פַּחַת

פַּחַתc. (b. h.; preced. wds.) 1) cavity, pit.Pl. פְּחָתִים, פְּחָתִין. Sot.21a מתיירא מן הקוצין ומן הפ׳וכ׳ is afraid of the thorns, the pits and the thistles (on the road); a. e. 2) defective spot, breach. Bets.IV, 3 נוטל ממקום הפ׳ he may take out the fruits where they burst through the partition. 3) broken vessel, fragment.Pl. as ab. Tosef.Kel.B. Kam.VII, 15 שולי הפ׳ the sides of fragments of vessels (v. מַחַץ). 4) diminution, depreciation, loss. Y.Ter.IV, 42d bot. שאין הפ׳ והתוספת שוין for the reduction and the addition are not of like proportions, i. e. the difference between 1/40 and 1/50 is not the same as that between 1/50 and 1/60 (v. פָּחַת Pi.). B. Kam.10b לפ׳ נבלה for the eventual depreciation of the carcass during the time intervening between the accident and the decision of the court. Ib. פ׳ נבלה תנאי היא there is a difference of opinion among Tannaim as regards the liability for the depreciation of the carcass. Y. ib. I, 2b bot. ישלם פַּחֲתָהּ he must indemnify the owner for its depreciation, i. e. he must pay the difference between the value of the living and that of the dead animal. Esth. R. to III, 8 שהן מכניסין פ׳ בממונו של עולם they (through their idleness) cause a diminution of the wealth of the world; a. e.