pith
pith Lexical Profile
pith Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The soft, spongy cellular tissue in the center of the stems and branches of many vascular plants, or the white spongy inner lining of the rind of citrus fruits.
"The chef carefully scraped away the bitter white pith from the lemon peel before candying the zest."
The essential, central, or most important part of a matter, idea, or argument; substantial vigor or force of expression.
"In just two paragraphs, the essayist captured the very pith of the constitutional debate."
• verb
To remove the spongy central tissue or white inner lining from (a plant stem or citrus fruit).
"You should thoroughly pith the grapefruit segments if you want a less bitter salad."
To pierce or sever the spinal cord or central nervous system of (an animal, such as a laboratory specimen) so as to immobilize it or render it insensible to pain.
"The physiology manual instructed researchers to pith the specimen prior to examining its reflex arcs."
• Rhymes for pith
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English pitha, meaning the spongy substance in the center of plant stems, derived from a West Germanic root shared with Dutch pit ('kernel' or 'core').