PHYSALITE — PIETIST NWAD PHYSALITE.1

PHYSALITE, n. [Gr. to swell or inflate, and a stone.] A mineral of a greenish white color, a subspecies of prismatic topaz; called also pyrophysalite, as it intumesces in heat. NWAD PHYSALITE.1

PHYSETER. [See Cachalot.] NWAD PHYSETER.1

PHYSIANTHROPY, n. [Gr. nature, and man.] The philosophy of human life, or the doctrine of the constitution and diseases of man, and the remedies. NWAD PHYSIANTHROPY.1

PHYSIC, n. s as z. [Gr. from nature; to produce.] NWAD PHYSIC.1

1. The art of healing diseases. This is now generally called medicine. NWAD PHYSIC.2

2. Medicines; remedies for diseases. We desire physic only for the sake of health. NWAD PHYSIC.3

3. In popular language, a medicine that purges; a purge; a cathartic. [In technical and elegant language this sense is not used.] NWAD PHYSIC.4

PHYSIC, v.t. To treat with physic; to evacuate the bowels with a cathartic; to purge. NWAD PHYSIC.5

1. To cure. NWAD PHYSIC.6

PHYSICAL, a. Pertaining to nature or natural productions, or to material things, as opposed to things moral or imaginary. We speak of physical force or power, with reference to material things; as, muscular strength is physical force; armies and navies are the physical force of a nation; whereas wisdom, knowledge, skill, etc. constitute moral force. A physical point is a real point, in distinction from a mathematical or imaginary point. A physical body or substance is a material body or substance, in distinction from spirit or metaphysical substance. NWAD PHYSICAL.1

1. External; perceptible to the senses; as the physical characters of a mineral; opposed to chimical. NWAD PHYSICAL.2

2. Relating to the art of healing; as a physical treatise. NWAD PHYSICAL.3

3. Having the property of evacuating the bowels; as physical herbs. NWAD PHYSICAL.4

4. Medicinal; promoting the cure of diseases. NWAD PHYSICAL.5

5. Resembling physic; as a physical taste. NWAD PHYSICAL.6

[In the three latter senses, nearly obsolete among professional men.] NWAD PHYSICAL.7

Physical education, the education which is directed to the object of giving strength, health and vigor to the bodily organs and powers. NWAD PHYSICAL.8

PHYSICALLY, adv. According to nature; by natural power or the operation of natural laws in the material system of things, as distinguished from moral power or influence. We suppose perpetual motion to by physically impossible. NWAD PHYSICALLY.1

I am not now treating physically of light or colors. NWAD PHYSICALLY.2

1. According to the art or rules of medicine. NWAD PHYSICALLY.3

He that lives physically, must live miserably. NWAD PHYSICALLY.4

PHYSICIAN, n. A person skilled in the art of healing; one whose profession is to prescribe remedies for diseases. NWAD PHYSICIAN.1

1. In a spiritual sense, one that heals moral diseases; as a physician of the soul. NWAD PHYSICIAN.2

PHYSICO-LOGIC, n. Logic illustrated by natural philosophy. NWAD PHYSICO-LOGIC.1

PHYSICO-LOGICAL. a. Pertaining to physico-logic. [Little used.] NWAD PHYSICO-LOGICAL.1

PHYSICO-THEOLOGY, n. [physic or physical and theology.] Theology or divinity illustrated or enforced by physics or natural philosophy. NWAD PHYSICO-THEOLOGY.1

PHYSICS, n. s as z. In its most extensive sense, the science of nature or of natural objects, comprehending the study or knowledge of whatever exists. NWAD PHYSICS.1

1. In the usual and more limited sense, the science of the material system, including natural history and philosophy. This science is of vast extent, comprehending whatever can be discovered of the nature and properties of bodies, their causes, effects, affections, operations, phenomena and laws. NWAD PHYSICS.2

