter to carry. See Port to carry.]

1. The act of carrying or transporting.

2. The price of carriage; porterage. Bp. Fell.

3. Capacity for carrying; tonnage. [Obs.] Hakluyt.

4. A carry between navigable waters. See 3d Carry.

PORTAGE Por"tage, v. t. & i.

Defn: To carry (goods, boats, etc.) overland between navigable waters.

PORTAGE GROUP Por"tage group`. Etym: [So called from the township of Portage in New York.] (Geol.)

Defn: A subdivision of the Chemung period in American geology. See Chart of Geology.

PORTAGUE Por"ta*gue, n. Etym: [See Portuguese.]

Defn: A Portuguese gold coin formerly current, and variously estimated to be worth from three and one half to four and one half pounds sterling. [Obs.] [Written also portegue and portigue.] Ten thousand portagues, besides great pearls. Marlowe.

PORTAL Por"tal, n. Etym: [OF. portal, F. portail, LL. portale, fr. L. porta a gate. See Port a gate.]

1. A door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand and imposing. Thick with sparkling orient gems The portal shone. Milton. From out the fiery portal of the east. Shak.

2. (Arch.) (a) The lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions. (b) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment. (c) By analogy with the French portail, used by recent writers for the whole architectural composition which surrounds and includes the doorways and porches of a church.

3. (Bridge Building)

Defn: The space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.

4. A prayer book or breviary; a portass. [Obs.] Portal bracing (Bridge Building), a combination of struts and ties which lie in the plane of the inclined braces at a portal, serving to transfer wind pressure from the upper parts of the trusses to an abutment or pier of the bridge.

PORTAL Por"tal, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to a porta, especially the porta of the liver; as, the portal vein, which enters the liver at the porta, and divides into capillaries after the manner of an artery.

Note: Portal is applied to other veins which break up into capillaries; as, the renal portal veins in the frog.

PORTAMENTO Por`ta*men"to, n. Etym: [It., fr. portare to carry.] (Mus.)

Defn: In singing, or in the use of the bow, a gradual carrying or lifting of the voice or sound very smoothly from one note to another; a gliding from tone to tone.

PORTANCE Por"tance, n.

Defn: See Port, carriage, demeanor. [Obs.] Spenser. Shak.

PORTASS Por"tass, n. Etym: [OF. porte-hors a kind of prayer book, so called from being portable; cf. LL. portiforium.]

Defn: A breviary; a prayer book. [Written variously portace, portasse, portesse, portise, porthose, portos, portus, portuse, etc.] [Obs.] Spenser. Camden. By God and by this porthors I you swear. Chaucer.

PORTATE Por"tate, a. Etym: [L. portatus, p. p. of portare to carry.] (Her.)

Defn: Borne not erect, but diagonally athwart an escutcheon; as, a cross portate.

PORTATIVE Por"ta*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. portatif.]

1. Portable. [Obs.]

2. (Physics)

Defn: Capable of holding up or carrying; as, the portative force of a magnet, of atmospheric pressure, or of capillarity.

PORTCLUSE Port"cluse, n.

Defn: A portcullis. [Obs.]

PORTCRAYON Port`cray"on, n. Etym: [F. porte-crayon; porter to carry + crayon a crayon.]

Defn: A metallic handle with a clasp for holding a crayon.

PORTCULLIS Port*cul"lis, n. Etym: [OF. porte coulisse, coleïce, a sliding door, fr. L. colare, colatum, to filter, to strain: cf. F. couler to glide. See Port a gate, and cf. Cullis, Colander.]

1. (Fort.)

Defn: A grating of iron or of timbers pointed with iron, hung over the gateway of a fortress, to be let down to prevent the entrance of an enemy. "Let the portcullis fall." Sir W. Scott. She . . . the huge portcullis high updrew. Milton.

2. An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth, struck for the use of the East India Company; — so called from its bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.

PORTCULLIS Port*cul"lis, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portcullised; p. pr. & vb. n. Portcullising.]

