pelletn.¹

Brit.

/ˈpɛlɪt/, U.S.

/ˈpɛlət/

Forms: Middle English pelat, Middle English pelet, Middle English pelett, Middle English pelette, Middle English pellet, Middle English pelot, Middle English pelote, Middle English pelotte, Middle English perelectis (plural, transmission error), Middle English pillette, Middle English pilote, Middle English pilotte, Middle English pylet, Middle English pylett, Middle English pyllette, Middle English pylote, Middle English–1500s pellette, 1500s pellat, 1500s pellete, 1500s pellot, 1500s pellotte, 1500s pellyt, 1500s pillet, 1500s 1700s pellit, 1500s– pellet; Scottish pre-1700 pellat, pre-1700 pellot, pre-1700 pillet, pre-1700 1700s– pellet.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French pelote.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman pelote, pelete, pelotte, pellote, pelot, pelit, etc., and Middle French, French pelote spherical object, ball (early 12th cent. in Old French), ball used in games or sports (c1165), heraldic roundel (c1300), cannonball (1375), pellet regurgitated by a bird of prey (1770) < classical Latin pila ball (see pill n.³) + French -ot (see -ot suffix). Compare post-classical Latin pelota, pilota, peleta spherical missile shot from a crossbow (1221, 1327 in British sources), cannonball (14th cent. in British and continental sources), ball (1268 in a British source, from late 14th cent. in continental sources), Old Occitan pelota, pilota (Occitan peloto), Catalan pilota (12th cent.), and (ultimately < French or Occitan, in sense ‘ball’) Spanish pelota (mid 13th cent. as pellota), Portuguese pelota (13th cent.), Italian pillotta (14th cent.).Compare the following example of post-classical Latin peleta in a British source:c1339 in H. T. Riley Memorials London (1868) 205 Item..sex Instrumenta de latone, vocitata Gonnes..Item, peletæ de plumbo pro eisdem Instrumentis. Attested in surnames from the early 13th cent., although it is uncertain whether these should be taken as reflecting the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word.

a. Originally: a (more or less) spherical missile made of metal or stone, shot from a crossbow, mortar, cannon, etc.; a cannonball. In later use: a bullet, a piece of small shot.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon > from ballista

springalc1330

pellet1372

gunc1385

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > small

pellet1372

die?c1390

hail-shot1485

die-shot1581

dice-shot1588

birdshot1626

key-shot1648

mould shot1675

cartridge-shot1690

small shot1727

drop1753

shot-cornc1792

dust-shot1800

sparrow-hail1859

steel1898

scattershot1961

1372–4 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 479 (MED) [Payments for..the making of powder and] pelottes [of lead for] gunnes.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. v. 61 As pale as a pelet [v.rr. pelat, pelot, palet; c1400 B text v.rr. pelote, pylet], In a palesye he seemede.

c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 3037 (MED) Þay..bendes engynes, Payses in pylotes and proues theire castes.

c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 1643 Thrughout every regioun Wente this foule trumpes soun, As swifte as pelet out of gonne, Whan fyr is in the poudre ronne.

1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes ii. xx. 135 Dyuers other small gonnes castyng pyllettes of leed and comon stones.

1555 R. Eden tr. G. F. de Oviedo y Valdés Summarie Gen. Hist. W. Indies in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 180^v A great and verye rounde pearle..as bygge as a smaule pellet of a stone bowe, and of the weight of .xxvi. carattes.

1584 J. Dee Jrnl. in True & Faithful Relation Spirits (1659) i. 78 An yern, like a pair of tongs; in form of a Mould to cast Pellets in.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 422 To cure a wound made with harquebush-shot... First seeke with an instrument whether the pellet remain within or not.

1673 Siege in W. Davenant Wks. ii. 68/1 These Cannon Pellets will bruise me shrewdly.

1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth V. 137 For these Guns are such pestilent things, To pat a Pellet in ones Brow.

1816 W. Scott Old Mortality iv, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. III. 79 Of a verity the shooting of the foemen doth begin to increase; peradventure, some pellet may attain unto us even here.

1841 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery vii. 251 There are many parts about the body of a bird, wherein a pellet of No. 7 will affect its vitality equal to a pellet of No. 2.

1880 R. Jefferies Greene Ferne Farm 252 The pellets hissing past his ears.

1903 J. London Call of Wild iii. 90 Men..kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets.

1959 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 664/1 The greater the degree of choke the more the concentration of the pellets in the shot-charge during flight.

1984 I. Banks Wasp Factory 30 I..quietly cocked the gun, inspecting the composite steel and nylon pellet before placing it in the chamber and snicking the gun closed.

b. figurative and in figurative contexts.

ΚΠ

1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 637 With a pellit of peuisshenes they had suche a stroke, That all the dayes of ther lyfe shall styck by ther rybbis.

1641 J. Milton Animadversions 34 It will stand long enough against the battry of their paper-pellets.

a1764 R. Lloyd Poet in Poet. Wks. (1774) 185 Around the frequent pellets whistle From Satire, Ode, and pert Epistle.

1862 J. Tyndall Mountaineering in 1861 i. 7 The heavy rain-pellets..rattle with fury against the carriage.

1982 J. Mark Aquarius viii. 128 Viner..watched the sagging clouds, out of which fell leaden pellets of water.

c. An imitation bullet of clay, wood, paper, etc., as used in a toy gun.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > toy weapons > [noun]

poop1489

pellet1553

trunk1553

elder-gun1600

popgun1649

spitter1688

pluff1695

whistling arrowa1718

pea-shooter1782

pea gun1812

detonating ball1814

pea-blower1821

pen-gun1821

pipegun1828

torpedo1831

spring gun1837

putty blower1861

tweaker1862

pluffera1866

bean-shooter1890

putty shooter1896

water pistol1897

stink bomb1915

cap-pistol1920

cap-gun1931

laser gun1961

1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Evj^v To blowe them oute of a trunke as we doe pellets of claye.

c1626 Dick of Devonshire (1955) 455 And my Devonshire blade, honest Dicke Pike, spard not his Sugar pellets among my Spanyards.

1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ xxix. 287 Childrens gunns, to shoot the pellets which they put into them.

1796 G. Colman Iron Chest ii. ii. 42 I look'd The answer would have bolted from his chops, Bounce, like a pellet from a popgun.

