4. To bind or engage by promise or declaration; to engage solemnly; as, to pledge one's self.
5. To invite another to drink, by drinking of the cup first, and then handing it to him, as a pledge of good will; hence, to drink the health of; to toast.
Pledge me, my friend, and drink till thou be'st wise.
Cowley.
Pledg*ee" (?), n. The one to whom a pledge is given, or to whom property pledged is delivered.
Pledge"less (?), a. Having no pledge.
{ Pledge*or", Pledg*or" } (?), n. (Law) One who pledges, or delivers anything in pledge; a pledger; -- opposed to pledgee.
This word analogically requires the e after g, but the spelling pledgor is perhaps commoner.
Pledg"er (?), n. One who pledges.
Pledg"er*y (?), n. [Cf. OF. pleigerie.] A pledging; suretyship. [Obs.]
Pledg"et (?), n. [Prov. E., a small plug.] 1. A small plug. [Prov. End.]
2. (Naut.) A string of oakum used in calking.
3. (Med.) A compress, or small flat tent of lint, laid over a wound, ulcer, or the like, to exclude air, retain dressings, or absorb the matter discharged.
||Ple*gep"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. (&?;) a stroke + -poda. In ||allusion to the rapid strokes of the vibrating cilia.] (Zoˆl.) Same ||as Infusoria.
Ple"iad (?), n. One of the Pleiades.
Ple"ia*des (?; 277), n. pl. [L., fr. Gr. (&?;)] 1. (Myth.) The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
2. (Astron.) A group of small stars in the neck of the constellation Taurus. Job xxxviii. 31.
Alcyone, the brightest of these, a star of the third magnitude, was considered by M‰dler the central point around which our universe is revolving, but there is no sufficient evidence of such motion. Only six pleiads are distinctly visible to the naked eye, whence the ancients supposed that a sister had concealed herself out of shame for having loved a mortal, Sisyphus.
Plein (?), a. Plan. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Plein, v. i. & t. To complain. See Plain. [Obs.]
Plein, a. [OF. & F., fr. L. plenus.] Full; complete. [Obs.] "Plein remission." Chaucer. -- Plein"ly, adv.
Plei"o*cene (?), a. (Geol.) See Pliocene.
Plei*oph"yl*lous (?), a. [Gr. &?; more + &?; leaf.] (Bot.) Having several leaves; -- used especially when several leaves or leaflets appear where normally there should be only one.
||Plei`o*sau"rus (?), n. [NL.] (Paleon.) Same as Pliosaurus.
Pleis"to*cene (?), a. [Gr. &?; most + &?; new.] (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the epoch, or the deposits, following the Tertiary, and immediately preceding man. -- n. The Pleistocene epoch, or deposits.
Ple"nal (?), a. [L. plenus full. Cf. Plenary.] Full; complete; as, a plenal view or act. [Obs.]
Ple"na*ri*ly (?), adv. In a plenary manner.
Ple"na*ri*ness, n. Quality or state of being plenary.
The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section P and Q · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.