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Petit

Small; little; insignificant; mean; -- Same as Petty.

petite

A size category of women's clothing, for women with less than average height.

petitio

The fallacy of assuming the conclusion in the premises; begging the question.

Petition

To make a petition or solicitation.

Petitionee

A person cited to answer, or defend against, a petition.

Petitioning

The act of presenting apetition; a supplication.

Petitor

One who seeks or asks; a seeker; an applicant.

Petitory

Petitioning; soliciting; supplicating.

Petrary

An ancient war engine for hurling stones.

Petrel

Any one of numerous species of longwinged sea birds belonging to the family Procellarid/. The small petrels, or Mother Carey's chickens, belong to Oceanites, Oceanodroma, Procellaria, and several allied genera.

Petrescence

The process of changing into stone; petrification.

Petrescent

Petrifying; converting into stone; as, petrescent water.

Petrifaction

The process of petrifying, or changing into stone; conversion of any organic matter (animal or vegetable) into stone, or a substance of stony hardness.

Petrifactive

Having the quality of converting organic matter into stone; petrifying.

Petrify

To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.

Petrine

Of or pertaining to St. Peter; as, the Petrine Epistles.

Petrocoptis

A genus of perennial tussock-forming rock plants; native to the Pyrenees and mountains of Northern Spain; it is similar to and sometimes placed in the genus Lychnis.

Petrogale

Any Australian kangaroo of the genus Petrogale, as the rock wallaby (Petrogale penicillata).

petroglyph

A carving or drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric humans; called also a petrograph.

Petroglyphy

The art or operation of carving figures or inscriptions on rock or stone.

petrograph

A carving or drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric humans; called also a petrograph.

petrohyoid

Pertaining to the petrous, or periotic, portion of the skull and the hyoid arch; as, the petrohyoid muscles of the frog.

Petrolatum

A semisolid unctuous substance, neutral, and without taste or odor, derived from petroleum by distilling off the lighter portions and purifying the residue. It is a yellowish, fatlike mass, transparent in thin layers, and somewhat fluorescent. It is used as a bland protective dressing, and as a substitute for fatty materials in ointments.

Petroleum

Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. It is refined by distillation, and the products include kerosene, benzine, gasoline, paraffin, etc.

Petroline

A paraffin obtained from petroleum from Rangoon in India, and practically identical with ordinary paraffin.

Petrology

The department of science which is concerned with the mineralogical and chemical composition of rocks, and with their classification: lithology.

Petromastoid

Of or pertaining to the petrous and mastoid parts of the temporal bone; periotic.

Petronel

A sort of hand cannon, or portable firearm, used in France in the 15th century.

Petrosal

A petrosal bone. The auditory capsule.

Petrostearine

A solid unctuous material, of which candles are made.

Petrous

Like stone; hard; stony; rocky; as, the petrous part of the temporal bone.

Petticoat

A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.

petticoated

wearing or furnished with a petticoat; as, petticoated ladies; a petticoated table.

Pettifog

To advocate like a pettifogger; to argue trickily; as, to pettifog a claim.

Pettifogger

A lawyer who deals in petty cases; an attorney whose methods are mean and tricky; an inferior lawyer.

Pettifoggery

The practice or arts of a pettifogger; disreputable tricks; quibbles; chicanery.

Pettifogulize

To act as a pettifogger; to use contemptible tricks.

Pettily

In a petty manner; frivolously.

Pettiness

The quality or state of being petty or paltry; littleness; meanness.

petting

Sexually titillating foreplay without contact with the genital organs.

Pettish

Fretful; peevish; moody; capricious; inclined to ill temper.

Pettitoes

The toes or feet of a pig, -- often used as food; sometimes, in contempt, the human feet.

Petty

Little; trifling; inconsiderable; unimportant; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; petty complaints; a petty prince.

Pettychaps

Any one of several species of small European singing birds of the subfamily Sylviin/, as the willow warbler, the chiff-chaff, and the golden warbler (Sylvia hortensis).

Petulancy Petulance

The quality or state of being petulant; temporary peevishness; pettishness; capricious ill humor.

Petulant

Forward; pert; insolent; wanton.

Petune

To spray (tobacco) with a liquid intended to produce flavor or aroma.