1847 A. Smith Christopher Tadpole (1848) xv. 136 Just as one pellet in a pop-gun drives out another.

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. vi. 56 Our rifle-balls reverberated from their hides like cork pellets from a pop-gun target.

1995 Daily Tel. 19 June 5/6 Corporate paintball (where executives used to chase each other through woods firing dye-filled pellets).

a. A small, rounded mass of a substance, esp. compressed for convenience; a lump, a bolus.Formerly used of medicine and foodstuffs, but now more usually referring to substances such as animal feed, pesticide, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > pills, tablets, etc. > [noun] > pill

pellet1381

pilla1400

the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [noun] > sphericity or globularity > sphere > very small sphere or pellet

pellet1381

pillc1450

bullet1578

boulet1605

peloton1716

bolus1782

pilole-

1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 65 Nym wytys of eyryn & knede it wyþ flour, & mak smal pelotys & fry hem.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 5349 (MED) Of pich sche toke him a pelote, The which he scholde into the throte Of Minotaure caste rihte.

?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 453 (MED) And of the stuffure make smale pelettes, and cast in the panne.

c1450 Practica Phisicalia John of Burgundy in H. Schöffler Mittelengl. Medizinlit. (1919) 197 (MED) Take þe powdyr off camfur..and make pelettis and put them in hys nose.

a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 23^v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Pelot(e Yf þu wyll hafe þi hawke to cast hir gorge, take v pelettys of warme flech, And put in ych of hem A whete corne & gyfe hem hir.

a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) v. ii. f. 89 (MED) The greet hevene with the sterres..ne may not enclose with inne it selfe so many smale pelettes of the quantite of a small pese, as this noble ciete may enclosen with inne it selfe of suche wordes as we seen and duelle in.

1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 3 Seth the same together and make pillets thereof the bignesse of a haselnut or filberte.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 539 The little berries or pellets which are within the Pomgranate.

1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. vii. vi. 34 Then I dressed them with little pellets of lint, and covered the excrescences with precipita[t]e.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 238 We are citizens of the universe, inhabitants of the little corner thereof, the dirty pellet where we are now stationed.

1829 R. Southey All for Love ii. 23 As when an electric pellet of light Comes forcibly out at a touch.

1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. iv. iii. 520 The most primitive form of Scottish coinage is evidently the simple gold pellets usually marked with a cross in relief.

1853 A. Soyer Pantropheon 161 The poultry..are made to swallow pellets..composed of two parts of barley flour, and one of maize.

1940 W. H. Auden Another Time 75 Doctor Thomas sat over his dinner..Rolling his bread into pellets.

1984 Gardening from Which? Nov. 9/1 Slugs can also be a problem under the polythene, so it's worth putting down pellets first.

b. spec. A small mass of undigested bones, feathers, etc., regurgitated by a bird, esp. a bird of prey; a cast.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > bird of prey > [noun] > cast

casting1388

pellet1802

quid1834

cast1864

the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Vermes > [noun] > member of (worm) > castings

voiders1681

pellet1802

voiding1880

the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm) > earth thrown up by

pellet1802

1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Owl—White Their food is chiefly mice, which they swallow whole, and..eject the bones and fur in large pellets, which are termed castings.

1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 141 Mice are preferred to birds, the feathers being more untractable than the fur, both in swallowing, and in casting pellets, or quids.

1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 374 These are swallowed mostly whole, and afterwards the bones, feathers, hairs, etc., are ejected in the form of pellets.

1948 Brit. Birds 41 290 I found a secluded coomb..which, judging by the quantity of droppings and pellets below the ledges, had been used as a roosting place by a number of Ravens.

1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 608/2 Pellets are best known in respect of birds-of-prey, but..birds of very widely differing species regularly eject pellets.

1990 D. Kline Great Possessions (1993) i. 36 Since owls cannot digest hair, bones or feathers, these substances are formed into balls called pellets and regurgitated.

c. A rounded dropping of a small animal; esp. a soft, moist dropping expelled by a rabbit or other lagomorph and then swallowed for further digestion.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > substance or secretion and excretion > [noun] > dung

sharnc825

thostc1000

dungOE

dirta1300

croteysa1425

lessesa1425

grotesc1450

pillc1450

fumishing1527

trattles1547

fiants1575

dunging1582

dropping1596

soil1607

soiling1610

stercoration1694

pellet1884

mire1922

pat1937

scat1950

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > excrement of

crotising1598

pellet1884

1884 Cent. Mag. Sept. 675/1 By his side lay a dead leaf, on which were a number of pellets usually found about the haunts of rabbits.

1909 E. T. Seton Life-hist. Northern Animals I. viii. 334 There were no Squirrels about this nesting box..; it was crammed to the roof with dung pellets, a disgusting mass, which left no room for a nest.

1919 ‘W. N. P. Barbellion’ Diary 14 Apr. (1920) 129 Those sand dunes! Their characteristic feature was rabbits' skulls..and the little round dry pellets of rabbits, more numberless than the snail shells.

1972 R. Adams Watership Down l. 405 Under snow they [sc. rabbits] may stay underground for days at a time, feeding only by chewing pellets.

1992 New Yorker 14 Dec. 87/1 Out in the early morning, I see ebony pellets of deer shit glinting with dew, and a few first fracturings of light on filaments of moss.

d. Science. A mass of compressed solid material which collects at the base of a centrifuge tube during centrifugation.

ΚΠ

1937 Science 12 Feb. 181/2 Although about 80 per cent. of the amount of protein..was found in the supernatant liquid, this protein was inactive and all the virus activity was concentrated in the pellets.

1960 A. G. Szent-Györgyi in G. H. Bourne Struct. & Function Muscle II. i. 25 F-actin sediments and forms a pellet within a few hours at 100,000 × g.

1990 T. G. Wreghitt & P. Morgan-Capner ELISA in Clin. Microbiol. Lab. v. 66 The supernatant is discarded and the pellet resuspended in glycine buffer.