Defn: To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. [R.] Shak.

PORTE Porte, n. Etym: [F. porte a gate, L. porta. See Port a gate.]

Defn: The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish empire, officially called the Sublime Porte, from the gate (port) of the sultan's palace at which justice was administered.

PORTE-COCHERE Porte"-co`chère", n. Etym: [F. See Port a gate, and Coach.] (Arch.)

Defn: A large doorway allowing vehicles to drive into or through a building. It is common to have the entrance door open upon the passage of the porte-cochère. Also, a porch over a driveway before an entrance door.

PORTED Port"ed, a.

Defn: Having gates. [Obs.] We took the sevenfold-ported Thebes. Chapman.

PORTEGUE Por"te*gue, n.

Defn: See Portague. [Obs.]

PORTEMONNAIE Porte"mon*naie`, n. Etym: [F., fr. porter to carry + monnaie money.]

Defn: A small pocketbook or wallet for carrying money.

PORTEND Por*tend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portended; p. pr. & vb. n. Portending.] Etym: [L. portendre, portentum, to foretell, to predict, to impend, from an old preposition used in comp. + tendere to stretch. See Position, Tend.]

1. To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshow; to foretoken; to bode; — now used esp. of unpropitious signs. Bacon. Many signs portended a dark and stormy day. Macaulay.

2. To stretch out before. [R.] "Doomed to feel the great Idomeneus' portended steel." Pope.

Syn. — To foreshow; foretoken; betoken; forebode; augur; presage; foreshadow; threaten.

PORTENSION Por*ten"sion, n.

Defn: The act of foreshowing; foreboding. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

PORTENT Por*tent", n. Etym: [L. portentum. See Portend.]

Defn: That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. Shak. My loss by dire portents the god foretold. Dryden.

PORTENTIVE Por*tent"ive, a.

Defn: Presaging; foreshadowing.

PORTENTOUS Por*tent"ous, a. Etym: [L. portentosus.]

1. Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. For, I believe, they are portentous things. Shak. Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor. Macaulay.

2. Hence: Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful; dreadful; as, a beast of portentous size. Roscommon. — Por*tent"ous*ly, adv. — Por*tent"ous*ness, n.

PORTER Por"ter, n. Etym: [F. portier, L. portarius, from porta a gate, door. See Port a gate.]

Defn: A man who has charge of a door or gate; a doorkeeper; one who waits at the door to receive messages. Shak. To him the porter openeth. John x. 3.

PORTER Por"ter, n. Etym: [F. porteur, fr. porter to carry, L. portare. See Port to carry.]

1. A carrier; one who carries or conveys burdens, luggage, etc.; for hire.

2. (Forging)

Defn: A bar of iron or steel at the end of which a forging is made; esp., a long, large bar, to the end of which a heavy forging is attached, and by means of which the forging is lifted and handled is hammering and heating; — called also porter bar.

3. A malt liquor, of a dark color and moderately bitter taste, possessing tonic and intoxicating qualities.

Note: Porter is said to be so called as having been first used chiefly by the London porters, and this application of the word is supposed to be not older than 1750.

PORTERAGE Por"ter*age, n.

1. The work of a porter; the occupation of a carrier or of a doorkeeper.

2. Money charged or paid for the carriage of burdens or parcels by a porter.

PORTERESS Por"ter*ess, n.

Defn: See Portress.

PORTERHOUSE Por"ter*house, n.

Defn: A house where porter is sold. Porterhouse steak, a steak cut from a sirloin of beet, including the upper and under part.

PORTESSE Por"tesse, n.

Defn: See Porteass. [Obs.] Tyndale.

PORTFIRE Port"fire`, n.

Defn: A case of strong paper filled with a composition of niter, sulphur, and mealed powder, — used principally to ignite the priming in proving guns, and as an incendiary material in shells.

