Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter P - Page 117
Presumptive (a.) Presumptuous; arrogant. [R.] -- Sir T. Browne.
Presumptive evidence (Law), That which is derived from circumstances which necessarily or usually attend a fact, as distinct from direct evidence or positive proof; indirect or circumstantial evidence. "Presumptive evidence of felony should be cautiously admitted." -- Blackstone.
The distinction, however, between direct and presumptive (or circumstantial) evidence is now generally abandoned; all evidence being now more or less direct and more or less presumptive.
Presumptive heir. See Heir presumptive, under Heir.
Presumptive (a.) Having a reasonable basis for belief or acceptance; "the presumptive heir (or heir apparent)."
Presumptive (a.) Affording reasonable grounds for belief or acceptance; "presumptive evidence"; "a strong presumptive case is made out."
Presumptively (adv.) By presumption, or supposition grounded or probability; presumably.
Presumptively (adv.) By reasonable assumption; "presumably, he missed the train" [syn: presumably, presumptively].
Presumptuous (a.) 放肆的；冒昧的；專橫的 Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct.
A class of presumptuous men, whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise. -- Buckminster.
Presumptuous (a.) Founded on presumption; as, a presumptuous idea. "False, presumptuous hope." -- Milton.
Presumptuous (a.) Done with hold design, rash confidence, or in violation of known duty; willful. "Keep back the servant also from presumptuous sins." -- Ps. xix. 13.
Syn: Overconfident; foolhardy; rash; presuming; forward; arrogant; insolent.
Presumptuous (a.) Excessively forward; "an assumptive person"; "on a subject like this it would be too assuming for me to decide"; "the duchess would not put up with presumptuous servants" [syn: assumptive, assuming, presumptuous].
Presumptuously (adv.) 放肆地 In a presumptuous manner; arrogantly.
Presumptuously (adv.) In a presumptuous manner; "he presumptuously overstepped the doctor's orders."
Presumptuousness (n.) 放肆 The quality or state of being presumptuous.
Presumptuousness (n.) Audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to; "he despised them for their presumptuousness" [syn: presumption, presumptuousness, effrontery, assumption].
Presupposal (n.) Presupposition. [R.] "Presupposal of knowledge." -- Hooker.
Presupposed (imp. & p. p.) of Presuppose.
Presupposing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Presuppose.
Presuppose (v. t.) To suppose beforehand; to imply as antecedent; to take for granted; to assume; as, creation presupposes a creator.
Each [kind of knowledge] presupposes many necessary things learned in other sciences, and known beforehand. -- Hooker.
Presuppose (v.) Take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand; "I presuppose that you have done your work" [syn: presuppose, suppose].
Presuppose (v.) Require as a necessary antecedent or precondition; "This step presupposes two prior ones" [syn: presuppose, suppose].
Presupposition (n.) The act of presupposing; an antecedent implication; presumption.
Presupposition (n.) That which is presupposed; a previous supposition or surmise.
Presupposition (n.) The act of presupposing; a supposition made prior to having knowledge (as for the purpose of argument).
Presurmise (n.) A surmise previously formed. -- Shak.
Presystolic (a.) (Physiol.) Preceding the systole or contraction of the heart; as, the presystolic friction sound.
Pretemporal (a.) (Anat.) Situated in front of the temporal bone. Pretenceful; Pretence
Pretence (a.) Alt. of Pretenceless.
Pretenceful (a.) Alt. of Pretenceless.
Pretenceless (a.) See Pretense, Pretenseful, Pretenseless.
Pretended (imp. & p. p.) of Pretend.
Pretending (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Pretend.
Pretend (v. t.) To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim.
Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend. -- Dryden.
Pretend (v. t.) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.]
Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. -- Milton.
Pretend (v. t.) To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship.
This let him know, Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. -- Milton.
Pretend (v. t.) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.]
Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state. -- Shak.
Pretend (v. t.) To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always over her pretended." -- Spenser.
Pretend (v. i.) To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; -- usually with to. "Countries that pretend to freedom." -- Swift.
For to what fine he would anon pretend, That know I well. -- Chaucer.
Pretend (v. i.) To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." -- Macaulay.
Pretend (a.) Imagined as in a play; "the make-believe world of theater"; "play money"; "dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish" [syn: make-believe, pretend].
Pretend (n.) The enactment of a pretense; "it was just pretend" [syn: make-believe, pretend].
Pretend (v.) Make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble].
Pretend (v.) Behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn: dissemble, pretend, act].
Pretend (v.) Put forward a claim and assert right or possession of; "pretend the title of King."
Pretend (v.) Put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong" [syn: guess, venture, pretend, hazard].
Pretend (v.) Represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress" [syn: make, pretend, make believe].
