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pithmore about pith

pith


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Pith  \Pith\,  n.  [AS.  pi?a;  akin  to  D.  pit  pith,  kernel,  LG 
  peddik  Cf  {Pit}  a  kernel.] 
  1.  (Bot.)  The  soft  spongy  substance  in  the  center  of  the 
  stems  of  many  plants  and  trees,  especially  those  of  the 
  dicotyledonous  or  exogenous  classes.  It  consists  of 
  cellular  tissue. 
 
  2. 
  a  (Zo["o]l.)  The  spongy  interior  substance  of  a  feather. 
  b  (Anat.)  The  spinal  cord;  the  marrow. 
 
  3.  Hence:  The  which  contains  the  strength  of  life;  the  vital 
  or  essential  part  concentrated  force;  vigor;  strength; 
  importance;  as  the  speech  lacked  pith. 
 
  Enterprises  of  great  pith  and  moment.  --Shak. 
 
  {Pith  paper}.  Same  as  {Rice  paper},  under  {Rice}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Pith  \Pith\,  v.  t.  (Physiol.) 
  To  destroy  the  central  nervous  system  of  (an  animal,  as  a 
  frog),  as  by  passing  a  stout  wire  or  needle  up  and  down  the 
  vertebral  canal. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  pith 
  n  1:  soft  spongelike  central  cylinder  of  the  stems  of  most 
  flowering  plants 
  2:  the  choicest  or  most  essential  or  most  vital  part  of  some 
  idea  or  experience:  "the  gist  of  the  prosecutor's 
  argument";  "the  nub  of  the  story"  [syn:  {kernel},  {substance}, 
  {core},  {center},  {essence},  {gist},  {heart},  {inwardness}, 
  {marrow},  {meat},  {nub},  {sum},  {nitty-gritty}] 




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