n. | 1. | A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum. |
| 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 (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper; as, the bell pepper and the jalapeno pepper (both Capsicum annuum) and the habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense); . These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/. |
v. t. | 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; as, to pepper him with buckshot. |
v. i. | 1. | To fire numerous shots (at). |
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