Pet"ti*chaps (?), n. (Zoˆl.) See Pettychaps.
Pet"ti*coat (?), n. (Zoˆl.) [Petty + coat.] A loose under-garment worn
by women, and covering the body below the waist.
Petticoat government, government by women, whether in politics or
domestic affairs. [Colloq.] -- Petticoat pipe (Locomotives), a short,
flaring pipe surrounding the blast nozzle in the smoke box, to equalize
the draft.
Pet"ti*fog (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pettifogged (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Pettifogging (?).] [Petty + fog to pettifog.] To do a petty business as
a lawyer; also, to do law business in a petty or tricky way. "He takes
no money, but pettifogs gratis." S. Butler.
Pet"ti*fog, v. t. To advocate like a pettifogger; to argue trickily;
as, to pettifog a claim. [Colloq.]
Pet"ti*fog`ger (?), n. A lawyer who deals in petty cases; an attorney
whose methods are mean and tricky; an inferior lawyer.
A pettifogger was lord chancellor.
Macaulay.
Pet"ti*fog`ger*y (?), n.; pl. - ies (&?;). The practice or arts of a
pettifogger; disreputable tricks; quibbles.
Quirks of law, and pettifoggeries.
Barrow.
Pet"ti*fog`ging (?), a. Paltry; quibbling; mean.
Pet"ti*fog`ging, n. Pettifoggery.
Pet`ti*fog"u*lize (?), v. i. To act as a pettifogger; to use
contemptible tricks. De Quincey.
Pet"ti*ly, adv. In a petty manner; frivolously.
Pet"ti*ness, n. The quality or state of being petty or paltry;
littleness; meanness.
Pet"tish (?), a. [From Pet.] Fretful; peevish; moody; capricious;
inclined to ill temper. "A pettish kind of humor." Sterne. --
Pet"tish*ly, adv. -- Pet"tish*ness, n.
Pet"ti*toes (?), n. pl. [Petty + toes.] The toes or feet of a pig, --
often used as food; sometimes, in contempt, the human feet. Shak.
||Pet"to (?), n. [It., fr. L. pectus.] The breast.
In petto, in the breast; hence, in secrecy; in reserve.
Pet"ty (?), a. [Compar. Pettier (?); superl. Pettiest.] [OE. petit, F.
petit; probably of Celtic origin, and akin to E. piece. Cf. Petit.]
Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a
petty fault; a petty prince. Denham.
Like a petty god I walked about, admired of all.
Milton.
Petty averages. See under Average. -- Petty cash, money expended or
received in small items or amounts. -- Petty officer, a subofficer in
the navy, as a gunner, etc., corresponding to a noncommissionned
officer in the army.
For petty constable, petty jury, petty larceny, petty treason, See
Petit.
Syn. -- Little; diminutive; inconsiderable; inferior; trifling;
trivial; unimportant; frivolous.
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Pet"ty*chaps (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any one of several species of small
European singing birds of the subfamily SylviinÊ, as the willow
warbler, the chiff- chaff, and the golden warbler (Sylvia hortensis).
Pet"ty*whin (?), n. [Petty + whin.] (Bot.) The needle furze. See under
Needle.
{ Pet"u*lance (?), Pet"u*lan*cy (?), } n. [L. petulania: cf. F.
pÈtulance. See Petulant.] The quality or state of being petulant;
temporary peevishness; pettishness; capricious ill humor. "The
petulancy of our words." B. Jonson.
Like pride in some, and like petulance in others.
Clarendon.
The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown.
Cowper.
Syn. -- Petulance, Peevishness. -- Peevishness implies the permanence
of a sour, fretful temper; petulance implies temporary or capricious
irritation.
Pet"u*lant (?), a. [L. petulans, -antis, prop., making slight attacks
upon, from a lost dim. of petere to fall upon, to attack: cf. F.
pÈtulant. See Petition.] 1. Forward; pert; insolent; wanton. [Obs.]
Burton.
2. Capriciously fretful; characterized by ill- natured freakishness;
irritable. "Petulant moods." Macaulay.
Syn. -- Irritable; ill-humored; peevish; cross; fretful; querulous.
Pet"u*lant*ly, adv. In a petulant manner.
Pe*tul"ci*ty (?), n. [See Petulcous.] Wantonness; friskiness. [Obs.]
Bp. Hall.
Pe*tul"cous (?), a. [L. petulcus. Cf. Petulant.] Wanton; frisky;
lustful. [Obs.] J. V. Cane.
Pe*tu"ni*a (?), n. [NL., fr. Braz. petun tobacco.] (Bot.) A genus of
solanaceous herbs with funnelform or salver-shaped corollas. Two
species are common in cultivation, Petunia violacera, with reddish
purple flowers, and P. nyctaginiflora, with white flowers. There are
also many hybrid forms with variegated corollas.
{ Pe*tunse", Pe*tuntse", Pe*tuntze" } (?), n. [From Chinese.] Powdered
fledspar, kaolin, or quartz, used in the manufacture of porcelain.
Pet"worth mar"ble (?). A kind of shell marble occurring in the Wealden
clay at Petworth, in Sussex, England; -- called also Sussex marble.
Petz"ite (?), n. [From Petz, who analyzed it.] (Min.) A telluride of
silver and gold, related to hessite.
Peu*ced"a*nin (?), n. (Chem.) A tasteless white crystalline substance,
extracted from the roots of the sulphurwort (Peucedanum), masterwort
(Imperatoria), and other related plants; -- called also imperatorin.
Peu"cil (?), n. [Gr. &?; pine tree.] (Chem.) A liquid resembling
camphene, obtained by treating turpentine hydrochloride with lime.
[Written also peucyl.]
Pew (?), n. [OE. pewe, OF. puie parapet, balustrade, balcony, fr. L.
podium an elevated place, a jutty, balcony, a parapet or balcony in the
circus, where the emperor and other distinguished persons sat, Gr. &?;,
dim. of &?;, &?;, foot; -- hence the Latin sense of a raised place
(orig. as a rest or support for the foot). See Foot, and cf. Podium,
Poy.] 1. One of the compartments in a church which are separated by low
partitions, and have long seats upon which several persons may sit; --
sometimes called slip. Pews were originally made square, but are now
usually long and narrow.
2. Any structure shaped like a church pew, as a stall, formerly used by
money lenders, etc.; a box in theater; a pen; a sheepfold. [Obs.]
Pepys. Milton.
Pew opener, an usher in a church. [Eng.] Dickens.
Pew, v. t. To furnish with pews. [R.] Ash.
Pe"wee (?), n. [So called from its note.] 1. (Zoˆl.) A common American
tyrant flycatcher (Sayornis phúbe, or S. fuscus). Called also pewit,
and phúbe.