Part 198

2. To throw, push, drive heavily, plumply, or suddenly; as, to plunk down a dollar; also, to hit or strike.

3. To be a truant from (school). [Scot.]

Plunk, v. i. [Chiefly Colloq.] 1. To make a quick, hollow, metallic, or harsh sound, as by pulling hard on a taut string and quickly releasing it; of a raven, to croak.

2. To drop or sink down suddenly or heavily; to plump.

3. To play truant, or "hooky". [Scot.]

Plunk, n. 1. Act or sound of plunking. [Colloq.]

2. [Slang] (a) A large sum of money. [Obs.] (b) A dollar. [U. S.]

Plu"vi*o*graph (?), n. [L. pluvia rain + -graph.] A self-registering rain gauge.

Plu`vi*og"ra*phy (?), n. [L. pluvia rain + -graphy.] The branch of meteorology treating of the automatic registration of the precipitation of rain, snow, etc.; also, the graphic presentation of precipitation data.

Plu`vi*om"e*try (?), n. [L. pluvia rain + -metry.] That department of meteorology that treats of the measurement of the precipitation of rain, snow, etc.

Plu"vi*o*scope (?), n. [L. pluvia rain + -scope.] A rain gauge.

Pneu*mat"ic (?), n. A vehicle, as a bicycle, the wheels of which are fitted with pneumatic tires.

{ Pneu*mat"ic, Pneu*mat"ic*al }, a. Adapted for containing compressed air; inflated with air; as, a pneumatic cushion; a pneumatic tire, a tire formed of an annular tube of flexible fabric, as India rubber, suitable for being inflated with air.

Pock"et (?), n. Any hollow place suggestive of a pocket in form or use; specif.: (a) A bin for storing coal, grain, etc. (b) A socket for receiving the foot of a post, stake, etc. (c) A bight on a lee shore.

Pocket veto. The retention by the President of the United States of a bill unsigned so that it does not become a law, in virtue of the following constitutional provision (Const. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 2): "If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law." Also, an analogous retention of a bill by a State governor.

Po"ets' Cor"ner (?). An angle in the south transept of Westminster Abbey, London; -- so called because it contains the tombs of Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden, Ben Jonson, Gray, Tennyson, Browning, and other English poets, and memorials to many buried elsewhere.

Pog`a*mog"gan (?), n. [North Amer. Indian.] An aboriginal weapon consisting of a stone or piece of antler fastened to the end of a slender wooden handle, used by American Indians from the Great Plains to the Mackenzie River.

Point, n. 1. (Med.) A pointed piece of quill or bone covered at one end with vaccine matter; -- called also vaccine point.

2. One of the raised dots used in certain systems of printing and writing for the blind. The first practical system was that devised by Louis Braille in 1829, and still used in Europe (see Braille). Two modifications of this are current in the United States: New York point founded on three bases of equidistant points arranged in two lines (viz., : :: :::), and a later improvement, American Braille, embodying the Braille base (:::) and the New-York-point principle of using the characters of few points for the commonest letters.

3. In technical senses: (a) In various games, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player himself; as: (1) (Lacrosse & Ice Hockey) The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goal keeper; also, the player himself. (2) (Baseball) (pl.) The position of the pitcher and catcher. (b) (Hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run. [Colloq. Oxf. E. D.] (c) (Falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover. (d) Act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.

Point alphabet. An alphabet for the blind with a system of raised points corresponding to letters.

Point appliqué. Lace having a needle-made design applied to a net ground, this ground often being machine- made.

Point switch. (Railroads) A switch made up of a rail from each track, both rails being tapered far back and connected to throw alongside the through rail of either track.

Poison bush. In Australia: (a) Any fabaceous shrub of the genus Gastrolobium, the herbage of which is poisonous to stock; also, any species of several related genera, as Oxylobium, Gompholobium, etc. (b) The plant Myoporum deserti, often distinguished as Ellangowan poison bush or dogwood poison bush. (c) The ulmaceous plant Trema cannabina, which, though not poisonous, is injurious to stock because of its large amount of fiber.

Poison cup. 1. A cup containing poison.

2. A cup that was supposed to break on having poison put into it.

Poker dice. A game played with five dice in which the count is usually made, in order, by pairs, two pairs, three of a kind, full houses, four of a kind, and five of a kind (the highest throw), similar to poker; also, the dice used in this game, esp. when marked with the ace, king, queen, jack, ten, and nine instead of the usual digits.

Police power. (Law) The inherent power of a government to regulate its police affairs. The term police power is not definitely fixed in meaning. In the earlier cases in the United States it was used as including the whole power of internal government, or the powers of government inherent in every sovereignty to the extent of its dominions (11 Peters (U. S.) 102). The later cases have excepted from its domain the development and administration of private law. Modern political science defines the power as a branch of internal administration in the exercise of which the executive should move within the lines of general principles prescribed by the constitution or the legislature, and in the exercise of which the most local governmental organizations should participate as far as possible (Burgess). Under this limitation the police power, as affecting persons, is the power of the state to protect the public against the abuse of individual liberty, that is, to restrain the individual in the exercise of his rights when such exercise becomes a danger to the community. The tendency of judicial and popular usage is towards this narrower definition.