Deedful Deed"ful adjective Full of deeds or exploits; active; stirring. [ R.] "A deedful life." Tennyson.

Deedless Deed"less adjective Not performing, or not having performed, deeds or exploits; inactive.

Deedless in his tongue.

Shak.

Deedy Deed"y adjective Industrious; active. [ R.] Cowper.

Deem Deem (dēm) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deemed (dēmd); present participle & verbal noun Deeming .] [ Middle English demen to judge, condemn, Anglo-Saxon dēman , from dōm doom; akin to OFries. dēma , Old Saxon adōmian , Dutch doemen , Old High German tuommen , Icelandic dæma , Swedish dömma , Danish dömme , Goth. dōmjan . See Doom , noun , and confer Doom , v. ] 1. To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [ Obsolete]

Claudius . . . Was demed for to hang upon a tree.

Chaucer.

2. To account; to esteem; to think; to judge; to hold in opinion; to regard.

For never can I deem him less him less than god.

Dryden.

Deem Deem intransitive verb 1. To be of opinion; to think; to estimate; to opine; to suppose.

And deemest thou as those who pore,
With aged eyes, short way before?

Emerson.

2. To pass judgment. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Deem Deem noun Opinion; judgment. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Deemster Deem"ster (dēm"stẽr) noun [ Deem + -ster ; i. e., doomster. Confer Dempster .] A judge in the Isle of Man who decides controversies without process. Cowell.

Deep Deep (dēp) adjective [ Compar. Deeper ; superl. Deepest .] [ Middle English dep , deop , Anglo-Saxon deóp ; akin to Dutch diep , German tief , Icelandic djūpr , Swedish diup , Danish dyb , Goth. diups ; from the root of English dip , dive . See Dip , Dive .] 1. Extending far below the surface; of great perpendicular dimension (measured from the surface downward, and distinguished from high , which is measured upward); far to the bottom; having a certain depth; as, a deep sea.

The water where the brook is deep .

Shak.

2. Extending far back from the front or outer part; of great horizontal dimension (measured backward from the front or nearer part, mouth, etc.); as, a deep cave or recess or wound; a gallery ten seats deep ; a company of soldiers six files deep .

Shadowing squadrons deep .

Milton.

Safely in harbor
Is the king's ship in the deep nook.

Shak.

3. Low in situation; lying far below the general surface; as, a deep valley.

4. Hard to penetrate or comprehend; profound; -- opposed to shallow or superficial ; intricate; mysterious; not obvious; obscure; as, a deep subject or plot.

Speculations high or deep .

Milton.

A question deep almost as the mystery of life.

De Quincey.

O Lord, . . . thy thoughts are very deep .

Ps. xcii. 5.

5. Of penetrating or far-reaching intellect; not superficial; thoroughly skilled; sagacious; cunning.

Deep clerks she dumbs.

Shak.

6. Profound; thorough; complete; unmixed; intense; heavy; heartfelt; as, deep distress; deep melancholy; deep horror. " Deep despair." Milton. " Deep silence." Milton. " Deep sleep." Gen. ii. 21. " Deeper darkness." >Hoole. "Their deep poverty." 2 Cor. viii. 2.

An attitude of deep respect.

Motley.

7. Strongly colored; dark; intense; not light or thin; as, deep blue or crimson.

8. Of low tone; full-toned; not high or sharp; grave; heavy. "The deep thunder." Byron.

The bass of heaven's deep organ.

Milton.

9. Muddy; boggy; sandy; -- said of roads. Chaucer.

The ways in that vale were very deep .

Clarendon.

A deep line of operations (Military) , a long line. -- Deep mourning (Costume) , mourning complete and strongly marked, the garments being not only all black, but also composed of lusterless materials and of such fashion as is identified with mourning garments.

Deep Deep adverb To a great depth; with depth; far down; profoundly; deeply.

Deep -versed in books, and shallow in himself.

Milton.

Drink deep , or taste not the Pierian spring.

Pope.

» Deep , in its usual adverbial senses, is often prefixed to an adjective; as, deep -chested, deep -cut, deep -seated, deep -toned, deep -voiced, " deep -uddered kine."

Deep Deep noun 1. That which is deep, especially deep water, as the sea or ocean; an abyss; a great depth.

Courage from the deeps of knowledge springs.

Cowley.

The hollow deep of hell resounded.

Milton.

Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps resound.

Pope.