PORTFOLIO Port*fol"io, n. Etym: [F. portefeuille; porter to carry + feuille a leaf. See Port to carry, and Folio.]

1. A portable case for holding loose papers, prints, drawings, etc.

2. Hence: The office and functions of a minister of state or member of the cabinet; as, to receive the portfolio of war; to resign the portfolio.

PORTGLAVE Port"glave, n. Etym: [F. porte-glaive; porter to carry + glaive a sword.]

Defn: A sword bearer. [Obs.]

PORTGREVE; PORTGRAVE Port"greve`, Port"grave`,Etym: [AS. portgerefa; port a harbor + gerefa a reeve or sheriff. See Reeve a steward, and cf. Portreeve.]

Defn: In old English law, the chief magistrate of a port or maritime town.; a portreeve. [Obs.] Fabyan.

PORTHOLE Port"hole`, n. (Naut.)

Defn: An embrasure in a ship's side. See 3d Port.

PORTHOOK Port"hook`, n. (Naut.)

Defn: One of the iron hooks to which the port hinges are attached. J. Knowles.

PORTHORS Port"hors`, n.

Defn: See Portass. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PORTICO Por"ti*co, n.; pl. Porticoes or Porticos. Etym: [It., L. porticus. See Porch.] (Arch.)

Defn: A colonnade or covered ambulatory, especially in classical styles of architecture; usually, a colonnade at the entrance of a building.

PORTICOED Por"ti*coed, a.

Defn: Furnished with a portico.

PORTIERE Por`tière"", n. Etym: [F., fr. porte gate, door. See Port a gate.]

Defn: A curtain hanging across a doorway.

PORTIGUE Por"ti*gue, n.

Defn: See Portague. Beau. & Fl.

PORTINGAL Por"tin*gal, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Portugal; Portuguese. [Obs.] — n.

Defn: A Portuguese. [Obs.]

PORTION Por"tion, n. Etym: [F., from L. portio, akin to pars, partis, a part. See Part, n.]

1. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.

2. A part considered by itself, though not actually cut off or separated from the whole. These are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him! Job xxvi. 14. Portions and parcels of the dreadful past. Tennyson.

3. A part assigned; allotment; share; fate. The lord of that servant . . . will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Luke xii. 46. Man's portion is to die and rise again. Keble.

4. The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate; an inheritance. Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. Luke xv. 12.

5. A wife's fortune; a dowry. Shak.

Syn. — Division; share; parcel; quantity; allotment; dividend. — Portion, Part. Part is generic, having a simple reference to some whole. Portion has the additional idea of such a division as bears reference to an individual, or is allotted to some object; as, a portion of one's time; a portion of Scripture.

PORTION Por"tion, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Portioning.]

1. To separate or divide into portions or shares; to parcel; to distribute. And portion to his tribes the wide domain. Pope.

2. To endow with a portion or inheritance. Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest. Pope.

PORTIONER Por"tion*er, n.

1. One who portions.

2. (Eccl.)

Defn: See Portionist, 2.

PORTIONIST Por"tion*ist, n.

1. A scholar at Merton College, Oxford, who has a certain academical allowance or portion; — corrupted into postmaster. Shipley.

2. (Eccl.)

Defn: One of the incumbents of a benefice which has two or more rectors or vicars.

PORTIONLESS Por"tion*less, a.

Defn: Having no portion.

PORTISE Por"tise, n.

Defn: See Portass. [Obs.]

PORTLAND CEMENT Port"land ce*ment".

Defn: A cement having the color of the Portland stone of England, made by calcining an artificial mixture of carbonate of lime and clay, or sometimes certain natural limestones or chalky clays. It contains a large proportion of clay, and hardens under water.

PORTLAND STONE Port"land stone".

Defn: A yellowish-white calcareous freestone from the Isle of Portland in England, much used in building.

PORTLAND VASE Port"land vase`.

Defn: A celebrated cinerary urn or vase found in the tomb of the Emperor Alexander Severus. It is owned by the Duke of Portland, and kept in the British Museum.

