pith paper

2 definitions found

pith paper - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Pith \Pith\, n. [AS. pi?a; akin to D. pit pith, kernel, LG.
     peddik. Cf. Pit a kernel.]
     1. (Bot.) The soft spongy substance in the center of the
        stems of many plants and trees, especially those of the
        dicotyledonous or exogenous classes. It consists of
        cellular tissue.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2.
        (a) (Zool.) The spongy interior substance of a feather.
        (b) (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital
        or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength;
        importance; as, the speech lacked pith.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Enterprises of great pith and moment. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Pith paper. Same as Rice paper, under Rice.
        [1913 Webster]

  Rice \Rice\, n. [F. riz (cf. Pr. ris, It. riso), L. oryza, Gr.
     ???, ???, probably from the Persian; cf. OPers. br[imac]zi,
     akin to Skr. vr[imac]hi; or perh. akin to E. rye. Cf. Rye.]
     (Bot.)
     A well-known cereal grass (Oryza sativa) and its seed. This
     plant is extensively cultivated in warm climates, and the
     grain forms a large portion of the food of the inhabitants.
     In America it grows chiefly on low, moist land, which can be
     overflowed.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Ant rice. (Bot.) See under Ant.
  
     French rice. (Bot.) See Amelcorn.
  
     Indian rice., a tall reedlike water grass (Zizania  aquatica
        ), bearing panicles of a long, slender grain,
        much used for food by North American Indians. It is common
        in shallow water in the Northern States. Called also
        water oat, Canadian wild rice, etc.
  
     Mountain rice, any species of an American genus
        (Oryzopsis) of grasses, somewhat resembling rice.
  
     Rice bunting. (Zool.) Same as Ricebird.
  
     Rice hen (Zool.), the Florida gallinule.
  
     Rice mouse (Zool.), a large dark-colored field mouse
        (Calomys palistris) of the Southern United States.
  
     Rice paper, a kind of thin, delicate paper, brought from
        China, -- used for painting upon, and for the manufacture
        of fancy articles. It is made by cutting the pith of a
        large herb (Fatsia papyrifera, related to the ginseng)
        into one roll or sheet, which is flattened out under
        pressure. Called also pith paper.
  
     Rice troupial (Zool.), the bobolink.
  
     Rice water, a drink for invalids made by boiling a small
        quantity of rice in water.
  
     Rice-water discharge (Med.), a liquid, resembling rice
        water in appearance, which is vomited, and discharged from
        the bowels, in cholera.
  
     Rice weevil (Zool.), a small beetle (Calandra oryzae, or
        Sitophilus oryzae) which destroys rice, wheat, and
        Indian corn by eating out the interior; -- called also
        black weevil.
        [1913 Webster]