pritch (prich)

[An a ibilated form of prick, n.] 1. Any sharp-pointed instrument. Hall i well.-21. Pique; offense taken. The least word uttered awry, the least conceit taken, or pritch , is enough to make suits, and they will be revenged. D. Rogers , Naaman the Syrian, p. 270. pritch (prich), v . t . [An a ibilated form of prick , v .] To pierce or make holes in. Halli well. [Prov. Eng.] Pritchardia (pri-chär'di-ä), n. [NL. (Seeman and Wendland, 1862), named after W.T. Pritch ard, British consul in Fiji.] A genus of palms of the tribe Corypheæ, remarkable among palms for its persistent corolla-tube, from which the lobes fall away. It is characterized by the valvate Pritchardia corolla-lobes and three-angled or three-lobed ovary, attenuated into a robust style. There are 3 or 4 species, natives of the Friendly and the Hawaiian Islands. They are moderate-sized or low palms, the trunk clad above with the sheathing bases of the leaves, and ringed below with their annular scars. They bear large terminal rounded or fan shaped leaves, often whitened below with a mealy dust, cut into shallow and slender two-lobed segments, bearing projecting fibers on their margins. Their flowers are rather large, with a bell-shaped three-toothed calyx, and a tubular corolla bearing three thick, rigid, ovate lobes. The flowers are scattered on the stiff ascending branch lets of a long-stalked spadix, inclosed in a large, thick, and coriaceous spathe, which is tubular below and dusted over with silvery particles. In the Hawaiian Islands the leaves of P. Gau dich audi i afford fans and hats, and its fruit-kernels, called hawane, are eaten unripe. The leaves of P. Pacific a in the Fijis are four feet long by three wide, and make fans and umbrellas, their use being confined to the chiefs. Some authors have proposed to unite with this genus the American palm Washingtonia. pritchel (prichʼel), n. [An a ibilated form of prickle. Cf. pritch.] 1. In farriery, a punch employed for making or enlarging the nail holes in a horseshoe, or for temporary insertion into a nail-hole to form a means of handling the shoe. E. H. Knight.-2. An iron share fixed to a thick staff, used for making holes in the ground. Hall i well. [Prov. Eng.] prithee (priri'ē). [Formerly also prythee, pree- thee; a weakened form of ( I ) pray thee.] A corruption of pray thee; I pray thee. My soules deer Soule, take in good part (I pree - thee ) This pretty Present that I gladly give thee. Sylvester , tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Handy-Crafts. I prithee let me go; I shall do best without thee; I am well. Beau . and Fl ., Phil aster, iv. 3. Prithee, be forgiven, and I prithee forgive me too. Fletcher, Pilgrim, v. 6. My Love, my Life, said I, explain This Change of Humour; pry'thee tell; That falling Tear what does it mean? Prior , The Garland, st. 6. prittlet (prit'l), v . t . [A weakened form of prattle , as in prittle - prattle .] To chatter. Awe man, you prittle and prattle nothing but leasings and untruths. Heywood , Royal King (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, VI. 9). prittle-prattle (prit'l-prat"l), n . [A varied reduplication of prattle .] Empty or idle talk; trifling loquacity. [Colloq.] Cianfrogna [It.], gibrish, pedlars french, roguish language, fustian toong, prittle prattle . Florio . It is plain prittle - prattle , and ought to be valued no more than the shadow of an a . Abp. Bramhall, Church of Eng. Defended (1659), p. 46. [ ( Latham.)