piety 
piety (pi't>-ti). a. | Formerly also /</ (oarlirr 
/litif, etc.: see jnl;/); < <>F. />//. !'. II'H'II' = Pr. 
/lii-tui, /liinl. /iit/iit = S]>. i>i<-<liiil = IV- /""/'"'' 
= It. /)/</</, < I,. /iii-ln(l-)s, piety. < /'.<, pinu-.: 
Bee ;<iH.v. CI'. /)(///, an rarlirr form of the same 
word.] 1. The character of bring pimis or 
having filial affection; natural or filial affec- 
tion; dutiful eondoct or behavior toward one's 
parents, relatives, country, or benefactors. 
If any widow have children or nephews, let tlu-m learn 
flrst ti shew fiftij at home, and to requite their parent* : 
for that Is good and acceptable Iwfore Ood. 1 Tim. v. 4. 
How am I divided 
Between the duties I owe as a husband 
And piety of a parent! 
h'Mcher, Spanish Curate, IT. 1. 
2. Faith in ami reverence for t lie Supreme Be- 
ing ; filial obedience inspired by these senti- 
ments; godliness. 
(iOodtlCSS hclolIKH t<) till- I i 01 Is, I'ii'lll to Mm, Kc'VI'llgC 
and Wickedness to the Devils. Howell, Letters, II. 11. 
The Commonwealth which maintains this discipline will 
certainly flourish In vertu and piety. 
Milton, Church-Government, II. 3. 
Pelican In her piety. Sec pelican. =&yn. I Devotion, 
Sanctity, etc. See religion. 
piewipe (pi'wlp), . [Imitative.] Same as 
/M-irit ill). 
piezo-electricity (pi'e-zo-e-lek-tris'i-ti), n. [Ir- 
reg. < Gr. mffe/r, press, + E. eln'triciti/.'] Elec- 
tricity produced by pressure, as that of a 
sphere of quartz, which becomes electrified 
by pressure. 
piezometer (pi-e-zora'e-ter), n. [= F. piezo- 
metre = Pg. piezometro; irreg. < Gr. mifeat. 
press, + perpov, measure.] 1. Any instrument 
for ascertaining or test ing pres- 
sure. 2. An instrument for 
showing the compressibility of 
water or other liquid, and the 
degree of such compressibil- 
ity under varying pressures. 
A common form (see figure) consists 
of a strong glass cylinder, within 
which Is supported a small vessel (C) 
with a graduated stem containing 
the liquid under experiment, also a 
thermometer (T) and manometer (Mi. 
The pressure Is exerted by the piston 
moved by a screw at the top, and 
transmitted by the water with which 
the cylinder Is filled to the liquid in 
the vessel C. The amount of this pres- 
sure is measured by the manometer. 
The compressibility Is shown by the 
fall of the liquid (and index) In the 
graduated stem, and its amount can 
be readily calculated if the capacity 
of C, in terms of these scale-divisions, 
is known. 
3. An instrument consisting 
essentially of a vertical tube 
inserted into a water-main, to show the pressure 
of the fluid at that point, by the height to which 
it ascends in the tube of the piezometer. 4. 
A sounding-apparatus in which advantage is 
taken of the compression of air in a tube by the 
pressure of the water at great depths to indicate 
the depth of the water. 5. An instrument for 
testing the pressure of gas in the bore of a gun. 
piff(pif), n. Seepaff. 
piffero (pif'e-ro), n. [< It. piffero, piffera, pi- 
4481 
3. An oblong mass of metal that has been run 
while still molten intoa mold excavated in sand; 
specifically, iron from the blast-furnace run 
intu muMs excavated in sand. The molds are a 
series of parallel trenches connected by a channel running 
at right angles to Hum The iron thus cools In the form 
of semi-cylindrical bun, or pigs, united at one end by an- 
otlcT Inircalli-d the ton: t, called from a come compart- 
nun with a litter of pigs suckling. 
I We found) many barret of Iron, two piyt of Lead, f oorc 
Fowlers Iron shot, and such like heaule things throw ne 
here and there. 
