PEAK OF AN ANCHOR. The bill or extremity of the palm, which, as seamen by custom drop the k, is pronounced pea; it is tapered nearly to a point in order to penetrate the bottom.
PEAK PURCHASE. A purchase fitted in cutters to the standing peak-halliards to sway it up taut.
PEARL. A beautiful concretion found in the interior of the shells of many species of mollusca, resulting from the deposit of nacreous substance round some nucleus, mostly of foreign origin. The Meleagrina margaritifera, or pearl oyster of the Indian seas, yields the most numerous and finest specimens.
PECTORAL FINS. The pair situated behind the gills of fishes, corresponding homologically to the fore limbs of quadrupeds and the wings of birds.
PEDESTAL-BLOCKS. Synonymous with [plumber-blocks] (which see).
PEDESTAL-RAIL. A rail about two inches thick, wrought over the foot-space rail, and in which there is a groove to steady the heel of the balusters of the galleries.
PEDRO. An early gun of large calibre for throwing stone-balls.
PEDRO-A-PIED [Pedro-pee]. The balance on one leg in walking a plank as a proof of sobriety. A man placed one foot on a seam and flourished the other before and behind, singing, "How can a man be drunk when he can dance Pedro-pee," at which word he placed the foot precisely before the other on the seam, till he proved at least he had not lost his equilibrium. This was an old custom.
PEECE. An old term for a fortified position.
PEEGAGH. The Manx or Erse term for a large skate.