Part 195

Pilot balloon. A small, unmanned balloon sent up to indicate the direction of air currents.

Pilot flag. The flag hoisted at the fore by a vessel desiring a pilot, in the United States the union jack, in Great Britain the British union jack with a white border.

{ Pilot lamp or light }. (Elec.) A small incandescent telltale lamp on a dynamo or battery circuit to show approximately by its brightness the voltage of the current.

Pilot valve. (Hydraulics) A small hand- operated valve to admit liquid to operate a valve difficult to turn by hand.

Pilot wheel. (Mach.) A wheel, usually with radial handles projecting from the rim, for traversing the saddle of a machine tool, esp. an automatic machine tool, by hand.

Pil"pul (?), n. [Aramaic pilpl; cf. Heb. pilpel to spice, to season, dispute violently.] Among the Jews, penetrating investigation, disputation, and drawing of conclusions, esp. in Talmudic study. -- Pil"pul*ist (#), n. -- Pil`pul*is"tic (#), a.

Pi*mien"to (?), n. [Sp.] The Spanish sweet pepper, the fruit of which is used as a vegetable, to stuff olives, etc.

Pim*o"la (?), n. An olive stuffed with a kind of sweet red pepper, or pimiento.

||Pi`ña (?), n. [Sp., orig., pineapple, pine cone.] 1. (a) The pineapple. (b) Piña cloth or the fiber of which it is made.

2. Also Pi"na (pron. also &?;). (Metal.) A cone of silver amalgam prepared for retorting; also, the residuary cone of spongy silver left after the retorting.

Pin`a*ca"te bug (?). [Orig. uncert.] Any of several clumsy, wingless beetles of the genus Eleodes, found in the Pacific States.

Pi`ña cloth (?). [See Piña.] A fine fabric for scarfs, handkerchiefs, embroidery, etc., woven from the fiber obtained from the leaf of the sterile pineapple plant. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a tinge of pale yellow.

Pinch, v. t. To seize by way of theft; to steal; also, to catch; to arrest. [Slang] Robert Barr.

Pine-tree State. Maine; -- a nickname alluding to the pine tree in its coat of arms.

Pin"-fire` (?), a. (Mil.) Having a firing pin to explode the cartridge; as, a pin- fire rifle.

Ping"-pong` (?), n. [Imitative.] 1. An indoor modification of lawn tennis played with small bats, or battledores, and a very light, hollow, celluloid ball, on a large table divided across the middle by a net.

2. A size of photograph a little larger than a postage stamp.

Ping"-pong`, v. i. To play ping- pong.

Pin`gue*fac"tion (?), n. [L. pinguefacere, pinguefactum, to fatten; pinguis fat + facere to make.] (Med.) A making of, or turning into, fat.

Pin*ta"do (?), n. A fish (Scomberomorus regalis) similar to, but larger than, the Spanish mackerel, and having elongated spots, common about Florida and the West Indies.

Pin"to (?), a. [Sp., painted.] Lit., painted; hence, piebald; mottled; pied.

Pin"to, n. Any pied animal; esp., a pied or "painted" horse.

Pintsch gas (?). [After Richard Pintsch, German inventor.] A kind of oil gas extensively used for lighting railroad cars, which carry it in compressed form.

Pi`o*neers'" Day (?). In Utah, a legal holiday, July 24, commemorated the arrival, in 1847, of Brigham Young and his followers at the present site of Salt Lake City.

Pipe line. A line of pipe with pumping machinery and apparatus for conveying liquids, esp. petroleum, between distant points.

Pipe"-line`, v. t. To convey by a pipe line; to furnish with a pipe line or pipe lines.

{ Pi*per"a*zine (?), n. Also - zin }. [Piperidine + azote + -ine.] (Chem.) A crystalline substance, (C2H4NH)2, formed by action of ammonia on ethylene bromide, by reduction of pyrazine, etc. It is a strong base, and is used as a remedy for gout.

Pipe"vine` (?), n. Any climbing species of Aristolochia; esp., the Dutchman's pipe (A. sipho).