G79 
P L E 
Gr. wX» jxlfov, a cock’s fpur, which its thorns very much 
refemble.j In botany, a genus of the clafs pentandria, 
order monogynia, natural order contortae, (rhamni, Jiff.) 
Generic characters—Calyx: perianthium fuperior, of 
one leaf, turbinate, with five flight teeth, the mouth 
clofed with five hairy fcales, permanent. Corolla : petals 
five, lanceolate,,fertile, inferred into the mouth of the 
calyx. Stamina: filaments five, very fliort; antheras 
two-lobed, roundifli, each (heltered by one of the fcales 
of the calyx. Piftillum : germen inferior ; ftyle thread- 
shaped, thorter than the calyx; ftigma ovate. Pericar- 
pium : berry oblong, of two cells. Seeds folitary, oblong, 
comprefl'ed. — Ejfential Char after. Petals five, inserted into 
the mouth of the calyx, which is clofed by five hairy 
fcales; berry inferior, with two feeds. There is but 
one fpecies. 
Pleftronia ventofa. This is a tree, whofe trunk and 
principal branches are armed with very confiderabie, long, 
tapering, fimple, oppofite fpines. The leaves are oppo- 
fite, ftalked, elliptical, acute at each end, entire, thick 
edged, fomewhat wavy and revolute, fmooth on both 
Tides; poliftied above 5 paler and opaque beneath ; with 
one rib, and many tranfverfe veins. Flowers fmall, yel¬ 
low, in compound axillary denfe clufters, about twice 
the length of each footftalk. Native of woods at the 
Cape of Good Hope, flowering in September; a ftranger, 
as yet, in our gardens. We are at a lofs for the mean¬ 
ing of the fpecific name given by Linnaeus, which is not 
fo good as Burinanq’s, corymbofa. The tree is faid to be 
well calculated for making hedges. 
PLECT'RUM, f. A word ufed by fome anatomical 
writers to exprefs the ftyloid procefs of the os petrofum; 
by others for the uvula; and by others for the tongue. 
Plectrum, a machine of wood or ivory ufed by the 
ancients in playing upon the lyre, crooked and pointed at 
both ends, in ufing which there was more fpirit given to 
the tone, and lefs danger of hitting the wrong firing than 
by ufing the finger. The quill ufed in playing on the 
mandoline, is in miniature what we may fuppofe the 
plectrum to have been with refpedl to the lyre. 
PLEDGE, f [Dr. Johnfon offers the Fr. pleige, and 
Ital. piaggia, as the original of our word ; and, as the old 
Fr. word is plage or plege, fome of the French etymolo- 
gifts pretend that it comes from the Cm. plages, nets; be- 
caufe a furety, or pledged perfon, is entangled. Serenius 
derives pledge from the Sax. verb phihtan, and thus alfo 
Mr. Tooke deduces pledge as the part: participle, i. e. 
pleglit, from pluhttan. Todd.] Any thing put to pawn. A 
gage; any thing given by way of warrant or fecurity ; a 
pawn.—Money is necelfary both for counters and for 
pledges , and carrying with it even reckoning and fecurity. 
Lot he. —The deliverance of Ifrael out of Egypt by the 
mini [try of Mofes, was intended for a type and pledge of 
the fpiritual deliverance which was to come by Chrift. 
Nelfon. 
If none appear to prove upon thy perfon 
Thy heinous manifeft and many treafons ; 
There is my pledge, I’ll prove it on thy heart. Shahefp , 
A furety; a bail; an hoftage.—What purpofe could there 
be of treafon, when the Guianians offered to leave pledges, 
fix for one ? Ralegh. 
Good fureties will we have for thy return ; 
And at thy pledges ’ peril keep thy day. Dry den. 
An invitation to drink, by accepting the cup or health 
after another.-—You put me in mind now of a very necef- 
fary office, which I will propofe in your pledge, fir ; the 
health of that honourable countefs, and the fweet lady 
that fat by her, fir. B. Jonfons Every Man out of his 
Humour. 
As he drains his draughts of Rhenifh down, 
The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 
The triumph of his pledge. Shakefpeare's Hamlet. 
