pith

Meanings

Plural: piths

Noun

• soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants
• the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
• The soft, spongy substance inside plant parts; specifically, the parenchyma in the centre of the roots and stems of many plants and trees.
• The albedo (“whitish inner portion of the rind”) of a citrus fruit.
• Senses relating to humans and animals.
• The soft tissue inside a human or animal body or one of their organs; specifically, the spongy interior substance of a horn or the shaft of a feather.
• Senses relating to humans and animals.
• Chiefly of animals: the soft tissue inside a spinal cord; the spinal marrow; also, the spinal cord itself.
• Senses relating to humans and animals.
• Synonym of diploe (“the thin layer of soft, spongy, or cancellate tissue between the bone plates which constitute the skull”).
• Senses relating to humans and animals.
• The soft tissue of the brain.
• The soft inner portion of a loaf of bread.
• The central or innermost part of something; the core, the heart.
• The essential or vital part of something; the essence.
• Physical power or strength; force, might.
• A quality of courage and endurance; backbone, mettle, spine.
• The energy, force, or power of speech or writing; specifically, such force or power due to conciseness; punch, punchiness.
• Chiefly in of (great) pith and moment: gravity, importance, substance, weight.
• One divided by pi, that is, 1/π (approximately 0.31831…).

Verb

• remove the pith from (a plant)
• To render insensate or kill (an animal, especially cattle or a laboratory animal) by cutting, piercing, or otherwise destroying the spinal cord.
• To extract the pith from (something or (figurative) someone).

Adj

• The ordinal form of the number pi (π; approximately 3.14159…).

Synonyms

bowels, brass tacks, center, centre, core, crux, deets, details, diploe, drift, essence, gist, gravamen, guts, heart, heart and soul, heartstring, heartstrings, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, medulla, moral of the story, nitty-gritty, nub, nuts and bolts, pith, punctum saliens, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance, sum, tenor

Anagrams of pith