PORTLAST Port"last, n. (Naut.)

Defn: The portoise. See Portoise.

PORTLINESS Port"li*ness, n.

1. The quality or state of being portly; dignity of mien or of personal appearance; stateliness. Such pride is praise; such portliness is honor. Spenser.

2. Bulkiness; corpulence.

PORTLY Port"ly, a. Etym: [From Port demeanor.]

1. Having a dignified port or mien; of a noble appearance; imposing.

2. Bulky; corpulent. "A portly personage." Dickens.

PORTMAN Port"man, n.; pl. Portmen (.

Defn: An inhabitant or burgess of a port, esp. of one of the Cinque Ports.

PORTMANTEAU Port*man"teau, n.; pl. Portmanteaus. Etym: [F. porte-manteau; porter to carry + manteau a cloak, mantle. See Port to carry, and Mantle.]

Defn: A bag or case, usually of leather, for carrying wearing apparel, etc., on journeys. Thackeray.

PORTMANTLE Port*man"tle, n.

Defn: A portmanteau. [Obs.]

PORTMOTE Port"mote`, n.

Defn: In old English law, a court, or mote, held in a port town. [Obs.] Blackstone.

PORTOIR Por"toir, n. Etym: [OF., fr. porter to bear.]

Defn: One who, or that which, bears; hence, one who, or that which, produces. [Obs.] Branches . . . which were portoirs, and bare grapes. Holland.

PORTOISE Por"toise, n. Etym: [Perhaps fr. OF. porteis portative, portable.] (Naut.)

Defn: The gunwale of a ship. To lower the yards a-portoise, to lower them to the gunwale. — To ride a portoise, to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck or lowered, as in a gale of wind.

PORTOS Por"tos, n.

Defn: See Portass. [Obs.]

PORTPANE Port"pane, n. Etym: [From L. portare to carry + panis bread; prob. through French.]

Defn: A cloth for carrying bread, so as not to touch it with the hands. [Obs.]

PORTRAIT Por"trait, n. Etym: [F., originally p. p. of portraire to portray. See Portray.]

1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life. In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature. Sir J. Reynolds.

Note: The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to include a photographic likeness.

2. Hence, any graphic or vivid delineation or description of a person; as, a portrait in words. Portrait bust, or Portrait statue, a bust or statue representing the actual features or person of an individual; — in distinction from an ideal bust or statue.

PORTRAIT Por"trait, v. t.

Defn: To portray; to draw. [Obs.] Spenser.

PORTRAITIST Por"trait*ist, n.

Defn: A portrait painter. [R.] Hamerton.

PORTRAITURE Por"trai*ture, n. Etym: [F. portraiture.]

1. A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model. For, by the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his. Shak. Divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern; the love of our neighbors but the portraiture. Bacon.

2. Pictures, collectively; painting. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. The art or practice of making portraits. Walpole.

PORTRAITURE Por"trai*ture, v. t.

Defn: To represent by a portrait, or as by a portrait; to portray. [R.] Shaftesbury.

PORTRAY Por*tray", v. t. [Written also pourtray.] [imp. & p. p. portrayed (; p. pr. & vb. n. Portraying.] Etym: [OE. pourtraien, OF. portraire, pourtraire, F. portraire, fr. L. protrahere, protractum, to draw or drag forth; pro forward, forth + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t., and cf. Protract.]

1. To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on horseback. Take a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem. Ezek. iv. 1.

2. Hence, figuratively, to describe in words.

3. To adorn with pictures. [R.] Spear and helmets thronged, and shields Various with boastful arguments potrayed. Milton.

PORTRAYAL Por*tray"al, n.

Defn: The act or process of portraying; description; delineation.

PORTRAYER Por*tray"er, n.

Defn: One who portrays. Chaucer.

PORTREEVE Port"reeve`, n.

Defn: A port warden.

PORTRESS Por"tress, n.

Defn: A female porter. Milton.

PORT-ROYALIST Port-roy"al*ist, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: One of the dwellers in the Cistercian convent of Port Royal des Champs, near Paris, when it was the home of the Jansenists in the 17th century, among them being Arnauld, Pascal, and other famous scholars. Cf. Jansenist.

PORTSALE Port"sale`, n. Etym: [Port gate + sale.]

Defn: Public or open sale; auction. [Obs.] Holland.

PORTUARY Por"tu*a*ry, n. Etym: [Cf. Portass.] (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: A breviary. [Eng.]

PORTUGUESE Por"tu*guese, a. Etym: [Cf. F. portugais, Sp. portugues, Pg. portuguez.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Portugal, or its inhabitants. — n. sing. & pl.

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Portugal; people of Portugal. Portuguese man-of-war. (Zoöl.) See Physalia.

PORTULACA Por`tu*la"ca, n. Etym: [L., purslane.] (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of polypetalous plants; also, any plant of the genus.

Note: Portulaca oleracea is the common purslane. P. grandiflora is a South American herb, widely cultivated for its showy crimson, scarlet, yellow, or white, ephemeral blossoms.

PORTULACACEOUS Por`tu*la*ca"ceous, a. (Bot.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to a natural order of plants (Portulacaceæ), of which Portulaca is the type, and which includes also the spring beauty (Claytonia) and other genera.

PORWIGLE Por"wi`gle, n.

Defn: See Polliwig.

PORY Por"y, a.

Defn: Porous; as, pory stone. [R.] Dryden.

POSE Po`sé", a. Etym: [F., placed, posed.] (Her.)

Defn: Standing still, with all the feet on the ground; — said of the attitude of a lion, horse, or other beast.

POSE Pose, n. Etym: [AS. gepose; of uncertain origin; cf. W. pas a cough, Skr. kas to cough, and E. wheeze.]

Defn: A cold in the head; catarrh. [Obs.] Chaucer.

POSE Pose, n. Etym: [F. pose, fr. poser. See Pose, v. t.]

Defn: The attitude or position of a person; the position of the body or of any member of the body; especially, a position formally assumed for the sake of effect; an artificial position; as, the pose of an actor; the pose of an artist's model or of a statue.

POSE Pose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posed; p. pr. & vb. n. Posing.] Etym: [F. poser to place, to put, L. pausare to pause, in LL. also, to place, put, fr. L. pausa a pause, Gr. few. In compounds, this word appears corresponding to L. ponere to put, place, the substitution in French having been probably due to confusion of this word with L. positio position, fr. ponere. See Few, and cf. Appose, Dispose, Oppose, Pause, Repose, Position.]

Defn: To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect; to arrange the posture and drapery of (a person) in a studied manner; as, to pose a model for a picture; to pose a sitter for a portrait.

POSE Pose, v. i.

Defn: To assume and maintain a studied attitude, with studied arrangement of drapery; to strike an attitude; to attitudinize; figuratively, to assume or affect a certain character; as, she poses as a prude. He . . . posed before her as a hero. Thackeray.

POSE Pose, v. t. Etym: [Shortened from appose, for oppose. See 2d Appose, Oppose.]

1. To interrogate; to question. [Obs.] "She . . . posed him and sifted him." Bacon.

2. To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand. A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose and puzzle him. Barrow.

POSED Posed, a.

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

POSER Pos"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, puzzles; a difficult or inexplicable question or fact. Bacon.

POSEUR; POSEUSE Po`seur", n. masc.; pl. Poseurs, Po`seuse", n. fem.; pl. Poseuses, [F.]

Defn: A person who poses or attitudizes, esp. mentally.

POSIED Po"sied, a.

Defn: Inscribed with a posy. In poised lockets bribe the fair. Gay.

POSINGLY Pos"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: So as to pose or puzzle.

POSIT Pos"it, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posited; p. pr. & vb. n. Positing.] Etym: [L. ponere, positum, to place. See Position.]

