Pe"wit (?), n. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. OD. piewit, D. kievit,
G. kibitz.] (Zoˆl.) (a) The lapwing. (b) The European black-headed, or
laughing, gull (Xema ridibundus). See under Laughing. (c) The pewee.
[Written also peevit, peewit, pewet.]
Pew"ter (?), n. [OE. pewtyr, OF. peutre, peautre, piautre: cf. D.
peauter, piauter, It. peltro, Sp. & Pg. peltre, LL. peutreum, pestrum.
Cf. Spelter.] 1. A hard, tough, but easily fusible, alloy, originally
consisting of tin with a little lead, but afterwards modified by the
addition of copper, antimony, or bismuth.
2. Utensils or vessels made of pewter, as dishes, porringers, drinking
vessels, tankards, pots.
Pewter was formerly much used for domestic utensils. Inferior sorts
contain a large proportion of lead.
Pew"ter*er (?), n. One whose occupation is to make utensils of pewter;
a pewtersmith. Shak.
Pew"ter*y (?), a. Belonging to, or resembling, pewter; as, a pewtery
taste.
Pex"i*ty (?), n. [L. pexitas, fr. pexus woolly, nappy, p. p. of pectere
to comb.] Nap of cloth. [Obs.]
Pey"er's glands` (?). [So called from J. K. Peyer, who described them
in 1677.] (Anat.) Patches of lymphoid nodules, in the walls of the
small intestiness; agminated glands; -- called also Peyer's patches. In
typhoid fever they become the seat of ulcers which are regarded as the
characteristic organic lesion of that disease.
Pey"trel (?), n. [OF. peitral. See Poitrel.] (Anc. Armor) The
breastplate of a horse's armor or harness. [Spelt also peitrel.] See
Poitrel. [Obs.] Chaucer.
||Pe*zi"za (?), n. [NL., corrupt. from L. pezica a sessile mushroom,
||fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?;, &?;, a foot.] (Bot.) A genus of fungi embracing
||a great number of species, some of which are remarkable for their
||regular cuplike form and deep colors.
Pez"i*zoid (?), a. [Peziza + - oid.] (Bot.) Resembling a fungus of the
genus Peziza; having a cuplike form.
||Pfen"nig (?), n.; pl. Pfennigs (#), G. Pfennige (#). [G. See Penny.]
||A small copper coin of Germany. It is the hundredth part of a mark,
||or about a quarter of a cent in United States currency.
||Pha*cel"lus (?), n.; pl. Phacelli (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a bundle of
||fagots.] (Zoˆl.) One of the filaments on the inner surface of the
||gastric cavity of certain jellyfishes.
Phac"o*chere (?), n. [Gr. &?; a lentil seed, a wart + &?; a pig.]
(Zoˆl.) The wart hog.
Pha"coid (?), a. [Gr. &?; a lentil + -oid.] Resembling a lentil;
lenticular.
Phac"o*lite (?), n. [Gr. &?; lentil + -lite.] (Min.) A colorless
variety of chabazite; the original was from Leipa, in Bohemia.
||Pha"cops (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a lentil + &?;, &?;, the eye.]
||(Paleon.) A genus of trilobites found in the Silurian and Devonian
||formations. Phacops bufo is one of the most common species.
PhÊ*a"cian (?), a. Of or pertaining to the PhÊacians, a fabulous
seafaring people fond of the feast, the lyre, and the dance, mentioned
by Homer.
PhÊ"no*gam (?), n. (Bot.) Any plant of the class PhÊnogamia.
||PhÊ`no*ga"mi*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. &?; to show + &?; marriage.]
||(Bot.) The class of flowering plants including all which have true
||flowers with distinct floral organs; phanerogamia.
{ PhÊ`no*ga"mi*an (?), PhÊ`no*gam"ic (?), } a. Same as PhÊnogamous.
PhÊ*nog"a*mous (?), a. (Bot.) Having true flowers with with distinct
floral organs; flowering.
PhÊ*nom"e*non (?), n. [L.] See Phenomenon.
PhÊ"o*spore (?), n. [Gr. &?; dusky + E. spore.] (Bot.) A brownish
zoˆspore, characteristic of an order (PhÊosporeÊ) of dark green or
olive-colored algÊ. -- PhÊ`o*spor"ic (#), a.
Pha"Î*thon (?), n. [L., PhaÎthon (in sense 1), fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?;,
&?;, to shine. See Phantom.] 1. (Class. Myth.) The son of Helios
(Phúbus), that is, the son of light, or of the sun. He is fabled to
have obtained permission to drive the chariot of the sun, in doing
which his want of skill would have set the world on fire, had he not
been struck with a thunderbolt by Jupiter, and hurled headlong into the
river Po.