plaudit 
ble demonstration*: in the plural, equivalent to 
appltmte, 
Augustus Casaar . . . desired hU friends about him to 
give him a Plaudite, as If h were conscious to himself 
that he hail iilnycd his part well upon the stage. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, II. 322. 
Chuse whether you will let my notes have you hy the 
can or no ; hiss or give piaudiut. 
DrUrr, Oull's Uornluuk. 
Our poet, could he And forgiveness here, 
Would wish it rather than a plaudit there. 
Itrydrn, 1'rol. to I'nlv. of Oxford (1678), 1. 33. 
Now I have him that neer of ought did speak 
But when of plays or players he did treat- 
Hath made a common-place book out of plays, 
And speaks In print : at least what e'er he says 
Is warranted by Curtain ptaudifen. 
Marittm, Scourge of Villanle, xL 45. 
When the committee read the report, the house passed 
his acomnU with uplauditf, without further examination. 
Steeie, Spectator, No. 248. 
plauditet, . An obsolete form of plaudit. 
plauditory (pla'di-t^-ri), a. [< plaudit + -ory.~\ 
Applauding; commending, 
plaudityt (pla'di-ti), n. An obsolete form of 
nlauilit. 
plausibility (pla-zi-bil'i-ti), w. [= F. plausi- 
bilite = bp. pluuxibilidad = Pg. plaugibilidade 
= It. plaugiMltttl ; < L. as if "plaugiUlita(t-)ii, 
< plauvibilin, plausible: see plausible.] 1. The 
quality of being plausible or worthy of praise 
or acceptance; especially, a specious or su- 
perficial appearance of being right or worthy 
of acceptance, approval, or applause. 
He insists upon the old Flea of his Conscience, honour, 
and Reason ; using the pUnunbilily of large and indefinite 
words to defend himself. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xi. 
Covetousness Is apt to insinuate also by the plausibility 
of lt pleas. South, Sermons, IV. x. 
To give any pltiii*ilnlii<i to a scheme of perpetual peace, 
war must already have become rare, and must have been 
banished to a prodigious distance. 
De Quincty, I'hllos. of Rom. Hist. 
The Austrian diplomatists propounded a new scheme 
of politics, which, it must lie owned, was not altogether 
without plausibility. Macaulay, Frederic the Great. 
2f. A praiseworthy act or quality; whatever 
deserves or commands applause. 
Being placed in the upper part of the world, (he) car- 
ried on his dignity with that Justice, modesty, integrity, 
fidelity, and other gracious plausibilities, that in a place of 
trust he contented those who could not satisfy, and In a 
place of envy procured the love of those who emulated his 
greatness. VawjlMn, Life, etc., of Dr. Jackson. (Trench.) 
3f. Applause. 
With great admiration and plausibility of the people 
running plentifully on all sides. 
llaUuyt'i Voyages, I. -287. 
plausible (pla'zi-bl), . [< F. i>lauxible = Sp. 
plauxilile = Pg. plaugivel = It. plauaibile, < L. 
pUrimibilix, praiseworthy, pleasing, acceptable, 
< plaudcre, pp. plaiunix, applaud : see pland.] 
If. Deserving applause or approval; merito- 
rious; praiseworthy; commendable. 
The dactll is commendable inough in our vulgar mee- 
tres, but taustptaunibleut all when he Is sounded vpon the 
stage. riiiiinhnin. Arte of Eng. 1'oesie, p. 105. 
The plausible examples of Tally, Cato, Marina, Sclplo, 
divers such virtuous Romans, and sundry excellent Greeks, 
are famously known. (J. Uarvey, Four Letters, ill. 
This objection seems very plausible and cordial! to cov- 
etous earthworms. 
1'niitnf, Treachery and Disloyalty, iv. 14. 
Beauty, composed of blood and flesh, moves more, 
And Is more plausible to blood and flesh. 
Than spiritual beauty can be to the spirit 
/,'. Jonson, Poetaster, Iv. 0. 
These Comedies, bearing the title of The fair Maid of 
the West : If they proved hut as gratious In thy private 
reading as they were plausible in the publlck acting, 1 
shall not much doubt of their successe. 
Ueyuvod, Fair Maid of the West (Works, ed. Pearson, 
(II. -iMi). 
2. Seemingly worthy of acceptance or approval ; 
apparently right, meritorious, or worthy of con- 
fidence; having a specious or superficial ap- 
pearance of truth or trustworthiness: as, a 
plaugiblt excuse ; a plausible theory or doctrine. 
Go you to Angelo : answer his requiring with a plausible 
obedience ; agree with his demands to the point 
Skat., M. for M , 111. 1. 268. 
Well dissembling his untimely joys. 
And veiling truth in plausible disguise. 
Pope, Odyssey, xlil. 304. 
The undermining smile becomes at length habitual; 
and the drift of his plnitnble conversation is only to flatter 
one that he may betny another. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Oeorglcs, Ded. 
I am not at all clear that I could not write a fairly plau- 
sible answer to myself : only I urn much rarer that I could 
write a rejoinder to that answer which should be some- 
thing more than plausible. 
