Pen"dule (?), n. [F.] A pendulum. [R.] Evelyn.
||Pen"du`line (?), n. [F. See Pendulum.] (Zoˆl.) A European titmouse
||(Parus, or ∆githalus, pendulinus). It is noted for its elegant
||pendulous purselike nest, made of the down of willow trees and lined
||with feathers.
Pen`du*los"i*ty (?), n. [See Pendulous.] The state or quality of being
pendulous. Sir T. Browne.
Pen"du*lous (?), a. [L. pendulus, fr. pendere to hang. Cf. Pendant, and
cf. Pendulum.] 1. Depending; pendent loosely; hanging; swinging. Shak.
"The pendulous round earth." Milton.
2. Wavering; unstable; doubtful. [R.] "A pendulous state of mind."
Atterbury.
3. (Bot.) Inclined or hanging downwards, as a flower on a recurved
stalk, or an ovule which hangs from the upper part of the ovary.
Pen"du*lous*ly, adv. In a pendulous manner.
Pen"du*lous*ness, n. The quality or state of being pendulous; the state
of hanging loosely; pendulosity.
Pen"du*lum (?), n.; pl. Pendulums (#). [NL., fr. L. pendulus hanging,
swinging. See Pendulous.] A body so suspended from a fixed point as to
swing freely to and fro by the alternate action of gravity and
momentum. It is used to regulate the movements of clockwork and other
machinery.
The time of oscillation of a pendulum is independent of the arc of
vibration, provided this arc be small.
Ballistic pendulum. See under Ballistic. -- Compensation pendulum, a
clock pendulum in which the effect of changes of temperature of the
length of the rod is so counteracted, usually by the opposite expansion
of differene metals, that the distance of the center of oscillation
from the center of suspension remains invariable; as, the mercurial
compensation pendulum, in which the expansion of the rod is compensated
by the opposite expansion of mercury in a jar constituting the bob; the
gridiron pendulum, in which compensation is effected by the opposite
expansion of sets of rodsof different metals. -- Compound pendulum, an
ordinary pendulum; -- so called, as being made up of different parts,
and contrasted with simple pendulum. -- Conical or Revolving, pendulum,
a weight connected by a rod with a fixed point; and revolving in a
horizontal cyrcle about the vertical from that point. -- Pendulum bob,
the weight at the lower end of a pendulum. -- Pendulum level, a plumb
level. See under Level. -- Pendulum wheel, the balance of a watch. --
Simple or Theoretical, pendulum, an imaginary pendulum having no
dimensions except length, and no weight except at the center of
oscillation; in other words, a material point suspended by an ideal
line.
||Pe*nel"o*pe (p*nl"*p), n. [From. L. Penelope, the wife of Ulysses,
||the hero of the Odyssey, Gr. Phnelo`ph.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of
||curassows, including the guans.
Pen`e*tra*bil"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. pÈnÈtrabilitÈ.] The quality of being
penetrable; susceptibility of being penetrated, entered, or pierced.
Cheyne.
Pen"e*tra*ble (?), a. [L. penetrabilus: cf. F. pÈnÈtrable.] Capable of
being penetrated, entered, or pierced. Used also figuratively.
And pierce his only penetrable part.
Dryden.