2. That which is profound, not easily fathomed, or incomprehensible; a moral or spiritual depth or abyss.

Thy judgments are a great deep .

Ps. xxxvi. 6.

Deep of night , the most quiet or profound part of night; dead of night.

The deep of night is crept upon our talk.

Shak.

Deep-fet Deep"-fet` adjective Deeply fetched or drawn. [ Obsolete] " Deep-fet groans." Shak.

Deep-laid Deep"-laid` adjective Laid deeply; formed with cunning and sagacity; as, deep-laid plans.

Deep-mouthed Deep"-mouthed` adjective Having a loud and sonorous voice. " Deep-mouthed dogs." Dryden.

Deep-read Deep"-read` adjective Profoundly book- learned. "Great writers and deep-read men." L'Estrange.

Deep-sea Deep"-sea` adjective Of or pertaining to the deeper parts of the sea; as, a deep-sea line ( i. e. , a line to take soundings at a great depth); deep- sea lead; deep-sea soundings, explorations, etc.

Deep-waisted Deep"-waist`ed adjective (Nautical) Having a deep waist, as when, in a ship, the poop and forecastle are much elevated above the deck.

Deepen Deep"en transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deepened ; present participle & verbal noun Deepening .] 1. To make deep or deeper; to increase the depth of; to sink lower; as, to deepen a well or a channel.

It would . . . deepen the bed of the Tiber.

Addison.

2. To make darker or more intense; to darken; as, the event deepened the prevailing gloom.

You must deepen your colors.

Peacham.

3. To make more poignant or affecting; to increase in degree; as, to deepen grief or sorrow.

4. To make more grave or low in tone; as, to deepen the tones of an organ.

Deepens the murmur of the falling floods.

Pope.

Deepen Deep"en intransitive verb To become deeper; as, the water deepens at every cast of the lead; the plot deepens .

His blood-red tresses deepening in the sun.

Byron.

Deeply Deep"ly adverb 1. At or to a great depth; far below the surface; as, to sink deeply .

2. Profoundly; thoroughly; not superficially; in a high degree; intensely; as, deeply skilled in ethics.

He had deeply offended both his nobles and people.

Bacon.

He sighed deeply in his spirit.

Mark viii. 12.

3. Very; with a tendency to darkness of color.

The deeply red juice of buckthorn berries.

Boyle.

4. Gravely; with low or deep tone; as, a deeply toned instrument.

5. With profound skill; with art or intricacy; as, a deeply laid plot or intrigue.

Deepness Deep"ness noun 1. The state or quality of being deep, profound, mysterious, secretive, etc.; depth; profundity; -- opposed to shallowness .

Because they had no deepness of earth.

Matt. xiii. 5.

2. Craft; insidiousness. [ R.] J. Gregory.

Deer Deer (dēr) noun sing. & plural [ Middle English der , deor , animal, wild animal, Anglo-Saxon deór ; akin to Dutch dier , OFries. diar , German thier , tier , Icelandic dȳr , Danish dyr , Swedish djur , Goth. dius ; of unknown origin. √71.] 1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Mice and rats, and such small deer .

Shak.

The camel, that great deer .

Lindisfarne MS.

2. (Zoology) A ruminant of the genus Cervus , of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ . The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison .

» The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus , called also stag or red deer ; the fallow deer is C. dama ; the common American deer is C. Virginianus ; the blacktailed deer of Western North America is C. Columbianus ; and the mule deer of the same region is C. macrotis . See Axis , Fallow deer , Mule deer , Reindeer .

» Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, deer killer, deer slayer, deer slaying, deer hunting, deer stealing, deer like, etc.

Deer mouse (Zoology) , the white- footed mouse ( Hesperomys leucopus ) of America. -- Small deer , petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find leisure for the chase of such small deer ." G. P. Marsh.

Deer-neck Deer"-neck` noun A deerlike, or thin, ill-formed neck, as of a horse.

Deer's-tongue Deer's"-tongue` noun (Botany) A plant ( Liatris odoratissima ) whose fleshy leaves give out a fragrance compared to vanilla. Wood.

Deerberry Deer"ber`ry noun (Botany) A shrub of the blueberry group ( Vaccinium stamineum ); also, its bitter, greenish white berry; -- called also squaw huckleberry .

