{ Pes"si*mist (?), Pes`si*mis"tic (?), } a. (Metaph.) Of or pertaining
to pessimism; characterized by pessimism; gloomy; foreboding. "Giving
utterance to pessimistic doubt." Encyc. Brit.
Pes`si*mis"tic*al (?), a. Pessimistic.
Pes"si*mize (?), v. i. To hold or advocate the doctrine of pessimism.
London Sat. Rev.
||Pes"su*lus (?), n.; pl. Pessuli (#). [L., a bolt.] (Anat.) A delicate
||bar of cartilage connecting the dorsal and ventral extremities of the
||first pair of bronchial cartilages in the syrinx of birds.
Pest (?), n. [L. pestis: cf. F. peste.] 1. A fatal epidemic disease; a
pestilence; specif., the plague.
England's sufferings by that scourge, the pest.
Cowper.
2. Anything which resembles a pest; one who, or that which, is
troublesome, noxious, mischievous, or destructive; a nuisance. "A pest
and public enemy." South.
Pes`ta*loz"zi*an (?), a. Belonging to, or characteristic of, a system
of elementary education which combined manual training with other
instruction, advocated and practiced by Jean Henri Pestalozzi
(1746-1827), a Swiss teacher. -- n. An advocate or follower of the
system of Pestalozzi.
Pes`ta*loz"zi*an*ism (?), n. The system of education introduced by
Pestalozzi.
Pes"ter (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pestered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Pestering.] [Abbrev. fr. impester, fr. OF. empaistrier, empestrer, to
entangle the feet or legs, to embarrass, F. empÍtrer; pref. em-, en-
(L. in in) + LL. pastorium, pastoria, a fetter by which horses are
prevented from wandering in the pastures, fr. L. pastorius belonging to
a herdsman or shepherd, pastor a herdsman. See In, and Pasture,
Pastor.] 1. To trouble; to disturb; to annoy; to harass with petty
vexations.
We are pestered with mice and rats.
Dr. H. More.
A multitude of scribblers daily pester the world.
Dryden.
2. To crowd together in an annoying way; to overcrowd; to infest.
[Obs.] Milton.
All rivers and pools . . . pestered full with fishes.
Holland.
Pes"ter*er (?), n. One who pesters or harasses.
Pes"ter*ment (?), n. The act of pestering, or the state of being
pestered; vexation; worry. "The trouble and pesterment of children." B.
Franklin.
Pes"ter*ous (?), a.Inclined to pester. Also, vexatious; encumbering;
burdensome. [Obs.] Bacon.
Pest"ful (?), a. Pestiferous. "After long and pestful calms."
Coleridge.
Pest`house" (?), n. A house or hospital for persons who are infected
with any pestilential disease.
Pes"ti*duct (?), n. [L. pestis pest + ductus a leading, fr. ducere to
lead.] That which conveys contagion or infection. [Obs.] Donne.
Pes*tif"er*ous (?), a. [L. pestiferus, pestifer; pestis pest + ferre to
bear: cf. F. pestifËre.] 1. Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to
health; malignant; infectious; contagious; as, pestiferous bodies.
"Poor, pestiferous creatures begging alms." Evelyn. "Unwholesome and
pestiferous occupations." Burke.
2. Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful;
destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue.
Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held.
Shak.
Pes*tif"er*ous*ly, adv. In a pestiferuos manner.
Pes"ti*lence (?), n. [F. pestilence, L. pestilentia. See Pestilent.] 1.
Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or
infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.
The pestilence That walketh in darkness.
Ps. xci. 6.
2. Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral
character of great numbers.
I'll pour this pestilence into his ear.
Shak.
Pestilence weed (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris),
so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Dr.
Prior.
Pes"ti*lent (?), a. [L. pestilens, -entis, fr. pestis pest: cf. F.
pestilent.] Pestilential; noxious; pernicious; mischievous. "Corrupt
and pestilent." Milton. "What a pestilent knave is this same!" Shak.
Pes`ti*len"tial (?), a. [Cf. F. pestilentiel.] 1. Having the nature or
qualities of a pestilence. "Sends the pestilential vapors." Longfellow.