<B>pettifogger, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an inferior lawyer who uses petty, mean, cheating methods. <BR> <I>Ex. He carried home with him all the knavish chicanery of the lowest pettifogger (Tobias Smollett).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any inferior person who habitually uses such methods. <BR> <I>Ex. appointing as ambassador some political pettifogger skilled in delays, sophisms, and misapprehensions (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pettifoggery">
<B>pettifoggery, </B>noun, pl. <B>-geries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the practice of a pettifogger; trickery; chicanery. <DD><B> 2. </B>an act characteristic of a pettifogger. </DL>
<A NAME="pettifogging">
<B>pettifogging, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> shifty, tricky, or quibbling. <BR> <I>Ex. Some men ... retain through life ... a pettifogging and disputatious spirit (London Times).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> trickery; chicanery. </DL>
<A NAME="pettily">
<B>pettily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a petty manner. </DL>
<B>pettitoes, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the feet of a pig, especially when used as food. <BR> <I>Ex. a present of pigs' pettitoes (George Eliot).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the feet or toes of a human being, especially of a child. </DL>
<B>petty, </B>adjective, <B>-tier,</B> <B>-tiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>having little importance or value; small. <BR> <I>Ex. She insisted on telling me all her petty troubles.</I> (SYN) trifling, slight, paltry, trivial, insignificant. <DD><B> b. </B>on a small scale. <BR> <I>Ex. a petty shopkeeper, petty theft, petty animosities.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>mean; narrow-minded. <BR> <I>Ex. A gossip has a petty mind.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>of lower rank or importance; subordinate. <BR> <I>Ex. a petty official.</I> (SYN) minor. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) small in size or stature. </DL>
<B>petty cash,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>small sums of money spent or received. <DD><B> 2. </B>a sum of money kept on hand to pay small expenses. </DL>
<A NAME="pettyjuror">
<B>petty juror,</B> =petit juror.</DL>
<A NAME="pettyjury">
<B>petty jury,</B> =petit jury.</DL>
<A NAME="pettylarceny">
<B>petty larceny,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> theft in which the value of the property taken is less than a certain amount. </DL>
<A NAME="pettyofficer">
<B>petty officer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a noncommissioned officer in the United States, Canadian, or British navy or in the United States Coast Guard; an enlisted man of any of the four grades or classes above seaman. </DL>
<A NAME="pettysessions">
<B>petty sessions,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a court with summary jurisdiction over minor offenses in a given district. </DL>
<A NAME="petulance">
<B>petulance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>bad humor; condition of being irritated by trifles; being peevish. (SYN) peevishness. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) <DD><B> a. </B>immodesty. <DD><B> b. </B>sauciness; rudeness. </DL>
<A NAME="petulancy">
<B>petulancy, </B>noun. =petulance.</DL>
<A NAME="petulant">
<B>petulant, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>likely to have little fits of bad temper; irritable over trifles; peevish. <BR> <I>Ex. His temper was acid, petulant and harsh (William Godwin).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) <DD><B> a. </B>forward or immodest; wanton. <DD><B> b. </B>saucy; insolent. <BR> <I>Ex. a young petulant jackanapes (Tobias Smollett).</I> adv. <B>petulantly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="petunia">
<B>petunia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a common garden plant that has white, pink, or purple flowers shaped like funnels. The petunia was originally native to South America and is a member of the nightshade family. There are several kinds, comprising a genus of plants. <DD><B> 2. </B>the flower of any one of these plants. <DD><B> 3. </B>a dark violet or purple. </DL>
<A NAME="petunse">
<B>petunse, </B>noun. =petuntse.</DL>
<A NAME="petuntse">
<B>petuntse</B> or <B>petuntze, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a white earth made by pulverizing partially decomposed granite, used especially in China in the manufacture of porcelain; China stone. Petuntse holds the nonfusible china clay, or kaolin, together. </DL>
<A NAME="peuapeu">
<B>peu a peu,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) little by little; a little or few at a time. </DL>
<A NAME="peudechose">
<B>peu de chose,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a small thing; trivial matter. </DL>
<A NAME="peul">