Deergrass Deer"grass` noun (Botany) An American genus ( Rhexia ) of perennial herbs, with opposite leaves, and showy flowers (usually bright purple), with four petals and eight stamens, -- the only genus of the order Melastomaceæ inhabiting a temperate clime.

Deerhound Deer"hound` noun (Zoology) One of a large and fleet breed of hounds used in hunting deer; a staghound.

Deerlet Deer"let noun [ Deer + - let .] (Zoology) A chevrotain. See Kanchil , and Napu .

Deerskin Deer"skin` noun The skin of a deer, or the leather which is made from it. Hakluyt. Longfellow.

Deerstalker Deer"stalk`er noun One who practices deerstalking.

Deerstalker Deer"stalk`er noun A close- fitting hat, with a low crown, such as is worn in deerstalking; also, any stiff, round hat. [ Eng.]

Deerstalking Deer"stalk`ing noun The hunting of deer on foot, by stealing upon them unawares.

Dees Dees noun plural Dice. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Dees Dees noun A dais. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Deesis De·e"sis (de*ē"sĭs) noun [ New Latin , from Greek de`hsis supplication.] (Rhet.) An invocation of, or address to, the Supreme Being.

Deess De"ess (de"ĕs) noun [ French déesse , fem. of dieu god.] A goddess. [ Obsolete] Croft.

Deev Deev noun (Hind. & Pers. Myth.) See Dev .

Defœdation Def`œ·da"tion noun Defedation. [ Obsolete]

Deface De·face" (de*fās") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Defaced (-fāst"); present participle & verbal noun Defacing .] [ Middle English defacen to disfigure, efface, Old French desfacier ; Latin dis- + facies face. See Face , and confer Efface .] 1. To destroy or mar the face or external appearance of; to disfigure; to injure, spoil, or mar, by effacing or obliterating important features or portions of; as, to deface a monument; to deface an edifice; to deface writing; to deface a note, deed, or bond; to deface a record. "This high face defaced ." Emerson.

So by false learning is good sense defaced .

Pope.

2. [ Confer French défaire .] To destroy; to make null. [ Obsolete]

[ Profane scoffing] doth . . . deface the reverence of religion.

Bacon.

For all his power was utterly defaste [ defaced ].

Spenser.

Syn. -- See Efface .

Defacement De·face"ment noun 1. The act of defacing, or the condition of being defaced; injury to the surface or exterior; obliteration.

2. That which mars or disfigures. Bacon.

Defacer De·fa"cer noun One who, or that which, defaces or disfigures.

Defail De·fail" transitive verb [ French défaillir to fail; prefix dé- (L. de ) + faillir . See Fail , and confer Default .] To cause to fail. [ Obsolete]

Defailance De·fail"ance noun [ French défaillance .] Failure; miscarriage. [ Obsolete]

Possibility of defailance in degree or continuance.

Comber.

Defailure De·fail"ure noun Failure. [ Obsolete] Barrow.

Defalcate De·fal"cate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Defalcated ; present participle & verbal noun Defalcating .] [ Late Latin defalcatus , past participle of defalcare to deduct, orig., to cut off with a sickle; Latin de- + falx , falcis , a sickle. See Falchion .] To cut off; to take away or deduct a part of; -- used chiefly of money, accounts, rents, income, etc.

To show what may be practicably and safely defalcated from them [ the estimates].

Burke.

Defalcate De·fal"cate intransitive verb To commit defalcation; to embezzle money held in trust. "Some partner defalcating , or the like." Carlyle.

Defalcation De`fal·ca"tion noun [ Late Latin defalcatio : confer French défalcation .] 1. A lopping off; a diminution; abatement; deficit. Specifically: Reduction of a claim by deducting a counterclaim; set- off. Abbott.

2. That which is lopped off, diminished, or abated.

3. An abstraction of money, etc., by an officer or agent having it in trust; an embezzlement.

Defalcator Def"al·ca`tor noun A defaulter or embezzler. [ Modern]

Defalk De·falk" transitive verb [ French défalquer . See Defalcate .] To lop off; to abate. [ Obsolete] B. Jonson.

Defamation Def`a·ma"tion noun [ Middle English diffamacioun , French diffamation . See Defame .] Act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another; slander; detraction; calumny; aspersion.

» In modern usage, written defamation bears the title of libel , and oral defamation that of slander . Burrill.

Defamatory De·fam"a·to·ry adjective Containing defamation; injurious to reputation; calumnious; slanderous; as, defamatory words; defamatory writings.

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