({noted In Cap<. John Smith't Works, I. 104. 
Sometimes npiy will solidify partly as white iron partly 
as grey, the crystallization having commenced In patches, 
but not having spread throughout the whole niass before 
It solidlHed ; such Iron Is known as mottled pig, 
Encyc. Brit., XIIL 284. 
4. A customary unit of weight for lead, HOI 
pounds. All-mine pig, pig-iron smelted entirely from 
ore or mine material. A pig in a poke. See jx.A-c'-'. 
Hunt the pig. se<- hunt. - Long pig, masked pig, etc. 
Sec the adjectives.- Pig's whisper, (a) A lower inaudi- 
ble whisper. (6) A very short space of time. [Slang.] 
You'll find yourself in bed in something leu than a frig's 
Dickens, Pickwick, xxxil. 
musical instrument, either a small flageolet or 
a small oboe, used by strolling players in some 
parts of Italy and Tyrol. 2. The name of an 
organ-stop: same as bifara. 
pig 1 (pig), . [Also dial, peg; early mod. E. 
pigge; (. ME. pigge, pygge = D. bigge, big = 
LG. bigge, a pig; origin obscure. An AS. "peeg 
is mentioned as occurring "in a charter of 
Swinford copied into the Liber Albus at Wells " 
(Skeat,on authority of Earle) ; but this is doubt- 
ful ; an A.8.*pecg would hardly produce the E. 
form pig. Whether the word is related to LG. 
bigge, a little child, = Dan. pige = Sw. piga 
= Icel. pika, a girl, is doubtful.] 1. A hog; 
a swine ; especially, a porker, or young swine 
of either sex, the old male being called boar, 
the old female sou-. It is sometimes used in compo- 
sition to designate some animal likened to a pig : as, a 
gulnea-irif?. See hoy. Suidtc. 
Together with the cottage . . . what was of much more 
importance, a fine litter of new-farrowed ings no less than 
nine in number perished. Lamb, Roast Pig. 
2. The flesh of swine; pork. 
Now ji! i it is a meat, and a meat that is nourishing and 
may be longed for, and so consequently eaten ; it may be 
eateu : very exceedingly well eaten. 
B. Jmuon, Bartholomew Fair, 1. 1. 
Please the pigs, if circumstances permit : a trivial rus- 
tic substitute for please Godor tf it please Providence-. Pigs 
Is here apparently a mere alliterative caprice ; it has been 
variously regarded as an altered form ofpix, pyx, tbe box 
which held the host; or of pixies, fairies ; orof the"S>ixon 
piga, a virgin " (as If meaning the Virgin Mary). These 
conjectures are all absurd. As to the last, no "Saxon 
piga" exists; the entry "piga, puellula," in Somner, Lye, 
etc., Is an error. 
I'll have one of the wigs to carry Into the country with 
me, and [If (it)] please the pigs. T. Brown. Works, IL 196. 
Sussex pig, a vessel in tbe form of a pig, made at the 
Bellevue or other Sussex pottery. When empty it stands 
upon the four feet, but when in use it stands upright, 
Its head is lifted off to allow of its being filled, and it 
serves as a drinking-cup. The jest of being ordered to 
drink a "hogshead "of beer in response to a toast, or the 
like, refers to the emptying of such a cup. See Sussex rus- 
tic ware, under wore. To bring one's pigs to a pretty 
market, to make a very bad bargain, or to manage any- 
thing in a very bad way. 
pig 1 (pig)> *> pret. and pp. pigged, ppr.pig- 
.'/'".'/ [< f'ff 1 ) "] ! To bring forth pigs; 
bring forth in the manner of pigs; litter. 2. 
To act as pigs; live like a pig; live or huddle 
as pigs: sometimes with an indefinite it. 
But he hardly thinks that the sufferings of a dozen fel- 
ons pigging together on bare bricks In a hole fifteen feet 
square would form a subject suited to the dignity of his- 
tory. Macaulay, Sir William Temple. 