<B>Peul</B> or <B>Peuhl, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Fulani, especially one living in Guinea, Senegal, or Chad. </DL>
<A NAME="pew">
<B>pew, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a bench in a church for people to sit on, fastened to the floor and provided with a back. In some churches the pews are separated by partitions and are set apart for the use of certain worshipers, such as the members of a family. <BR> <I>Ex. One of the senior boys ushered them into a pew at the rear of the chapel (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pewage">
<B>pewage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the pews in a church collectively. <DD><B> 2. </B>the arrangement of pews. <DD><B> 3. </B>the rent paid for pews. </DL>
<A NAME="pewee">
<B>pewee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small American bird with an olive-colored or gray back, such as the wood pewee, phoebe, or certain other American flycatchers. Its call sounds somewhat like its name. </DL>
<A NAME="pewholder">
<B>pewholder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who owns or rents a pew. </DL>
<B>pewter, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an alloy, formerly of tin with lead, copper, or other metals, and now, usually of tin with antimony and copper. <BR> <I>Ex. the soft clank of dishes made of pewter.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>dishes or other utensils made of this alloy. <BR> <I>Ex. She polishes the pewter.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> made of pewter. <BR> <I>Ex. a pewter mug.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pewterer">
<B>pewterer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a worker in pewter; person who makes pewter utensils. </DL>
<A NAME="peyote">
<B>peyote, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the mescal or any one of several other cacti. <DD><B> 2. </B>a stimulating drug contained in the small buttonlike tops of the mescal, used by Indians in Mexico and the southwest United States; mescaline. It induces hallucinations and reactions associated with psychoses. <BR> <I>Ex. That's what's so bad about peyote. It can make sick people well, and that's how it gets converts (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="peyotism">
<B>peyotism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>use of or addiction to peyote. <BR> <I>Ex. The peyotism of the Mescaleros spread to the Comanches and Kiowas (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>Peyotism.</B> the form of religion of an American Indian sect which combines Christian beliefs with native rituals that include the ceremonial use of peyote. </DL>
<A NAME="peyotl">
<B>peyotl, </B>noun. =peyote.</DL>
<A NAME="peytral">
<B>peytral</B> or <B>peytrel, </B>noun. =poitrel.</DL>
<A NAME="pf">
<B>pf</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) a little louder (as a direction; Italian, <I>piu forte</I>). </DL>
<B>Pfc.</B> or <B>Pfc</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> private first class. </DL>
<A NAME="pfd">
<B>pfd.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> preferred. </DL>
<A NAME="pfd">
<B>PFD</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> personal flotation device, such as a life jacket. </DL>
<A NAME="pfda">
<B>PFDA</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> Pure Food and Drug Administration (officially, FDA). </DL>
<A NAME="pfeiffersbacillus">
<B>Pfeiffer's bacillus,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bacillus found in the respiratory tract and thought to cause influenzal meningitis and conjunctivitis. </DL>
<A NAME="pfennig">
<B>pfennig, </B>noun, pl. <B>pfennigs,</B> <B>pfennige.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of money in Germany, a coin equal to 1/100 of a Deutsche mark. </DL>
<A NAME="pfg">
<B>pfg.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> pfennig. </DL>
<A NAME="pflp">
<B>PFLP</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. </DL>
<A NAME="pfui">
<B>pfui, </B>interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD> (German.) an exclamation of disgust or impatience. </DL>
<B>PG</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Parental Guidance (a symbol used in the United States for motion pictures recommended to the general audiences, with parental guidance advised). <DD><B> 2. </B>prostaglandin. </DL>
<B>PGA</B> (no periods) or <B>P.G.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Professional Golfers' Association. </DL>
<A NAME="pge">
<B>PGE</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> one of two groups of prostaglandins (the other being PGF). </DL>
<A NAME="pgf">
<B>PGF</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> one of two groups of prostaglandins (the other being PGE). </DL>
<A NAME="pg13">
<B>PG-13</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> a symbol used in the United States for motion pictures rated PG but suggesting guidance for children under 13. </DL>
