prat (1)

[Etym. doubtful.] The buttock. prăt (2), s. [A. S. præt, prætt; Icel. prettr =a trick; pretta = to trick.] (PRETTY.] A trick. ( Scotch.) prāte, v . i . & t . [O. Sw. prat a =to talk: Danish prate to talk; Dan. & Sw. prat =talk, tattle; Low Ger. praten to prate, praat =tattle; Icel. prat a = to talk. Probably of imitative origin; cf. German pra eln to croak; Eng. prattle .] A. In trans.: To prattle, to chatter; to talk much and without purpose or reason; to be loquacious; to babble. "What, do you prate of service?" Shakesp.: Coriolanus , iii. 3. B. Trans.: To utter without thought or foolishly; to babble. "The nece ity for his giving up prating proverbs."London Daily Telegraph. marine, gō, pot, IMG:content-1435.png:[blocks in formation] Ornith.: A name first applied to Glareola prat in cola, and afterward extended to the other species of the genus. The Pratincoles are small, slenderly-built, delicately-colored birds, with short, stout bill, wide gape, long pointed wings, and tail more Pratincole. or le forked. Eight or nine species have been described, from the south of Europe, Africa, India, China, and Australia. Like Plovers, they run very swiftly, and nidificate on the ground, but they feed, in part, on the wing. The young are clothed in down, and are able to run on emerging from the shell. prāt-ing, pr.par . or a. [PRATE, v.] prāt-Ing-lý, adv . [Eng. prating ; -ly.] In a prating manner; with idle or foolish talk. pra-tique, *prăt-tique (que as k), s . Ital. prattica : Sp. pratica .] [PRACTICE.] [Fr., 1. Comm.: Liberty or license of converse or com. muni cation between a ship and the port at which it arrives; hence, a license or permi ion to hold intercourse and trade with a port, after having undergone quarantine, or upon a certificate that the place from which the ve el has arrived is free from any infectious disease. The term is used espe cially in the south of Europe with reference to ve els arriving from infected ports, and subjected to quarantine. *2. Practice, habits. *prăt-tic, s . [PRATIQUE.)