PHYSIOGNOMER. [See Physiognomist.] NWAD PHYSIOGNOMER.1

PHYSIOGNOMICICAL, a. s as z. [See Physiognomy.] Pertaining to physiognomy; expressing the temper, disposition or other qualities of the mind by signs in the countenance; or drawing a knowledge of the state of the mind from the features of the face. NWAD PHYSIOGNOMICICAL.1

PHYSIOGNOMICS, n. Among physicians, signs in the countenance which indicate the state, temperament or constitution of the body and mind. NWAD PHYSIOGNOMICS.1

PHYSIOGNOMIST, n. One that is skilled in physiognomy; one that is able to judge of the particular temper or other qualities of the mind, by signs in the countenance. NWAD PHYSIOGNOMIST.1

PHYSIOGNOMY, n. [Gr. nature, and knowing; to know.] NWAD PHYSIOGNOMY.1

1. The art or science of discerning the character of the mind from the features of the face; or the art of discovering the predominant temper or other characteristic qualities of the mind by the form of the body, but especially by the external signs of the countenance, or the combination of the features. NWAD PHYSIOGNOMY.2

2. The face or countenance with respect to the temper of the mind; particular configuration, cast or expression of countenance. NWAD PHYSIOGNOMY.3

[This word formerly comprehended the art of foretelling the future fortunes of persons by indications of the countenance.] NWAD PHYSIOGNOMY.4

PHYSIOGRAPHY, n. [Gr. nature, and to describe.] A description of nature, or the science of natural objects. NWAD PHYSIOGRAPHY.1

PHYSIOLOGER, n. A physiologist. [The latter is generally used.] NWAD PHYSIOLOGER.1

PHYSIOLOGIC, PHYSIOLOGICAL, a. [See Physiology.] Pertaining to physiology; relating to the science of the properties and functions of living beings. NWAD PHYSIOLOGIC.1

PHYSIOLOGICALLY, adv. According to the principles of physiology. NWAD PHYSIOLOGICALLY.1

PHYSIOLOGIST, n. One who is versed in the science of living beings, or in the properties and functions of animals and plants. NWAD PHYSIOLOGIST.1

1. One that treats of physiology. NWAD PHYSIOLOGIST.2

PHYSIOLOGY, n. [Gr. nature, to discourse.] NWAD PHYSIOLOGY.1

1. According to the Greek, this word signifies a discourse or treatise of nature, but the moderns use the word in a more limited sense, for the science of the properties and functions of animals and plants, comprehending what is common to all animals and plants, and what is peculiar to individuals and species. NWAD PHYSIOLOGY.2

2. The science of the mind, of its various phenomena, affections and powers. NWAD PHYSIOLOGY.3

PHYSY, for fusee. [Not used.] NWAD PHYSY.1

PHYTIVOROUS, a. [Gr. a plant, and L. voro, to eat.] Feeding on plants or herbage; as phytivorous animals. NWAD PHYTIVOROUS.1

PHYTOGRAPHICAL, a. Pertaining to the description of plants. NWAD PHYTOGRAPHICAL.1

PHYTOGRAPHY, n. [Gr. a plant, and description.] A description of plants. NWAD PHYTOGRAPHY.1

PHYTOLITE, n. [Gr. a plant, and a stone.] A plant petrified, or fossil vegetable. NWAD PHYTOLITE.1

PHYTOLOGIST, n. [See Phytology.] One versed in plants, or skilled in phytology; a botanist. NWAD PHYTOLOGIST.1

PHYTOLOGY, n. [Gr. a plant, and discourse.] A discourse or treatise of plants, or the doctrine of plants; description of the kinds and properties of plants. NWAD PHYTOLOGY.1

Pia mater, [L.] in anatomy, a thin membrane immediately investing the brain. NWAD PHYTOLOGY.2

PIABA, n. A small fresh water fish of Brazil, about the size of the minnow, much esteemed for food. NWAD PIABA.1

