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(), n.[OE. peper, AS. pipor, L. piper, fr. Gr. , , akin to Skr. pippala, pippali.] 1. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum. Common, or black, pepper is made from the whole berry, dried just before maturity; white pepper is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has been removed by maceration and friction. It has less of the peculiar properties of the plant than the black pepper. Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative stimulant. 2. (Bot.) The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth. 3. Any plant of the genus Capsicum, and its fruit; red pepper; as, the bell pepper. The term pepper has been extended to various other fru Pep"per v. t.[imp. & p. p.Peppered (); p. pr. & vb. n.Peppering.] 1. To sprinkle or season with pepper. 2. Figuratively: To shower shot or other missiles, or blows, upon; to pelt; to fill with shot, or cover with bruises or wounds. "I have peppered two of them." "I am peppered, I warrant, for this world." Shak. Pep"per v. i.To fire numerous shots (at). スポンサード リンク
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