PITH

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ~a; akin to Middle Dutch & Middle Low German pit ~, pit Date: before 12th century 1. a usually continuous central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of most vascular plants that probably functions chiefly in storage, any of various loose spongy plant tissues that resemble true ~, the soft or spongy interior of a part of the body, 2. the essential part ; core , substantial quality (as of meaning), importance , II. transitive verb Date: 1805 1. to kill (as cattle) by piercing or severing the spinal cord, to destroy the spinal cord or central nervous system of (as a frog) usually by passing a wire or needle up and down the vertebral canal, to remove the ~ from (a plant stem)