picturesque 
2. Strikingly graphic or vivid; abounding or 
cliviTsilii'cl with striking mid vivid imagery : as. 
jiii'tiii't. <t/in- liiiiguage. 
Thceptlhctj/tctunwuuF . . . BMU til* tgraphkul power 
h> which I'oetryaml Klo.meiicc produce rtKrtson the mind 
analogous tu those of a pi' I nt < . 
D. Stewart, Phllos. Essays, i. 5. 
When- In; IDryilen] is imaginative, It is in tllat lower 
sense which the poverty uf uur language, for want of a 
better word, compels us to call picturesque. 
Loin II, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 64. 
picturesquely (pik-hi-resk'li), <uir. In a pic- 
turesque manner. 
picturesqueness (pik-tu-resk'nes), . The 
rhniMeter of lii'inj,' pict urcsque. 
picture-writing (plk'Jftr-rl'ting), . 1. The 
use of pictures or of pictured representations 
in recording events or expressing ideas; pic- 
tography: as, the iiiftnri-irritiiuj of the North 
American Indians. 
There was a period when art and writing were not di- 
vorced as they are at present, but so blended Into one 
that we vim best express the union by such a compound 
as Picture-writinij. C. T. Newton, Art anil Archieol., p. 9. 
2. A writing or inscription consisting of pic- 
tures or pictorial signs. 
picul, pecul (pik'ul), . [Malay.] A weight 
in use in China and the East generally, contain- 
ing 100 kin or catties, and equal to about 133J 
pounds avoirdupois. By the Chinese it is called 
tan. 
picnic (pik'ul), . [< NL. *piculus, dim. of L. 
liii'us, a woodpecker: see Picas."] A piculet. 
piculet (pik'u-let), n. [< picule + -et.] Any 
one of the small soft-tailed woodpeckers of 
the subfamily Pieumninte, family Piciclte, of the 
genera Picumnus, Vii'in, *<i*iu, and Verreauxiu. 
See cut under Picumims. 
piculule (pik'u-lul), . [< picule + -vie.'] A bird 
of the family Dviidrocolaptidse. 
Picumninse (pik-um-ni'ne), n. pi. [NL. (G. E. 
Gray, 1840), < Picumnus + -inee.] A subfamily 
of Picidie, typified by the genus Picumnus, and 
characterized by the soft non-seansorial tail; 
the picules, piculets, or pygmy woodpeckers. 
It Is a small group of small woodpeckers of a low or gen- 
eralized type, inhabiting tropical regions of both hemi- 
spheres, as South America, the East Indies, and Africa. 
The species have generally four toes, yoked in pairs as In 
the true woodpeckers, but the East Indian genus Sofia 
has only three. Also Picumnidse, as a separate family. 
Picumnus (pi-kum'nus), . [NL.(Temminck), 
< L. PicuiiiHiis, 
a deity of the 
Romans, a per- 
sonification of 
the woodpeck- 
er, < picus, a 
woodpecker: 
see Pirns.] The 
typical genus 
of Pieumninte, 
formerly con- 
terminous with 
the subfamily, 
now usually re- 
stricted to the 
American spe- 
CieS, ;is P. le- 
indotus, all of 
which have four toes. Also called Piculus, As- 
thenurus, and Microcolaptes. 
Picus (pi'kus), n. [NL.,< L. pious, a woodpeck- 
er, perhaps < pingere (\fpie), paint, in allusion 
to the painted or spotted appearance of the 
bird. Cf. Pica,pie%.] A Linnean genus of wood- 
peckers, formerly coextensive with the family 
Picidx, later variously restricted. The name is at 
4477 
present used: (a) for the i/em-rii- group <>f whi.-h the great 
black woodpecker of Kurope, 1'inut martiun, is thr t\p>, 
otherwise calli-ii Dryonvvf (M0 cut under Itryocopwi); (ft) 
for :i large series of smaller species, npotti-d wi Hi lilark and 
white, such as /'. nm/"i- ;ml /'. /,iii,<>rt Ktiroj.r, ami (In 
hairy and ilotvny woodpcckeib of America, P. vUlonui and 
P. pubescent. 
piddle (pid'l), r. ;'. ; pret. and pp. /liiltllril, ppr. 
/inlilliiiii. [A var. of /iii Hi , I lie variation being 
due perhaps to association with /mlil/i'. Cf. 
