Prank"er (?), n. One who dresses showily; a prinker. "A pranker or a
dancer." Burton.
Prank"ish, a. Full of pranks; frolicsome.
Prase (?), n. [L. prasius, fr. Gr. &?; of a leek-green, fr. Gr. &?; a
leek: cf. F. prase.] (Min.) A variety of cryptocrystalline of a
leek-green color.
Pra"se*o- (?). [Gr. &?; leek-green, green, fr. &?; a leek.] A combining
form signifying green; as, praseocobalt, a green variety of cobalt.
Pra`se*o*dym"i*um (?), n. [Praseo- + didymium.] (Chem.) An elementary
substance, one of the constituents of didymium; -- so called from the
green color of its salts. Symbol Ps. Atomic weight 143.6.
Pra"se*o*lite (?), n. [Praseo- + -lite.] (Min.) A variety of altered
iolite of a green color and greasy luster.
Pras"i*nous (?), a. [L. prasinus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; a leek.]
Grass-green; clear, lively green, without any mixture. Lindley.
Pra"soid (?), a. [Gr. &?; leek + - oid.] (Min.) Resembling prase.
Prate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prated; p. pr. & vb. n. Prating.] [Akin
to LG. & D. praten, Dan. prate, Sw. & Icel. prata.] To talk much and to
little purpose; to be loquacious; to speak foolishly; to babble.
To prate and talk for life and honor.
Shak.
And make a fool presume to prate of love.
Dryden.
Prate, v. t. To utter foolishly; to speak without reason or purpose; to
chatter, or babble.
What nonsense would the fool, thy master, prate, When thou, his
knave, canst talk at such a rate !
Dryden.
Prate, n. [Akin to LG. & D. praat, Sw. prat.] Talk to little purpose;
trifling talk; unmeaning loquacity.
Sick of tops, and poetry, and prate.
Pope.
Prate"ful (?), a. Talkative. [R.] W. Taylor.
Prat"er (?), n. One who prates. Shak.
Prat"ic (?), n. See Pratique.
Pra"tin*cole (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any bird of the Old World genus Glareola,
or family GlareolidÊ, allied to the plovers. They have long, pointed
wings and a forked tail.
Prat"ing*ly (?), adv. With idle talk; with loquacity.
Prat"ique (?), n. [F.; cf. It. pratica, Sp. practica. See Practice.] 1.
(Com.) Primarily, liberty of converse; intercourse; hence, a
certificate, given after compliance with quarantine regulations,
permitting a ship to land passengers and crew; -- a term used
particularly in the south of Europe.
<! p. 1125 !>
2. Practice; habits. [Obs.] "One of English education and pratique." R.
North.
Prat"tle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prattled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Prattling (?).] [Freq. of prate.] To talk much and idly; to prate;
hence, to talk lightly and artlessly, like a child; to utter child's
talk.
Prat"tle, v. t. To utter as prattle; to babble; as, to prattle treason.
Addison.
Prat"tle, n. Trifling or childish tattle; empty talk; loquacity on
trivial subjects; prate; babble.
Mere prattle, without practice.
Shak.
Prat"tle*ment (?), n. Prattle. [R.] Jeffrey.
Prat"tler (?), n. One who prattles. Herbert.
Prav"i*ty (?), n. [L. pravitas, from pravus crooked, perverse.]
Deterioration; degeneracy; corruption; especially, moral crookedness;
moral perversion; perverseness; depravity; as, the pravity of human
nature. "The pravity of the will." South.
Prawn (?), n. [OE. prane, of unknown origin; cf. L. perna a sea
mussel.] (Zoˆl.) Any one of numerous species of large shrimplike
Crustacea having slender legs and long antennÊ. They mostly belong to
the genera Pandalus, PalÊmon, PalÊmonetes, and Peneus, and are much
used as food. The common English prawn is PalÊmon serratus.
The name is often applied to any large shrimp.
Prax*in"o*scope (?), n. [Gr. &?; action + -scope.] (Opt.) An
instrument, similar to the phenakistoscope, for presenting to view, or
projecting upon a screen, images the natural motions of real objects.
Prax"is (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to do. See Practice.] 1.
Use; practice; especially, exercise or discipline for a specific
purpose or object. "The praxis and theory of music." Wood.
2. An example or form of exercise, or a collection of such examples,
for practice.
Pray (?), n. & v. See Pry. [Obs.] Spenser.
Pray (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prayed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Praying.]
[OE. preien, OF. preier, F. prier, L. precari, fr. prex, precis, a
prayer, a request; akin to Skr. prach to ask, AS. frignan, frnan,
fricgan, G. fragen, Goth. fraÌhnan. Cf. Deprecate, Imprecate,
Precarious.] To make request with earnestness or zeal, as for something
desired; to make entreaty or supplication; to offer prayer to a deity
or divine being as a religious act; specifically, to address the
Supreme Being with adoration, confession, supplication, and
thanksgiving.
And to his goddess pitously he preyde.
Chaucer.
When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Matt. vi. 6.
I pray, or (by ellipsis) Pray, I beg; I request; I entreat you; -- used
in asking a question, making a request, introducing a petition, etc.;
as, Pray, allow me to go.