pica

Meanings

Plural: picas

Noun

• an eating disorder, frequent in children, in which non-nutritional objects are eaten persistently
• a linear unit (1/6 inch) used in printing
• magpies
• A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
• A magpie.
• A size of type between small pica and English, now standardized as 12-point.
• A font of this size.
• A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially ³⁵⁄₈₃ cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now (computing) ¹⁄₆ in.
• A pie or directory: the book directing Roman Catholic observance of saints' days and other feasts under various calendars.
• Archaic form of pika (“small lagomorph”).

Synonyms

allotriophagy, chthonophagia, cittosis, em, genus Pica, geophagy, pica em, pique