Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter P - Page 73
Plane (a.) To efface or remove.
Plane (v. t.) Figuratively, to make plain or smooth. [R.]
What student came but that you planed her path. -- Tennyson.
Plane-parallel (a.) Having opposite surfaces exactly plane and parallel, as a piece of glass.
Planer (n.) One who, or that which, planes; a planing machine; esp., a machine for planing wood or metals.
Planer (n.) A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even.
Planer tree () A small-leaved North American tree (Planera aquatica) related to the elm, but having a wingless, nutlike fruit.
Planet (n.) (Astron.) 行星 [C] A celestial body which revolves about the sun in an orbit of a moderate degree of eccentricity. It is distinguished from a comet by the absence of a coma, and by having a less eccentric orbit. See Solar system.
Note: The term planet was first used to distinguish those stars which have an apparent motion through the constellations from the fixed stars, which retain their relative places unchanged. The inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, which are nearer to the sun than is the earth; the superior planets are Mars, the asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are farther from the sun than is the earth. Primary planets are those which revolve about the sun; secondary planets, or moons, are those which revolve around the primary planets as satellites, and at the same time revolve with them about the sun.
Planet (n.) A star, as influencing the fate of a men.
There's some ill planet reigns. -- Shak.
Planet gear. (Mach.) See Epicyclic train, under Epicyclic.
Planet wheel, A gear wheel which revolves around the wheel with which it meshes, in an epicyclic train.
Planet (n.) (Astronomy) Any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction [syn: planet, major planet].
Planet (n.) A person who follows or serves another [syn: satellite, planet].
Planet (n.) Any celestial body (other than comets or satellites) that revolves around a star.
Compare: Astronomy
Astronomy (n.) 天文學 [U] Astronomy is the study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, comets, gas, galaxies, gas, dust and other non-Earthly bodies and phenomena. In curriculum for K-4 students, NASA defines astronomy as simple "the study of stars, planets and space." Astronomy and astrology were historically associated, but astrology is not a science and is no longer recognized as having anything to do with astronomy. Below we discuss the history of astronomy and related fields of study, including cosmology.
Historically, astronomy has focused on observations of heavenly bodies. It is a close cousin to astrophysics. Succinctly put, astrophysics involves the study of the physics of astronomy and concentrates on the behavior, properties and motion of objects out there. However, modern astronomy includes many elements of the motions and characteristics of these bodies, and the two terms are often used interchangeably today.
Modern astronomers tend to fall into two fields: the theoretical and the observational.
Compare: Cosmology
Cosmology (n.) (pl. - ies) [Mass noun] 宇宙論 The science of the origin and development of the universe. Modern cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which brings together observational astronomy and particle physics.
Cosmology (n.) [Count noun] An account or theory of the origin of the universe.
Plane table () See under Plane, a.
Planetarium (n.) An orrery. See Orrery.
Planetary (a.) Of or pertaining to the planets; as, planetary inhabitants; planetary motions; planetary year.
Planetary (a.) Consisting of planets; as, a planetary system.
Planetary (a.) Under the dominion or influence of a planet.
Planetary (a.) Caused by planets.
Planetary (a.) Having the nature of a planet; erratic; revolving; wandering.
Planeted (a.) Belonging to planets.
Planetic (a.) Alt. of Planetical.
Planetical (a.) Of or pertaining to planets.
Planetoid (n.) A body resembling a planet; an asteroid.
Planetoid (n.) [ C ] 小行星 An asteroid.
Planetoidal (a.) Pertaining to a planetoid.
Plane tree () Same as 1st Plane.
Planet-stricken (a.) Alt. of Planet-struck.
Planet-struck (a.) Affected by the influence of planets; blasted.
Planetule (n.) A little planet.
Plangency (n.) The quality or state of being plangent; a beating sound.
Plangent (a.) Beating; dashing, as a wave.
Plangent (a.) Beating with a loud or deep sound, as, "the plangent wave."
Plangent (a.) Expressing sadness; plaintive. Plangent derives from the present participle of Latin plangere, to beat, to strike (noisily), especially to strike the breast, head, etc. as a sign of grief.
Plani-
(a.) Alt.
of
Planifolious (a.) Flat-leaved.
Planiform (a.) Having a plane surface; as, a planiform, gliding, or arthrodial articulation.
Planimeter (n.) An instrument for measuring the area of any plane figure, however irregular, by passing a tracer around the bounding line; a platometer.
Planimetric (a.) Alt. of Planimetrical.
Planimetrical (a.) Of or pertaining to planimetry.
Planimetry (n.) The mensuration of plane surfaces; -- distinguished from stereometry, or the mensuration of volumes.
Planing () a. & vb. n. fr. Plane, v. t.
Planipennate (a.) Of or pertaining to Planipennia.
Planipennia (n. pl.) A suborder of Neuroptera, including those that have broad, flat wings, as the ant-lion, lacewing, etc. Called also Planipennes.
Planipetalous (a.) Having flat petals.
