<B>palliation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of palliating. <BR> <I>Ex. In patients with advanced ovarian cancer and extensive spread, only palliation can be achieved (Science News Letter).</I> (SYN) alleviation. <DD><B> 2. </B>something that palliates. </DL>
<A NAME="palliative">
<B>palliative, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>useful to lessen or soften; mitigating. <BR> <I>Ex. Treatment turns out to be only palliative at best; the truth is they are schizos, whose psychic split is too wide ever to be healed (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>tending or seeking to palliate; excusing; extenuating. <BR> <I>Ex. palliative remarks.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something that lessens or softens pain or disease. <BR> <I>Ex. Drug firms have palliatives, but no promising cure for coronary thrombosis (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something that mitigates or excuses. <BR> <I>Ex. It is, therefore, necessary in the present world climate to examine less drastic palliatives (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> adv. <B>palliatively.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="palliativecare">
<B>palliative care,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> medical treatment that emphasizes a patient's comfort through relief of symptoms and pain, rather than concentration on a cure. <BR> <I>Ex. Physicians historically haven't been well trained in palliative care and symptom management (Paul Galloway).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="palliator">
<B>palliator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who palliates; extenuator. </DL>
<A NAME="pallid">
<B>pallid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> lacking color; pale; wan. <BR> <I>Ex. a pallid complexion, a pallid imitation.</I> adv. <B>pallidly.</B> noun <B>pallidness.</B> </DL>
<B>pallium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-liums,</B> <B>-lia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large rectangular mantle worn by men, especially philosophers and scholars in ancient Greece and Rome. <DD><B> 2a. </B>(in the Roman Catholic Church) a woolen vestment of the Pope, conferred by him on high dignitaries, consisting, in its present form, of a narrow circular band of wool, worn on the shoulders, with two short vertical strips falling on the breast and back. <DD><B> b. </B>an altar cloth. <DD><B> 3. </B>the cortex of the brain. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Zoology.) <DD><B> a. </B>the mantle of mollusks and brachiopods, an outgrowth of the dorsal body wall. <DD><B> b. </B>the back and folded wings of a bird taken together, when in any way distinguished from other parts, as by color as on a gull or tern; mantle; stragulum. </DL>
<A NAME="pallmall">
<B>pall-mall, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a game formerly played in which players tried to hit a ball of boxwood through a ring at the end of an alley. <DD><B> 2. </B>an alley in which this game was played. </DL>
<A NAME="pallor">
<B>pallor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> lack of color from fear, illness, or death; paleness. <BR> <I>Ex. Pallor suggested a marked reduction in the flow of blood in shock (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pally">
<B>pally, </B>adjective, <B>-lier,</B> <B>-liest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) like a pal; companionable; chummy. <BR> <I>Ex. The girls are sweet, the chaps are pally (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="palm">
<B>palm</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the inside of the hand between the wrist and fingers. <BR> <I>Ex. It had now been established that no two human beings had the same palm prints (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a similar part of the forefoot of a four-footed animal. <DD><B> 3a. </B>the width of a hand as a rough unit of measure; three to four inches. (SYN) handbreadth. <DD><B> b. </B>the length of a hand as a rough unit of measure; seven to ten inches. <DD><B> 4. </B>the part of a glove covering the palm. <DD><B> 5. </B>any relatively flat, widened part at the end of an armlike projection, such as the blade of an oar or paddle or the inner side of the fluke of an anchor. <DD><B> 6. </B>the flat widened part of the antler of certain members of the deer family, especially of the moose. <DD><B> 7. </B>a leather pad worn over the palm and having a small metal plate in the center, used like a thimble in sewing sails. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to conceal in the hand, especially in the palm with the hand down. <BR> <I>Ex. The magician palmed the nickel. Do you see that gambler over there at the table, palming the ace of clubs? (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to pass or get accepted (something not good). <BR> <I>Ex. Thinking you could palm such stuff on me (John Gay).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to touch or stroke with the palm or hand; handle. <BR> <I>Ex. The muscular man with the hard eyes palms the phone (Time).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to shake hands with. <BR><I>expr. <B>grease</B> (or <B>oil</B>) <B>the palm of,</B> </I>to bribe. <BR> <I>Ex. He avoided jail by greasing the palm of corrupt police officials.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>have an itching palm,</B> </I>to be greedy for money. <BR> <I>Ex. Cassius, you yourself Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm (Shakespeare).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in the palm of one's hand,</B> </I>under one's complete control. <BR> <I>Ex. The young American soprano, making her stadium debut, held the audience in the palm of her hand (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>palm off,</B> </I>to pass off or get accepted by tricks, fraud, or false representation. <BR> <I>Ex. to palm off spurious things as genuine.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="palm">