3. Heraldry. Originally: a roundel, usually of a colour other than gold or silver. Later: spec. a black roundel representing a cannonball; = ogress n.¹

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > less honourable charge > circular device > of specific tinctures

pelletc1425

plate1466

bezant1486

cake1486

gunstone1486

ogle1486

talent1486

torteau1486

tortlet1486

wastel1486

ogressa1550

golpe1562

guze1562

orange1562

pomeis1562

plat1592

fountain1610

tortey1688

c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. 4716 (MED) Thei rered many a gomfanoun, Baneres brode..With pelotes, daunse, and Cheveroun.

c1460 Bk. Arms in Ancestor (1903) Jan. 238 (MED) [Azure a fret silver and a border gold with] pelettys of gowlys [on the border].

1494 Loutfut MS f. 139, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Al that cumis in ony othir colouris ar pellottis quhat colour that euir thai be of.

1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 81^v Th' Ogresse is the same that we call a Pellet of a gonne.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Northampt. 299 This Sir John bare, for his paternal Coat, Argent on a Bend Gules, three Swans proper, between as many Pellets.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. 61/1 He beareth Argent 3 Ogresses. These are also termed Pellets, and do resemble bullets for Guns, and are often termed Gun-stones, or Bullets.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Pellets, in Heraldry, a Name given those Roundles which are Black; call'd also Ogresses and Gun-stones.

1766 M. A. Porny Elem. Heraldry (1777) Dict. Pellets, the name given to the Black Roundlets, by English Heralds alone.

1864 C. Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. (ed. 3) xv. §15. 203 Lord Latymer charges a pellet upon his silver saltire.

1971 Country Life 27 May 1303/2 A purely secular goblet..its date 1664, its so-far unidentified maker's mark ‘P.D.’ with three pellets above, a cinquefoil below.

1988 T. Woodcock & J. M. Robinson Oxf. Guide Heraldry iv. 66 The classification of charges was an early development in England, as the author of De Heraudrie mentions besauntz, platz, gasteuls (precursor of the torteau), and pelots (for pellets, black roundels also known as gunstones and ogresses).

4. Sport (chiefly North American). A ball.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > ball

ball?c1225

pellet1744

game ball1834

pill1896

1744 ‘J. Love’ Cricket iii. 20 He wav'd his Bat with forceful Swing, And drove the batter'd Pellet o'er the Ring.

1905 Atlanta Constit. 25 Apr. 13/1 If the pellet came within his territory he was able to see it when it dropped to the ground and rolled about.

1931 Nevada State Jrnl. 1 Nov. 6/1 A fumble in the first few minutes of play when they had the pellet on the Lovelock one yard line..cost Reno the game.

1994 Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 16 Oct. w18 Broad, flat links with large greens and infamously erratic winds that wreak havoc on the flight of little dimpled pellets.

5. A circular boss, rounded or flat, found in coins, architectural mouldings, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > decoration specifically in relief > [noun] > bosses and knobs

pommel1345

knop1362

bossa1382

knotc1394

stooth1397

stud1420

bullion1463

torea1572

bossing1583

knurl1608

button1669

tachette1688

knosp1808

nail head1836

pellet1842

1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Pellet, a Gothic architectural ornament, consisting of plain, flat, circular pieces or pellets, arranged along a fascia or band, at equal distances.

1864 J. Evans Coins Anc. Britons iii. 45 When a central pellet is surrounded by a circle of smaller pellets or ovals, I have called it a ‘rosette’ or ‘star of pellets’.

1875 C. D. E. Fortnum Maiolica xv. 168 The shallow bowl..marked at the back with the crossed circle, having a pellet in one of the quarters.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 623/1 Pellet, a term applied to a moulding characterised by a series of spherical protuberances.

1992 N.Y. Times 13 Dec. v. 16/5 Its overall surface of tile is interrupted by clay pellets around balconies, setbacks and projecting pilasters.

Compounds

C1.

pellet ornamentation n.

ΚΠ

1890 Cent. Dict. Pellet ornamentation, ornament by means of small rounded projections or bosses.

pellet system n.

ΚΠ

1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Jan. 7/2 Lieutenant Graydon pins his faith to the absolute safety of the pellet system.

2001 Food Managem. (Nexis) 1 June 40 A pellet system taken out of service in one of the other facilities has since been moved to Queens.

† pellet board n. Scottish Obsolete a bat for hitting a shuttlecock.

ΚΠ

1615 Reg. Privy Seal Scotl. 21 Nov. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (1983) V. at Pellet n.² Tua pellat broidis and tua clekingis thairto.

pellet bomb n. a type of small anti-personnel bomb.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > fragmentation

fragmentation bomb1918

grass cutter1925

parafrag bomb1944

scatter bomb1961

lazy dog1965

cluster bomb1967

pellet bomb1967

mother-bomb1971

nail bomb1971

1967 Science 27 Oct. 441/1 Scientists developed the napalm and phosphorus and pellet bombs with which we wipe out the villages suspected of sheltering the Viet Cong.

2003 New Statesman (Nexis) 17 Feb. Two children writhe on a dirt floor... They have been showered with tiny plastic objects from an American ‘pellet bomb’, the prototype of the cluster bomb.

pellet bow n. a type of bow which shoots clay pellets, used in hunting birds.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > crossbow > types of crossbow

stone-bow1419

pellet bow1581

slurbow1588

prodd1786

hind's foot1869

1581 Will in F. G. Emmison Elizabethan Life (1976) (modernized text) III. 136 Pellet bow.

1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 291 Bowes called hand bowes the dozen xxiiii li., pellett or crosebowes the peice iii li.

1816 Sporting Mag. 48 244 Killing fourteen pheasants with a pellet bow or air gun.

1972 Sci. Amer. Apr. 37/1 Projectiles for use with a ‘pellet bow’, a weapon that children in northern Thailand still use to hunt birds.

pellet mill n. an apparatus for compacting powders into pellets.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering dimensions > [noun] > for pelleting

pelletizer1941

pellet mill1950

pelleter1953

1950 J. H. Perry Chem. Engineers' Handbk. (ed. 3) 1189/1 Pellet mills are designed to agglomerate permeable free-flowing materials into pellet form.

1997 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 355 1420 This process was based on a standard design of a pellet mill.

pellet moulding n. Architecture a moulding ornamented with small hemispherical discs.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > moulding > other mouldings

bowtell1376

crownwork1594

protypum1601

chaplet1623

bandeleta1645

bedding-moulding1664

quadra1664

surbase1678

platband1696

bed-moulding1703

eyebrow1703

square1703

gorge1706

nerve1728

heel1734

quirk-moulding1776

star1781

bead1799

rope moulding1813

zigzag1814

chevron-moulding1815

nebule1823

billet1835

dancette1838

pellet moulding1838

vignette moulding1842

bird's beak moulding1845

beak-head ornament1848

beak-head1849

billet moulding1851

beading1858

bead-work1881

Venetian dentil1892

chevron-work-

1838 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 2) 94 Pellet Moulding, an ornament in Norman architecture.