To pig it like the prodigal son in the solitudes of ostra- 
cism. WesbnintUr Ret., CXXVIII. 873. 
The working man here is content to pig in, to use an 
old-country term, In a way that an English workman would 
not care to do. The Engineer, tXV. 480. 
pig" (pig)i " [Abbr. of piggin 1 .] 1. An earthen 
vessel; any article of earthenware. 
Quhair the pig breaks let the shells lie. 
Scotch proverb (Ray's Proverbs, 1678, p. 388). 
2. A can for a chimney-top. 3. A potsherd. 
[Scotch in all uses.] 
pig-bed (pig'bed), n. The bed or series of molds 
formed of sand into which iron is run from the 
blast-furnace and cast into pigs. 
pig-boiling (pig'boi'ling), n. Same as wet-pud- 
Ming. See puddle. 
pig-cote (pig'kot), n. A pigsty. [Prov. Eng.] 
pig-deer (pig'der), n. The babirussa. 
pigeon (pij'on), n. [Early mod. E. also pidgeon, 
igion; < ME. pigeon, pijon, pygeon, pyjon, < 
_F. pigeon, pvjon, pynjon, pignon, also pipion, 
F. pigeon = Pr. pijon = Sp. pichon = It. pic- 
done, pippione, a pigeon, a young bird, v L. 
pipio(n-), a young piping or chirping bird, a 
squab, <pipire, chirp: see^tpel, peepl. For the 
form, ct.vndgeon. The native (AS.) word for ' pi- 
geon' is dove: see dove 1 .] 1. Any bird of the 
family Columbidss (which see for technical char- 
acters) ; a dove. The species are several hundred in 
Domestic Pigeon, hoi 
pigeon-hearted 
number, and are found In nearly all parts of the world. 
Many kinds are distinguished by qualifying terms, as/ndf 
piiiriin, ground-pigeon, paamger-piii" I'igean, 
nek-pigeon, and any of them may be called dove, as stack- 
dove, nek-dove, ring-dove, imil, ./<. , n-imd-dorr. (See the 
compound names, and Mai.) Few species are common- 
ly seen In confinement, except In venr extensive avia- 
ries, one of the commonest being the ring-dove; but the 
rock-pigeon or rock-dove, Columba livia, Is everywhere 
thoroughly domesticated, ami perhaps all the artificial va- 
rieties have been produced by careful breeding from this 
one. Fancy pigeons have naturally received many fanci- 
ful names of their breeds, strains, and endless color-vari- 
ations. Some of these names are (n) from localities, ac- 
tual or alleged, as Antwerp!, barbs (from Ilarbary). Brans- 
wicks, Burmese*, Damascenes, Florentines, Lahore*, Orien- 
tals, Swabians; (6) from resemblance to other birds, as 
magpies, owls, starlings, swallows, swifts ; (c) from char 
acterlstlc actions, as carriers, croppers, dragoons, hom- 
ers, pouters, rollers, shakers, trumpeters, tumblers; (</) 
from peculiarities of size, shape, or color, as capnchfns, 
fantalls (see cut under fantail), fire pigeons, frills or frill- 
backs, helmets, hyacinths, ice-pigeons, jacobins (se<- mi 
under jacobin), nuns, porcelains, priests, runts, shields, 
tin-lilt*. Some names, like archangel, inairmet, and vic- 
toria, are unclasslflable, and others are quite peculiar to 
fanciers' nomenclature, as bbmdinettr, saverette, and lr- 
biltcfn. Young pigeons are known as squabi and squealers. 
The name pigeon Is also used, with a qualifying word, to 
designate some bird like or likened to a pigeon, as prairie- 
pigeon, tea-pigeon, etc. 
