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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. De-trăct'o-ry, a.p. 365Defamatory by denial of desert; derogatory;—commonly with from. Browne.
  2. De-trăct'ress, n.p. 365A female detractor.
  3. De-trĕct', v. t.p. 365To refuse. [Obs.] [Written also detract.] “To detrect the battle.” Holinshed.
  4. Dĕt'ri-ment, n.p. 365That which injures or causes damage; mischief; harm; diminution;—used very generically; as, detriments to property, religion, morals, &c. I can repair that detriment. Milton. 2. A charge made to…
  5. Dĕt'ri-ment, v. t.p. 365To do injury to; to hurt. [Obs.] “Others might be detrimented thereby.” Fuller.
  6. Dĕt'ri-mĕnt'al, a.p. 365Causing detriment; injurious; hurtful. “Rather unseemly . . . than materially detrimental to its strength.” Burke. Syn.—Injurious; hurtful; prejudicial; disadvantageous; mischievous; pernicious.
  7. Dĕt'ri-mĕnt'al-ness, n.p. 365The quality of being detrimental.
  8. De-trī'tal, a.p. 365Pertaining to or consisting of detritus.
  9. De-trī'tion, n.p. 365A wearing off or away.
  10. De-trī'tus, n.p. 365(Geol.) A mass of substances worn off from solid bodies by attrition, and reduced to small portions; as, diluvial detritus. ☞ When the portions are large, the word debris is used.
  11. De-trude', v. t.p. 365To thrust down; to push down with force. The souls of men may . . . be detruded into the bodies of beasts. Locke.
  12. De-trŭn'cāte, v. t.p. 365To shorten by cutting; to cut off; to lop.
  13. Dē'trun-cā'tion, n.p. 365The act of cutting off. 2. (Surg.) Separation of the trunk from the head of the fetus, the latter remaining in the uterus.
  14. De-tru'sion, n.p. 365The act of thrusting or driving down. 2. The slipping of one portion of a substance over another. Forbes.
  15. Dē·tu-mēs'cence, n.p. 365Diminution of swelling. [Obs.] “The circulating wave . . . hath . . . detumescence.” Cudworth.
  16. Dē'tur, n.p. 365A present of books given to a meritorious undergraduate student, as a prize. [Harvard University, U. S.]
  17. De-tūr'bāte, v. t.p. 365To separate from associates. [Obs.] “Deturbating and thrusting out.” Foxe.
  18. Dĕt'ur-bā'tion, n.p. 365The act of deturbating; degradation. [Obs.] Bailey.
  19. De-tūrn', v. t.p. 365To turn away; to divert. [Obs.] Digby.
  20. De-tūr'pāte, v. t.p. 365To defile. [Obs.] Bp. Taylor.
  21. Dĕt′ur·pā′tion, n.p. 365The act of deturpating or corrupting. [Obs.] “Corrections and deturpations, and mistakes of transcribers.” Bp. Taylor.
  22. Deuce, n.p. 365(Gaming.) Two; a card with two spots; a die with two spots.
  23. Deuce, n.p. 365An evil spirit; a demon; the devil. [Written also deuse.] [Low.]
  24. Deu'ced, a.p. 365Devilish; extravagant; excessive; enormous. [Low.]
  25. Deïse, n.p. 365The same as DEUCE.
  26. Deu'sed, a.p. 365The same as DEUCED.
  27. Deu'ter-o-ca-nōn'ic-al, a.p. 365Pertaining to a second canon, or a canon of inferior authority; — said of the Apocrypha.
  28. Deu'ter-ōg'a-mist, n.p. 365One who marries the second time.
  29. Deu'ter-ōg'a-my, n.p. 365A second marriage, after the death of the first husband or wife; — in distinction from bigamy, as defined in the old canon law. See BIGAMY. Goldsmith.
  30. Deu'ter-ŏn'o-my, n.p. 365(Bibl.) The fifth book of the Pentateuch, containing the second giving of the law by Moses.
  31. Deu'ter-o-pa-thy or Deu'ter-op'a-thy, n.p. 365(Med.) A sympathetic affection of any part of the body, as headache from an overloaded stomach.
  32. Deu'ter-ōs'co-py, n.p. 365Second sight. I felt by anticipation the horrors of the Highland seers, whom their gift of deuteroscopy compels to witness things unmeet for mortal eye. H. Scott. 2. That which is seen at a second…
  33. Deūt'hy-drōg'ū-ret or Deū/to-hy-drōg'ū-ret, n.p. 365(Chem.) A compound of two equivalents of hydrogen with one of some other element.