PIACLE, n. [L. piaculum.] An enormous crime. [Not used.] NWAD PIACLE.1

PIACULAR, PIACULOUS, a. [L. piacularis, from pio, to expiate.] NWAD PIACULAR.1

1. Expiatory; having power to atone. NWAD PIACULAR.2

2. Requiring expiation. NWAD PIACULAR.3

3. Criminal; atrociously bad. NWAD PIACULAR.4

[These words are little used.] NWAD PIACULAR.5

PIANET, n. [L. pica or picus.] A bird, the lesser woodpecker. NWAD PIANET.1

1. The magpie. NWAD PIANET.2

PIANIST, n. A performer on the forte-piano, or one well skilled in it. NWAD PIANIST.1

PIANO-FORTE, n. [L. planus, plain, smooth; L. fortis, strong.] NWAD PIANO-FORTE.1

A keyed musical instrument of German origin and of the harpsichord kind, but smaller; so called from its softer notes or expressions. Its tones are produced by hammers instead of quills, like the virginal and spinet. NWAD PIANO-FORTE.2

PIASTER, n. An Italian coin of about 80 cents value, or 3s. 7d. sterling. But the value is different in different states or countries. It is called also, a piece of eight. NWAD PIASTER.1

PIAZZA, n. [Eng. id.] In building, a portico or covered walk supported by arches or columns. NWAD PIAZZA.1

PIB-CORN, n. Among the Welsh, a wind instrument or pipe with a horn at each end. NWAD PIB-CORN.1

PIBROCH, n. A wild irregular species of music, peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and adapted to excite or assuage passion, and particularly to rouse a martial spirit among troops going to battle. NWAD PIBROCH.1

PICA, n. In ornithology, the pie or mag-pie, a species of Corvus. NWAD PICA.1

1. In medicine, a vitiated appetite which makes the patient crave what is unfit for food, as chalk, ashes, coal, etc. NWAD PICA.2

2. A printing type of a large size; probably named from litera picata, a great black letter at the beginning of some new order in the liturgy; hence, NWAD PICA.3

3. Pica, pye or pie, formerly an ordinary, a table or directory for devotional services; also, an alphabetical catalogue of names and things in rolls and records. NWAD PICA.4

Pica marina, the sea-pye, ostralegus, or oyster-catcher; an aquatic fowl of the genus Haematopus. This fowl feeds on oysters, limpets and marine insects. NWAD PICA.5

PICAROON, n. A plunderer; a pirate. This word is not applied to a highway robber, but to pirates and plunderers of wrecks. NWAD PICAROON.1

In all wars, Corsica and Majorca have been nests of picaroons. NWAD PICAROON.2

PICCADIL, PICCADILLY, PICKARDIL, n. [probably from the root of pike, peak.] NWAD PICCADIL.1

A high collar or a kind of ruff. NWAD PICCADIL.2

PICCAGE, n. Money paid at fairs for breaking ground for booths. NWAD PICCAGE.1

PICK, v.t. [L. pecto.] NWAD PICK.1

1. To pull off or pluck with the fingers something that grows or adheres to another thing; to separate by the hand, as fruit from trees; as, to pick apples or oranges; to pick strawberries. NWAD PICK.2

2. To pull off or separate with the teeth, beak or claws; as, to pick flesh from a bone; hence, NWAD PICK.3

3. To clean by the teeth, fingers or claws, or by a small instrument, by separating something that adheres; as, to pick a bone; to pick the ears. NWAD PICK.4

4. To take up; to cause or seek industriously; as, to pick a quarrel. NWAD PICK.5

5. To separate or pull asunder; to pull into small parcels by the fingers; to separate locks for loosening and cleaning; as, to pick wool. NWAD PICK.6

