3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey.
Shak. Beast of prey,
a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.
Prey
(Prey) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Preyed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Preying.] [OF. preier, preer, L. praedari, fr.
praeda. See Prey, n.] To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by violence.
More pity that the eagle should be mewed,
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty.
Shak. To prey on or
upon.
(a) To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob. Shak. (b) To seize as prey; to
take for food by violence; to seize and devour. Shak. (c) To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or
pine away; as, the trouble preyed upon his mind. Addison.
Preyer
(Prey"er) n. One who, or that which, preys; a plunderer; a waster; a devourer. Hooker.
Preyful
(Prey"ful) a.
1. Disposed to take prey. [Obs.]
The preyful brood of savage beasts.
Chapman. 2. Rich in prey. [Obs.] Shak.
Prezygapophysis
(||Pre*zyg`a*poph"y*sis) n.; pl. Prezygapophyses [NL. See Pre- , and Zygapophysis.]
(Anat.) An anterior zygapophysis.
Prial
(Pri"al) n. A corruption of pair royal. See under Pair, n.
Prian
(Pri"an) n. [Cornish, clayey ground, from pri clay.] (Mining) A fine, white, somewhat friable clay; also,
the ore contained in a mixture of clay and pebbles. [Written also pryan.]
Priapean
(Pri`a*pe"an) n. [Cf. L. Priapeius pertaining to Priapus.] (Lat. Pros.) A species of hexameter
verse so constructed as to be divisible into two portions of three feet each, having generally a trochee in
the first and the fourth foot, and an amphimacer in the third; — applied also to a regular hexameter verse
when so constructed as to be divisible into two portions of three feet each. Andrews.
Priapism
(Pri"a*pism), n. [L. priapismus, Gr. from Priapus the god of procreation, the penis, Gr. : cf.
F. priapisme.] (Med.) More or less permanent erection and rigidity of the penis, with or without sexual
desire.
Priapulacea
(||Pri*ap`u*la"ce*a) n. pl. [NL. See Priapism.] (Zoöl.) A suborder of Gephyræa, having a
cylindrical body with a terminal anal opening, and usually with one or two caudal gills.
Pricasour
(Pric"a*sour) n. A hard rider. [Obs.]
Price
(Price) n. [OE. pris, OF. pris, F. prix, L. pretium; cf. Gr. I sell to buy, Skr. pa to buy, OI. renim
I sell. Cf. Appreciate, Depreciate, Interpret, Praise, n. & v., Precious, Prize.]
1. The sum or amount of money at which a thing is valued, or the value which a seller sets on his goods
in market; that for which something is bought or sold, or offered for sale; equivalent in money or other
means of exchange; current value or rate paid or demanded in market or in barter; cost. "Buy wine and
milk without money and without price." Isa. lv. 1.
We can afford no more at such a price.
Shak.