Sroud, mincing peat. 
an out of his Humour, Pref. 
pet 
ness or favor; also, a spoiled child; a wilful 
young woman. 
A pretty peat ! it is best 
Put finger in the eye. an she knew why. 
Shak., T. of the S., i. 1. 78. 
Deliro's wife, and idol ; a 
B. Jonson, Every 
II. a. 1. Fondled and indulged: as, a pet 
lamb ; a pet rabbit ; a pet pigeon. 
The poet [Herrick] kept a pet goose at the vicarage, also 
a pet pis, which he taught to drink beer out of his own 
tankard. D. 0, Mitchell, Lands, Letters, and Kings, iii. 
2. Favored; favorite; cherished: as, a pet the- 
ory. 
The lord of the . . . manor . . . offered his pet binoc- 
ular, .ft. V. JllacJnnore, Ereina, liv. 
He [a sentimentalist] loves to think he suffers, and keeps 
a pet SOITOW, a blue devil familiar, that goes with him 
everywhere, like Paracelsus's black dog. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 364. 
pet 1 /.pet), v. t. ; met. and pp. petted, ppr. pet- 
thifi.' [(pefl, n.] To treat as a pet; fondle; 
indulge : as, to pet a child or a kitten. 
The licensed irritability of a petted member of the fam- 
ily. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, vii. 
pet 2 (pet), M. [Appar. due to pettish, taken as 
' capricious,' < pet, a fit of ill humor, caprice, 
4- -is 1 /* 1 , but orig. appar. ' like a favorite child,' 
i. e. 'like a spoiled child,' < pet 1 + -ish 1 ; the 
sense is affected also by the unrelated petulant. 
See pefl.~\ A fit, as of peevishness, ill humor, 
or discontent. 
Then [false honor] flatter'd me, took pet, and in disdain 
Nipp'd my green buds. Quarles, Emblems, ii. 13. 
Fortune ha's deny'd him in something, and hee now 
takes pet, and will bee miserable in spite. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Discontented Man. 
In &pet of temperance feed on pulse. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 721. 
In a pet she started up, 
And pluck'd it out, and drew 
My little oakling from the cup, 
And flung him in the dew. 
Tennyson, Talking Oak. 
pet 2 (pet), v.; pret. and pp. petted, ppr. petting. 
[< peft, .] I. intrans. To be peevish or cross ; 
sulk. 
He, sure, is queasy -stomached that must pet and puke 
at such a trivial circumstance. Feltham, Resolves, ii. 2. 
"With a sweet forgetting, 
They stay their crystal fretting, 
Never, never petting 
About the frozen time. Keats, Stanzas. 
II. trans. To make peevish ; pique ; offend ; 
make cross. 
I was petted at their neglect of us. 
Brooke, Fool of Quality, II. 46. (Encyc. Diet.) 
petailet. n. Seepitaile. 
petal (pet'al), n. [= F. petale = Sp. petalo = 
Pg. petala, petalo = It. petalo, < NL. petalum, 
a petal, < Gr. 
iTETahov, a leaf, 
orig. neut. of wk- 
ra/lof, outspread, 
broad, flat (= L. 
patulus, out- 
spread, spread- 
ing), < WETavvvvai 
(\/ KCT-) = li.pa- 
tere, spread out, 
be open: see pat- 
ent 1 , patulous?] 1. 
In bot., a corolla- 
leaf; one of the in- 
dividual parts of a 
corolla in which they are distinct. 2. In goal., 
a petaloid ambulacrum, as that of a spatangoid 
or clypeastroid sea-urchin. See cuts under am- 
bulacrum and petalostichous. 
petaled, petalled (pet'ald), a. Having petals : 
generally used in composition: as, many-pe<- 
aled; six-petaled. 
petalifonn (pet'al-i-form), a. [< NL. petalum, 
petal (see petal)', + L. forma, form.] In bot., 
shaped like a petal ; petaloid. 
petaline (pet'al-in), a. [< F. pttalin, < NL. *pe- 
talinus, < petalum, a petal : see petal.'] la bot., 
pertaining to a petal; attached to a petal; re- 
sembling a petal in form or color: as, & petaline 
nectary. 
petalism (pet'al-izm), n. [= F. pttalisme - 
Sp. Pg. It. petalismo, < Gr. vcrafaa/tff, petalism, 
*KemUt,tiv, banish by means of votes written 
on olive-leaves (cf. veTaMfriv, put forth leaves), 
< vkTorMv, a leaf: see petal."] In ancient Syra- 
cuse, a mode of banishing citizens whose influ- 
ence seemed dangerous, modeled on the ostra- 
cism at Athens, from which it differed in little 
except that the voter wrote the name of the 
Flower of Soapwort (Sapottaria officina- 
lis). a, one of the petals. 
4424 
person he recommended for banishment on an 
olive-leaf and not on a tablet of earthenware, 
and that the stated period of banishment was 
five years, and not ten as at Athens. The law was 
repealed 452 B. C-, on account of its deterring the best 
citizens from participating in public affairs. 