2. A simpleton to be swindled; a gull: opposed 
to rook. See stool-pigeon. [Slang.] Barbary 
pigeon. Same as bark*, i Blue pigeon, a deep-sea lead ; 
a sounding-lead. Cape pigeon, a small petrel, spotted 
black and white, abundant off the Cape of flood Hope; the 
daniler, Procfllaria or Daption capensis, belonging to 
the family PrttcellariidcK. See cut under Daptvm. Clay 
pigeon. See clay. Crown pigeon, Gouracoronata. See 
cut under Oou ra. Diving pigeon, the sea- pigeon, sea- 
dove, or black guillemot, Una gryUc. See cut under rruil- 
'/"'. Mechanical pigeon, (a) A device to which a 
flying motion Is imparted by means of a spring released 
by a trigger, or otherwise, to supply the place of living pi- 
jteons in shooting-matches, or to afford practice to marks- 
men In shooting birds on the wing. It may be a strip 
of sheet-metal with blades bent in a propeller form, and 
caused to rise by being rotated rapidly, or It may be a 
ball of glass, terra-cot ta, or the like. (6) A toy consisting 
of a light propeller-wheel, which, on being made to re- 
volve rapidly by means of a string wound about a shaft on 
which It rests, rises in the air In a short flight Nicobar 
Calcenas nicobarica. See cut under Calccnat. 
;eon ( s egg, a bead of Venetian glass, the form and size 
of which give rise to the name. Such beads were pro- 
duced as early as the fifteenth century, and very ancient 
ones are preserved. Pigeon's milk, a non-existent arti- 
cle. In search of which April fools are despatched. Halli- 
well. (Humorous.) Tooth-billed pigeon, Didunculu* 
itrigirostris. See cut under Didunculus. TO pluck a 
pigeon, to swindle; fleece. [Slang.] Wild pigeon, in 
the United States, specifically, the passenger-pigeon, Jsctu- 
pistes migratorius. See cut under passenger-pigeon. 
pigeon (pij'on), v. t. [< pigeon, n.] To pluck; 
fleece; strip of money by the tricks of gam- 
bling. [Slang.] 
Then hey ! at Dissipation's call 
To every Club that leads the ton, 
Hazard 's the word ; he flies at all, 
Htj't pigcon'd and undone. 
Observer, No. 27. (Richardson.) 
pigeonberry (pij'on-ber'i), n. The pokeweed. 
See garget, 5, and Phytolacca. 
pigeon-breast (pij'on-brest), n. 1. The breast 
or a pigeon. 2. A deformity occurring in per- 
sons affected with rickets, in which the costal 
cartilages are bent inward, and the sternum or 
breast -bone is thrown forward. 
pigeon-breasted (pi j'on-bres'ted), a. Affected 
with pigeon-breast. 
pigeon-cherry (pij'on-cher'i), . Same as pin- 
cnerry. 
Pigeon-English (pij'on-ing'glish), n. See Pid- 
gin-Englisn. 
pigeon-express (pij'on-eks-pres'), . The con- 
veyance of intelligence by means of a carrier- 
or homing-pigeon. 
pigeon-fancier (pij'on-fan'si-er), . One who 
keeps and breeds pigeons. 
pigeonfpot (pij'on-fut), *>. A plant: same as 
dove's-foot, 1. 
pigeon-goose (pij'on-gos), . An Australian 
goose, Cereopsis novte-hollandise. 
pigeon-grass (pij'on-gras), n. A grass, Setatia 
glauca, found in stubble-fields, etc., and very 
widely diffused. It is said to be as nutritious 
as Hungarian grass, but the yield is small. 
[U. S.] 
pigeon-hawk (pij'on-hak), M. One of the smaller 
hawks, about as large as a pigeon, or able to 
prey on birds as large as pigeons, (a) A small 
true falcon of America, Falco columbarius, and some close- 
ly related species, corresponding to what are termed mer- 
lins in Europe. (6) The sharp-shinned hawk. Accipiterfus- 
CMS. or A. velox. See cut at sharp thinned. [I". S.] 
pigeon-hearted (pij'on-har'ted), a. Timid as 
a bird ; easily frightened. 
First Old. The drum, the drum, sir ! 
Curio. I never saw such pigeon-hearted people. 
What drum? what danger! Who 's that that shakes be- 
hind there? FIrtrlirr, Pilgrim, Ut 4. 
