<B>percussion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the striking of one body against another with force; stroke; blow. <BR> <I>Ex. The tremendous percussion of the waterfall sent up a deafening roar.</I> (SYN) impact. <DD><B> 2. </B>the striking of a percussion cap or other similar device to set off the charge in a firearm. <DD><B> 3. </B>the shock made by the striking of one body against another with force; impact. <BR> <I>Ex. Every part however small which turned over as the result of percussion would suddenly cause another balance to fall (Science News).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Medicine.) the tapping of a part of the body to determine by the quality of the sound the condition of the organs underneath. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Music.) <DD><B> a. </B>the striking of percussion instruments to produce tones. <BR> <I>Ex. [She] plays piano with miraculous precision and tremendous percussion (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the percussion instruments of an orchestra. <DD><B> c. </B>their players. <DD><B> 6. </B>the striking of sound upon the ear. </DL>
<A NAME="percussioncap">
<B>percussion cap,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small cap containing powder. When struck by the hammer of a gun, it explodes and sets off a larger charge. </DL>
<A NAME="percussioninstrument">
<B>percussion instrument,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a musical instrument played by striking it, such as a drum, cymbal, piano, tambourine, castanets, or chimes. </DL>
<A NAME="percussionist">
<B>percussionist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who plays a percussion instrument or instruments, especially in an orchestra. </DL>
<A NAME="percussionlock">
<B>percussion lock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of gunlock that strikes and fires a percussion cap. </DL>
<A NAME="percussive">
<B>percussive, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of, having to do with, or characterized by percussion. <BR> <I>Ex. His piano Bach is in the approved lighter, percussive, and staccato style (Edward Tatnall Canby).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=percussion instrument.</B> adv. <B>percussively.</B> noun <B>percussiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="percutaneous">
<B>percutaneous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> made, done, or effected through the skin. <BR> <I>Ex. percutaneous absorption.</I> adv. <B>percutaneously.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perdie">
<B>perdie, </B>adverb, interjection. =pardi.</DL>
<A NAME="perdiem">
<B>per diem,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. </B>per day; for each day. <BR> <I>Ex. Rental of the boat per diem was $5. Petitioner was compensated at a specified per diem rate (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an allowance of so much every day for living expenses, usually while traveling in connection with work. <BR> <I>Ex. a rate ... sufficient to cover costs ... including crew per diem (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="perdition">
<B>perdition, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the loss of one's soul or of the joys of heaven; final spiritual ruin; damnation. <DD><B> 2. </B>hell. <BR> <I>Ex. Would you send A soul straight to perdition? (Robert Browning).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>utter loss or destruction; complete ruin. <BR> <I>Ex. the Arabian invaders had sealed the perdition of Spain (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) diminution; loss. </DL>
<A NAME="perdu">
<B>perdu, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> hidden away; out of sight; concealed. <BR> <I>Ex. James ... was lying perdu in the lobby (Scott).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Obsolete.) a soldier in a position of special danger, and hence considered as virtually lost. </DL>
<A NAME="perdue">
<B>perdue, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> the feminine of <B>perdu.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perdurability">
<B>perdurability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> perdurable quality or state. </DL>
<A NAME="perdurable">
<B>perdurable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> everlasting; imperishable; permanent. <BR> <I>Ex. cables of perdurable toughness (Shakespeare); leaving a name perdurable on earth (Robert Southey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="perdurably">
<B>perdurably, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a perdurable manner; permanently. </DL>
<A NAME="perdure">
<B>perdure, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-dured,</B> <B>-during.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to endure or continue long or forever. </DL>
<A NAME="pere">
<B>pere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) father; senior, often used after proper names to distinguish a father from his son (<I>fils</I>). <BR> <I>Ex. Dumas pere.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pere">
<B>Pere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) Father, used before the name of a priest. <BR> <I>Ex. Pere Marquette.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="peredavidsdeer">
<B>Pere David's deer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, grayish-brown deer of northern China. </DL>
<A NAME="peregrinate">
<B>peregrinate, </B>verb, <B>-nated,</B> <B>-nating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to travel around; journey. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to travel over; traverse. </DL>
<A NAME="peregrination">
<B>peregrination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or fact of peregrinating; journeying. <BR> <I>Ex. The pursuit of the trade meant ... a regular camping out from month to month, a peregrination among farms which could be counted by the hundred (Thomas Hardy).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a journey; travel. <BR> <I>Ex. The gray-haired veteran retired, after a long peregrination, to his native town (George Borrow).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>peregrinations,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>travels. </I> <I>Ex. It describes the finding and perilous peregrinations of the Scrolls (James R. Newman).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a narrative of travels. <BR> <I>Ex. to write peregrinations.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="peregrinator">
<B>peregrinator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who peregrinates. </DL>
<A NAME="peregrine">
<B>peregrine, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a large, swift, powerful falcon, the species preferred for falconry. The American variety is the duck hawk. <BR> <I>Ex. Out of the reeds, like an arrow, shot the peregrine (Charles Kingsley).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a foreign visitor in a country; resident who is not a citizen. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>not native; foreign. <DD><B> 2. </B>outlandish; strange. <DD><B> 3. </B>being upon a pilgrimage; traveling abroad. <BR> <I>Ex. the passage now presents no hindrance To the spirit unappeased and peregrine Between two worlds (T. S. Eliot).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Astrology.) (of a planet) so situated in the zodiac that it has none of its essential dignities. </DL>
<B>pereira bark,</B> or <B>pereira, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the bark of a South American tree of the dogbane family, used in medicine as a source of pereirine. <DD><B> 2. </B>the tree itself. </DL>
<A NAME="pereirin">
<B>pereirin, </B>noun. =pereirine.</DL>
<A NAME="pereirine">
<B>pereirine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an alkaloid obtained as a brown powder from pereira bark, formerly used as a substitute for quinine and in tonics. </DL>
<A NAME="peremptory">
<B>peremptory, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>leaving no choice; decisive; final; absolute; conclusive. <BR> <I>Ex. a peremptory decree. It is a peremptory point of virtue that a man's independence be secured (Emerson).</I> (SYN) definite. <DD><B> 2. </B>allowing no denial or refusal. <BR> <I>Ex. A peremptory command would have compelled obedience (Samuel Johnson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>imperious; positive; dictatorial. <BR> <I>Ex. He spoke in a loud and peremptory voice, using the tone of one in authority (Booth Tarkington).</I> (SYN) arbitrary. <DD><I>noun </I> (Law.) <B>=peremptory challenge.</B> adv. <B>peremptorily.</B> noun <B>peremptoriness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="peremptorychallenge">
<B>peremptory challenge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) the right to challenge the selection of a juror without cause. </DL>
<A NAME="perennate">
<B>perennate, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-nated,</B> <B>-nating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to last through a number of years, as a perennial plant. noun <B>perennation.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perennial">
<B>perennial, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>lasting through the whole year. <BR> <I>Ex. a perennial stream.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>lasting for a very long time; enduring. <BR> <I>Ex. the perennial beauty of the hills.</I> (SYN) abiding, continual, permanent, perpetual, everlasting, eternal. <DD><B> 3. </B>having underground parts that live more than two years. <BR> <I>Ex. perennial plants.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a perennial plant. Roses are perennials. adv. <B>perennially.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perennialragweed">
<B>perennial ragweed,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of ragweed that grows from long, spreading roots and has fruit with blunt tubercles instead of spines. </DL>
<A NAME="perestroika">
<B>perestroika, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a restructuring of society under the former Soviet government, especially in economic policy. <BR> <I>Ex. Bukharin's greatest importance today, by far, is as the intellectual forerunner of perestroika (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
