Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The soft, spongy tissue in the center of the stems of most vascular plants, consisting mainly of parenchyma.
- noun The soft inner substance of a feather or hair.
- noun The spinal cord.
- noun The essential or central part; the heart or essence.
- noun Strength; vigor; mettle.
- noun Significance; importance.
- transitive verb To remove the pith from (a plant stem).
- transitive verb To sever or destroy the spinal cord of, usually by inserting a needle into the vertebral canal.
- transitive verb To kill (cattle) by cutting the spinal cord.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To introduce an instrument into the cranial or spinal cavity of (an animal, as a frog), and destroy the cerebrospinal axis or a part of it.
- noun In botany, the medulla, or central cylinder, composed of typical parenchymatous tissue, which occupies the center of the stems of dicotyledonous plants.
- noun In. anatomy: The spinal cord or marrow; the medulla spinalis.
- noun The central or medullary core of a hair.
- noun Strength; vigor; force.
- noun Energy; concentrated force; closeness and vigor of thought and style.
- noun Condensed substance or matter; quintessence.
- noun Weight; moment; importance.
- noun The soft interior portion of the shaft of a feather.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (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.
- noun (Zoöl.) The spongy interior substance of a feather.
- noun (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow.
- noun Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength; importance.
- noun Same as Rice paper, under
Rice . - transitive verb (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 Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The soft
spongy substance in the center of thestems of manyplants and trees. - noun figuratively The essential or vital part.
- verb transitive To extract the pith from (a plant
stem or tree). - verb transitive To kill (especially
cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing thespinal cord .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
- noun soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants
- verb remove the pith from (a plant)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Not a lot of guys in pith helmets learning much more local dialogue than “tea, white” and “boots, polish”.
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Now scoop the pith from the shells as much as you can.
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In article 8, neither the word pith, nor any expression alluding to it, occurs.
Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859
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2. How to make zest: Zesting a lemon is getting the colored outer layer of the peel off, without taking the white part with it, which is called the pith.
The Christmas Cookie Cookbook Ann Pearlman 2010
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With a sharp knife, remove as much white pith from the lemon peels as is possible; the edge of a teaspoon works well to remove pith from a lemon’s top or bottom end.
3 Recipes: Preserved Lemons & Candied Lemon Peel & Sparkling Lemonade and Mint (Λεμόνια στην Άρμη & Γλυκά Φλούδα του Λεμονιού & Λεμονάδα με Δυόσμος) Laurie Constantino 2008
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With a sharp knife, remove as much white pith from the lemon peels as is possible; the edge of a teaspoon works well to remove pith from a lemon’s top or bottom end.
Archive 2008-02-01 Laurie Constantino 2008
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In Vajrayana Buddhism, such words are called pith instructions or heart wisdom.
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Water is poured on the mass of pith, which is kneaded and pressed against the strainer till the starch is all dissolved and has passed through, when the fibrous refuse is thrown away, and a fresh basketful put in its place.
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When peeling an orange, make sure to remove all the white membrane, called the pith.
Make It Easy Make It Light Laurie Burrows Grad 1987
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When peeling an orange, make sure to remove all the white membrane, called the pith.
Make It Easy Make It Light Laurie Burrows Grad 1987
Prolagus commented on the word pith
His sayings are generally like women's letters; all the pith is in the postscript.
(William Hazlitt)
September 11, 2008
seanahan commented on the word pith
I've never heard the noun form of this word.
September 12, 2008
bilby commented on the word pith
Really? What do you call the whitish bits on the inside of an orange?
September 12, 2008
yarb commented on the word pith
How strange; I've never heard the verb form.
September 12, 2008
seanahan commented on the word pith
I meant I've only ever heard the adjective form, pithy. I never actually refer to the whitish bits inside of an orange, I suppose I might have heard them called pith before, but I meant pith used in the 4th WordNet definition above.
September 15, 2008
rubah commented on the word pith
good times, putting charge onto pith balls.
October 2, 2008
bilby commented on the word pith
You're a pith ball terrier, rubah.
October 2, 2008
yarb commented on the word pith
Bilby!
October 2, 2008
frogapplause commented on the word pith
verb-transitive/ 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.
No! No! No!
May 4, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word pith
"Bread and wine, the pith and nerve of men."
Homer, The Iliad
May 4, 2010