pilcorn, pillcorn

[Eng. pill; -corn.] Bot.: Avena nuda . *pil-crow, s. [See def.] A curious corruption of paragraph (q. v.). pile (1), *pyle (1). s. [Fr. pile =a ball to play with, a pile, from Lat. pila =a ball; Sp. pila; Port. pilha.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. A heap; a ma of things heaped together: as, a pile of wood, a pile of stones, . 2. A regularly formed ma or heap, as of shot or shell, piled in pyramidal or wedge-shaped forms. 3. A heap or ma of combustible materials collected for the burning of a body. "Full bowls of wine, of honey, milk, and blood, Were pour'd upon the pile of burning wood. Dryden: Palamon and Arcite , iii. 989. 4. A large building or edifice; a ma of buildings. "When the new Houses of Parliament are finished they will form a very sumptuous pile indeed."- London Daily Telegraph . 5. A ma , an accumulation. "Such piles of wealth hath he accumulated." Shakesp.: Henry VIII. iii. 2. 6. A sum of money; all that one has. 7. Anything built up or constructed; a construction, a composition. "The intellect can raise, From airy words alone, a pile that ne'er decays." Words worth: Inscriptions; For a Seat. 8. A stack of arms. II. Technically: 1. Electricity: (1) A series of elements thus constituted: First, a disc of copper resting below on a wooden framework, and above in contact with a disc of cloth moistened by acidulated water or brine; above this again a disc of zinc. As frequent a repetition of this series as is desired (the disc of zinc, however, being always the highest) will constitute a more or le tall column like a pile, whence the name. The first having been planned and made by Volta, the appellation generally given is Voltaic pile. (2) Any instrument or mechanism for producing Voltaic electricity, even though it do not take the form of a pile. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pot, IMG:content-1069.png:[blocks in formation] Surg .: An instrument for removing hemorrhoids. pile (2), *pyle (2), s . [A. S. pila stake, from Lat. pila a pillar, a pier, or mole of stone; French pile; Ital. & Sp. pila . There appears to be some confusion with A. S. pil , Lat. pilum a javelin.J I. Ordinary Language: *1. A pillar. 2. In the same sense as II. 1. *3. A sharp stake. "Deep in earth, below, Strong piles, infix'd, stood averse to the foe."