Planished (imp. & p. p.) of Planish.
Planishing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Planish.
Planish (v.) To make smooth or plane, as a metallic surface; to condense, toughen, and polish by light blows with a hammer.
Planisher (n.) One who, or that which, planishes.
Planishing () a. & vb. n. from Planish, v. t.
Planisphere (n.) The representation of the circles of the sphere upon a plane; especially, a representation of the celestial sphere upon a plane with adjustable circles, or other appendages, for showing the position of the heavens, the time of rising and setting of stars, etc., for any given date or hour.
Planispheric (a.) Of or pertaining to a planisphere.
Plank (n.) A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. See Board.
Plank (n.) Fig.: That which supports or upholds, as a board does a swimmer.
Plank (n.) One of the separate articles in a declaration of the principles of a party or cause; as, a plank in the national platform.
Planked (imp. & p. p.) of Plank.
Planking (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Plank.
Plank (v. t.) To cover or lay with planks; as, to plank a floor or a ship.
Plank (v. t.) To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash; as, to plank money in a wager.
Plank (v. t.) To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.
Plank (v. t.) To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.
Planking (n.) The act of laying planks; also, planks, collectively; a series of planks in place, as the wooden covering of the frame of a vessel.
Planking (n.) The act of splicing slivers. See Plank, v. t., 4.
Plank-sheer (n.) The course of plank laid horizontally over the timberheads of a vessel's frame.
Planless (a.) Having no plan.
Planner (n.) One who plans; a projector.
Plano- () See Plani-.
Planoblast (n.) Any free-swimming gonophore of a hydroid; a hydroid medusa.
Plano-concave (a.) Plane or flat on one side, and concave on the other; as, a plano-concave lens. See Lens.
Plano-conical (a.) Plane or flat on one side, and conical on the other.
Plano-convex (a.) Plane or flat on one side, and convex on the other; as, a plano-convex lens. See Convex, and Lens.
Plano-horizontal (a.) Having a level horizontal surface or position.
Planometer (n.) An instrument for gauging or testing a plane surface. See Surface gauge, under Surface.
Planometry (n.) The art or process of producing or gauging a plane surface.
Plano-orbicular (a.) Plane or flat on one side, and spherical on the other.
Planorbis (n.) Any fresh-water air-breathing mollusk belonging to Planorbis and other allied genera, having shells of a discoidal form.
Plano-subulate (a.) Smooth and awl-shaped. See Subulate.
Plant (n.) A vegetable; an organized living being, generally without feeling and voluntary motion, and having, when complete, a root, stem, and leaves, though consisting sometimes only of a single leafy expansion, or a series of cellules, or even a single cellule.
Note: Plants are divided by their structure and methods of reproduction into two series, ph[ae]nogamous or flowering plants, which have true flowers and seeds, and cryptogamous or flowerless plants, which have no flowers, and reproduce by minute one-celled spores. In both series are minute and simple forms and others of great size and complexity. As to their mode of nutrition, plants may be considered as self-supporting and dependent. Self-supporting plants always contain chlorophyll, and subsist on air and moisture and the matter dissolved in moisture, and as a general rule they excrete oxygen, and use the carbonic acid to combine with water and form the material for their tissues. Dependent plants comprise all fungi and many flowering plants of a parasitic or saprophytic nature. As a rule, they have no chlorophyll, and subsist mainly or wholly on matter already organized, thus utilizing carbon compounds already existing, and not excreting oxygen. But there are plants which are partly dependent and partly self-supporting. The movements of climbing plants, of some insectivorous plants, of leaves, stamens, or pistils in certain plants, and the ciliary motion of zoospores, etc., may be considered a kind of voluntary motion.
Plant (n.) A bush, or young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff. "A plant of stubborn oak." -- Dryden.
Plant (n.) The sole of the foot. [R.] "Knotty legs and plants of clay." -- B. Jonson.
Plant (n.) (Com.) The whole machinery and apparatus employed in carrying on a trade or mechanical business; also, sometimes including real estate, and whatever represents investment of capital in the means of carrying on a business, but not including material worked upon or finished products; as, the plant of a foundry, a mill, or a railroad.
Plant (n.) A plan; an artifice; a swindle; a trick. [Slang]
It was n't a bad plant, that of mine, on Fikey. -- Dickens.
Plant (n.) (Zool.) An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.
Plant (n.) (Zool.) A young oyster suitable for transplanting. [Local, U.S.]
Plant bug (Zool.), Any one of numerous hemipterous insects which injure the foliage of plants, as Lygus lineolaris, which damages wheat and trees.
Plant cutter (Zool.), A South American passerine bird of the genus Phytotoma, family Phytotomid[ae]. It has a serrated bill with which it cuts off the young shoots and buds of plants, often doing much injury.
Plant louse (Zool.), Any small hemipterous insect which infests plants, especially those of the families Aphid[ae] and Psyllid[ae]; an aphid.
Planted (imp. & p. p.) of Plant.
Planting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Plant.