1859 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. (ed. 4) 174 The most usual ornaments..were,..10. The pellet moulding.

2002 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 20 Apr. 11 The house is entered through a panelled oak front door under the beautiful arched tympanum with chevron and pellet moulding.

pellet powder n. gunpowder compressed in moulds into pellets of defined quantity and form.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > in specific form or state

corn-powder1562

train1587

meal-powder1782

green charge1825

gunpowder cake1839

mill-cake1839

presscake1839

pellet powder1868

prismatic powder1869

pebble powder1870

pebble1872

prismatic1894

1868 Sci. Amer. 19 Aug. 114/2 The Woolwich 12-inch rifled 600-pounder, with 76 pounds of pellet powder, 5,588 foot-tuns, 1,159 feet per second velocity.

1931 C. E. Munroe & J. E. Tiffany Physical Testing Explosives 30 For pellet powders the same proportionate weight of the original wrapper..is used.

1958 Geogr. Rev. 48 531 In order to obtain optimum blasting results, a free-running pellet powder is used to take full advantage of each diameter.

C2. attributive. Designating a weapon which fires pellets, esp. a gun which fires small, plastic balls by means of compressed air, now chiefly in pellet gun. Cf. pellet bow n. at Compounds 1b.

ΚΠ

1924 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 159 333 These people..have the homing instinct strongly developed, hence..the introduction of several foreign items from their old homes in India. Among such we may certainly count the pellet blow-gun.

1968 Times 5 June 6/4 None of those shot appeared seriously hurt and police said the weapon used may have been a pellet gun.

2000 J. Harris Blackberry Wine (2001) xxii. 115 Jay looked into the barrel of Zeth's rifle. It was only an air rifle, his mind repeated, only an air rifle, only a poxy pellet gun.

Derivatives

ˈpellet-like adj.

ΚΠ

1826 Lancet 16 Sept. 797/1 The stools still evacuated with great difficulty, and having the same pellet-like appearance.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. x. 65 All the way home we were battered by this pellet-like rain.

1947 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 74 294 Occasionally the mycelium formed more pellet-like structures which were readily visible to naked eye.

