Piña cloth
(Pi"ña cloth`) A fine material for ladies' shawls, scarfs, handkerchiefs, etc., made from the fiber
of the pineapple leaf, and perhaps from other fibrous tropical leaves. It is delicate, soft, and transparent,
with a slight tinge of pale yellow.
Pinacoid
(Pin"a*coid) n. [Gr. a tablet + -oid.] (Crystallog.) A plane parallel to two of the crystalline
axes.
Pinacolin
(Pi*nac"o*lin) n. [Pinacone + L. oleum oil.] (Chem.) A colorless oily liquid related to the
ketones, and obtained by the decomposition of pinacone; hence, by extension, any one of the series of
which pinacolin proper is the type. [Written also pinacoline.]
Pinacone
(Pin"a*cone) n. [From Gr. a tablet. So called because it unites with water so as to form tablet-
shaped crystals.] (Chem.) A white crystalline substance related to the glycols, and made from acetone; hence,
by extension, any one of a series of substances of which pinacone proper is the type. [Written also
pinakone.]
Pinacotheca
(||Pin`a*co*the"ca) n. [L. pinacotheca, fr. Gr. a picture + repisitory.] A picture gallery.
Pinafore
(Pin"a*fore`) n. [Pin + afore.] An apron for a child to protect the front part of dress; a tier.
Pinakothek
(||Pin"a*ko*thek`) n. [G.] Pinacotheca.
Pinaster
(Pi*nas"ter) n. [L., fr. pinus a pine.] (Bot.) A species of pine (Pinus Pinaster) growing in
Southern Europe.
Pinax
(||Pi"nax) n.; pl. Pinaces [L., fr. Gr. tablet.] A tablet; a register; hence, a list or scheme inscribed
on a tablet. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
Pince-nez
(||Pince`-nez") n. [F. pincer to pinch + nez nose.] Eyeglasses kept on the nose by a spring.
Pincers
(Pin"cers) n. pl. [Cf. F. pince pinchers, fr. pincer to pinch. See Pinch, Pinchers.] See
Pinchers.
Pinch
(Pinch) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinched ; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinching.] [F. pincer, probably fr. OD.
pitsen to pinch; akin to G. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of Celtic origin. Cf. Piece.]
1. To press hard or squeeze between the ends of the fingers, between teeth or claws, or between the
jaws of an instrument; to squeeze or compress, as between any two hard bodies.
2. o seize; to grip; to bite; — said of animals. [Obs.]
He [the hound] pinched and pulled her down.
Chapman. 3. To plait. [Obs.]
Full seemly her wimple ipinched was.
Chaucer. 4. Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money.
Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation.
Sir W. Raleigh.
