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Feb 12, 2012
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Dictionary


pith



Pronunciation: (pith), [key]
—n.
1. Bot.the soft, spongy central cylinder of parenchymatous tissue in the stems of dicotyledonous plants.
2. Zool.the soft inner part of a feather, a hair, etc.
3. the important or essential part; essence; core; heart: the pith of the matter.
4. significant weight; substance; solidity: an argument without pith.
5. Archaic.spinal cord or bone marrow.
6. Archaic.strength, force, or vigor; mettle: men of pith.

—v.t.
1. to remove the pith from (plants).
2. to destroy the spinal cord or brain of.
3. to slaughter, as cattle, by severing the spinal cord.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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