| peg | 1. A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening boards together, in attaching the soles of boots or shoes, etc.; as, a shoe peg. 2. A wooden pin, or nail, on which to hang things, as coats, etc. Hence, colloquially and figuratively: A support; a reason; a pretext; as, a peg to hang a claim upon. 3. One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained. 4. One of the pins used for marking points on a cribbage board. 5. A step; a degree; especially. In the slang phrase "To take one down peg." "To screw papal authority to the highest peg." (Barrow) "And took your grandess down a peg." (Hudibras) Peg ladder, a ladder with but one standard, into which cross pieces are inserted. Peg tankard, an ancient tankard marked with pegs, so as divide the liquor into equal portions. "Drink down to your peg." . Peg tooth. See Fleam tooth under Fleam. Peg top, a boy's top which is spun by throwing it. Screw peg, a small screw without a head, for fastening soles. Origin: OE. Pegge; cf. Sw. Pigg, Dan. Pig a point, prickle, and E. Peak. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| peg-and-socket articulation | <anatomy> A form of union or immovable articulation where a hard part is received into the cavity of a bone, as the teeth into the jaws. Origin: NL, fr. Gr, prop, a bolting together, fr. To fasten with bolts or nails, bolt, nail: cf. F. Gomphose. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| peg-and-socket joint | <anatomy> A form of union or immovable articulation where a hard part is received into the cavity of a bone, as the teeth into the jaws. Origin: NL, fr. Gr, prop, a bolting together, fr. To fasten with bolts or nails, bolt, nail: cf. F. Gomphose. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegador | <zoology> A species of remora (Echeneis naucrates). See Remora. Origin: Sp, a sticker. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegasoid | <zoology> Like or pertaining to Pegasus. Origin: Pegasus. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegasus | 1. A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the body of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. On this account he is, in modern times, associated with the Muses, and with ideas of poetic inspiration. "Each spurs his jaded Pegasus apace." (Byron) 2. <astronomy> A northen constellation near the vernal equinoctial point. Its three brightest stars, with the brightest star of Andromeda, form the square of Pegasus. 3. <zoology> A genus of small fishes, having large pectoral fins, and the body covered with hard, bony plates. Several species are known from the East Indies and China. Origin: L, fr. Gr. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegged tooth | A conical tooth whose sides converge from the cervical to the incisal region. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pegmatite | <chemical> Graphic granite. See Granite. More generally, a coarse granite occurring as vein material in other rocks. Origin: From Gr. Something fastened together, in allusion to the quartz and feldspar in graphic granite: cf. F. Pegmatite. See Pegm. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegmatitic | <chemical> Of, pertaining to, or resembling, pegmatite; as, the pegmatic structure of certain rocks resembling graphic granite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pegomancy | Divination by fountains. Origin: Gr. Fountain + -macy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| PEGs | <abbreviation> Polyethylene glycols. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pegtatoid | <chemical> Resembling pegmatite; pegmatic. Origin: Pegmatite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |