Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Pēr'i-seōp'ic, a. p. 971Viewing on all sides. Periscopic spectacles, spectacles having concavo-convex glasses, for the purpose of increasing the distinctness of objects when viewed obliquely.Pēr'ish, v. i. p. 971To be destroyed; to go to destruction; to pass away; to come to nothing; to be blotted from existence; to be ruined; to be lost. Duration, and time, which is a part of it, is the idea we have of…Pĕr'ish, v. t. p. 971To cause to decay; to destroy.Pĕr'ish-a-bĭl'i-ty, n. p. 971Perishableness.Pēr'ish-a-ble, a. p. 971Liable to perish; subject to decay and destruction. Property of a perishable nature, saved from a wreck, may be sold within a year and a day. Stat. of Conn.Pĕr'ish-a-ble-ness, n. p. 971Liableness to decay or destruction. Locke.Pēr'ish-a-bly, adv. p. 971In a perishing manner.Pēr'ish-ment, n. p. 971The act of perishing or decaying; decay; ruin. [Obs.]Pĕr'i-spĕrm, n. p. 971(Bot.) The albumen of a seed. Gray.Pĕr'i-sphĕr'ie or Pĕr'i-sphĕr'ie-al, a. p. 971Having the form of a ball; globular.Pĕr'is-so-lŏg'ic-al, a. p. 971Redundant in words. [Rare.]Pĕr'is-sŏl'o-gy, n. p. 971Superfluous words; much talk to little purpose. [Rare.] Campbell.Pĕr/i-stăl'tic, a. p. 971(Anat.) Contracting in successive circles;—a term applied to the vermicular motion of the alimentary canal, and similar structures, by which their contents are forced onward. It consists in the…Pĕr'is-tē'ri-on, n. p. 971The herb vervain.Pe-rĭs'te-rīte, n. p. 971(Min.) A variety of feldspar containing a small proportion of magnesia. Dana.Pēr'i-stōme, n. p. 971(Bot.) The fringe of teeth around the orifice of the capsule of mosses. Gray.Pēr'i-stō'mi-ūm, n. p. 971The same as PERISTOME.Pēr'i-strēph'ie, a. p. 971Turning round, or rotatory; revolving.Pĕr'i-stȳle, n. p. 971(Arch.) A range of columns round a building or square, or a building encompassed with a row of columns on the outside. Guilt.Pĕr'i-sys'to-le, n. p. 971(Med.) The pause or interval between the systole or contraction, and the diastole or dilatation, of the heart.Pe-rīte', a. p. 971Skilled; skillful. [Obs.] Whitaker.Pĕr'i-thē'ci-ūm, n. p. 971(Bot.) An organ in certain fungi and lichens, surrounding and enveloping the masses of fructification. Henslow.Pe-rit'o-moûs, a. p. 971(Min.) Cleaving in more directions than one parallel to the axis, the faces being all of one quality.Pĕr'i-to-nē'al, a. p. 971Pertaining to the peritoneum.Pĕr′-i-to-nē′um, n. p. 971(Anat.) A thin, smooth, serous membrane, investing the whole internal surface of the abdomen, and more or less completely all the viscera contained in it, and of which it forms the surface.Pēr'i-trō'chi-ūm, n. p. 971(Mech.) The wheel and axle; axis in peritrochio. See AXIS.Pĕr'-i-trō'pal, a. p. 971Rotatory; circuitous. 2. (Bot.) Having the axis of the seed perpendicular to the axis of the pericarp to which it is attached.Pĕr'ĭ-vĭs'cer-al, a. p. 971Around the viscera; as, the perivisceral cavity.Pĕr'-i-wig, n. p. 971A small wig; a kind of close cap formed by an intertexture of false hair, worn by men for ornament or to conceal baldness; a peruke; a scratch.Pĕr'i-wĭg, v. t. p. 971To dress with a periwig, or with false hair. Swift.Pér'-i-wĭnk, n. p. 971A periwinkle. [Obs.]Per'i-winkle, n. p. 971(Zoöl.) A gasteropodous mollusk, having a turbinated shell; Littorina littorea. Baird. 2. [O. Eng. perwinkle, parvenke, Fr. pervenche, It. & Lat. pervinca, A-S. pervince, pinevincle.] (Bot.) A…Pĕr'jure, v. t. p. 971To render guilty of perjury; to cause to swear before a court of justice to what one knows to be untrue, or does not know to be true; to forswear; — used reflexively; as, to perjure one's self. 2. To…Pĕr'jure, n. p. 971A perjured person. [Obs.] Shak.Pĕr'jured, a. p. 971Guilty of perjury; having sworn falsely; being sworn falsely. “Their perjured oath.” Spenser. “These perjured beings.” “I mean, in perjured witness.” Shak.Pĕr'jur-er, n. p. 971One who willfully takes a false oath lawfully administered.Per-jū'ri-oŭs or Per'ju-rōus, a. p. 971Guilty of perjury; containing perjury.Pér'ju-ry, n. p. 971False swearing; the act or crime of willfully making a false oath, when lawfully administered; or the crime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some judicial proceeding, to a person who…Pĕrk, a. p. 971Pert; uppish; smart; trim; vain. “Perk as a peacock.” Spenser.Pĕrk, v. i. p. 971To hold up the head with affected smartness. “That Edward’s miss thus perks it in your face.” Pope.Pĕrk, v. t. p. 971To dress up; to make trim or smart; to prank. Shak.Pĕr'kin, n. p. 972A kind of weak cider, made by steeping the refuse pomace in water; ciderkin.Pĕr'kin-ism, n. p. 972(Med.) A remedial treatment, which consisted in drawing the pointed extremities of two rods, each of a different metal, over the affected part; tractoration; — so called from Dr. Elisha Perkins, of…Pĕr'kin-ist, n. p. 972One who believes in, or practices, Perkinism. Dunglison.Pēr'kin-ist'ic, a. p. 972Of, or pertaining to, Perkinism. Dunglison.Pĕrk'y, a. p. 972Perk; pert; jaunty; trim. “There amid perky larches and pine.” Tennyson.Per-lā'ceous, a. p. 972Resembling pearl; pearly.Pĕr'lite, n. p. 972(Min.) The same as PEARL-STONE.Pĕr'loüs, a. p. 972Perilous; parlous. [Obs.] Spenser.Pĕr'lus-trā'tion, n. p. 972The act of viewing all over. [Rare.] Howell.Pĕr'mā, n. p. 972A little Turkish boat.Pĕr'ma-gy, n. p. 972A man who rows or manages a Turkish boat. Bailey.Pĕr'ma-nence or Pĕr'ma-nen'cy, n. p. 972The condition or quality of being permanent; continuance in the same state or place; duration; fixedness. China is an instance of permanence without progression. Coleridge.Pĕr'ma-nent, a. p. 972Continuing in the same state, or without any change that destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved; abiding; durable; lasting; continuing. Permanent way, the road-bed and…Pér'ma-nent-ly, adv. p. 972In a permanent manner; with long continuance; durably.Per-măn’sion, n. p. 972Continuance. [Obs.] Browne.Pĕr'me-a-bĭl'i-ty, n. p. 972The quality or state of being permeable.Pēr'me-a-ble, a. p. 972Admitting of being permeated, or passed through; yielding passage; penetrable; — used especially of the passage of fluids. “Each of which has become permeable to the same beams of light.” I. Taylor.Pĕr'me-a-bly, adv. p. 972In a permeable manner.Pĕr'me-ant, a. p. 972Passing through; permeating. Browne.