<B>pyroxenite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any rock composed essentially, or in large part, of pyroxene of any kind. </DL>
<A NAME="pyroxmangite">
<B>pyroxmangite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a yellowish-brown variety of pyroxene with a high manganese content. </DL>
<A NAME="pyroxylin">
<B>pyroxylin</B> or <B>pyroxyline, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various substances made by nitrating certain forms of cellulose. Guncotton and the soluble cellulose nitrates used in making celluloid, and collodion, are pyroxylins. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrha">
<B>Pyrrha, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) the wife of Deucalion. She and her husband were the only ones to survive a great flood sent by Zeus to destroy mankind. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhic">
<B>pyrrhic</B> (1), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an ancient Greek dance. <BR> <I>Ex. A thrilling weapon dance, the pyrrhic, was performed by warriors (Hanya Holm).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a war dance. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhic">
<B>pyrrhic</B> (2), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a measure in poetry consisting of two short syllables or two unaccented syllables. <BR> <I>Ex. They intended to vary the ordinary rhythm by introducing an accentual pyrrhic (English Metre).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> consisting of or having to do with pyrrhics. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhic">
<B>Pyrrhic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with Pyrrhus, a king of Epirus in Greece. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhicvictory">
<B>Pyrrhic victory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a victory won at too great a cost. <BR> <I>Ex. Out of the wreckage he salvaged a Pyrrhic victory, an amendment to get rid of the onerous provision for a two-thirds approval of tax bills (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhonism">
<B>Pyrrhonism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> skepticism; the philosophy of the Greek Pyrrho of Elis. Its central doctrine concerns the impossibility of attaining certainty of knowledge. <BR> <I>Ex. The Pyrrhonism of my opinions has at all times rendered me notorious (Edgar Allan Poe).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhonist">
<B>Pyrrhonist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an adherent of Pyrrhonism. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who doubts everything. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhonistic">
<B>Pyrrhonistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with Pyrrhonists or Pyrrhonism. <BR> <I>Ex. These manners are brought together in a Pyrrhonistic unity which expresses perfectly the ambivalence of any East-West attitude (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhotine">
<B>pyrrhotine, </B>noun. =pyrrhotite.</DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhotite">
<B>pyrrhotite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a native iron sulfide having a bronze color and a metallic luster, occurring in crystals and masses. It often contains nickel and is usually slightly magnetic. <BR> <I>Ex. The dominant mineral being pyrrhotite, in which most of the pentlandite occurs as scattered grains (W. R. Jones).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhotitic">
<B>pyrrhotitic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or containing pyrrhotite. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhuloxia">
<B>pyrrhuloxia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a gray finch with a reddish crest and tail, of the southwestern United States and Mexico, resembling and related to the cardinal. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrhus">
<B>Pyrrhus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Legend.) a son of Achilles, who slew Priam and married Andromache. He was also called Neoptolemus. </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrol">
<B>pyrrol, </B>noun. =pyrrole.</DL>
<A NAME="pyrrole">
<B>pyrrole, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless liquid, that smells like chloroform, obtained mostly from coal tar. It is the parent compound of chlorophyll, hemin, various proteins, and other important natural substances. <BR> <I>Ex. If in place of the hydrogens we attach to the nitrogen a ring made up of four carbon atoms, we get a compound called pyrrole (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyrrolidine">
<B>pyrrolidine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless liquid, forming the base of proline and various alkaloids. </DL>
<A NAME="pyruvate">
<B>pyruvate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a salt or ester of pyruvic acid. </DL>
<A NAME="pyruvicacid">
<B>pyruvic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless acid that smells like acetic acid, produced by the dry distillation of racemic acid or tartaric acid. It is an important intermediate product in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. <BR> <I>Ex. A severe thiamine deficiency state ... is characterized by the accumulation of pyruvic and lactic acids (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pyruvicaldehyde">
<B>pyruvic aldehyde,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a substance, containing both an aldehyde and a ketone, used in organic synthesis and tanning. </DL>
<A NAME="pyruvicoxidase">
<B>pyruvic oxidase,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an enzyme which changes pyruvic acid to acetic acid. It is a factor in converting carbon dioxide and water into sugars and starches. </DL>
<A NAME="pythagorean">
<B>Pythagorean, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, religious teacher, and mathematician, his teachings, or his followers. <DD><I>noun </I> a follower of Pythagoras. </DL>
<A NAME="pythagoreanism">
<B>Pythagoreanism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrines of philosophy originated by Pythagoras, often especially with reference to the doctrine of transmigration of souls. </DL>
<A NAME="pythagoreantheorem">
<B>Pythagorean Theorem</B> or <B>theorem,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the theorem that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides. <BR> <I>Ex. Many Greek discoveries, such as the Pythagorean theorem ... were known long, long before to the Babylonians (Science).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pythia">
<B>Pythia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered the divine responses to questions. </DL>
<A NAME="pythiad">
<B>Pythiad, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the period of four years intervening between two successive celebrations of the Pythian games. </DL>
<A NAME="pythian">
<B>Pythian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with Apollo or the oracle at Delphi. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the Pythian games. </DL>
<A NAME="pythiangames">
<B>Pythian games,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the great national festivals of ancient Greece, held every four years at Delphi in honor of Apollo. </DL>
<A NAME="pythias">
<B>Pythias, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Roman Legend.) a man famous for his devoted friendship with Damon. </DL>
<A NAME="pythic">
<B>Pythic, </B>adjective. =Pythian.</DL>
<A NAME="pythogenic">
<B>pythogenic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> produced by putrefaction or filth (used especially of diseases, as typhoid fever). </DL>
<A NAME="python">
<B>Python, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) the huge serpent or monster that was hatched from the mud left after the deluge that only Deucalion and Pyrrha survived. It was slain by Apollo. </DL>
<A NAME="python">
<B>python, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large snake of Asia, Africa, and Australia, related to the boas, that kills its prey by crushing. Pythons usually live in trees near water. There are several kinds, making up a genus of reptiles. Some pythons are among the world's largest snakes. <BR> <I>Ex. The female python, on the other hand, coils around her eggs and incubates them with body heat (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any large boa. <DD><B> 3. </B>a spirit or demon that possesses some person. <DD><B> 4. </B>a person so possessed. </DL>
<A NAME="pythoness">
<B>pythoness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who gave out the answers of the oracle. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=prophetess.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pythonic">
<B>pythonic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with the Python or with pythons. <DD><B> 2. </B>snakelike. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=oracular.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pyuria">
<B>pyuria, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the presence of pus in discharged urine. </DL>
<A NAME="pyx">
<B>pyx, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the vessel in which the consecrated Host is kept, or a small case used to carry it to the sick. <DD><B> 2. </B>the box at the British mint in which specimen coins are kept to be tested for weight and purity. <BR><I>expr. <B>trial of the pyx,</B> </I>the final official trial of the purity and weight of British coins. Also, <B>pix.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pyxidis">
<B>Pyxidis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> genitive of <B>Pyxis.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="pyxidium">
<B>pyxidium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a seed vessel that bursts open transversely into a top and bottom part, the top part acting as a lid. </DL>
<A NAME="pyxie">
<B>pyxie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a very small, trailing evergreen shrub that has numerous small, white, star-shaped blossoms, found in pine barrens of the eastern United States. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) a pyxidium. </DL>