IK ildliiii/, var. of /liililliiiii.] 1. To deal in tri- 
fles; spend time in a trifling way or about tri- 
fling or unimportant matters; attend to trivial 
concerns, or to the small parts rather than to 
the main; triile. 
She plays and sings too, dances and discourses, 
Comes very near essays, a pretty poet, 
Begins tepuldle with philosophy. 
I 'I, i, -her, Wit without Money, i. 2. 
2f. To pick at table ; eat squeamishly or with- 
out appetite. Swift. 
Content with little, I can piddle here 
On brocoli and mutton, round the year. 
Pope, Imit of Horace, II. II. 137. 
3. To make water; urinate: a childish word, 
piddler (pid'ler), . [< piddle + -er*.] 1. One 
who piddles ; a mere triner or good-for-nothing. 
Coz. You are good at the sport. 
Col. Who, I? a fiddler, gir. 
Maainger, Great Duke of Florence, Ir. _'. 
2. A squeamish eater. 
piddling (pid'ling),^>. a. 1. Trifling. Msoped- 
dlinij. 
Nine geese, and some three larks for piddling meat. 
Middleton, Mayor of ijueenborough, v. 1. 
Let children, when they versify, stick here 
And there these piddliny words for want of matter. 
Poets write masculine numbers. 
Shirley, Lore in a Maze, 11. . 
The ignoble Hucsterage of pidling Tithes. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., IL 
2f. Squeamish; difficult to please, especially 
in eating. 
A piddling reader . . . might object to almost all the 
rhymes of the above quotation. Goldsmith, Criticisms. 
piddock (pid'ok), [Origin obscure.] Amol- 
lusk of the genus Pholas or family Pholadidse; 
especially, a name of those species which are 
found in British waters, used rarely for food 
but much for bait, as P. dactylus; a pholad. 
piece 
Pies are sometimes made without the under 
thin layer of pantry. See puddiMj, tart, und 
Kokt-s ami hep. 1 kmtuuH crieden "hotept/es, Imi. ' 
Good goos und gry KO , <lynr, K owe f 
/'/,/* I'lowman(C\ i. 2-20. 
Mincing of meat in/;ie*8aveth the grinding of the teeth. 
Bacon. 
End now the white loafe and the pye, 
And let all spurts with I'hriatiiMU dye. 
llerr'u'k, I JMIM < 'unilleinasBe Day. 
And then there were apple ;jiV and peach vit> and pump- 
kin i/if ; besides slices of ham ami smoked I 
Irviny, Sketch- Book, p. 44O. 
The !'> is an English institution, which, planted on 
American soil, forthwith ran rampant and burst forth Into 
an untold variety of genera and species. 
;/. IS. Stowe, i ildtc, . i, p. 342. 
2. A mound or pit for keeping potatoes. Halli- 
n-ill; Jamieson. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 3. 
A compost-heap. [Prov. Eng.] A finger In the 
pie. Seeftiujer. Minced pie. Seenunce-pu. Ptolcord 
pie, a pie flavored with truffles, which are most ablluoant- 
ly found in 1'crlgord, France. To eat bumble pie. Sec 
hwttble-pie. 
pie- (pi), . [Also pye; < ME. pie, pye, < OF. 
(and F. ) pie = 8p. Pg. pegn = It. pica, < L. 
pica, a magpie ; perhaps, like picus, a wood- 
Ficulct (PicuHtitiis Itffdfliisl. 
Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Pictit major). 
Piddocks (.Pholas dactylns) in their holes. 
It has a long ovate shell with a narrowed tongue-like ex- 
tension in front, and the entire surface marked with longi- 
tudinal and concentric grooves and ridges, and radiating 
rows of sharp spines. The beaks are anterior and cover- 
ed with callosities. The piddock is capable of perforating 
the soft rocks, into which It burrows. It is a common 
inhabitant of European seas, and in winter Is frequently 
killed by the cold when left exposed by low tide. It is 
edible, and is sought for by digging It out of the clay or 
shale. After being removed from the water for a day or 
so, the animal changes color, and is said to shine like a 
glow-worm. Also called clam, dactyl, and long oyster. See 
Phola*, and cut under acceaory. 
pidet, . An obsolete spelling of pied. 
pidgeont, . An obsolete form of pigeon. 
pidgin (pij'in), . [A Chinese corruption of E. 
business.'] Business; affair; thing. [Pidgin- 
English.] 