6. To pierce; to strike with a pointed instrument; as, to pick an apple with a pin. NWAD PICK.7

7. To strike with the bill or beak; to puncture. In this sense, we generally use peck. NWAD PICK.8

8. To steal by taking out with the fingers or hands; as, to pick the pocket. NWAD PICK.9

9. To open by a pointed instrument; as, to pick a lock. NWAD PICK.10

10. To select; to cull; to separate particular things from others; as, to pick the best men from a company. In this sense, the word is often followed by out. NWAD PICK.11

To pick off, to separate by the fingers or by a small pointed instrument. NWAD PICK.12

To pick out, to select; to separate individuals from numbers. NWAD PICK.13

To pick up, to take up with the fingers or beak; also, to take particular things here and there; to gather; to glean. NWAD PICK.14

To pick a hole in one’s coat, to find fault. NWAD PICK.15

PICK, v.i. To eat slowly or by morsels; to nibble. NWAD PICK.16

1. To do any thing nicely or by attending to small things. NWAD PICK.17

PICK, n. A sharp pointed tool for digging or removing in small quantities. NWAD PICK.18

What the miners call chert and whern--is so hard that the picks will not touch it. NWAD PICK.19

1. Choice; right of selection. You may have your pick. NWAD PICK.20

2. Among printers, foul matter which collects on printing types from the balls, bad ink, or from the paper impressed. NWAD PICK.21

PICKAPACK, adv. In manner of a pack. [Vulgar.] NWAD PICKAPACK.1

PICKAX, n. [pick and ax.] An ax with a sharp point at tone end and a broad blade at the other. NWAD PICKAX.1

PICKBACK, a. On the back. NWAD PICKBACK.1

PICKED, pp. Plucked off by the fingers, teeth or claws; cleaned by picking; opened by an instrument; selected. NWAD PICKED.1

PICKED, PIKED, a. Pointed; sharp. NWAD PICKED.2

Let the stake be made picked at the top. NWAD PICKED.3

PICKEDNESS, n. State of being pointed at the end; sharpness. NWAD PICKEDNESS.1

1. Foppery; spruceness. NWAD PICKEDNESS.2

PICKEER, v.t. NWAD PICKEER.1

1. To pillage; to pirate. NWAD PICKEER.2

2. To skirmish, as soldiers on the outposts of an army, or in pillaging parties. NWAD PICKEER.3

PICKER, n. One that picks or culls. NWAD PICKER.1

1. A pickax or instrument for picking or separating. NWAD PICKER.2

2. One that excites a quarrel between himself and another. NWAD PICKER.3

PICKEREL, n. [from pike.] A small pike, a fish of the genus Esox. NWAD PICKEREL.1

PICKEREL-WEED, n. A plant supposed to breed pickerels. NWAD PICKEREL-WEED.1

PICKET, n. A stake sharpened or pointed; used in fortification and encampments. NWAD PICKET.1

1. A narrow board pointed; used in making fence. NWAD PICKET.2

2. A guard posted in front of an army to give notice of the approach of the enemy. NWAD PICKET.3

3. A game at cards. [See Piquet.] NWAD PICKET.4

4. A punishment with consists in making the offender stand with one foot on a pointed stake. NWAD PICKET.5

PICKET, v.t. To fortify with pointed stakes. NWAD PICKET.6

1. To inclose or fence with narrow pointed boards. NWAD PICKET.7

2. To fasten to a picket. NWAD PICKET.8

PICKETED, pp. Fortified or inclosed with pickets. NWAD PICKETED.1

PICKETING, ppr. Inclosing or fortifying with pickets. NWAD PICKETING.1

PICKING, ppr. Pulling off with the fingers or teeth; selecting. NWAD PICKING.1

PICKING, n. The act of plucking; selection; gathering; gleaning. NWAD PICKING.2

PICKLE, n. Brine; a solution of salt and water, sometimes impregnated with spices, in which flesh, fish or other substance is preserved; as pickle for beef; pickle for capers or for cucumbers; pickle for herring. NWAD PICKLE.1

1. A thing preserved in pickle. NWAD PICKLE.2

2. A state of condition of difficulty or disorder; a word used in ridicule or contempt. You are in a fine pickle. NWAD PICKLE.3

