DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Pith n.
 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) Zool. 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.

 Rice n.  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.
 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.
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