B. A. freeman, Amer. Lects., p as. 
3. Fair-spoken and apparently worthy of con- 
fidence ; using or presenting discourse or argu- 
4544 
ments that eem right and worthy of accept- 
ance : as, a pl<i utiiblc person. 
My boy that delightful contradiction, who was always 
plauMU, yet never right 
C. II'. Stoddard, South-sea IdyU, p. 2511. 
4f. Applauding; applausive. 
That when the epilogue is done we may with franke In- 
tent, 
After the plaudlte strike vp our vtuunblr aasente. 
Drant, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry. 
Euarchus, though neither regarding a prisoner's passion- 
ate prayer nor bearing over-plausible ears to a many-headed 
motion, yet (was] well enough content to win their liking 
with things in themselves indifferent. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, v. 
I will haste to declare of what virtue and strength the 
true and Christian prayer In, that men, knowing the effica- 
cy and dignity, yea, and the necessity thereof, may with 
the pure plausible and joyful minds delight In it 
Beam, Works, I. 141. (Davits.) 
He (Richard III.] endeavoured to work himself Into 
their good will by erecting and endowing of religious 
houses, so to vlautMeize himself, especially among the 
clergy. fuller, Church Hist., IV. Iv. 7. 
plausibleness (pla'zi-bl-nes), n. 8ameasj>/i<- 
tribility. 
It is no trusting either to outward favour or to plaua- 
aleness of disposition ; but the true fear of God is that the 
comfort whereof will stick by us always. 
/;//. I Ml, Hard Text*, Prov. xxxL 30. 
plausibly (pla'zi-bli), adi: In a plausible man- 
ner, (at) With expressions of applause or approval ; with 
acclamation. 
The Romans plausibly did give consent 
To Tarquln's everlasting banishment. 
Shall., Lucrece, 1. 1854. 
(6) With fair show ; speciously ; so as to command atten- 
tion or win approbation. 
They could talk planribly about what they did not un 
del-stand. Collier. 
If they be well considered they will convince anyreason- 
able man that, how plausibly soever this objection looks 
at the first sight, yet there Is nothing in the world in it. 
but It is all mere cavill. . I '/-. Sharp, Works, II. vlli. 
Great crimes alarm the conscience, but it sleeps, 
While thoughtful man is it/nimbly amus'd. 
Cowper, Task, ill. 180. 
plausive (pla'siv), . [< L. plaudfre, pp. plini- 
siw, applaud, + -ire.] 1. Applauding; mani- 
festing praise or approval. 
Those plauriiie shonte which glue you entertain 
Eccho as much to the Almighties eares. 
Heywoad, If you Know not Me, i. 
No mightier work had gained the platuict smile 
Of all-beholding Phoebus ' 
Worditmrth, Sonnets, iL 34. 
The young graduate, when the Commencement anni- 
versary returned, though he were In a swamp, would see 
a festive light, and n ml the air faintly echoing with plati- 
tint academic thunders. Emerson, Works and Days. 
2f. Plausible. 
Ills j/Ji/'iv words 
He scatter'd not In ears, but grafted them, 
To grow there and to bear. 
Shalt., All's Well, L 2. 53. 
plaustral (plas'tral), . [< L. plaiistrum, also 
l>lostrum, plaustra, a wagon, cart.+ -al.] Of 
or relating to a wagon or cart. [Bare.] 
Whether this contention between three carts of differ- 
ent parishes was promoted by a subscription among the 
nobility, or whether the grand jury . . . had . . . com- 
bined to encourage plaustral merit, I cannot take upon 
me to determine. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, Ixxzvi. 
Plautidae (pla'ti-de), n. pi. [NL., < Plautux + 
-idee.'] The auk family, named from the genus 
Plautus; the Alcidte. Henry Bryant. 
Plautine (pla'tin), . [< Plant us (see def.) + 
-in* 1 .] Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of 
Plautus, a Roman comic poet (died 184 B. c.) : 
as, Plautine diction. 
It Is needles* to dwell further upon the details of Plau- 
tine scansion. Eneyc. Brit., XIV. 330. 
Plautus (pla'tus), M. [NL. (Klein, 1759), < L. 
plautus, also (Umbrian) plotux, flat, flat-foot- 
ed.] 1. An old book-name of the great auk, 
Alca impennis, lately used in a generic sense. 
2. A genus of gulls: synonymous with Larux. 
Keichenbach, 1853. 
plaw 1 t, v. A Middle English form of play 1 . 
plaw a (pla),r. [Also play; ME. platcen, jilayen, 
boil.] I.t intrans. To boil. 
Take a pot fall of wyne, and steke yt wele abone that 
no thynges go ynne nor owte, and put It ynne a cowdrun 
ful of water, and layt yt play longe therln, and yt schal 
be gode ayselle sone. 
.Sloan* MS. 8648, f. 18, quoted In Prompt 1'arv., p. 4()S. 
