a leguminous plant of the genus Pisum with small white flowers and long green pods containing edible green seeds
<noun.plant>
Pea \Pea\, n. [OF. peis. See {Poise}.] The sliding weight on a steelyard. [Written also {pee}.]
Pea \Pea\, n. (Naut.) See {Peak}, n., 3.
Pea \Pea\, n.; pl. {Peas}or {Pease}. [OE. pese, fr. AS. pisa, or OF. peis, F. pois; both fr. L. pisum; cf. Gr. ?, ?. The final s was misunderstood in English as a plural ending. Cf. {Pease}.] 1. (Bot.) A plant, and its fruit, of the genus {Pisum}, of many varieties, much cultivated for food. It has a papilionaceous flower, and the pericarp is a legume, popularly called a pod.
Note: When a definite number, more than one, is spoken of, the plural form peas is used; as, the pod contained nine peas; but, in a collective sense, the form pease is preferred; as, a bushel of pease; they had pease at dinner. This distinction is not always preserved, the form peas being used in both senses.
2. A name given, especially in the Southern States, to the seed of several leguminous plants (species of {Dolichos}, {Cicer}, {Abrus}, etc.) esp. those having a scar (hilum) of a different color from the rest of the seed.
Note: The name pea is given to many leguminous plants more or less closely related to the common pea. See the Phrases, below.
{Beach pea} (Bot.), a seashore plant, {Lathyrus maritimus}.
{Black-eyed pea}, a West Indian name for {Dolichos sph[ae]rospermus} and its seed.
{Butterfly pea}, the American plant {Clitoria Mariana}, having showy blossoms.
{Chick pea}. See {Chick-pea}.
{Egyptian pea}. Same as {Chick-pea}.
{Everlasting pea}. See under {Everlasting}.
{Glory pea}. See under {Glory}, n.
{Hoary pea}, any plant of the genus {Tephrosia}; goat's rue.
{Issue pea}, {Orris pea}. (Med.) See under {Issue}, and {Orris}.
{Milk pea}. (Bot.) See under {Milk}.
{Pea berry}, a kind of a coffee bean or grain which grows single, and is round or pea-shaped; often used adjectively; as, pea-berry coffee.
{Pea bug}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Pea weevil}.
{Pea coal}, a size of coal smaller than nut coal.
{Pea crab} (Zo["o]l.), any small crab of the genus {Pinnotheres}, living as a commensal in bivalves; esp., the European species ({Pinnotheres pisum}) which lives in the common mussel and the cockle.
{Pea dove} (Zo["o]l.), the American ground dove.
{Pea-flower tribe} (Bot.), a suborder ({Papilionace[ae]}) of leguminous plants having blossoms essentially like that of the pea. --G. Bentham.
{Pea maggot} (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a European moth ({Tortrix pisi}), which is very destructive to peas.
{Pea ore} (Min.), argillaceous oxide of iron, occurring in round grains of a size of a pea; pisolitic ore.
{Pea starch}, the starch or flour of the common pea, which is sometimes used in adulterating wheat flour, pepper, etc.
{Pea tree} (Bot.), the name of several leguminous shrubs of the genus {Caragana}, natives of Siberia and China.
{Pea vine}. (Bot.) (a) Any plant which bears peas. (b) A kind of vetch or tare, common in the United States ({Lathyrus Americana}, and other similar species).
{Pea weevil} (Zo["o]l.), a small weevil ({Bruchus pisi}) which destroys peas by eating out the interior.
{Pigeon pea}. (Bot.) See {Pigeon pea}.
{Sweet pea} (Bot.), the annual plant {Lathyrus odoratus}; also, its many-colored, sweet-scented blossoms.
Peak \Peak\, n. [OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing. Cf. {Pike}.] 1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap. ``Run your beard into a peak.'' --Beau. & Fl.
2. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, esp. when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.
Silent upon a peak in Darien. --Keats.
3. (Naut.) (a) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc. (b) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it. (c) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill. [In the last sense written also {pea} and {pee}.]
{Fore peak}. (Naut.) See under {Fore}.
In Wisconsin, the pea crop has shrunk.
The breeder was Calvin Lamborn, an Idaho horticulturist who won a previous award for a sugar snap pea.
I hope you are doing OK, sweet pea," she wrote. "I know you feel inside how special you are to me.
Her wool melton pea coat from the same collection is featured in the August Vogue (in blue) and Cosmopolitan (in red).
Those uneducated in the art of NASAspeak might think LOX is eaten with bagels, a POD is home to a pea, SMU is a college in Texas and MUM describes a pantomimist.