Pretend (v.) State insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine" [syn: profess, pretend].
Pretendant (n.) A pretender; a claimant.
Pretended (a.) Making a false appearance; unreal; false; as, pretended friend. -- Pre*tend"ed*ly, adv.
Pretended (a.) Adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty" [syn: assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham].
Pretendence (n.) The act of pretending; pretense. [Obs.] -- Daniel.
Pretender (n.) One who lays claim, or asserts a title (to something); a claimant. Specifically,
Pretender (n.) The pretender (Eng. Hist.), the son or the grandson of James II., the heir of the royal family of Stuart, who laid claim to the throne of Great Britain, from which the house was excluded by law.
It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident pretenders to certainty. -- Glanvill.
Pretender (n.) One who pretends, simulates, or feigns.
Pretender (n.) A claimant to the throne or to the office of ruler (usually without just title).
Pretender (n.) A person who makes deceitful pretenses [syn: imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player].
Pretender (n.) A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives [syn: hypocrite, dissembler, dissimulator, phony, phoney, pretender].
Pretendership (n.) The character, right, or claim of a pretender. -- Swift.
Pretendingly (adv.) As by right or title; arrogantly; presumptuously. -- Collier.
Pretense (n.) Alt. of Pretence.
Pretence (n.) The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. -- Spenser.
Primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power. -- Locke.
I went to Lambeth with Sir R. Brown's pretense to the wardenship of Merton College, Oxford. -- Evelyn.
Pretence (n.) The act of holding out, or offering, to others something false or feigned; presentation of what is deceptive or hypocritical; deception by showing what is unreal and concealing what is real; false show; simulation; as, pretense of illness; under pretense of patriotism; on pretense of revenging Caesar's death.
Pretence (n.) That which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint.
Let not the Trojans, with a feigned pretense Of proffered peace, delude the Latian prince. -- Dryden.
Pretence (n.) Intention; design. [Obs.]
A very pretense and purpose of unkindness. -- Shak.
Note: See the Note under Offense.
Syn: Mask; appearance; color; show; pretext; excuse.
Usage: Pretense, Pretext. A pretense is something held out as real when it is not so, thus falsifying the truth. A pretext is something woven up in order to cover or conceal one's true motives, feelings, or reasons. Pretext is often, but not always, used in a bad sense.
Pretence (n.) A false or unsupportable quality [syn: pretension, pretense, pretence].
Pretence (n.) An artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them" [syn: guise, pretense, pretence, pretext].
Pretence (n.) Pretending with intention to deceive [syn: pretense, pretence, feigning, dissembling].
Pretence (n.) Imaginative intellectual play [syn: pretense, pretence, make-believe].
Pretence (n.) The act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning].
Pretense (n.) The act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning].
Pretense (n.) Pretending with intention to deceive [syn: pretense, pretence, feigning, dissembling].
Pretense (n.) Imaginative intellectual play [syn: pretense, pretence, make-believe].
Pretense (n.) A false or unsupportable quality [syn: pretension, pretense, pretence].
Pretense (n.) An artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them" [syn: guise, pretense, pretence, pretext].
Pretensed (a.) Pretended; feigned. [Obs.] -- Pre*tens"ed*ly, adv. [Obs.]
Pretenseful (a.) Abounding in pretenses.
Pretenseless (a.) Not having or making pretenses.
Pretension (n.) The act of pretending, or laying claim; the act of asserting right or title.
The arrogant pretensions of Glengarry contributed to protract the discussion. -- Macaulay.
Pretension (n.) A claim made, whether true or false; a right alleged or assumed; a holding out the appearance of possessing a certain character; as, pretensions to scholarship.
This was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards. -- Bacon.
Men indulge those opinions and practices that favor their pretensions. -- L'Estrange.
Pretension (n.) A false or unsupportable quality [syn: pretension, pretense, pretence].
Pretension (n.) The advancing of a claim; "his pretension to the crown"; "the town still puts forward pretensions as a famous resort."
Pretension (n.) The quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth) [syn: pretentiousness, pretension, largeness] [ant: unpretentiousness].
Pretentative (a.) Fitted for trial beforehand; experimental. [R.] -- Sir H. Wotton.
Pretentious (a.) Full of pretension; disposed to lay claim to more than is one's; presuming; assuming. -- Pre*ten"tious*ly, adv. -- Pre*ten"tious*ness, n.
Pretentious (a.) Making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; "a pretentious country house"; "a pretentious fraud"; "a pretentious scholarly edition" [ant: unpretentious].
Pretentious (a.) Intended to attract notice and impress others; "an ostentatious sable coat" [syn: ostentatious, pretentious] [ant: unostentatious, unpretending, unpretentious].
