pith

[pith]

See more synonyms for pith on Thesaurus.com

noun

Botany. the soft, spongy central cylinder of parenchymatous tissue in the stems of dicotyledonous plants.
Zoology. the soft inner part of a feather, a hair, etc.
the important or essential part; essence; core; heart: the pith of the matter.

significant weight; substance; solidity: an argument without pith.
Archaic. spinal cord or bone marrow.
Archaic. strength, force, or vigor; mettle: men of pith.

verb (used with object)

to remove the pith from (plants).
to destroy the spinal cord or brain of.
to slaughter, as cattle, by severing the spinal cord.

Origin of pith

before 900; Middle English; Old English pitha; cognate with Dutch pit. See pit²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pith

vigor, heart, substance, embodiment, meat, gist, importance, essence, soul, crux, fiber, nucleus, significance, strength, force, marrow, pulp, center, medulla, corey

Examples from the Web for pith

Historical Examples of pith

His conversation when he does not fly off at a tangent is full of pith and idea.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
I had the pith of it all, though I saw the true light—but I was not worthy.
The Christian
Hall Caine
It is the pith and marrow of every substance, every relation, and every process.
Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I now send you is, as regards thought or pith, as good as any of them.
Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. II (of II)
Edmund Downey
This too is in the form of dialogue, but the argument of the story is in its pith as follows.
Diderot and the Encyclopdists
John Morley

British Dictionary definitions for pith

pith

noun

the soft fibrous tissue lining the inside of the rind in fruits such as the orange and grapefruit
the essential or important part, point, etc
weight; substance
Also called: medulla botany the central core of unspecialized cells surrounded by conducting tissue in stems
the soft central part of a bone, feather, etc

verb (tr)

to destroy the brain and spinal cord of (a laboratory animal) by piercing or severing
to kill (animals) by severing the spinal cord
to remove the pith from (a plant)

Word Origin for pith

Old English pitha; compare Middle Low German pedik, Middle Dutch pitt (e)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pith

Old English piþa "pith of plants," also "essential part," from West Germanic *pithan- (cf. Middle Dutch pitte, Dutch pit, East Frisian pit), a Low German root of uncertain origin. Figurative sense was in Old English. Pith helmet (1889, earlier pith hat, 1884) so called because it is made from the dried pith of the Bengal spongewood.

"to kill by piercing the spinal cord," 1805, from pith (n.). Related: Pithed; pithing.

pith in Medicine

pith

[pĭth]

The soft inner substance of a hair.
Spinal cord or bone marrow. No longer in technical use.

To sever or destroy the spinal cord of a vertebrate animal, usually by means of a needle inserted into the vertebral canal.

pith in Science

pith

[pĭth]

Noun

The soft, spongy tissue in the center of the stems of most flowering plants, gymnosperms, and ferns. Pith is composed of parenchyma cells. In plants that undergo secondary growth, such as angiosperms, the pith is surrounded by the vascular tissues and is gradually compressed by the inward growth of the vascular tissue known as xylem. In plants with woody stems, the pith dries out and often disintegrates as the plant grows older, leaving the stem hollow. See illustration at xylem.

Verb

To remove the pith from a plant stem.
To sever or destroy the spinal cord of an animal for the purpose of dissecting it, usually by inserting a needle into the spinal canal.