Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pith"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
2.
(a) (Zo["o]l.) The spongy interior substance of a feather.
(b) (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow.
3. Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital
or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength;
importance; as, the speech lacked pith.
Enterprises of great pith and moment. --Shak.
{Pith paper}. Same as {Rice paper}, under {Rice}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pith \Pith\, v. t. (Physiol.)
To destroy the central nervous system of (an animal, as a
frog), as by passing a stout wire or needle up and down the
vertebral canal.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pith
n 1: soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most
flowering plants
2: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some
idea or experience: "the gist of the prosecutor's
argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party";
"the nub of the story" [syn: {kernel}, {substance}, {core},
{center}, {essence}, {gist}, {heart}, {heart and soul}, {inwardness},
{marrow}, {meat}, {nub}, {sum}, {nitty-gritty}]
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