1. To dispose or set firmly or fixedly; to place or dispose in relation to other objects. Sir M. Hale.

2. (Logic)

Defn: To assume as real or conceded; as, to posit a principle. Sir W. Hamilton.

POSITION Po*si"tion, n. Etym: [F. position, L. positio, fr. ponere, positum, to put, place; prob. for posino, fr. an old preposition used only in comp. (akin to Gr. sinere to leave, let, permit, place. See Site, and cf. Composite, Compound, v., Depone, Deposit, Expound, Impostor, Opposite, Propound, Pose, v., Posit, Post, n.]

1. The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position. We have different prospects of the same thing, according to our different positions to it. Locke.

2. The spot where a person or thing is placed or takes a place; site; place; station; situation; as, the position of man in creation; the fleet changed its position.

3. Hence: The ground which any one takes in an argument or controversy; the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis; as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position. Let not the proof of any position depend on the positions that follow, but always on those which go before. I. Watts.

4. Relative place or standing; social or official rank; as, a person of position; hence, office; post; as, to lose one's position.

5. (Arith.)

Defn: A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; — called also the rule of trial and error. Angle of position (Astron.), the angle which any line (as that joining two stars) makes with another fixed line, specifically with a circle of declination. — Double position (Arith.), the method of solving problems by proceeding with each of two assumed numbers, according to the conditions of the problem, and by comparing the difference of the results with those of the numbers, deducing the correction to be applied to one of them to obtain the true result. — Guns of position (Mil.), heavy fieldpieces, not designed for quick movements. — Position finder (Mil.), a range finder. See under Range. — Position micrometer, a micrometer applied to the tube of an astronomical telescope for measuring angles of position in the field of view. — Single position (Arith.), the method of solving problems, in which the result obtained by operating with an assumed number is to the true result as the number assumed is to the number required. — Strategic position (Mil.), a position taken up by an army or a large detachment of troops for the purpose of checking or observing an opposing force.

Syn. — Situation; station; place; condition; attitude; posture; proposition; assertion; thesis.

POSITION Po*si"tion, v. t.

Defn: To indicate the position of; to place. [R.] Encyc. Brit.

POSITIONAL Po*si"tion*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to position. Ascribing unto plants positional operations. Sir T. Browne.

POSITIVE Pos"i*tive, a. Etym: [OE. positif, F. positif, L. positivus. See Position.]

1. Having a real position, existence, or energy; existing in fact; real; actual; — opposed to negative. "Positive good." Bacon.

2. Derived from an object by itself; not dependent on changing circumstances or relations; absolute; — opposed to relative; as, the idea of beauty is not positive, but depends on the different tastes individuals.

3. Definitely laid down; explicitly stated; clearly expressed; — opposed to implied; as, a positive declaration or promise. Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward's son. Bacon.

4. Hence: Not admitting of any doubt, condition, qualification, or discretion; not dependent on circumstances or probabilities; not speculative; compelling assent or obedience; peremptory; indisputable; decisive; as, positive instructions; positive truth; positive proof. "'T is positive 'gainst all exceptions." Shak.

5. Prescribed by express enactment or institution; settled by arbitrary appointment; said of laws. In laws, that which is natural bindeth universally; that which is positive, not so. Hooker.

6. Fully assured; confident; certain; sometimes, overconfident; dogmatic; overbearing; — said of persons. Some positive, persisting fops we know, That, if once wrong, will needs be always. Pope.

7. Having the power of direct action or influence; as, a positive voice in legislation. Swift.

8. (Photog.)

Defn: Corresponding with the original in respect to the position of lights and shades, instead of having the lights and shades reversed; as, a positive picture.

