3. To pour out. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Pean
(Pean) n. [OF. pene, F. panne.] (Her.) One of the furs, the ground being sable, and the spots
or tufts or.
Pean
(Pe"an) n. A song of praise and triumph. See Pæan.
Peanism
(Pe"an*ism) n. [Gr. fr. to chant the pæan.] The song or shout of praise, of battle, or of triumph.
[R.]
Peanut
(Pea"nut) n. (Bot.) The fruit of a trailing leguminous plant (Arachis hypogæa); also, the plant itself,
which is widely cultivated for its fruit.
The fruit is a hard pod, usually containing two or three seeds, sometimes but one, which ripen beneath
the soil. Called also earthnut, groundnut, and goober.
Pear
(Pear) n. [OE. pere, AS. peru, L. pirum: cf. F. poire. Cf. Perry.] (Bot.) The fleshy pome, or
fruit, of a rosaceous tree cultivated in many varieties in temperate climates; also, the tree which bears
this fruit. See Pear family, below.
Pear blight. (a) (Bot.) A name of two distinct diseases of pear trees, both causing a destruction of
the branches, viz., that caused by a minute insect and that caused by the freezing of the sap in winter.
A. J. Downing. (b) (Zoöl.) A very small beetle (Xyleborus pyri) whose larvæ bore in the twigs of pear
trees and cause them to wither. — Pear family (Bot.), a suborder of rosaceous plants characterized
by the calyx tube becoming fleshy in fruit, and, combined with the ovaries, forming a pome. It includes
the apple, pear, quince, service berry, and hawthorn. — Pear gauge (Physics), a kind of gauge for
measuring the exhaustion of an air-pump receiver; — so called because consisting in part of a pear-
shaped glass vessel. — Pear shell (Zoöl.), any marine gastropod shell of the genus Pyrula, native
of tropical seas; — so called from the shape. — Pear slug (Zoöl.), the larva of a sawfly which is very
injurious to the foliage of the pear tree.
Pearch
(Pearch) n. [Obs.] See Perch.
Pearl
(Pearl) n. A fringe or border. [Obs.] — v. t. To fringe; to border. [Obs.] See Purl.
Pearl stitch. See Purl stitch, under Purl.
Pearl
(Pearl), n. [OE. perle, F. perle, LL. perla, perula, probably fr. (assumed) L. pirulo, dim. of L.
pirum a pear. See Pear, and cf. Purl to mantle.]
1. (Zoöl.) A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in
the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters
and river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves. It is usually due to a secretion of shelly substance
around some irritating foreign particle. Its substance is the same as nacre, or mother-of- pearl. Pearls
which are round, or nearly round, and of fine luster, are highly esteemed as jewels, and compare in
value with the precious stones.
2. Hence, figuratively, something resembling a pearl; something very precious.
I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl.
Shak.
And those pearls of dew she wears.
Milton. 3. Nacre, or mother-of-pearl.
4. (Zoöl.) A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