Item, a grete lede to brew v comb maltewlth one plow- 
..!. Potion Letters, III. 4S.'. 
n. train. To boil ; especially, to boil slightly. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
play 
play 1 (pla), r. [< ME. playeu, pleyen, pleit*, 
plegeit, &\aoplaicen,plalieii,plageii, < ASi.plegau 
(pret. plagae), jilegian, plegean, pltegian (pret. 
plfgode, plegede, pleo</ede), plagwn (pret. JI/H- 
gade), move briskly, play, amuse oneself, exer- 
cise, strive, play on an instrument, clap the 
hands, etc., = OS. plegan = OFries. plegia, 
pligia, be wont or accustomed, use, = D. ]>k<ie*, 
be wont or accustomed, use, commit, = MLQ. 
ItG.plegen = OHO. phlegan, pflfgan, plegem, 
MHO. plilegen, pfltyen, G. pfteijen, be wont or 
accustomed, care for, cherish, administer, in- 
dulge, apply, etc., = Icel. plttya = 8w. plaga, 
be wont or accustomed, use, entertain, treat, 
= Dan. nleje, be accustomed ; the AS. senses 
refer only to physical activity, the orig. sense 
of all the forms being appar. 'be in action,' 
whence ' be busy,' ' be concerned ' (with a thing), 
'be wont or accustomed' (to do something), 
senses leading to those of the derivative pliylit. 
Hence play*, n.,&ndplig1tft.J I. intrant. l.To 
move lightly and quickly; move with a brisk, 
lively, and more or less irregular and capricious 
motion, as water in waves or in a fountain, 
light and shadow on agitated water, leaves in 
the wind, tremulous flames, etc. ; flutter: flick- 
er; dart; dance; in mech., to move freely. 
And Cytberea all In sedges hid. 
Which seem to move and wanton with her breath. 
Even aa the waving sedges play with wind. 
.S'/iu*.. t. of the S., 1ml., II. 66. 
But soon their pleasures pass'd ; at noon of day 
The sun with sultry beams began to play. 
Dryden, (lower and Leaf, 1. 373. 
This (garden] of the Tullleriea is vastly great, haa shaded 
Tarrasses on two sides, one along the River Seine, planted 
with Trees, very diverting, with great Partera In the mid- 
dle, and large Fountains of Water, which constantly /'/((;/. 
Litter, Journey to Paris, p. 181. 
The self-same shadows now as then 
Play through this grassy upland glen. 
Jf. Arnold, Resignation. 
And hark the clock within, the silver knell 
Of twelve sweet hours that past In bridal white. 
And died to live, long as my pulses play. 
Tennyson, Maud, xvlli. 8. 
The window was open, and barbs of Are, like serpent*' 
tongues, plaiinl over It. K. D. Bladnnore, Ereuia, I. 211. 
The motion (of an anchor] may be limited by a second 
pin through the shoulder, playing in a long hole In the 
flukes. Luce, Seamanship, p. 233. 
2. To engage in active exerc-ise; exercise or 
contend in any way, but especially with weap- 
ons; technically, to contend with swords or 
sticks; fence: said of pel-sons. 
I's he dude lede 
Into a galeie 
With the se to pleie. 
Kiny Horn (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 180. 
Betere him were in Scotlond, 
With is ax in ys bond. 
To pleyen o the grene. 
Kxecution of Sir Simon Fraser (Child's Ballads, VI. 28t)i 
When you play at weapons, I would have you get thick 
caps and bracers Iglovesj. 
Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. SO9). 
And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, 
and play before us. 2 Sam. II. 14. 
He sends to know If your pleasure hold to play with 
Laertes. ShaJc., Hamlet, v. 2. 2OU 
3. To contend in a game of skill or chance : as, 
to play at chess or cards; specifically, to gamble. 
He wule come the tiler 
And bldde the nine at the eacheker. 
Whane theacheker Is forth Ibrojt 
Blthute panes ne plri thu noxt 
Floriz and BlauncheJItir (E. E. T. S.X 1. J44. 
He made htm to ben clept Melechmanser : the whlche 
on a Day pleyed at the Chease, and his Swerd lay besyde 
him. Manderille, Travels, p. 37. 
Ill follow 
The ladles, play at cards, make sport, and whistle. 
Ford, Lady's Trial, v. 4. 
After they (the Chinese) have lost their Money. Ooodi, 
and Cloaths, they will stakedown their Wives and ( 'hlldren : 
and lastly, as the dearest thing they have, will play upon 
tick, and mortgage their Hair upon honour. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. I. 42. 
4. To engage in exercise or occupation of any 
kind for diversion, amusement, or recreation; 
amuse one's self, as with games or diversion, 
or with any occupation which is not a task or 
for profit ; sport ; frolic ; gambol. 
Han pardoun thorw purgatorie to paasen ful sone, 
With patrlarkes In paradys to plciirn ther-aftur. 
fieri Ploirman (AX vlU. 12. 
He ... preyed hath Daun John 
That he sholde come to Selnt Dcnys, to pleye 
With hym and with his wyf a day or tweye. 
I'luiiinr, shipman's Tale, I. 69. 
The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to 
piny. Ex. xxxll. 6. 
o come ye here to tight young lord. 
Or come ye here to iilay t 
Katharine Janfarfe (Child's Ballads, IV. 31). 