How cam’st thou in this pickle? NWAD PICKLE.4

3. A parcel of land inclosed with a hedge. [Local.] NWAD PICKLE.5

PICKLE, v.t. To preserve in brine or pickle; as, to pickle herring. NWAD PICKLE.6

1. To season in pickle. NWAD PICKLE.7

2. To imbue highly with any thing bad; as a pickled rogue. NWAD PICKLE.8

PICKLE-HERRING, n. A merry Andrew; a zany; a buffoon. NWAD PICKLE-HERRING.1

PICKLOCK, n. [pick and lock.] An instrument for opening locks without the key. NWAD PICKLOCK.1

1. A person who picks locks. NWAD PICKLOCK.2

PICKNICK, n. An assembly where each person contributes to the entertainment. NWAD PICKNICK.1

PICKPOCKET, n. One who steals from the pocket of another. NWAD PICKPOCKET.1

PICKPURSE, n. One that steals from the purse of another. NWAD PICKPURSE.1

PICKTHANK, n. An officious fellow who does what he is not desired to do, for the sake of gaining favor; a whispering parasite. NWAD PICKTHANK.1

PICKTOOTH, n. An instrument for picking or cleaning the teeth. [But toothpick is more generally used.] NWAD PICKTOOTH.1

PICO, n. A peak; the pointed head of a mountain. NWAD PICO.1

PICROLITE, n. A mineral composed chiefly of the carbonate of magnesia, of a green color. [See Pikrolite.] NWAD PICROLITE.1

PICROMEL, n. [Gr. bitter.] The characteristic principle of bile. NWAD PICROMEL.1

PICROTOXIN, n. [Gr. bitter, and L. toxicum.] The bitter and poisonous principle of the Cocculus Indicus. NWAD PICROTOXIN.1

PICT, n. [L. pictus, pingo.] A person whose body is painted. NWAD PICT.1

PICTORIAL, a. [L. pictor, a painter.] Pertaining to a painter; produced by a painter. NWAD PICTORIAL.1

PICTURAL, n. A representation. [Not in use.] NWAD PICTURAL.1

PICTURE, n. [L. pictura, from pingo, to paint.] NWAD PICTURE.1

1. A painting exhibiting the resemblance of any thing; a likeness drawn in colors. NWAD PICTURE.2

Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects. NWAD PICTURE.3

2. The words of painters; painting. NWAD PICTURE.4

Quintilian, when he saw any well expressed image of grief, either in picture or sculpture, would usually weep. NWAD PICTURE.5

3. Any resemblance or representation, either to the eye or to the understanding. Thus we say, a child is the picture of his father; the poet has drawn an exquisite picture of grief. NWAD PICTURE.6

PICTURE, v.t. To paint a resemblance. NWAD PICTURE.7

Love is like a painter, who, in drawing the picture of a friend having a blemish in one eye, would picture only the other side of the face. NWAD PICTURE.8

1. To represent; to form or present an ideal likeness. NWAD PICTURE.9

I do picture it in my mind. NWAD PICTURE.10

PICTURED, pp. Painted in resemblance; drawn in colors; represented. NWAD PICTURED.1

PICTURESQUE, PICTURESK, a. [L. pictura, or pictor. In English, this would be picturish.] Expressing that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture, natural or artificial; striking the mind with great power or pleasure in representing objects of vision, and in painting to the imagination any circumstance or event as clearly as if delineated in a picture. NWAD PICTURESQUE.1

PICTURESQUELY, PICTURESKLY, adv. In a picturesque manner. NWAD PICTURESQUELY.1

PICTURESQUENESS, PICTURESKNESS, n. The state of being picturesque. NWAD PICTURESQUENESS.1

PIDDLE, v.i. [This is a different spelling of peddle, or from the same source.] NWAD PIDDLE.1

