PITH

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does pith mean? 

• PITH (noun)
  The noun PITH has 2 senses:

1. soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants

2. the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

  Familiarity information: PITH used as a noun is rare.

• PITH (verb)
  The verb PITH has 1 sense:

1. remove the pith from (a plant)

  Familiarity information: PITH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PITH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("pith" is a kind of...):

plant tissue (the tissue of a plant)

Meronyms (substance of "pith"):

parenchyma (the primary tissue of higher plants composed of thin-walled cells that remain capable of cell division even when mature; constitutes the greater part of leaves, roots, the pulp of fruits, and the pith of stems)

Derivation:

pith (remove the pith from (a plant))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

center; centre; core; essence; gist; heart; heart and soul; inwardness; kernel; marrow; meat; nitty-gritty; nub; pith; substance; sum

Context example:

the nub of the story

Hypernyms ("pith" is a kind of...):

cognitive content; content; mental object (the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pith"):

bare bones ((plural) the most basic facts or elements)

hypostasis ((metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality)

haecceity; quiddity (the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other)

quintessence (the purest and most concentrated essence of something)

stuff (a critically important or characteristic component)

Derivation:

pithy (concise and full of meaning)

• PITH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pith    ... he / she / it piths   
Past simple: pithed   
Past participle: pithed   
-ing form: pithing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the pith from (a plant)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "pith" is one way to...):

get rid of; remove (dispose of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

pith (soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants)

 Context examples 

That was the pith of the information with which Holmes left the office of the Adelaide-Southampton company.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What was the gallant grace of the Lynns, the languid elegance of Lord Ingram,—even the military distinction of Colonel Dent, contrasted with his look of native pith and genuine power?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Next morning, we had a note from Miss Smith, recounting shortly and accurately the very incidents which I had seen, but the pith of the letter lay in the postscript: I am sure that you will respect my confidence, Mr. Holmes, when I tell you that my place here has become difficult, owing to the fact that my employer has proposed marriage to me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)