9. (Chem.) (a) Electro-positive. (b) Hence, basic; metallic; not acid; — opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals. Positive crystals (Opt.), a doubly refracting crystal in which the index of refraction for the extraordinary ray is greater than for the ordinary ray, and the former is refracted nearer to the axis than the latter, as quartz and ice; — opposed to negative crystal, or one in which this characteristic is reversed, as Iceland spar, tourmaline, etc. — Positive degree (Gram.), that state of an adjective or adverb which denotes simple quality, without comparison or relation to increase or diminution; as, wise, noble. — Positive electricity (Elec), the kind of electricity which is developed when glass is rubbed with silk, or which appears at that pole of a voltaic battery attached to the plate that is not attacked by the exciting liquid; — formerly called vitreous electricity; — opposed to Ant: negative electricity. — Positive eyepiece. See under Eyepiece. — Positive law. See Municipal law, under Law. — Positive motion (Mach.), motion which is derived from a driver through unyielding intermediate pieces, or by direct contact, and not through elastic connections, nor by means of friction, gravity, etc.; definite motion. — Positive philosophy. See Positivism. — Positive pole. (a) (Elec.) The pole of a battery or pile which yields positive or vitreous electricity; — opposed to Ant: negative pole. (b) (Magnetism) The north pole. [R.] — Positive quantity (Alg.), an affirmative quantity, or one affected by the sign plus [+]. — Positive rotation (Mech.), left-handed rotation. — Positive sign (Math.), the sign [+] denoting plus, or more, or addition.

POSITIVE Pos"i*tive, n.

1. That which is capable of being affirmed; reality. South.

2. That which settles by absolute appointment.

3. (Gram.)

Defn: The positive degree or form.

4. (Photog.)

Defn: A picture in which the lights and shades correspond in position with those of the original, instead of being reversed, as in a negative. R. Hunt.

5. (Elec.)

Defn: The positive plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.

POSITIVELY Pos"i*tive*ly, adv.

Defn: In a positive manner; absolutely; really; expressly; with certainty; indubitably; peremptorily; dogmatically; — opposed to negatively. Good and evil which is removed may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and positively simply. Bacon. Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord, Before I positively speak herein. Shak. I would ask . . . whether . . . the divine law does not positively require humility and meekness. Sprat. Positively charged or electrified (Elec.), having a charge of positive electricity; — opposed to Ant: negatively electrified.

POSITIVENESS Pos"i*tive*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See Positive, a. Positiveness, pedantry, and ill manners. Swift. The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission is in the habitude of the will only. Norris.

POSITIVISM Pos"i*tiv*ism, n.

Defn: A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are to be discovered by observation, experiment, and comparison. This philosophy holds all inquiry into causes, both efficient and final, to be useless and unprofitable.

POSITIVIST Pos"i*tiv*ist, n.

Defn: A believer in positivism. — a.

Defn: Relating to positivism.

POSITIVITY Pos`i*tiv"i*ty, n.

Defn: Positiveness. J. Morley.

POSITURE Pos"i*ture, n.

Defn: See Posture. [Obs.]

POSNET Pos"net, n. Etym: [OF. poçonet, dim. of poçon a pot, a vessel.]

Defn: A little basin; a porringer; a skillet.

POSOLOGIC; POSOLOGICAL Pos`o*log"ic, Pos`o*log"ic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. posologique.]

Defn: Pertaining to posology.

POSOLOGY Po*sol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Gr. -logy: cf. F. posologie.] (Med.)

Defn: The science or doctrine of doses; dosology.

POSPOLITE Pos"po*lite, n. Etym: [Pol. pospolite ruszenie a general summons to arms, an arriere-ban; pospolity general + ruszenie a stirring.]

Defn: A kind of militia in Poland, consisting of the gentry, which, in case of invasion, was summoned to the defense of the country.

POSS Poss, v. t. Etym: [See Push.]

Defn: To push; to dash; to throw. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] A cat . . . possed them [the rats] about. Piers Plowman.

POSSE Pos"se, n.

Defn: See Posse comitatus. In posse. See In posse in the Vocabulary.

