pith

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

Verb Forms: pithed, pithing, piths

• To sever the spinal cord of an animal.
• 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…).

Examples

• She managed to PITH her opponent’s strategy, leaving them without a strong play.
• The pith of my idea is that people should choose their own work hours.
• The pith root of pi is approximately 1.439…

Synonyms

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

Anagrams of pith