'Pith' definitions:
Definition of 'pith'
From: WordNet
noun
Soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants
noun
The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" [syn: kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty- gritty]
verb
Remove the pith from (a plant)
Definition of 'Pith'
From: GCIDE
- Pith \Pith\, n. [AS. pi?a; akin to D. pit pith, kernel, LG. peddik. Cf. Pit a kernel.]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (a) (Zool.) The spongy interior substance of a feather. (b) (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength; importance; as, the speech lacked pith. [1913 Webster]
- Enterprises of great pith and moment. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Pith paper. Same as Rice paper, under Rice. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Pith'
From: GCIDE
- Pith \Pith\, v. t. (Physiol.) To destroy the central nervous system of (an animal, as a frog), as by passing a stout wire or needle up and down the vertebral canal. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'pith'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- affective meaning,
- axiom,
- axis,
- backbone,
- bearing,
- bench mark,
- bottom,
- burden,
- butter,
- cardinal point,
- cataplasm,
- center,
- center of action,
- center of gravity,
- centroid,
- centrum,
- chief thing,
- chutzpah,
- climax,
- coloring,
- connotation,
- consequence,
- core,
- cornerstone,
- courage,
- crisis,
- critical point,
- crush,
- crux,
- dead center,
- denotation,
- dental pulp,
- depth,
- distillate,
- distillation,
- drift,
- effect,
- elixir,
- epicenter,
- essence,
- essential,
- essential matter,
- essentiality,
- extension,
- fabric,
- flower,
- focal point,
- focus,
- force,
- fulcrum,
- fundamental,
- gameness,
- gist,
- grammatical meaning,
- gravamen,
- gravity,
- great point,
- grit,
- guts,
- gutsiness,
- guttiness,
- heart,
- heart of oak,
- high point,
- hub,
- hypostasis,
- idea,
- impact,
- implication,
- import,
- importance,
- important thing,
- inner essence,
- intension,
- intestinal fortitude,
- issue,
- kernel,
- keystone,
- landmark,
- lexical meaning,
- literal meaning,
- magnitude,
- main point,
- main thing,
- marrow,
- mash,
- material,
- material point,
- matter,
- meaning,
- meaningfulness,
- meat,
- medium,
- medulla,
- metacenter,
- mettle,
- mettlesomeness,
- middle,
- milestone,
- moment,
- momentousness,
- moxie,
- mush,
- nave,
- navel,
- nerve,
- nub,
- nucleus,
- nuts and bolts,
- omphalos,
- overtone,
- paper pulp,
- paste,
- pertinence,
- pivot,
- plaster,
- pluck,
- pluckiness,
- point,
- porridge,
- postulate,
- poultice,
- practical consequence,
- principle,
- pudding,
- pulp,
- pulp lead,
- pulpwood,
- purport,
- quick,
- quid,
- quiddity,
- quintessence,
- quintessential,
- rag pulp,
- range of meaning,
- real issue,
- real meaning,
- recap,
- recapitulation,
- reference,
- referent,
- relation,
- relevance,
- resume,
- rock bottom,
- root,
- run-through,
- rundown,
- salient point,
- sap,
- sauce,
- scope,
- semantic cluster,
- semantic field,
- sense,
- short,
- significance,
- signification,
- significatum,
- signifie,
- sine qua non,
- smash,
- soul,
- span of meaning,
- spirit,
- sponge,
- spunk,
- spunkiness,
- squash,
- stamina,
- storm center,
- stout heart,
- structural meaning,
- stuff,
- substance,
- substantive point,
- sulfate pulp,
- sulfite pulp,
- sum,
- sum and substance,
- summary,
- summation,
- symbolic meaning,
- tenor,
- the bottom line,
- the nitty-gritty,
- the point,
- thrust,
- totality of associations,
- toughness,
- transferred meaning,
- true grit,
- turning point,
- umbilicus,
- unadorned meaning,
- undertone,
- upshot,
- value,
- virtuality,
- weight,
- weightiness,
- white lead,
- wood pulp