Pretentious (a.) (Of a display) Tawdry or vulgar [syn: ostentatious, pretentious].
Pretentious (a.) (Disapproving) （尤指在文學藝術方面）炫耀的，矯飾的，自以為是的 Trying to appear or sound more important or clever than you are, especially in matters of art and literature.
// A pretentious art critic.
// The novel deals with grand themes, but is never heavy or pretentious.
Pretentiousness (n.) 矯飾，炫耀；自負，狂妄 Lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity [syn: {ostentation}, {ostentatiousness}, {pomposity}, {pompousness}, {pretentiousness}, {puffiness}, {splashiness}, {inflation}].
Pretentiousness (n.) The quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth) [syn: {pretentiousness}, {pretension}, {largeness}] [ant: {unpretentiousness}].
Preter- () A prefix signifying past, by, beyond, more than; as, preter- mission, a permitting to go by; preternatural, beyond or more than is natural. [Written also pr[ae]ter.]
Preterhuman (a.) More than human.
Preterient (a.) Passed through; antecedent; previous; as, preterient states. [R.]
Preterimperfect (a. & n.) (Gram.) Old name of the tense also called imperfect.
Preterist (n.) One whose chief interest is in the past; one who regards the past with most pleasure or favor.
Preterist (n.) (Theol.) One who believes the prophecies of the Apocalypse to have been already fulfilled. --Farrar.
Preterist (n.) A theologian who believes that the Scripture prophecies of the Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) have already been fulfilled.
Preterit (a.) (Gram.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.
Preterit (a.) Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.]
Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. -- Lowell.
Preterperfect (a. & n.) (Gram.) Old name of the tense also called preterit.
Preterit (n.) A term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense [syn: preterit, preterite].
Preterit (n.) (Gram.) The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.
Preterite (a. & n.) Same as Preterit.
Preterit (a.) [Written also preterite and pr[ae]terite.] (Gram.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.
Preterit (a.) Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.]
Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. -- Lowell.
Preterite (n.) A term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense [syn: preterit, preterite].
Preteriteness (n.) Same as Preteritness.
Preterition (n.) The act of passing, or going past; the state of being past. -- Bp. Hall.
Preterition (n.) (Rhet.) A figure by which, in pretending to pass over anything, a summary mention of it is made; as, "I will not say, he is valiant, he is learned, he is just." Called also paraleipsis.
Preterition (n.) (Law) The omission by a testator of some one of his heirs who is entitled to a portion. --Bouvier.
Preterition (n.) Suggesting by deliberately concise treatment that much of significance is omitted [syn: paralepsis, paraleipsis, paralipsis, preterition].
Preterition, () civil law. The omission by a testator of some one of his heirs who is entitled to a legitime, (q.v.) in the succession.
Preterition, () Among the Romans, the preterition of children when made by the mother were presumed to have been made with design; the preterition of sons by any other testator was considered as a wrong and avoided the will, except the will of a soldier in service, which was not subject to so much form.
Preteritive (a.) (Gram.)Used only or chiefly in the preterit or past tenses, as certain verbs.
Preteritness (n.) The quality or state of being past. -- Bentley. Lowell.
Preterlapsed (a.) Past; as, preterlapsed ages. [R.] -- Glanvill.
Preterlegal (a.) Exceeding the limits of law. [R.]
Pretermission (n.) The act of passing by or omitting; omission. -- Milton.
Pretermission (n.) (Rhet.) See Preterition.
Pretermission (n.) Letting pass without notice.
Pretermitted (imp. & p. p.) of Pretermit.
Pretermitting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Pretermit.
Pretermit (v. t.) To pass by; to omit; to disregard. -- Bacon.
Pretermit (v.) Disregard intentionally or let pass.
Pretermit (v.) Leave undone or leave out; "How could I miss that typo?"; "The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten" [syn: neglect, pretermit, omit, drop, miss, leave out, overlook, overleap] [ant: attend to, take to heart].
Preternatural (a.) Beyond of different from what is natural, or according to the regular course of things, but not clearly supernatural or miraculous; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; uncommon; irregular; abnormal; as, a preternatural appearance; a preternatural stillness; a preternatural presentation (in childbirth) or labor.
This vile and preternatural temper of mind. -- South.
Syn: See Supernatural.
Preternatural (a.) Surpassing the ordinary or normal; "Beyond his preternatural affability there is some acid and some steel" - George Will; "his uncanny sense of direction" [syn: preternatural, uncanny].
Preternatural (a.) Existing outside of or not in accordance with nature; "find transcendental motives for sublunary action"-Aldous Huxley [syn: nonnatural, otherworldly, preternatural, transcendental].
