Part 178

3. A pole connecting the fore gear and hind gear of a spring carriage; a reach.

Perch, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Perched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Perching.] [F. percher. See Perch a pole.] To alight or settle, as a bird; to sit or roost.

Wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.

Shak.

Perch, v. t. 1. To place or to set on, or as on, a perch.

2. To occupy as a perch. Milton.

Per*chance" (?), adv. [F. par by (L. per) + chance. See Par, and Chance.] By chance; perhaps; peradventure.

Perch"ant (?), n. [F.] A bird tied by the foot, to serve as decoy to other birds by its fluttering.

Perch"er (?), n. [From Perch, v. i.] 1. One who, or that which, perches. J. Burroughs.

2. One of the Insessores.

3. [From Perch a pole.] A Paris candle anciently used in England; also, a large wax candle formerly set upon the altar. [Obs.] Bailey.

Per"che*ron (?), n. [F.] One of a breed of draught horses originating in Perche, an old district of France; -- called also Percheron-Norman.

Per*chlo"rate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of perchloric acid.

Per*chlo"ric (?), a. [Pref. per- + chloric.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HClO4), of chlorine; -- called also hyperchloric.

Per*chlo"ride (?), n. (Chem.) A chloride having a higher proportion of chlorine than any other chloride of the same substance or series.

Per*chro"mic (?), a. [Pref. per- + chromic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a certain one of the highly oxidized compounds of chromium, which has a deep blue color, and is produced by the action of hydrogen peroxide.

Per"ci*form (?), a. [NL., & L. perca a perch + -form.] (Zoˆl.) Pertaining to the Perciformes.

||Per`ci*for"mes (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) An extensive tribe or ||suborder of fishes, including the true perches (PercidÊ); the ||pondfishes (CentrarchidÊ); the sciÊnoids (SciÊnidÊ); the sparoids ||(SparidÊ); the serranoids (SerranidÊ), and some other related ||families.

{ Per*cip"i*ence (?), Per*cip"i*en*cy (?), } n. The faculty, act or power of perceiving; perception. Mrs. Browning.

Per*cip"i*ent (?), a. [L. percipiens, -entis, p. pr. of percipere. See Perceive.] Having the faculty of perception; perceiving; as, a percipient being. Bentley. -- n. One who, or that which, is percipient. Glanvill.

Per*close" (?), n. [OF. parclose an inclosed place; L. per through + claudere, clausum, to shut.] 1. (Eccl. Arch.) Same as Parclose.

2. Conclusion; end. [Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.

Per"coid (?), a. [L. perca a perch + -oid: cf. F. percoÔde.] (Zoˆl.) Belonging to, or resembling, the perches, or family PercidÊ. -- n. Any fish of the genus Perca, or allied genera of the family PercidÊ.

||Per*coi"de*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Perciformes.

Per"co*late (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Percolated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Percolating.] [L. percolatus, p. p. of percolare to percolate; per through + colare to strain.] To cause to pass through fine interstices, as a liquor; to filter; to strain. Sir M. Hale.

Per"co*late, v. i. To pass through fine interstices; to filter; as, water percolates through porous stone.

Per`co*la"tion (?), n. [L. percolatio.] The act or process of percolating, or filtering; filtration; straining. Specifically (Pharm.), the process of exhausting the virtues of a powdered drug by letting a liquid filter slowly through it.

Per"co*la`tor (?), n. One who, or that which, filters. "[Tissues] act as percolators." Henfrey.