1991 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Apr. 206/1 Cannas (or Indian shot plants, so called from the hard, black, pellet-like seeds) are rarely seen in domestic gardens today.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	pellet
释义	pelletn.¹ Brit. /ˈpɛlɪt/, U.S. /ˈpɛlət/ Forms: Middle English pelat, Middle English pelet, Middle English pelett, Middle English pelette, Middle English pellet, Middle English pelot, Middle English pelote, Middle English pelotte, Middle English perelectis (plural, transmission error), Middle English pillette, Middle English pilote, Middle English pilotte, Middle English pylet, Middle English pylett, Middle English pyllette, Middle English pylote, Middle English–1500s pellette, 1500s pellat, 1500s pellete, 1500s pellot, 1500s pellotte, 1500s pellyt, 1500s pillet, 1500s 1700s pellit, 1500s– pellet; Scottish pre-1700 pellat, pre-1700 pellot, pre-1700 pillet, pre-1700 1700s– pellet. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French pelote. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman pelote, pelete, pelotte, pellote, pelot, pelit, etc., and Middle French, French pelote spherical object, ball (early 12th cent. in Old French), ball used in games or sports (c1165), heraldic roundel (c1300), cannonball (1375), pellet regurgitated by a bird of prey (1770) < classical Latin pila ball (see pill n.³) + French -ot (see -ot suffix). Compare post-classical Latin pelota, pilota, peleta spherical missile shot from a crossbow (1221, 1327 in British sources), cannonball (14th cent. in British and continental sources), ball (1268 in a British source, from late 14th cent. in continental sources), Old Occitan pelota, pilota (Occitan peloto), Catalan pilota (12th cent.), and (ultimately < French or Occitan, in sense ‘ball’) Spanish pelota (mid 13th cent. as pellota), Portuguese pelota (13th cent.), Italian pillotta (14th cent.).Compare the following example of post-classical Latin peleta in a British source:c1339 in H. T. Riley Memorials London (1868) 205 Item..sex Instrumenta de latone, vocitata Gonnes..Item, peletæ de plumbo pro eisdem Instrumentis. Attested in surnames from the early 13th cent., although it is uncertain whether these should be taken as reflecting the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word. 1. a. Originally: a (more or less) spherical missile made of metal or stone, shot from a crossbow, mortar, cannon, etc.; a cannonball. In later use: a bullet, a piece of small shot. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon > from ballista springalc1330 pellet1372 gunc1385 society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > small pellet1372 die?c1390 hail-shot1485 die-shot1581 dice-shot1588 birdshot1626 key-shot1648 mould shot1675 cartridge-shot1690 small shot1727 drop1753 shot-cornc1792 dust-shot1800 sparrow-hail1859 steel1898 scattershot1961 1372–4 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 479 (MED) [Payments for..the making of powder and] pelottes [of lead for] gunnes. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. v. 61 As pale as a pelet [v.rr. pelat, pelot, palet; c1400 B text v.rr. pelote, pylet], In a palesye he seemede. c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 3037 (MED) Þay..bendes engynes, Payses in pylotes and proues theire castes. c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 1643 Thrughout every regioun Wente this foule trumpes soun, As swifte as pelet out of gonne, Whan fyr is in the poudre ronne. 1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes ii. xx. 135 Dyuers other small gonnes castyng pyllettes of leed and comon stones. 1555 R. Eden tr. G. F. de Oviedo y Valdés Summarie Gen. Hist. W. Indies in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 180^v A great and verye rounde pearle..as bygge as a smaule pellet of a stone bowe, and of the weight of .xxvi. carattes. 1584 J. Dee Jrnl. in True & Faithful Relation Spirits (1659) i. 78 An yern, like a pair of tongs; in form of a Mould to cast Pellets in. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 422 To cure a wound made with harquebush-shot... First seeke with an instrument whether the pellet remain within or not. 1673 Siege in W. Davenant Wks. ii. 68/1 These Cannon Pellets will bruise me shrewdly. 1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth V. 137 For these Guns are such pestilent things, To pat a Pellet in ones Brow. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality iv, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. III. 79 Of a verity the shooting of the foemen doth begin to increase; peradventure, some pellet may attain unto us even here. 1841 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery vii. 251 There are many parts about the body of a bird, wherein a pellet of No. 7 will affect its vitality equal to a pellet of No. 2. 1880 R. Jefferies Greene Ferne Farm 252 The pellets hissing past his ears. 1903 J. London Call of Wild iii. 90 Men..kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 664/1 The greater the degree of choke the more the concentration of the pellets in the shot-charge during flight. 1984 I. Banks Wasp Factory 30 I..quietly cocked the gun, inspecting the composite steel and nylon pellet before placing it in the chamber and snicking the gun closed. b. figurative and in figurative contexts. ΚΠ 1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 637 With a pellit of peuisshenes they had suche a stroke, That all the dayes of ther lyfe shall styck by ther rybbis. 1641 J. Milton Animadversions 34 It will stand long enough against the battry of their paper-pellets. a1764 R. Lloyd Poet in Poet. Wks. (1774) 185 Around the frequent pellets whistle From Satire, Ode, and pert Epistle. 1862 J. Tyndall Mountaineering in 1861 i. 7 The heavy rain-pellets..rattle with fury against the carriage. 1982 J. Mark Aquarius viii. 128 Viner..watched the sagging clouds, out of which fell leaden pellets of water. c. An imitation bullet of clay, wood, paper, etc., as used in a toy gun. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > toy weapons > [noun] poop1489 pellet1553 trunk1553 elder-gun1600 popgun1649 spitter1688 pluff1695 whistling arrowa1718 pea-shooter1782 pea gun1812 detonating ball1814 pea-blower1821 pen-gun1821 pipegun1828 torpedo1831 spring gun1837 putty blower1861 tweaker1862 pluffera1866 bean-shooter1890 putty shooter1896 water pistol1897 stink bomb1915 cap-pistol1920 cap-gun1931 laser gun1961 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Evj^v To blowe them oute of a trunke as we doe pellets of claye. c1626 Dick of Devonshire (1955) 455 And my Devonshire blade, honest Dicke Pike, spard not his Sugar pellets among my Spanyards. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ xxix. 287 Childrens gunns, to shoot the pellets which they put into them. 1796 G. Colman Iron Chest ii. ii. 42 I look'd The answer would have bolted from his chops, Bounce, like a pellet from a popgun. 1847 A. Smith Christopher Tadpole (1848) xv. 136 Just as one pellet in a pop-gun drives out another. 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. vi. 56 Our rifle-balls reverberated from their hides like cork pellets from a pop-gun target. 1995 Daily Tel. 19 June 5/6 Corporate paintball (where executives used to chase each other through woods firing dye-filled pellets). 2. a. A small, rounded mass of a substance, esp. compressed for convenience; a lump, a bolus.Formerly used of medicine and foodstuffs, but now more usually referring to substances such as animal feed, pesticide, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > pills, tablets, etc. > [noun] > pill pellet1381 pilla1400 the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [noun] > sphericity or globularity > sphere > very small sphere or pellet pellet1381 pillc1450 bullet1578 boulet1605 peloton1716 bolus1782 pilole- 1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 65 Nym wytys of eyryn & knede it wyþ flour, & mak smal pelotys & fry hem. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 5349 (MED) Of pich sche toke him a pelote, The which he scholde into the throte Of Minotaure caste rihte. ?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 453 (MED) And of the stuffure make smale pelettes, and cast in the panne. c1450 Practica Phisicalia John of Burgundy in H. Schöffler Mittelengl. Medizinlit. (1919) 197 (MED) Take þe powdyr off camfur..and make pelettis and put them in hys nose. a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 23^v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Pelot(e Yf þu wyll hafe þi hawke to cast hir gorge, take v pelettys of warme flech, And put in ych of hem A whete corne & gyfe hem hir. a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) v. ii. f. 89 (MED) The greet hevene with the sterres..ne may not enclose with inne it selfe so many smale pelettes of the quantite of a small pese, as this noble ciete may enclosen with inne it selfe of suche wordes as we seen and duelle in. 1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 3 Seth the same together and make pillets thereof the bignesse of a haselnut or filberte. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 539 The little berries or pellets which are within the Pomgranate. 1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. vii. vi. 34 Then I dressed them with little pellets of lint, and covered the excrescences with precipita[t]e. a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 238 We are citizens of the universe, inhabitants of the little corner thereof, the dirty pellet where we are now stationed. 1829 R. Southey All for Love ii. 23 As when an electric pellet of light Comes forcibly out at a touch. 1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. iv. iii. 520 The most primitive form of Scottish coinage is evidently the simple gold pellets usually marked with a cross in relief. 1853 A. Soyer Pantropheon 161 The poultry..are made to swallow pellets..composed of two parts of barley flour, and one of maize. 1940 W. H. Auden Another Time 75 Doctor Thomas sat over his dinner..Rolling his bread into pellets. 1984 Gardening from Which? Nov. 9/1 Slugs can also be a problem under the polythene, so it's worth putting down pellets first. b. spec. A small mass of undigested bones, feathers, etc., regurgitated by a bird, esp. a bird of prey; a cast. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > bird of prey > [noun] > cast casting1388 pellet1802 quid1834 cast1864 the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Vermes > [noun] > member of (worm) > castings voiders1681 pellet1802 voiding1880 the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm) > earth thrown up by pellet1802 1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Owl—White Their food is chiefly mice, which they swallow whole, and..eject the bones and fur in large pellets, which are termed castings. 1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 141 Mice are preferred to birds, the feathers being more untractable than the fur, both in swallowing, and in casting pellets, or quids. 1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 374 These are swallowed mostly whole, and afterwards the bones, feathers, hairs, etc., are ejected in the form of pellets. 1948 Brit. Birds 41 290 I found a secluded coomb..which, judging by the quantity of droppings and pellets below the ledges, had been used as a roosting place by a number of Ravens. 1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 608/2 Pellets are best known in respect of birds-of-prey, but..birds of very widely differing species regularly eject pellets. 1990 D. Kline Great Possessions (1993) i. 36 Since owls cannot digest hair, bones or feathers, these substances are formed into balls called pellets and regurgitated. c. A rounded dropping of a small animal; esp. a soft, moist dropping expelled by a rabbit or other lagomorph and then swallowed for further digestion. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > substance or secretion and excretion > [noun] > dung sharnc825 thostc1000 dungOE dirta1300 croteysa1425 lessesa1425 grotesc1450 pillc1450 fumishing1527 trattles1547 fiants1575 dunging1582 dropping1596 soil1607 soiling1610 stercoration1694 pellet1884 mire1922 pat1937 scat1950 the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > excrement of crotising1598 pellet1884 1884 Cent. Mag. Sept. 675/1 By his side lay a dead leaf, on which were a number of pellets usually found about the haunts of rabbits. 1909 E. T. Seton Life-hist. Northern Animals I. viii. 334 There were no Squirrels about this nesting box..; it was crammed to the roof with dung pellets, a disgusting mass, which left no room for a nest. 1919 ‘W. N. P. Barbellion’ Diary 14 Apr. (1920) 129 Those sand dunes! Their characteristic feature was rabbits' skulls..and the little round dry pellets of rabbits, more numberless than the snail shells. 1972 R. Adams Watership Down l. 405 Under snow they [sc. rabbits] may stay underground for days at a time, feeding only by chewing pellets. 1992 New Yorker 14 Dec. 87/1 Out in the early morning, I see ebony pellets of deer shit glinting with dew, and a few first fracturings of light on filaments of moss. d. Science. A mass of compressed solid material which collects at the base of a centrifuge tube during centrifugation. ΚΠ 1937 Science 12 Feb. 181/2 Although about 80 per cent. of the amount of protein..was found in the supernatant liquid, this protein was inactive and all the virus activity was concentrated in the pellets. 1960 A. G. Szent-Györgyi in G. H. Bourne Struct. & Function Muscle II. i. 25 F-actin sediments and forms a pellet within a few hours at 100,000 × g. 1990 T. G. Wreghitt & P. Morgan-Capner ELISA in Clin. Microbiol. Lab. v. 66 The supernatant is discarded and the pellet resuspended in glycine buffer. 3. Heraldry. Originally: a roundel, usually of a colour other than gold or silver. Later: spec. a black roundel representing a cannonball; = ogress n.¹ ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > less honourable charge > circular device > of specific tinctures pelletc1425 plate1466 bezant1486 cake1486 gunstone1486 ogle1486 talent1486 torteau1486 tortlet1486 wastel1486 ogressa1550 golpe1562 guze1562 orange1562 pomeis1562 plat1592 fountain1610 tortey1688 c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. 4716 (MED) Thei rered many a gomfanoun, Baneres brode..With pelotes, daunse, and Cheveroun. c1460 Bk. Arms in Ancestor (1903) Jan. 238 (MED) [Azure a fret silver and a border gold with] pelettys of gowlys [on the border]. 1494 Loutfut MS f. 139, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Al that cumis in ony othir colouris ar pellottis quhat colour that euir thai be of. 1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 81^v Th' Ogresse is the same that we call a Pellet of a gonne. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Northampt. 299 This Sir John bare, for his paternal Coat, Argent on a Bend Gules, three Swans proper, between as many Pellets. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. 61/1 He beareth Argent 3 Ogresses. These are also termed Pellets, and do resemble bullets for Guns, and are often termed Gun-stones, or Bullets. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Pellets, in Heraldry, a Name given those Roundles which are Black; call'd also Ogresses and Gun-stones. 1766 M. A. Porny Elem. Heraldry (1777) Dict. Pellets, the name given to the Black Roundlets, by English Heralds alone. 1864 C. Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. (ed. 3) xv. §15. 203 Lord Latymer charges a pellet upon his silver saltire. 1971 Country Life 27 May 1303/2 A purely secular goblet..its date 1664, its so-far unidentified maker's mark ‘P.D.’ with three pellets above, a cinquefoil below. 