פָּסַל (b. h.) 1) to cut, chip, hew, trim. Tanḥ. ʿEḳeb 9 (ref. to Koh. III, 5) עת היה לִפְסוֹל שני וכ׳ the time came to hew other two tablets (in place of the broken). Ib. מתחת כסא הכבוד פְּסָלָּן he hewed them from under the throne of glory. Ab. Zar. 52ᵃ (ref. to Deut. VII, 25) משפְּסָלוֹ נעשה אלוה as soon as a gentile has done chiselling on it, it becomes a deity (an idol forbidden to Jews for any use); ib. פסלו לאלוה לא וכ׳ when the gentile has hewed it for a god, thou shalt not covet it; פסלו מאלוה ולקחת לך when he chips it so as to unfit it as an idol (v. infra), thou mayest take it unto thyself; a. e.—Part. pass. פָּסוּל; f. פְּסוּלָה; pl. פְּסוּלִים, פְּסוּלִין; פְּסוּלוֹת a) chiselled, chipped. Lev. R. s. 22 אבנים פ׳ chipped stones (unfit for the altar); a. e.—b) (cmp. פָּגַם) defective, unfit, disqualified, v. פָּסוּל. —2) (denom. of פָּסוּל) to disqualify, to be the cause of disqualification of; to declare unfit. Ḥull. III, 12 פּוֹסְלִין, v. כָּשֵׁר I. Ab. Zar. l. c. מניין לנכרי שפּוֹסֵל אלוהו how will you prove that a gentile can cancel his deity (by disfiguring it)? Kidd. 70ᵃ אוי לו לפוסל את זרעו ולפוגם וכ׳ woe to him who causes his descendants to be disqualified and his family to be tarnished. Ib. כל הפוסל פסול he who tarnishes (casts suspicion on the purity of a family) is himself tarnished (of spurious descent); במומו פוסל he charges others with his own defect. Ex. R. s. 1 החזירתו … ופ׳ את כלן she (Pharaoh’s daughter) took him (the infant Moses) around to all Egyptian women to give him suck, but he rejected all of them (refused to take their breasts); ולמה פְסָלָן and why did he reject them? Snh. III, 1 זה פוֹסֵל דיינו של זה וכ׳ each has a right to reject the judge chosen by the other; אם היו כשרים … אינו יכול לפוֹסְלָן if they are fit (not legally disqualified) or authorized, he cannot reject them. Ib. זה פוסל עדיו וכ׳ every witness in a case may help by his testimony to disqualify the opposing party’s witnesses. R. Hash. I, 7 קבלו … ופָסְלוּ וכ׳ they accepted as witnesses himself and his son, and rejected his slave. Mikv. II, 4 פּוֹסְלִין את המקוה are sufficient to make the pond unfit for ritual immersion. Ib. VII, 5 לא פְסָלוּהוּ they do not make the blood unfit. Zeb. I, 4 המחשבה פוֹסֶלֶת the improper intention makes the sacrifice unfit. Succ. II, 7, a. e. בית שמאי פוסלין the school of Sh. declares such a Succah to be ritually unfit; a. v. fr.—Trnsf. to cancel, abrogate. B. Kam. 97ᵃ פְּסָלַתּוּ מלכות the government cancelled the coin; פסלתו מדינה the inhabitants of the district refused to pass it.—Gen. R. s. 30, beg. כל מקום שנאמר אלה פ׳ את הראשונים וכ׳ wherever the Biblical text has ‘these’, it is meant to cancel (exclude) the preceding; wherever it has ‘and these’, it is to add to the preceding; Ex. R. s. 1 אלה תולדות … פ׳ וכ׳ ‘these are the origins of heaven and earth’ (Gen. II, 4), this excludes the time of chaos; a. fr.
    Nif. - נִפסַל 1) to be hewn, sculptured. Sifra K’dosh. beg. פסל על שהם נִפְסָלִין idols are named pesel, because they are sculptured; (Yalk. Lev. 604 פסולין). —2) to be disqualified, made unfit, declared unfit. Zeb. I, 4 הזבח נ׳ ארבעה וכ׳ a sacrifice may become unfit by improper actions in four stages, at the slaughtering &c. Pes. 15ᵇ; 45ᵇ הפת … ונִפְסְלָה מלאכול if bread becomes mouldy and unfit for man to eat. Toh. VIII, 6 עד שיִפָּסֵל מאוכל הכלב until it becomes unfit for a dog to eat; Y. Ḥall. IV, 60ᵃ top עד שתִּפְסוֹל. [Men. 100ᵃ, v. פְּסוֹל.] Num. R. s. 6 end לא היו נִפְסָלִים אלא בקול they (the Levites) became unfit for service only when they lost their voice for song. B. Kam. IX, 2 נִפְסְלָה מעל גבי המזבח became unfit for the altar; a. fr.—Trnsf. to be cancelled, abrogated. B. Kam. l. c. מטבע ונ׳ (גזל) if one stole a coin, and it was invalidated (before he made the restitution). Snh. 104ᵇ (expl. סִלָּה, Lam. I, 15) כאדם שאומר לחברו נפסלה מטבע זו as one says to his neighbor, this coin is worthless; v. סָלָא; a. e.
    Pi. - פִּיסֵּל to cut off dry twigs, to trim. Shebi. II, 3 מְפַסְּלִין עד וכ׳ (in the ante-Sabbatical year) you may trim trees up to New Year, v. פִּיסּוּל. Mikv. IX, 7 מְפַסְּלי אילנות trimmers of trees. Y. Sabb. VII, 10ᵃ top; a. e.—Yalk. Deut. 942 מְפַסְּלוֹ במעצד he chips it (the crooked staff) with the adze; Sifré ib. 308 מפתלו (corr. acc.).
    Hif. - הִפְסִיל to find fault, to speak contemptuously. Koh. R. to XI, 9 שהיה מַפְסִיל בנשים וכ׳ who used to find fault with women (considering none good enough for him as wife), and was a profligate.—[Part. pass. מוּפְסָל, v. next w.]