P L E 
To PLEDGE, v. a. To put in pawn : 
Afleep and naked as an Indian lay, 
An honed faflor dole a gem away; 
He pledg'd it to the knight; the knight had wit. 
So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit. Pope. 
To give as warrant or fecurity. To fee u re by a pledge; 
to give furety for.— To pledge, in drinking, denotes to 
warrant, or be furety to one, that he (hall receive no 
harm while he is taking his draught. The phrafe is re¬ 
ferred by antiquaries to the practice of the Danes hereto¬ 
fore in England, who frequently ufed to dab or cut the 
throats of the natives while they were drinking. Chambers. 
—-But fome infer the cuftotn to have originated from the 
death of Edward the Martyr. See Brady’s Calendaria, 
vol. i. p.2.71.—We fliould not be hady in pledging our 
neighbour, except we know him well. Outred's Tr. of 
Cope on Proverbs, 1580, 
I accept her; 
And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand. Shaliefp. 
To invite to drink, by accepting the cup or health after 
another.—That dexanimous orator began the king of 
Homebia’s health ; he prefently pledg'd it. Howell's Vocal 
Forejl. 
Here’s to thee, Dick ; this whining love defpife; 
Pledge me, my friend, and drink till thou he’d wife. 
Cowley. 
PLED'GliR, f. One who offers a pledge. One who ac¬ 
cepts the invitation to drink after another.— If the pledger 
be inwardlie ficke, or have fome infirmitie, whereby too 
much drinke doo empayre his health. Gafcoigne’s Del. 
Diet for Drunkards, 1576. 
PLED'GERY, f Suretifhip, or an undertaking or an- 
fwering for another.—The appellant fhall require the con- 
dable and tnarefehai to deliver his pleggs, and to difeharge 
them of their pledgery ; and the con [table and marefchal 
fhall afk leave of the king to acquit his pleggs, after that 
the appellant is come into the lids to do his devoir. Orig. 
Jur.ex Vet. Cod. MS. in Bibl. Selden. 
PLED'GET, f. in furgery, a kind of flat tent, made 
not to enter a wound, but to be laid upon it, to imbibe 
the fuperfluous humours, and keep it clean and dry. 
PLEE'A, f. [a name of Michaux’s, which fee ms in¬ 
tended to exprefs the f’uperabundance of dainens com¬ 
pared with others of its kindred ; from nheiuv, more. 
Mich. Boreal. Amer. i. 24.7. Purjh. Am. Sept. 5 . 2 75 *] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs enneandria, order trigynia, 
natural order of tripetaloidese, Linn, (junci, Jiff.) Ge¬ 
neric charafters—Calyx: dieath of one leaf; corolla of 
one petal, divided to the bafe into fix fpreading, nearly 
equal, linear-lanceolate, acute fegments, permanent. Sta¬ 
mina: filaments nine, awl-fhaped, fhorter than the co¬ 
rolla, inferted into the bafe of its fegments ; antherae 
oblong, verfatile, of two cells, opening lengthwife. Pidil- 
lum : germen fuperior, oblong, triangular ; dyles none ; 
digmas three, fertile, linear, obtufe. Pericarpium : cap- 
fule covered by the permanent clofed corolla, roundifli- 
triangular, of three cells, without any manifed partitions, 
except the inflexed margins of the valves, the cells burd- 
ing longitudinally at their inner edge, the valves fplitting 
at the top. Seeds numerous, oblong, cylindrical, flightly 
curved, inferred into the margins of the valves, each by 
a fhort dalk.— Ejfential Character. Corolla in fix deep 
fpreading fegments; capfule triangular, of three cells; 
feeds numerous, oblong, inferted into the margins of the 
valves; flieaths fimple, fingle-flowered. 
Pleea tenuifolia, the only fpecies; a native of open 
wet woods in Lower Carolina. The root is perennial, 
refembling that of an Iris. Leaves few, radical, fneath¬ 
ing at the bafe, ere< 51 , very narrow, fmooth, flattened, 
taper-pointed, about half as tall as the common flower- 
ftalk, which is radical, about a foot and half high, fimple, 
ereff, round, fmooth, nearly naked. Cinder terminal, 
eredf. 
