Pel"er*ine (?), n. [F. pËlerine a tippet, fr. pËlerin a pilgrim, fr. L.
peregrinus foreign, alien. See Pilgrim.] A woman's cape; especially, a
fur cape that is longer in front than behind.
Pelf (?), n. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder,
and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.] Money; riches; lucre; gain; --
generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It
has no plural. "Mucky pelf." Spenser. "Paltry pelf." Burke.
Can their pelf prosper, not got by valor or industry?
Fuller.
Pelf"ish, a. Of or pertaining to pelf. Stanyhurst.
{ Pel"fray (?), Pel"fry (?), } n. Pelf; also, figuratively, rubbish;
trash. [Obs.] Cranmer.
Pel"i*can (?), n. [F. pÈlican, L. pelicanus, pelecanus, Gr. &?;, &?;,
&?;, the woodpecker, and also a water bird of the pelican kind, fr. &?;
to hew with an ax, akin to Skr. paraÁu.] [Written also pelecan.] 1.
(Zoˆl.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus Pelecanus, of which about
a dozen species are known. They have an enormous bill, to the lower
edge of which is attached a pouch in which captured fishes are
temporarily stored.
The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) and the brown
species (P. fuscus) are abundant on the Florida coast in winter, but
breed about the lakes in the Rocky Mountains and British America.
2. (Old Chem.) A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading
back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and
redistillation.
The principle is still employed in certain modern forms of distilling
apparatus.
Frigate pelican (Zoˆl.), the frigate bird. See under Frigate. --
Pelican fish (Zoˆl.), deep-sea fish (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) of the
order Lyomeri, remarkable for the enormous development of the jaws,
which support a large gular pouch. -- Pelican flower (Bot.), the very
large and curiously shaped blossom of a climbing plant (Aristolochia
grandiflora) of the West Indies; also, the plant itself. -- Pelican
ibis (Zoˆl.), a large Asiatic wood ibis (Tantalus leucocephalus). The
head and throat are destitute of feathers; the plumage is white, with
the quills and the tail greenish black. -- Pelican in her piety (in
heraldry and symbolical art), a representation of a pelican in the act
of wounding her breast in order to nourish her young with her blood; --
a practice fabulously attributed to the bird, on account of which it
was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, and of charity. -- Pelican's
foot (Zoˆl.), a marine gastropod shell of the genus Aporrhais, esp.
Aporrhais pes-pelicani of Europe.
Pel"ick (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The American coot (Fulica).
Pel"i*coid (?), n. See Pelecoid.
||Pel`i*co*sau"ri*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a wooden bowl (but
||taken to mean, pelvis) + &?; a lizard.] (Paleon.) A suborder of
||Theromorpha, including terrestrial reptiles from the Permian
||formation.
Pe"li*om (?), n. [See Pelioma.] (Min.) A variety of iolite, of a smoky
blue color; pelioma.
||Pe`li*o"ma (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; livid.] 1. (Med.) A
||livid ecchymosis.