POSSE COMITATUS Pos"se com`i*ta"tus. Etym: [L. posse to be able, to have power + LL. comitatus a county, from comes, comitis, a count. See County, and Power.]

1. (Law)

Defn: The power of the county, or the citizens who may be summoned by the sheriff to assist the authorities in suppressing a riot, or executing any legal precept which is forcibly opposed. Blackstone.

2. A collection of people; a throng; a rabble. [Colloq.]

Note: The word comitatus is often omitted, and posse alone used. "A whole posse of enthusiasts." Carlyle. As if the passion that rules were the sheriff of the place, and came off with all the posse. Locke.

POSSESS Pos*sess", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Possessed; p. pr. & vb. n. Possessing.] Etym: [L. possessus, p. p. of possidere to have, possess, from an inseparable prep. (cf. Position) + sedere to sit. See Sit.]

1. To occupy in person; to hold or actually have in one's own keeping; to have and to hold. Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. Jer. xxxii. 15. Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power, After offense returning, to regain Love once possessed. Milton.

2. To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book. I am yours, and all that I possess. Shak.

3. To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize. How . . . to possess the purpose they desired. Spenser.

4. To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; — said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc. "Weakness possesseth me." Shak. Those which were possessed with devils. Matt. iv. 24. For ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed. Roscommon.

5. To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; — followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively. I have possessed your grace of what I purpose. Shak. Record a gift . . . of all he dies possessed Unto his son. Shak. We possessed our selves of the kingdom of Naples. Addison. To possess our minds with an habitual good intention. Addison.

Syn. — To have; hold; occupy; control; own. — Possess, Have. Have is the more general word. To possess denotes to have as a property. It usually implies more permanence or definiteness of control or ownership than is involved in having. A man does not possess his wife and children: they are (so to speak) part of himself. For the same reason, we have the faculties of reason, understanding, will, sound judgment, etc.: they are exercises of the mind, not possessions.

POSSESSION Pos*ses"sion, n. Etym: [F. possession, L. possessio.]

1. The act or state of possessing, or holding as one's own.

2. (Law)

Defn: The having, holding, or detention of property in one's power or command; actual seizin or occupancy; ownership, whether rightful or wrongful.

Note: Possession may be either actual or constructive; actual, when a party has the immediate occupancy; constructive, when he has only the right to such occupancy.

3. The thing possessed; that which any one occupies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate; wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions. When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matt. xix. 22. Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. Acts v. 1. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. Ob. 17.

4. The state of being possessed or controlled, as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as, demoniacal possession. How long hath this possession held the man Shak. To give possession, to put in another's power or occupancy. — To put in possession. (a) To invest with ownership or occupancy; to provide or furnish with; as, to put one in possession of facts or information. (b) (Law) To place one in charge of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry. — To take possession, to enter upon, or to bring within one's power or occupancy. — Writ of possession (Law), a precept directing a sheriff to put a person in peaceable possession of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry.

POSSESSION Pos*ses"sion, v. t.

Defn: To invest with property. [Obs.]

POSSESSIONARY Pos*ses"sion*a*ry, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to possession; arising from possession.

POSSESSIONER Pos*ses"sion*er, n.

1. A possessor; a property holder. [Obs.] "Possessioners of riches." E. Hall. Having been of old freemen and possessioners. Sir P. Sidney.

2. An invidious name for a member of any religious community endowed with property in lands, buildings, etc., as contrasted with mendicant friars. [Obs.] Wyclif.

POSSESSIVAL Pos`ses*si"val, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the possessive case; as, a possessival termination. Earle.

POSSESSIVE Pos*sess"ive, a. Etym: [L. possessivus: cf. F. possessif.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to possession; having or indicating possession. Possessive case (Eng. Gram.), the genitive case; the case of nouns and pronouns which expresses ownership, origin, or some possessive relation of one thing to another; as, Homer's admirers; the pear's flavor; the dog's faithfulness. — Possessive pronoun, a pronoun denoting ownership; as, his name; her home; my book.