Pidgin-English (pij'in-ing'glish), n. [Also 
1'ii/eon-English; (.pidgin + English.] An arti- 
ficial dialect or jargon of corrupted English, 
with a few Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay 
words,arranged according to the Chinese idiom, 
used by Chinese and foreigners for colloquial 
convenience in their business transactions and 
other dealings in the treaty ports of China and 
elsewhere in the China seas; the lingua franca 
of the ports of China and the Far East. 
pie 1 (pi), . [Formerly also pye ; <.'ME.pie,pye. 
< Ir. pighe = Gael, pighe, a pie; cf. Ir. pitkan, 
Gael, pigheann, a pie.] 1. A dish consisting 
of a thin layer of pastry filled with a prepa- 
ration of meat, fish, fowl, fruit, or vegetables, 
seasoned, generally covered with a thicker lay- 
er of pastry, and baked : as, beefsteak pie ; oy's- 
terpie; chicken /n'; pumpkin pie; custard pie. 
pecker (see Picus), so called in 'allusion to its 
spotted appearance, < pingere (/ pic), paint: 
see picture. Otherwise, perhaps both may be 
derived, with loss of orig. initial *, from the 
root of specere, see: see spy. To the same 
source as picus, in this view, is referred E. 
xpeiglit, a woodpecker. Hence, in comp., mag- 
pie.] 1. A magpie. 
The thef, the chough, and ek the jangelynge pye. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. :;.'.. 
They being all coltish and full of ragery, 
And full of gergon as is a flecken pye. 
W. Cmtwriytd, The Ordinary, ii. 2. 
Hence 2. .Some similar or related bird ; any 
pied bird : with a qualifying term : as, the smoky 
pie, Psilorhimis morio ; the wandering pie of 
India, Temnurus (or Dendrocitta) vagabundus; 
the river-pie, or dipper, Cinclus aquaticus; the 
long-tailed pie, or titmouse, Acredula rosea; the 
mnrderingpie, or great gray shrike, Lanius excu- 
bitor; the sea-pte, or oyster-catcher; the Seoul- 
ton pewit or pie (see under pewit); etc. 3f. 
Figuratively, a prating gossip or tattler. 
Dredeles it clere was in the wynde 
Of every pie, and every lette-game. 
Chaucer, Troilus, ill 527. 
French pie, the great spotted woodpecker, Picut major. 
pie 3 t (pi), n. [Also pye; < ME. "pie (f), < ML. 
pica: seepica^.] 1. Same as ordinal, 2 (c). 
The number and hardness of the Rules called the /'/'.. 
Boot of Common Prayer (Eng.), Concerning the Service of 
[the Church. 
2. An index; a register; a list: as, a pie of 
sheriffs in the reign of Henry VIII __ By cock 
and plet, a minced and mixed oath, consisting of an ad- 
juration of the Deity (under a corrupted name) and the old 
Roman Catholic service-book. 
By cock and pie, sir, you shall not away to-night 
Shot., 2 Hen. IV., v. 1. 1. 
pie 4 , . and v. See pi 1 . 
pie 5 (pi), . [< Marathi pffi, a fourth, i. e. a 
fourth part of an anna.] 1. The smallest An- 
glo-Indian copper coin, equal to one third of a 
pice, or one twelfth of an anna about one 
fourth of a United States cent. 2. Formerly, a 
coin equal to one fourth of an anna. 
Obverse. Reverse. 
Pie of 1809, in the British Museum. ( Size of the original.) 
piebald (pi'bald), a. [Formerly also pyebald, 
piebalVd; < pic? + told. Cf. P. pie, piebald, 
and see pied.] 1. Having spots or patches of 
white and black or other color ; party-colored ; 
pied : as, a piebald horse. 
The flery Turnus flew before the rest ; 
A pye-ball'd steed of Thracian strain he press'd. 
Dryden, jEneid, ix. 
A gold and scarlet chariot drawn by six piebald horses. 
Mrs. GaOcell, Sylvia's Lovers, xlil. 
Hence 2. Mixed; heterogeneous; mongrel. 
piece (pes), n. [Early mod. E. alsopeec*; < ME. 
pece. piece, < OF. piece, F. piece = Pr. jwww, peso 