Plant (v. t.) To put in the ground and cover, as seed for growth; as, to plant maize.
Plant (v. t.) To set in the ground for growth, as a young tree, or a vegetable with roots.
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees. -- Deut. xvi. 21.
Plant (v. t.) To furnish, or fit out, with plants; as, to plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest.
Plant (v. t.) To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.
It engenders choler, planteth anger. -- Shak.
Plant (v. t.) To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish; as, to plant a colony.
Planting of countries like planting of woods. -- Bacon.
Plant (v. t.) To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of; as, to plant Christianity among the heathen.
Plant (v. t.) To set firmly; to fix; to set and direct, or point; as, to plant cannon against a fort; to plant a standard in any place; to plant one's feet on solid ground; to plant one's fist in another's face.
Plant (v. t.) To set up; to install; to instate.
We will plant some other in the throne. -- Shak.
Plant (v. i.) To perform the act of planting.
I have planted; Apollos watered. -- 1 Cor. iii. 6.
Plant (n.) Buildings for carrying on industrial labor; "they built a large plant to manufacture automobiles" [syn: plant, works, industrial plant].
Plant (n.) (Botany) A living organism lacking the power of locomotion [syn: plant, flora, plant life].
Plant (n.) An actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience.
Plant (n.) Something planted secretly for discovery by another; "the police used a plant to trick the thieves"; "he claimed that the evidence against him was a plant."
Plant (v.) Put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground; "Let's plant flowers in the garden" [syn: plant, set].
Plant (v.) Fix or set securely or deeply; "He planted a knee in the back of his opponent"; "The dentist implanted a tooth in the gum" [syn: implant, engraft, embed, imbed, plant].
Plant (v.) Set up or lay the groundwork for; "establish a new department" [syn: establish, found, plant, constitute, institute].
Plant (v.) Place into a river; "plant fish."
Plant (v.) Place something or someone in a certain position in order to secretly observe or deceive; "Plant a spy in Moscow"; "plant bugs in the dissident's apartment."
Plant (v.) Put firmly in the mind; "Plant a thought in the students' minds" [syn: plant, implant].
Plantable (a.) Capable of being planted; fit to be planted.
Plantage (n.) A word used once by Shakespeare to designate plants in general, or anything that is planted.
Plantain (n.) (Bot.) A treelike perennial herb ({Musa paradisiaca) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See Musa.
Plantain (n.) The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked.
Plantain cutter, or Plantain eater (Zool.), Any one of several large African birds of the genus Musophaga, or family Musophagid[ae], especially Musophaga violacea. See Turaco. They are allied to the cuckoos.
Plantain squirrel (Zool.), A Java squirrel ({Sciurus plantani) which feeds upon plantains.
Plantain tree (Bot.), The treelike herb Musa paradisiaca. See def. 1 (above).
Plantain (n.) (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Plantago, but especially the P. major, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers. It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world.
Indian plantain. (Bot.) See under Indian.
Mud plantain, A homely North American aquatic plant ({Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves.
Rattlesnake plantain, An orchidaceous plant ({Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white.
Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort.
Robin's plantain, The Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America.
Water plantain, A plant of the genus Alisma, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. -- Loudon.
Plantain (n.) Any of numerous plants of the genus Plantago; mostly small roadside or dooryard weeds with elliptic leaves and small spikes of very small flowers; seeds of some used medicinally.
Plantain (n.) A banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics [syn: plantain, plantain tree, Musa paradisiaca].
Plantain (n.) Starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics.
Plantal (a.) Belonging to plants; as, plantal life.
Plantar (a.) (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the sole of the foot; as, the plantar arteries.
Plantar (a.) Relating to or occurring on the undersurface of the foot; "plantar warts can be very painful."
Plantation (n.) [C] 農園，大農場；造林地；人造林 The act or practice of planting, or setting in the earth for growth. [R.]
Plantation (n.) The place planted; land brought under cultivation; a piece of ground planted with trees or useful plants; esp., in the United States and West Indies, a large estate appropriated to the production of the more important crops, and cultivated by laborers who live on the estate; as, a cotton plantation; a coffee plantation.
Plantation (n.) An original settlement in a new country; a colony.
While these plantations were forming in Connecticut. -- B. Trumbull.
Plantation (n.) An estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale (especially in tropical areas).
Plantation (n.) A newly established colony (especially in the colonization of North America); "the practice of sending convicted criminals to serve on the Plantations was common in the 17th century."
Plantation (n.) Garden consisting of a small cultivated wood without undergrowth [syn: {grove}, {woodlet}, {orchard}, {plantation}].
Plant-cane (n.) A stalk or shoot of sugar cane of the first growth from the cutting. The growth of the second and following years is of inferior quality, and is called rattoon.
Plant-eating (a.) Eating, or subsisting on, plants; as, a plant-eating beetle.
Plant-eating (a.) (Of animals) Feeding on plants [syn: plant-eating(a), phytophagic, phytophagous, phytophilous].