1988 T. Woodcock & J. M. Robinson Oxf. Guide Heraldry iv. 66 The classification of charges was an early development in England, as the author of De Heraudrie mentions besauntz, platz, gasteuls (precursor of the torteau), and pelots (for pellets, black roundels also known as gunstones and ogresses). 4. Sport (chiefly North American). A ball. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > ball ball?c1225 pellet1744 game ball1834 pill1896 1744 ‘J. Love’ Cricket iii. 20 He wav'd his Bat with forceful Swing, And drove the batter'd Pellet o'er the Ring. 1905 Atlanta Constit. 25 Apr. 13/1 If the pellet came within his territory he was able to see it when it dropped to the ground and rolled about. 1931 Nevada State Jrnl. 1 Nov. 6/1 A fumble in the first few minutes of play when they had the pellet on the Lovelock one yard line..cost Reno the game. 1994 Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 16 Oct. w18 Broad, flat links with large greens and infamously erratic winds that wreak havoc on the flight of little dimpled pellets. 5. A circular boss, rounded or flat, found in coins, architectural mouldings, etc. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > decoration specifically in relief > [noun] > bosses and knobs pommel1345 knop1362 bossa1382 knotc1394 stooth1397 stud1420 bullion1463 torea1572 bossing1583 knurl1608 button1669 tachette1688 knosp1808 nail head1836 pellet1842 1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Pellet, a Gothic architectural ornament, consisting of plain, flat, circular pieces or pellets, arranged along a fascia or band, at equal distances. 1864 J. Evans Coins Anc. Britons iii. 45 When a central pellet is surrounded by a circle of smaller pellets or ovals, I have called it a ‘rosette’ or ‘star of pellets’. 1875 C. D. E. Fortnum Maiolica xv. 168 The shallow bowl..marked at the back with the crossed circle, having a pellet in one of the quarters. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 623/1 Pellet, a term applied to a moulding characterised by a series of spherical protuberances. 1992 N.Y. Times 13 Dec. v. 16/5 Its overall surface of tile is interrupted by clay pellets around balconies, setbacks and projecting pilasters. Compounds C1. a. pellet ornamentation n. ΚΠ 1890 Cent. Dict. Pellet ornamentation, ornament by means of small rounded projections or bosses. pellet system n. ΚΠ 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Jan. 7/2 Lieutenant Graydon pins his faith to the absolute safety of the pellet system. 2001 Food Managem. (Nexis) 1 June 40 A pellet system taken out of service in one of the other facilities has since been moved to Queens. b. † pellet board n. Scottish Obsolete a bat for hitting a shuttlecock. ΚΠ 1615 Reg. Privy Seal Scotl. 21 Nov. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (1983) V. at Pellet n.² Tua pellat broidis and tua clekingis thairto. pellet bomb n. a type of small anti-personnel bomb. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > fragmentation fragmentation bomb1918 grass cutter1925 parafrag bomb1944 scatter bomb1961 lazy dog1965 cluster bomb1967 pellet bomb1967 mother-bomb1971 nail bomb1971 1967 Science 27 Oct. 441/1 Scientists developed the napalm and phosphorus and pellet bombs with which we wipe out the villages suspected of sheltering the Viet Cong. 2003 New Statesman (Nexis) 17 Feb. Two children writhe on a dirt floor... They have been showered with tiny plastic objects from an American ‘pellet bomb’, the prototype of the cluster bomb. pellet bow n. a type of bow which shoots clay pellets, used in hunting birds. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > crossbow > types of crossbow stone-bow1419 pellet bow1581 slurbow1588 prodd1786 hind's foot1869 1581 Will in F. G. Emmison Elizabethan Life (1976) (modernized text) III. 136 Pellet bow. 1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 291 Bowes called hand bowes the dozen xxiiii li., pellett or crosebowes the peice iii li. 1816 Sporting Mag. 48 244 Killing fourteen pheasants with a pellet bow or air gun. 1972 Sci. Amer. Apr. 37/1 Projectiles for use with a ‘pellet bow’, a weapon that children in northern Thailand still use to hunt birds. pellet mill n. an apparatus for compacting powders into pellets. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering dimensions > [noun] > for pelleting pelletizer1941 pellet mill1950 pelleter1953 1950 J. H. Perry Chem. Engineers' Handbk. (ed. 3) 1189/1 Pellet mills are designed to agglomerate permeable free-flowing materials into pellet form. 1997 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 355 1420 This process was based on a standard design of a pellet mill. pellet moulding n. Architecture a moulding ornamented with small hemispherical discs. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > moulding > other mouldings bowtell1376 crownwork1594 protypum1601 chaplet1623 bandeleta1645 bedding-moulding1664 quadra1664 surbase1678 platband1696 bed-moulding1703 eyebrow1703 square1703 gorge1706 nerve1728 heel1734 quirk-moulding1776 star1781 bead1799 rope moulding1813 zigzag1814 chevron-moulding1815 nebule1823 billet1835 dancette1838 pellet moulding1838 vignette moulding1842 bird's beak moulding1845 beak-head ornament1848 beak-head1849 billet moulding1851 beading1858 bead-work1881 Venetian dentil1892 chevron-work- 1838 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 2) 94 Pellet Moulding, an ornament in Norman architecture. 1859 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. (ed. 4) 174 The most usual ornaments..were,..10. The pellet moulding. 2002 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 20 Apr. 11 The house is entered through a panelled oak front door under the beautiful arched tympanum with chevron and pellet moulding. pellet powder n. gunpowder compressed in moulds into pellets of defined quantity and form. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > in specific form or state corn-powder1562 train1587 meal-powder1782 green charge1825 gunpowder cake1839 mill-cake1839 presscake1839 pellet powder1868 prismatic powder1869 pebble powder1870 pebble1872 prismatic1894 1868 Sci. Amer. 19 Aug. 114/2 The Woolwich 12-inch rifled 600-pounder, with 76 pounds of pellet powder, 5,588 foot-tuns, 1,159 feet per second velocity. 1931 C. E. Munroe & J. E. Tiffany Physical Testing Explosives 30 For pellet powders the same proportionate weight of the original wrapper..is used. 1958 Geogr. Rev. 48 531 In order to obtain optimum blasting results, a free-running pellet powder is used to take full advantage of each diameter. C2. attributive. Designating a weapon which fires pellets, esp. a gun which fires small, plastic balls by means of compressed air, now chiefly in pellet gun. Cf. pellet bow n. at Compounds 1b. ΚΠ 1924 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 159 333 These people..have the homing instinct strongly developed, hence..the introduction of several foreign items from their old homes in India. Among such we may certainly count the pellet blow-gun. 1968 Times 5 June 6/4 None of those shot appeared seriously hurt and police said the weapon used may have been a pellet gun. 2000 J. Harris Blackberry Wine (2001) xxii. 115 Jay looked into the barrel of Zeth's rifle. It was only an air rifle, his mind repeated, only an air rifle, only a poxy pellet gun. Derivatives ˈpellet-like adj. ΚΠ 1826 Lancet 16 Sept. 797/1 The stools still evacuated with great difficulty, and having the same pellet-like appearance. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. x. 65 All the way home we were battered by this pellet-like rain. 1947 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 74 294 Occasionally the mycelium formed more pellet-like structures which were readily visible to naked eye. 1991 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Apr. 206/1 Cannas (or Indian shot plants, so called from the hard, black, pellet-like seeds) are rarely seen in domestic gardens today. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pelletn.