1. To deal in trifles; to spend time in trifling objects; to attend to trivial concerns or the small parts rather than to the main. NWAD PIDDLE.2

2. To pick at table; to eat squeamishly or without appetite. NWAD PIDDLE.3

PIDDLER, n. One who busies himself about little things. NWAD PIDDLER.1

1. One that eats squeamishly or without appetite. NWAD PIDDLER.2

PIE, n. [Gr. thick; or from mixing.] NWAD PIE.1

An article of food consisting of paste baked with something in it or under it, as apple, minced meat, etc. NWAD PIE.2

PIE, n. [L. pica.] The magpie, a party-colored bird of the genus Corvus. It is sometimes written pye. NWAD PIE.3

1. The old popish service book, supposed to be so called from the different color of the text and rubric, or from litera picata, a large black letter, used at the beginning of each order. NWAD PIE.4

2. Printers’ types mixed or unsorted. NWAD PIE.5

Cork and pie, an adjuration by the pie or service book, and by the sacred name of the Deity corrupted. NWAD PIE.6

PIEBALD, a. Of various colors; diversified in color; as a piebald horse. NWAD PIEBALD.1

PIECE, n. [Heb. to cut off or clip.] NWAD PIECE.1

1. A fragment or part of any thing separated from the whole, in any manner, by cutting, splitting, breaking or tearing; as, to cut in pieces, break in pieces, tear in pieces, pull in pieces, etc.; a piece of a rock; a piece of paper. NWAD PIECE.2

2. A part of any thing, though not separated, or separated only in idea; not the whole; a portion; as a piece of excellent knowledge. NWAD PIECE.3

3. A distinct part or quantity; a part considered by itself, or separated from the rest only by a boundary or divisional line; as a piece of land in the meadow or on the mountain. NWAD PIECE.4

4. A separate part; a thing or portion distinct from others of a like kind; as a piece of timber; a piece of cloth; a piece of paper hangings. NWAD PIECE.5

5. A composition, essay or writing of no great length; as a piece of poetry or prose; a piece of music. NWAD PIECE.6

6. A separate performance; a distinct portion of labor; as a piece of work. NWAD PIECE.7

7. A picture or painting. NWAD PIECE.8

If unnatural, the finest colors are but daubing, and the piece is a beautiful monster at the best. NWAD PIECE.9

8. A coin; as a piece of eight. NWAD PIECE.10

9. A gun or single part of ordnance. We apply the word to a cannon, a mortar, or a musket. Large guns are called battering pieces; smaller guns are called field pieces. NWAD PIECE.11

10. In heraldry, an ordinary or charge. The fess, the bend, the pale, the bar, the cross, the saltier, the chevron are called honorable pieces. NWAD PIECE.12

11. In ridicule or contempt. A piece of a lawyer is a smatterer. NWAD PIECE.13

12. A castle; a building. [Not in use.] NWAD PIECE.14

A-piece, to each; as, he paid the men a dollar a-piece. NWAD PIECE.15

Of a piece, like; of the same sort, as if taken from the same whole. They seemed all of a piece. Sometimes followed by with. NWAD PIECE.16

The poet must be of a piece with the spectators to gain reputation. NWAD PIECE.17

PIECE, v.t. To enlarge or mend by the addition of a piece; to patch; as, to piece a garment; to piece the time. NWAD PIECE.18

To piece out, to extend or enlarge by addition of a piece or pieces. NWAD PIECE.19

PIECE, v.i. To unite by coalescence of parts; to be compacted, as parts into a whole. NWAD PIECE.20

PIECED, pp. Mended or enlarged by a piece or pieces. NWAD PIECED.1

PIECELESS, a. Not made of pieces; consisting of an entire thing. NWAD PIECELESS.1