Petunia

A genus of solanaceous herbs with funnel-form or salver-shaped corollas. Two species are common in cultivation, Petunia violacea, with reddish purple flowers, and Petunia nyctaginiflora, with white flowers. There are also many hybrid forms with variegated corollas.

Petzite

A telluride of silver and gold, related to hessite.

Peucedanin

A tasteless white crystalline substance, extracted from the roots of the sulphurwort (Peucedanum), masterwort (Imperatoria), and other related plants; -- called also imperatorin.

Peucil

A liquid resembling camphene, obtained by treating turpentine hydrochloride with lime.

Pew

To furnish with pews.

Pewee

A common American tyrant flycatcher (Sayornis ph/be, or Sayornis fuscus). Called also pewit, and ph/be.

Pewfellow

One who occupies the same pew with another.

Pewit

The lapwing. The European black-headed, or laughing, gull (Xema ridibundus). See under Laughing. The pewee.

Pewter

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.

Pewterer

One whose occupation is to make utensils of pewter; a pewtersmith.

Pewtery

Belonging to, or resembling, pewter; as, a pewtery taste.

Peytrel

The breastplate of a horse's armor or harness. [Spelt also peitrel.] See Poitrel.

Peziza

A genus of fungi embracing a great number of species, some of which are remarkable for their regular cuplike form and deep colors.

Pezizaceae

A large natural family comprising many typical cup fungi.

Pezizales

An order of mostly saprophytic fungi having cup-shaped ascocarps.

Pezizoid

Resembling a fungus of the genus Peziza; having a cuplike form.

Pezophaps

A genus constituted by the extinct solitaire.

Pfalz

A territory in southwestern Germany formerly ruled by the counts palatine.

pfannkuchen

A puffy mildly sweet lemon-flavored egg mixture sprinkled with confectioners' sugar and served with jam or a wine or fruit sauce.

Pfennig

A small copper coin of Germany. It is the hundredth part of a mark. In 2001 it was superseded by the euro.

Ph.D. PhD

A scholastic degree awarded for study beyond college; the Doctorate degree in Philosophy. In America it is usually based on at least 3 years graduate study and a dissertation; the doctorate is the highest degree awarded by a graduate school, and is awarded in other fields, such as Doctor of Arts. The Ph.D. is broadly applicable, as in most fields of science and technology; -- the term philosophy being derived from an earlier label for experimental science as Natural Philosophy.

Phacellus

One of the filaments on the inner surface of the gastric cavity of certain jellyfishes.

Phacoid

Resembling a lentil; lenticular.

Phacolite

A colorless variety of chabazite; the original was from Leipa, in Bohemia.

Phacops

A genus of trilobites found in the Silurian and Devonian formations. Phacops bufo is one of the most common species.

Phaeacian

Of or pertaining to the Ph/acians, a fabulous seafaring people fond of the feast, the lyre, and the dance, mentioned by Homer.

Phaenogamia

The class of flowering plants including all which have true flowers with distinct floral organs; phanerogamia.

Phaenogamous

Having true flowers with distinct floral organs; flowering.

Phaeospore

A brownish zoospore, characteristic of an order (Ph/ospore/) of dark green or olive-colored alg/.

Phaethon

The son of Helios (Ph/bus), 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.

Phaeton

A four-wheeled carriage (with or without a top), open, or having no side pieces, in front of the seat. It is drawn by one or two horses.

Phagedena

A canine appetite; bulimia. Spreading, obstinate ulceration.

Phagedenical Phagedenic

Of, like, or pertaining to, phagedena; used in the treatment of phagedena; as, a phagedenic ulcer or medicine. A phagedenic medicine.

phagocyte

A leucocyte which plays a part in immunity and retrogressive processes by taking up (eating), in the form of fine granules, foreign objects such as bacteria or cellular parts to be removed. There are two principle subtypes, (1) microphages, polymorphonuclear lymphocytes which principally digest bacteria; and (2) macrophages, mononucleated cells which primarily scavenge dead tissue and degenerate cells.

Phainopepla

A small crested passerine bird (Pha/nopepla nitens), native of Mexico and the Southern United States. The adult male is of a uniform glossy blue-black; the female is brownish. Called also black flycatcher.

Phakoscope

An instrument for studying the mechanism of accommodation.

Phalaena

A linn/an genus which included the moths in general.

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