By means of this petalisme the lords banished one an- 
other, so that in the end the people became lord. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 944. 
In another great and most splendid city you see men re- 
duced to petalism, or marking their votes by the petals of 
shrubs. De Quincey, Style, iv. 
petalite (pet'al-It), n. [< F. petalite = It. i>c- 
talite, < NL. "petalites, < Gr. ncraAov, a leaf: see 
petal."] A rare mineral, having a leaf -like cleav- 
age, usually occurring in masses of a milk- 
white color, often tinged with gray, red, or green. 
It is a silicate of aluminium and lithium. The alkali 
lithia was first discovered in this mineral. Castorite is a 
variety found on the island of Elba, Italy. 
petalled, a. See petaled. 
Petalocera (pet-a-los'e-ra), n. pi. [NL. (Du- 
me'ril, 1806), neut. pi. of petalocerus: see peta- 
loccrous."] In entom., a group of beetles cor- 
responding to Latreille's Lamellicornes. 
petalocerous (pet-a-los'e-rus). a. [< NL. peta- 
locerus, < Gr. 7rlraAoi>, leaf, + xepaf, horn.] In en- 
tom., having leafy antennas; lamellicorn; spe- 
cifically, of or pertaining to the Petalocera. 
petalodont (pet'a-lo-dont), a. and n. I. a. Of 
or relating to the Petalodontidse. 
II. n. A selachian of the family Petalodontidse. 
Petalodontidse (pet"a-lo-don'ti-de),.j^. [NL., 
< Petalodus (-odont-j -f -4A.~\ An extinct fam- 
ily of tectospondylous selachians, typified by 
the genus Petalodus. The body was moderately de- 
pressed ; the pectoral fins were large, and continued for- 
ward to the head ; and the teeth formed a close pavement, 
and were compressed anteroposteriorly. The species lived 
in the seas of the Carboniferous period. 
petalodontoid (pet'a-lo-don'toid), a. and n. 
Same as petalodont. 
Petalodus (pet-a-16'dus), n. [NL.,< Gr. ireraJW, 
a leaf, + bdoiic, (ofiovr-) = E. tooth."] A genus of 
selachians typical of the family Petalodontidee, 
which had teeth with petal-shaped crowns, 
petalody (pet'a-lo-di), n. [< Gr. jrn-a/Uxfyf, leaf- 
like: see petatoid.] In bot., a condition fre- 
quent in flowers, in which other organs as- 
sume the appearance of petals. Thus, in certain 
species of Primula the calyx-lobes sometimes become 
petal-like, while in most of the so-called " double " flowers 
it is the stamens that have been metamorphosed into pet- 
als. The anthers, connective, ovules, and pistils may oc- 
casionally be affected in this manner. Also petalomania. 
petaloid (pet'a-loid), a. [= F. pttaloide = Pg. 
It. petaloide, ^ Gr. *mTatoetdfa, Trera/WcVf, leaf- 
like, < TT^TO/IOV, a leaf (NL. petalum, a petal), + 
rfrfof, shape.] 1. In bot., having the form of 
a petal ; resembling petals in texture and color, 
as certain bracts. 2. In zool., resembling a 
leaf or petal; specifically, noting those het- 
erogeneous ambulacra of some echinoderms, 
as of the Clypeastroida, of which the apical part 
is wide in the middle and tapers to a point at 
the margin, where it joins the oral portion. 
See cuts under ambulacrum, cake-tirchin, and 
petalostichous. 
petaloideous (pet-a-loi'de-us), a. [< petaloid 
+ -BOMS.] Same as petaloid; especially, not- 
ing those monocotyledonous plants which have 
flowers with parts corresponding to petals and 
sepals, such as lilies, orchids, etc., as distin- 
guished on the one hand from those in which 
the flowers are arranged on a spadix (spadi- 
ceous), and on the other from those in which 
the homologous parts consist of glumes or pa- 
lets (glumaceous). Compare spadiceoug and 
glumaceous. 
petalomania (pet'a-lo-ma'ni-a), n. [NL., < Gr. 
ireratov, a leaf (NL. petalum, a petal), + fiavia, 
madness: see mania."] In bot., same as peta- 
lody : so named from the abnormal multiplica- 
tion of petal-like forms. 
petalpn (pet'a-lon), n.; pi. petala (-la). [< Gr. 
TTfraAov, a leaf, a leaf of metal, eccl. a leaf of 
gold on the high priest's miter : see petal."] The 
plate of pure gold worn on the linen miter of 
the Jewish high priest. 