PIECEMEAL, adv. NWAD PIECEMEAL.1

1. In pieces; in fragments. NWAD PIECEMEAL.2

On which it piecemeal broke. NWAD PIECEMEAL.3

2. By pieces; by little and little in succession. NWAD PIECEMEAL.4

Piecemeal they win this acre first, then that. NWAD PIECEMEAL.5

PIECEMEAL, a. Single; separate; made of parts or pieces. NWAD PIECEMEAL.6

PIECEMEALED, a. Divided into small pieces. NWAD PIECEMEALED.1

PIECER, n. One that pieces; a patcher. NWAD PIECER.1

PIED, a. [allied probably to pie, in piebald, and a contracted word, perhaps from the root of L. pictus.] NWAD PIED.1

Variegated with spots of different colors; spotted. We now apply the word chiefly or wholly to animals which are marked with large spots of different colors. If the spots are small, we use speckled. This distinction was not formerly observed, and in some cases, pied is elegantly used to express a diversity of colors in small spots. NWAD PIED.2

Meadows trim with daisies pied. NWAD PIED.3

PIEDNESS, n. Diversity of colors in spots. NWAD PIEDNESS.1

PIELED, a. [See Peel.] Bald; bare. NWAD PIELED.1

PIEPOUDRE, n. An ancient court of record in England, incident to every fair and market, of which the steward of him who owns or has the toll, is the judge. It had jurisdiction of all causes arising in the fair or market. NWAD PIEPOUDRE.1

PIER, n. [L. petra.] NWAD PIER.1

1. A mass of solid stone work for supporting an arch or the timbers of a bridge or other building. NWAD PIER.2

2. A mass of stone work or a mole projecting into the sea, for breaking the force of the waves and making a safe harbor. NWAD PIER.3

PIERCE, v.t. pers. NWAD PIERCE.1

1. To thrust into with a pointed instrument; as, to pierce the body with a sword or spear; to pierce the side with a thorn. NWAD PIERCE.2

2. To penetrate; to enter; to force a way into; as, a column of troops pierced the main body of the enemy; a shot pierced the ship. NWAD PIERCE.3

3. To penetrate the heart deeply; to touch the passions; to excite or affect the passions. 1 Timothy 6:10. NWAD PIERCE.4

4. To dive or penetrate into, as a secret or purpose. NWAD PIERCE.5

PIERCE, v.i. pers. To enter; as a pointed instrument. NWAD PIERCE.6

1. To penetrate; to force a way into or through any thing. The shot pierced through the side of the ship. NWAD PIERCE.7

Her tears will pierce into a marble heart. NWAD PIERCE.8

2. To enter; to dive or penetrate, as into a secret. NWAD PIERCE.9

She would not pierce further into his meaning than himself should declare. NWAD PIERCE.10

3. To affect deeply. NWAD PIERCE.11

PIERCEABLE, a. pers’able. That may be pierced. NWAD PIERCEABLE.1

PIERCED, pp. pers’ed. Penetrated; entered by force; transfixed. NWAD PIERCED.1

PIERCER, n. pers’er. An instrument that pierces, penetrates or bores. NWAD PIERCER.1

1. One that pierces or perforates. NWAD PIERCER.2

PIERCING, ppr. pers’ing. Penetrating; entering, as a pointed instrument; making a way by force into another body. NWAD PIERCING.1

1. Affecting deeply; as eloquence piercing the heart. NWAD PIERCING.2

2. a. Affecting; cutting; keen. NWAD PIERCING.3

PIERCINGLY, adv. pers’ingly. With penetrating force or effect; sharply. NWAD PIERCINGLY.1

PIERCINGNESS, n. pers’ingness. The power of piercing or penetrating; sharpness; keenness. NWAD PIERCINGNESS.1

PIETISM, n. [See Piety.] Extremely strict devotion, or affectation of piety. NWAD PIETISM.1

PIETIST, n. One of a sect professing great strictness and purity of life, despising learning, school theology and ecclesiastical polity, as also forms and ceremonies in religion, and giving themselves up to mystic theology. This sect sprung up among the protestants of Germany, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. NWAD PIETIST.1