  34. Deu-tōx'ide, n.p. 365(Chem.) A compound of two equivalents of oxygen with one of a base.
  35. De-vāp'o-rā'tion, n.p. 365The change of vapor into water, as in the generation of rain.
  36. De-vāst', v. t.p. 365To lay waste; to plunder; to devastate. [Obs.] Bolingbroke.
  37. Dĕv'as-tāte or De-vās'tāte, v. t.p. 365To lay waste; to ravage; to desolate. Whole countries . . . were devastated. Macaulay. Syn.—To waste; ravage; desolate; destroy; demolish; plunder; pillage.
  38. Dēv'as-tā'tion, n.p. 365The act of devastating, or the state of being devastated. Even now the devastation is begun. And half the business of destruction done. Goldsmith. 2. (Law.) Waste of the goods of the deceased by an…
  39. Dēv'as-tā'vit, n.p. 365(Law.) Waste by an executor or an administrator; mismanagement of the estate and effects of the deceased, in squandering and misapplying the assets. Bouvier.
  40. Dēve, v. i.p. 366To dive; to dip. [Prov. Eng.]
  41. De-vĕl'op, v. t.p. 366To free from a cover or envelope; to disclose or make known; to unfold gradually, as a flower from a bud; hence, to bring through a succession of states or stages, each of which is preparatory to the…
  42. De-vĕl'op, v. i.p. 366To go through a process of natural evolution or outgrowth, by successive changes from a less perfect to a more perfect or a finished state; as, the seed develops into a plant; the mind develops year…
  43. De-vĕl'op-er, n.p. 366One who develops or unfolds.
  44. De-vĕl'op-ment, n.p. 366The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown; the gradual unfolding of a plan or method; the unraveling of a plot; gradual advancement or growth through a series of progressive changes.…
  45. De-vĕl'op-mĕnt'al, a.p. 366Pertaining to the process or method of development; as, the developmental power of a germ. Carpenter.
  46. Dēv'e-nū'stāte, v. t.p. 366To deprive of beauty or grace. [Obs.]
  47. De-vēr'gence or De-vēr'gen-cy, n.p. 366The same as DIVERGENCE.
  48. De-vĕst′, v. t.p. 366[Lat. devestire, to undress, from de and vestire, to dress, from vestis, vest, garment, clothing; O. Fr. devestir, now dévêtir, Pr. devestir, desvestir, It. divestire. 1. To divest. See DIVEST.…
  49. De-vēst', v. i.p. 366(Law.) To be lost or alienated, as a title or an estate.
  50. De-vĕx', a.p. 366Bending down; sloping. [Obs.] Bailey.
  51. De-vēx', n.p. 366A surface sloping downward. [Obs.] “The world's devex.” May.
  52. De-vĕx'i-ty, n.p. 366A bending downward; a sloping; incurvation downward. [Obs.] Davies.
  53. Dē'vi-ant, a.p. 366Deviating. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  54. Dē'vi-āte, v. i.p. 366To go out of one's way; to turn aside from a course or direction; to stray from a path; to err; to wander. There nature deviates, and here wanders will. Pope. Syn.—To swerve; stray; wander; digress…
  55. Dē'vi-ātē, v. t.p. 366To cause to deviate. “To deviate a needle.” J. D. Forbes.
  56. Dē'vi-ā'tion, n.p. 366The act of deviating; a wandering from one's course; variation from a common or prescribed path. 2. The state of having deviated; an act of sin; error. 3. (Com.) The voluntary departure of a ship…
  57. De-vice′, n.p. 366That which is devised, or formed by design; a contrivance; an invention; a stratagem. “Their recent device of demanding benevolences.” Hallam. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. Job v. 12.…
  58. De-vīce'ful, a.p. 366Full of devices; inventive. [Obs.] A carpet, rich, and of deviceful thread. Chapman.
  59. De-vīce'ful-ly, adv.p. 366In a deviceful manner. [Obs.]
  60. Dĕv'il, n.p. 366The evil one, Satan, represented in the Scriptures as the traducer, father of lies, tempter, &c. 2. An evil spirit; a false god. 3. An expletive indicating surprise or expressing emphasis, or…