Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PIG'HEAD-ED, a.

Having a large head; stupid. – B. Jonson.

PIGHT, pp. [pite; Scot. pight, or picht; from pitch, W. piciaw.]

Pitched; fixed; determined. [Obs.] – Shak.

PIGHT, v.t. [W. pigaw.]

To pierce. [Obs.] – Wickliffe.

PIGH-TEL, n.

A little inclosure. [Local.]

PIG-ME'AN, a. [from pigmy.]

Very small; like a pigmy; as, an image of pigmean size. – Parkhurst.

PIG'MENT, n. [L. pigmentum, from the root of pingo, to paint.]

Paint; a preparation used by painters, dyers, &c. to impart colors to bodies. – Encyc.

PIG'MY, a.

Very small in size; mean; feeble; inconsiderable.

PIG'MY, n. [It. Sp. and Port. pigmeo; L. pygmæus; Gr. πυγμαιος, from πυγμη, the fist.]

A dwarf; a person of very small stature; a name applied to a fabled nation said to have been devoured by cranes.

PIG-NO-RA'TION, n. [L. pignero, to pledge.]

The act of pledging or pawning.

PIG'NO-RA-TIVE, a.

Pledging; pawning. [Little used.] – Dict.

PIG'NUT, n. [pig and nut.]

The ground nut, the root of a plant of the genus Bunium; also, a tree and its fruit of the genus Carya, a species of hickory.

PIG'SNEY, n. [Sax. piga, a little girl.]

A word of endearment to a girl. [Little used.] – Hudibras.

PIG'TAIL, n. [pig and tail.]

1. A cue; the hair of the head tied in the form of a pig's tail.
2. A small roll of tobacco.

PIG-WID'GEON, n. [pig and widgeon.]

A fairy; a cant word for any thing very small. – Cleaveland.

PIKE, n. [This word belongs to a numerous family of words expressing something pointed, or a sharp point, or as verbs, to dart, to thrust, to prick; Sax. piic, a small needle; W. pig, a point, a pike; pigaw, to prick; piciaw, to dart; It. pica, pike; piccare, to prick or sting; Sp. pica, picar; Fr. pique, piquer; Arm. picq, picqat; D. piek; G. pieke; Sw. and Dan. pik; Eng. peak, beak, &c. Class Bg.]

1. A military weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a flat steel head pointed; called the spear. This weapon was formerly used by infantry, but its use is now limited to officers, and it is called a sponton or spontoon. Its use among soldiers is superseded by the bayonet.
2. A fork used in husbandry; but we now use fork or pitchfork. – Tusser.
3. Among turners, the iron sprigs used to fasten any thing to be turned. – Moxon.
4. In ichthyology, a fish of the genus Esox, so named from its long shape or from the form of its snout. It is a fresh-water fish, living in deep water and very voracious, but very palatable food. The pike, the tyrant of the flood. – Pope.

PIK-ED, a.

Ending in a point; acuminated. – Camden.

PIKE-LIT, or PIKE-LIN, n.

A light cake or muffin. – Seward's Letters.

PIKE-MAN, n.

A soldier armed with a pike. – Knolles.

PIKE-STAFF, n.

The staff or shaft of a pike. – Tatler.

PIK'RO-LITE, n. [qu. Gr. πικρος, bitter, and λιθος, a stone.]

A mineral found at Taberg, in Sweden, supposed to be a variety of serpentine. – Cleaveland.

PI-LAS'TER, n. [It. pilastro; Fr. pilastre; Sp. pilastra, from pila, a pile, whence pillar.]

A square column, sometimes insulated; but usually pilasters are set within a wall, projecting only one quarter of their diameter. Their bases, capitals and entablatures have the same parts as those of columns. – Encyc.

PI-LAS'TER-ED, a.

Furnished with pilasters.

PI'LAU, n.

A dish consisting of rice and some kind of flesh.

PILCH, n. [It. pelliccia; Fr. pelisse; Sax. pylca, pylece; L. pellis, a skin.]

A furred gown or case; something lined with fur. [Not used.] – Chaucer.

PIL'CHARD, n. [Ir. pilseir.]

A fish resembling the herring, but thicker and rounder; the nose is shorter and turns up; the under jaw is shorter; the back more elevated, and the belly less sharp. These fishes appear on the Cornish coast in England, about the middle of July, in immense numbers, and furnish a considerable article of commerce. – Encyc.