Picul
(Pic"ul) n. [Jav. & Malay pikul, fr. pikul to carry on the back, to carry a burden; n., a man's burden.]
A commercial weight varying in different countries and for different commodities. In Borneo it is 135⅝
lbs.; in China and Sumatra, 133½ lbs.; in Japan, 133⅓ lbs.; but sometimes 130 lbs., etc. Called also,
by the Chinese, tan. [Written also pecul, and pecal.]
Piculet
(Pic"u*let) n. [Dim. of Picus.] (Zoöl.) Any species of very small woodpeckers of the genus
Picumnus and allied genera. Their tail feathers are not stiff and sharp at the tips, as in ordinary woodpeckers.
Picus
(||Pi"cus) n.; pl. Pici [L., a woodpecker.] (Zoöl.) A genus of woodpeckers, including some of the
common American and European species.
Piddle
(Pid"dle) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Piddled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Piddling ] [Cf. dial. Sw. pittla to keep
picking at, Sw. peta to pick.]
1. To deal in trifles; to concern one's self with trivial matters rather than with those that are important.
Ascham.
2. To be squeamishly nice about one's food. Swift.
3. To urinate; — child's word.
Piddler
(Pid"dler) n. One who piddles.
Piddling
(Pid"dling) a.Trifling; trivial; frivolous; paltry; — applied to persons and things.
The ignoble hucksterage of piddling tithes.
Milton. Piddock
(Pid"dock) n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zoöl.) Any species of Pholas; a pholad. See Pholas.
Pie
(Pie) n. [OE. pie, pye; cf. Ir. & Gael. pighe pie, also Gael. pige an earthen jar or pot. Cf. Piggin.]
1. An article of food consisting of paste baked with something in it or under it; as, chicken pie; venison
pie; mince pie; apple pie; pumpkin pie.
2. See Camp, n., 5. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Pie crust,
the paste of a pie.
Pie
(Pie), n. [F. pie, L. pica; cf. picus woodpecker, pingere to paint; the bird being perhaps named
from its colors. Cf. Pi, Paint, Speight.]
1. (Zoöl.) (a) A magpie. (b) Any other species of the genus Pica, and of several allied genera. [Written
also pye.]
2. (R. C. Ch.) The service book.
3. (Pritn.) Type confusedly mixed. See Pi.
By cock and pie,
an adjuration equivalent to "by God and the service book." Shak. — Tree pie (Zoöl.),
any Asiatic bird of the genus Dendrocitta, allied to the magpie. — Wood pie. (Zoöl.) See French pie,
under French.
Pie
(Pie), v. t. See Pi.
Piebald
(Pie"bald`) a. [Pie the party- colored bird + bald.]