Petalostemon (pet"a-lo-ste'mon), n. [NL. (Mi- 
ehaux, 1803), so called as having four of the 
petals borne on the stamen-tube ; < Gr. Trfrafov, 
a leaf (NL. petalum,a, petal), + OTI//UJV, warp (a 
stamen): see stamen.'] A genus of leguminous 
plants of the tribe Galegese and subtribe Psora- 
liese, characterized by the two ovules, and the 
petals on filif orm claws, four of which are united 
to the sheath of the monadelphous stamens. The 
23 species are all North American, ranging from Wisconsin 
to Mexico. They are glandular-dotted perennials, with 
pinnate leaves and small rose, purple, violet, or white 
Petalostichous Ambulacra 
of Sea-urchin (lichitiobrissus 
recent}. 
Petasites 
flowers in dense spikes, followed by short pods included 
in the calyx. They are the so-called prairie-clover of the 
United States, the flowers suggesting those of clover. See 
clover, 2. 
Petalosticha (pet-a-los ' ti - ka), n. pi. [NL., 
neut. pi. of pctalostichitx: see petaloatichous.'] 
An order or a suborder of sea-urchins having 
petaloid ambulacra. They belong to the Irregidaria 
or Exocyclica, and are represented by such families as 
Clypeastridfe., Satlettid/f, Casshtvliilte, and Spatanfrul.se. 
Many of them are known as heart-urchins and cake-urchins. 
The term is contrasted with Desmosticha. See cuts under 
cake-urchin and petaloKtichvus. 
petalostichous (pet-a-los'ti-kus), a. [< NL. jte- 
talosticlnis, < Gr. mra^un, leaf, 4- or/^of, a row, 
line.] Having petaloid 
ambulacra ; specifically, 
of or pertaining to the 
Petalosticha; spatangoid 
or clypeastroid, as a sea- 
urchin. 
petalous (pet'a-lus), a. 
[< petal + -0W.J In bot., 
having petals; petaled: 
as, a petalous flower : op- 
posed to apetaloiin. 
petart, n. An obsolete 
variant of petard. 
petard (pe-tard'),w. [For- 
merly also petar, petarre; = Sp. petardo, pe- 
tarte = Pg. It. petardo, < OF. petard, petart, 
F. petard; so called (a piece of military hu- 
mor) < OF. peter, F. peter, break wind, crack, 
< pet, a breaking wind, < L. peditum, a break- 
ing wind, < pedere, pp. peditus, break wind, for 
'perdere = AS. feortan = E. fart: see fart.] 
An engine of war used to blow in a door or 
gate, form a 
breach in a 
wall, etc. It 
came into use 
in the sixteenth 
century, and in 
its early forms 
was a kind of 
mortar of iron 
or bronze which 
was charged 
with about 
seven pounds 
of gunpowder, 
rammed down 
and wadded, 
and flxed by 
means of rings 
to a stout plank, 
which was then 
attached to the 
surface to be 
blown in. The 
use of bombs 
has rendered the 
petard almost obsolete, but as still occasionally employed 
it is a cubical box of stout oak-wood, charged with twenty 
pounds or more of powder, and flred, like the older forms, 
by a fuse. 
'Twas he 
Gave heat unto the injury, which return'd, 
Like a petar ill lighted, into the bosom 
Of him gave fire to 't 
Fletcher (and another), Fair Maid of the Inn, U. 1. 
Give but the fire 
To this petard, it shall blow open, Madam, 
The iron doors. Massinger, Unnatural Combat, i. 1. 
Hoist with one's own petard, caught in one's own 
trap ; involved in the danger one meant for others. 
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer 
Hoist with his own petar. 
Shale., Hamlet, iii. 4. 207. 
petardeer, petardier (pet-ar-der'), . [For- 
merly also petardcr (= Sp. petardero = Pg. pe- 
tardeiro = It. petardiere) ; < F. petardier, OF. 
petardier, < petarder, blow up with a petard, < 
petard, a petard: see petard."] A soldier who 
served a petard. 
petary (pe'ta-ri), . ; pi. petaries (-riz). [< ML. 
petaria, a peat-bog, <peta, peat : seepeafl.'] A 
peat-bog; a moss. 
The Duke [of Argyll] refers to the grant by King Robert 
Bruce to his ancestor ... of "the whole land of Lochow 
in one free barony, by all its righteous metes and marches, 
in wood and pastures, muirs and marshes, petaries, ways, 
&c." Edinburyh Rev., CLXV. 539. 
It is certain that peat was a common enough fuel in 
David l.'s reign, and that petarits became frequent objects 
of grant to the abbots and convents during the Scoto- 
Saxon period. Geilcie, Ice Age, p. 308. 
Petasites (pet-a-si'tez), n. [NL. (Tournefort, 
1700), < Gr. vtTaaiTTK, a plant with a broad leaf 
like a hat, < vt raaoc , a broad-brimmed felt hat : 
see petasus."] A genus of composite plants of 
the tribe Seneciomdese and subtribe Tiixxiln- 
ginese, characterized by scapes bearing many 
partly direcious heads of flowers with invohi- 
cral bracts in but one row. There are about 12 spe- 
cies, natives of Europe, Asia, and North America, white 
woolly herbs, from a perennial creeping rootstock. bear- 
Petardeer Firing a Petard. 