Preternaturalism (n.) The state of being preternatural; a preternatural condition.
Preternaturality (n.) Preternaturalness. [R.] -- Dr. John Smith.
Preternaturally (adv.) In a preternatural manner or degree. -- Bacon.
Preternaturally (adv.) In a supernatural manner; "she was preternaturally beautiful" [syn: preternaturally, supernaturally].
Preternaturalness (n.) The quality or state of being preternatural.
Preterperfect (a. & n.) (Gram.) Old name of the tense also called preterit.
Preterpluperfect (a. & n.) (Gram.) Old name of the tense also called pluperfect.
Pretertiary (a.) (Geol.) Earlier than Tertiary.
Pretervection (n.) The act of carrying past or beyond. [R.] -- Abp. Potter.
Pretex (v. t.) To frame; to devise; to disguise or excuse; hence, to pretend; to declare falsely. [Obs.]
Pretext (n.) Ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise.
They suck the blood of those they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness. -- L'Estrange.
With how much or how little pretext of reason. -- Dr. H. More.
Syn: Pretense; excuse; semblance; disguise; appearance. See Pretense.
Pretext (n.) Something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason [syn: pretext, stalking-horse].
Pretext (n.) An artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them" [syn: guise, pretense, pretence, pretext].
Pretext. () The reasons assigned to justify an act, which have only the appearance of truth, and which are without foundation; or which if true are not the true reasons for such act. Vattel, liv. 3, c. 3, 32.
Pretexture (n.) A pretext. [Obs.]
Pretibial (a.) (Anat.) Situated in front of the tibia.
Pretor (n.) (Rom. Antiq.) 執政官；長官 A civil officer or magistrate among the ancient Romans.
Note: Originally the pretor was a kind of third consul; but at an early period two pretors were appointed, the first of whom (praetor urbanus) was a kind of mayor or city judge; the other (praetor peregrinus) was a judge of cases in which one or both of the parties were foreigners. Still later, the number of pretors, or judges, was further increased.
Pretor (n.) Hence, a mayor or magistrate. [R.] -- Dryden.
Pretor (n.) An annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic [syn: {praetor}, {pretor}].
Pretorial (a.) Pretorian. -- Burke.
Pretorian (n.) A soldier of the pretorian guard.
Pretorian (a.) 古羅馬行政官的；古羅馬軍事執政官的 Of or pertaining to a pretor or magistrate; judicial; exercised by, or belonging to, a pretor; as, pretorian power or authority.
Pretorian bands or Pretorian guards, or Pretorians (Rom. Hist.), The emperor's bodyguards, instituted by the Emperor Augustus in nine cohorts of 1,000 men each.
Pretorian gate (Rom. Antiq.), That one of the four gates in a camp which lay next the enemy. -- Brande & C.
Pretorian (a.) Of or relating to a Roman praetor; "praetorial powers" [syn: praetorian, praetorial, pretorian, pretorial].
Pretorian (a.) Characteristic of or similar to the corruptible soldiers in the Praetorian Guard with respect to corruption or political venality; "a large Praetorian bureaucracy filled with ambitious...and often sycophantic people makes work and makes trouble" -- Arthur M.Schlesinger Jr. [syn: Praetorian, Pretorian].
Pretorium (n.) The general's tent in a Roman camp; hence, a council of war, because held in the general's tent.
Pretorium (n.) The official residence of a governor of a province; hence, a place; a splendid country seat.
Pretorium (n.) The tent of an ancient Roman general [syn: praetorium, pretorium].
Pretorship (n.) The office or dignity of a pretor. -- J. Warton
Pretorture (v. t.) To torture beforehand. -- Fuller.
Prettily (adv.) In a pretty manner.
Prettily (adv.) In a pretty manner; "all this is most prettily done."
Prettiness (n.) The quality or state of being pretty; -- used sometimes in a disparaging sense.
A style . . . without sententious pretension or antithetical prettiness. -- Jeffrey.
Prettiness (n.) The quality of being appealing in a delicate or graceful way (of a girl or young woman) [syn: prettiness, cuteness].
Pretty (a.) （用於女性，小孩及小物件）漂亮的；秀麗的；可愛的；優美的；悅耳的；令人愉快的；【貶】（指男性）女人氣的 [B] Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a pretty flower; a pretty poem.
This is the prettiest lowborn lass that ever Ran on the greensward. -- Shak.
Pretty (a.) Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune.
Pretty (a.) Affectedly nice; foppish; -- used in an ill sense.
The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world. -- Spectator.
Pretty (a.) Mean; despicable; contemptible; -- used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow.
Pretty (a.) Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant.
[He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome. -- Sir W. Scott.
Syn: Elegant; neat; fine. See {Handsome}.