² Brit. /ˈpɛlᵻt/, U.S. /ˈpɛlət/, Scottish English /ˈpɛlᵻt/ Forms: Middle English pellet, Middle English pilet, Middle English pylet, 1500s pellot; Scottish pre-1700 pallat, pre-1700 pelat, pre-1700 pellit, pre-1700 pellot, pre-1700 1800s– pellet, 1700s pallet, 1700s–1800s pellat. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French pelette. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet skin of a small animal (compare Old French pelete , Old French, Middle French pelete , pelette membrane, pellicle, foreskin (early 13th cent. in Picardy), French regional (Normandy) pelette piece of sheepskin with wool on it, covering clogs or worn inside them) < pel pell n.¹ + -et -et suffix¹. Compare post-classical Latin pelletta, peletta animal pelt, sheepskin (frequently 1270–1380 in British sources), Old Occitan peleta. Now Scottish. 1. Chiefly Scottish. An animal pelt; esp. a sheepskin. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [noun] > a skin or hide hidea900 skin1340 pellet1440 casea1569 spoil1664 felt1708 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 398 Pylet, skyn, pellis (P. cutis). a1500 (?c1440) J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep (Lansd.) 358 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 554 Of sheep al-so comyth pilet [c1475 Harl. pelt; ?1478 Caxton pellet] & eke fell, Gadrid in this lond for a gret marchaundise. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2071 in Poems (1981) 79 Thair sall na pedder..pyke ȝour pellet fra me: I sall off it mak mittenis to my lufis. 1582 in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) III. 156 Tua Flanderis werdouris, with xij pellit coweringis. 1597 in A. Maxwell Hist. Old Dundee (1884) 101 Intoxicate with scouring of pellets. 1607 in A. J. Warden Dundee Burgh Laws (1872) 414 [Any master that] beis fund bying ony plukit pelletis. 1649 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1938) VIII. 200 They sall not lyme, grow nor alme skinnis or pellottis..within the said warke. 1661 in Acts Parl. Scotl. (1820) VII. 253/2 Pellet skines ilk tuo hundred. 1708 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 275 Complaint by the glover trade against John Wood, flesher, for pulling and selling wooll and pallats. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 9 Like some corn-wecht, Or dead yowe's pellat. 1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 61 Sheu tought hid a peety tae kill a sheep whin the pellet wus sae short. 1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 232 Pellet, the skin of a sheep, lacking the wool; a pelt. 1996 M. Flaws & G. Lamb Orkney Dict. 49/1 Pellet, uncured sheepskin. †2. A thin skin or membrane; a pellicle. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily substance > membrane > [noun] rimeOE hameOE skina1398 caul1398 shrine1398 tunicle1398 panniclea1400 pelliculea1400 slougha1400 membrane?a1425 pellicle?a1425 pellet?1440 enfolder1545 kell1545 involucre1578 skinlet1598 striffena1612 swathe1615 veil1639 tunic1661 swath-band1668 involucruma1676 wall1682 panniculus1702 theca1807 tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 590 (MED) Other while an hen wul ha the pippe, A whit pilet [v.r. pellet; L. pellicula] that wul the tonge enrounde. tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) vi. 144 (MED) Oon of hem [sc. the rennet of a kid, a lamb, or a calf] chese, Or that pellet [L. pellicula] that closith eueryhalf The chike or pyiouncrawe, hool either half. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pelletv. Brit. /ˈpɛlɪt/, U.S. /ˈpɛlət/ Inflections: Present participle pelleting, (irregular) pelletting; past tense and past participle pelleted, (irregular) pelletted; Forms: 1500s 1800s– pellet, 1700s pellit. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pellet n.¹ Etymology: < pellet n.¹ With sense 1 compare pelleted adj. 1. transitive. To form or shape into pellets; spec. (a) to coat (plant seed) with soluble nutritive and protective substances; (b) to concentrate (a substance) into a pellet by centrifugation.In quot. 1609: to send or supply in the form of pellets. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > make into curved three-dimensional shape [verb (transitive)] > make spherical or globular > form into small spheres or pellets impearlc1595 pellet1609 pelletize1952 1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K^v Laundring the silken figures in the brine, That seasoned woe had pelleted in teares. 1936 L. M. T. Bell Making & Moulding of Plastics xi. 185 For convenience and ease in the handling of the powdered compounds.., the compounds are frequently pelleted cold prior to moulding. 1944 Sugar Beet Jrnl. Jan. 41 A process of ‘pelleting’ sugar beet seed segments..has been developed. The new process coats the rough segments with a water-soluble layer of beneficial and inert material, making the seed pieces smooth, spherical, and about the size of small seed peas. 1949 Chem. Abstr. 43 2154 The app[aratus] is particularly adapted to pelletting Pb alloys into uniform fine shot. 1973 Daily Tel. 30 June 8/5 (advt.) Seed pelleter with sufficient Seedex Plant Food Compound to pellet hundreds of seeds. 1990 EMBO Jrnl. 9 2382/2 After termination of transport by transfer to ice, the membranes were pelleted by a brief (30 s) centrifugation. 2. transitive. To hit with pellets, small shot, etc. Also: to strike as a pellet or pellets. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > assail with missiles [verb (transitive)] > of missile: hit > hit with missile > repeatedly > with small missiles bepepper1612 pepper1612 pellet1709 1709 T. D'Urfey Mod. Prophets Pref. sig. A4^v He will be in great danger of hanging down his Dogmatical Head; and being pellited by some of his Brethren, blush for defect in writing as well as my self. 1744 Fair Adulteress 133 The fatal Present oft she view'd,..And pelleted the Silk with Tears. 1870 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Nov. 7 A newspaper correspondent, who, treating himself to a battue in the Emperor's preserves, delivered an erratic charge and pelleted a beater's finger. 1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors III. viii. 160 The English kick at the insolence, when they are not in the mood for pelleting themselves. 1991 P. Grescoe Flesh Wound xii. 109 Today, the stubborn last teardrops of rain were pelleting the windshield just often enough to give my tired wipers a workout they didn't need. Derivatives ˈpelleting n. and adj. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [adjective] > spherical or globular > very small sphere or pellet > forming pelletizing1935 pelleting1936 the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [noun] > sphericity or globularity > sphere > very small sphere or pellet > formation of pelletizing1935 pelleting1936 pelletization1949 1936 L. M. T. Bell Making & Moulding of Plastics xi. 185 Figure 36 shows a crank pelleting machine..with the powder hopper removed. 1944 Business Week 26 Aug. 52/2 Western companies still regard the process as experimental, one question being whether the pelleting material, which easily melts from around the seed in damp midwestern soils, and thus permits emergence of the seedling, may not have more restraint in the dry western soils. 1995 McGill Jrnl. Med. Spring 25/1 As sedimentation occurs on sucrose interfaces, harsh pelleting of subcellular fractions against the tube wall is avoided. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹1372n.²1440v.1609
随便看	disequip disert disertitude disertly disespouse disestablish disestablished disestablisher disestablishes disestablishing disestablishment disestablishmentarian disestablishmentarianism disestablishmentarians disestablishments disesteem disesteemed disesteemer disesteemeress disesteeming disesteems disestimation disestimations diseuse diseuses

pelletn.1

Compounds

Derivatives

pelletn.2

pelletv.

Derivatives

pelletn.¹

pelletn.²