<B>palm</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>any one of many kinds of trees and shrubs growing widely in warm climates, chiefly in the tropics. Most palms have tall trunks, no branches, and a bunch of leaves at the top, which are either fan-shaped or pinnate. Palms belong to the palm family. The coconut palm has large seeds and is well-known for the white meat and cloudy oil the coconut contains. <DD><B> b. </B>any one of several similar trees or shrubs. <DD><B> 2. </B>a leaf or stalk of leaves of a palm tree as a symbol of victory or triumph. <BR> <I>Ex. A great multitude ... stood before the throne ... clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) victory; triumph. <BR> <I>Ex. But the palm must rightly be given to the Italian historians speaking in their own fields, particularly Ancient History, Roman Law, and the history of medieval religion (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>something that looks like a small palm leaf or branch, as on a decoration of honor, or as an addition of honor to a military decoration. <BR> <I>Ex. There are ... many true stories of splendid acts ... The V.C.'s and the palms do but indicate samples (H.G. Wells).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>bear</B> (or <B>carry</B>) <B>off the palm,</B> </I>to be the victor; win. <BR> <I>Ex. He bore off the palm in both tennis and swimming.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>yield the palm to,</B> </I>to admit defeat by; defer to. <BR> <I>Ex. He cannot make a speech--in this he yields the palm to Protagoras (Benjamin Jowett).</I> adj. <B>palmlik.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="palmaceous">
<B>palmaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to the palm family of plants; phoenicaceous. </DL>
<A NAME="palmar">
<B>palmar, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the palm of the hand or the corresponding part of the forefoot of an animal. <DD><I>noun </I> a palmar muscle, nerve, or other structure. </DL>
<A NAME="palmary">
<B>palmary, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> deserving the palm; preeminent; chief. <BR> <I>Ex. a palmary example, palmary proof.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="palmate">
<B>palmate, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>shaped somewhat like a hand with the fingers spread out, especially: <DD><B> a. </B>having divisions or leaflets which are all attached at one point at the end of the petiole, as the clover does. <BR> <I>Ex. a palmate compound leaf.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>having several large veins radiating from one point at the end of the petiole, as the maple leaf does. <BR> <I>Ex. A leaf which has several large veins of approximately equal size radiating from its base out into the lamina is said to possess palmate venation (Heber W. Youngken).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Zoology.) having the front toes joined by a web; web-footed. adv. <B>palmately.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="palmated">
<B>palmated, </B>adjective. <B>=palmate.</B></DL>
<A NAME="palmatifid">
<B>palmatifid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) cleft in a palmate manner, with the divisions extending halfway down to the base, or somewhat further, and the sinuses or lobes narrow or acute, as a leaf. </DL>
<A NAME="palmation">
<B>palmation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>palmate formation or structure. <DD><B> 2. </B>one division of a palmate structure. </DL>
<A NAME="palmbeachcloth">
<B>Palm Beach cloth,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a lightweight mohair and cotton fabric used for summer apparel. </DL>
<A NAME="palmbranch">
<B>palm branch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a palm leaf with its stalk, used as an emblem of triumph or victory or a decoration. </DL>
<B>palm civet</B> or <B>cat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of certain long-tailed civets, that live mainly in trees, are found in Asia and Africa, and are about the size of the domestic cat with spotted or striped fur and a long tail; paradoxure. </DL>
<A NAME="palmcrab">
<B>palm crab,</B> <B>=coconut crab.</B></DL>
<A NAME="palmer">
<B>palmer</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a pilgrim returning from the Holy Land, bringing a palm branch as a token. <BR> <I>Ex. Here is a holy Palmer come, From Salem first, and last from Rome (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any pilgrim. <BR> <I>Ex. The escalloped shell ... was adopted as the universal badge of the palmer (William H. Prescott).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Scottish.) to wander about like a palmer; be a vagrant. </DL>
<A NAME="palmer">
<B>palmer</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who palms or conceals something. </DL>
<A NAME="palmerstonian">
<B>Palmerstonian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or characteristic of the English statesman and prime minister, Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865) or his political views. </DL>
<A NAME="palmerworm">
<B>palmer worm,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various caterpillars that appear in large numbers and are destructive to fruit trees, such as the larva of an American moth that feeds on apple leaves. </DL>
<A NAME="palmette">
<B>palmette, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaeology.) an ornament, sculptured or painted, more or less resembling a palm leaf. </DL>
