Deforciation noun (Law) Same as Deforcement , noun

Deforest transitive verb To clear of forests; to disforest. U. S. Agric. Reports.

Deform transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deformed ; present participle & verbal noun Deforming .] [ Latin deformare ; de- + formare to form, shape, from forma : confer French déformer . See Form .]
1. To spoil the form of; to mar in form; to misshape; to disfigure.

Deformed , unfinished, sent before my time
Into this breathing world.

Shak.

2. To render displeasing; to deprive of comeliness, grace, or perfection; to dishonor.

Above those passions that this world deform .

Thomson.

Deform adjective [ Latin deformis ; de- + forma form: confer Old French deforme , French difforme . Confer Difform .] Deformed; misshapen; shapeless; horrid. [ Obsolete]

Sight so deform what heart of rock could long
Dry-eyed behold?

Milton.

Deformation noun [ Latin deformatio : confer French déformation .]
1. The act of deforming, or state of anything deformed. Bp. Hall.

2. Transformation; change of shape.

Deformed adjective Unnatural or distorted in form; having a deformity; misshapen; disfigured; as, a deformed person; a deformed head. -- De*form"ed*ly adverb -- De*form"ed*ness , noun

Deformer noun One who deforms.

Deformity noun ; plural Deformities . [ Latin deformitas , from deformis : confer Old French deformeté , deformité , French difformité . See Deform , v. & adjective , and confer Disformity .]
1. The state of being deformed; want of proper form or symmetry; any unnatural form or shape; distortion; irregularity of shape or features; ugliness.

To make an envious mountain on my back,
Where sits deformity to mock my body.

Shak.

2. Anything that destroys beauty, grace, or propriety; irregularity; absurdity; gross deviation from order or the established laws of propriety; as, deformity in an edifice; deformity of character.

Confounded, that her Maker's eyes
Should look so near upon her foul deformities .

Milton.

Deforser noun [ From Deforce .] [ Written also deforsor .] A deforciant. [ Obsolete] Blount.

Defoul transitive verb [ See Defile , transitive verb ]
1. To tread down. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

2. To make foul; to defile. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Defraud transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Defrauded ; present participle & verbal noun Defrauding .] [ Latin defraudare ; de- + fraudare to cheat, from fraus , fraudis , fraud: confer Old French defrauder . See Fraud .] To deprive of some right, interest, or property, by a deceitful device; to withhold from wrongfully; to injure by embezzlement; to cheat; to overreach; as, to defraud a servant, or a creditor, or the state; -- with of before the thing taken or withheld.

We have defrauded no man.

2 Cor. vii. 2.

Churches seem injured and defrauded of their rights.

Hooker.

Defraudation noun [ Latin defraudatio : confer French défraudation .] The act of defrauding; a taking by fraud. [ R.] Sir T. Browne.

Defrauder noun One who defrauds; a cheat; an embezzler; a peculator.

Defraudment noun [ Confer Old French defraudement .] Privation by fraud; defrauding. [ Obsolete] Milton.

Defray transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Defrayed ; present participle & verbal noun Defraying .] [ French défrayer ; prefix dé- (L. de or dis- ) + frais expense, from Late Latin fredum , fridum , expense, fine by which an offender obtained peace from his sovereign, or more likely, atoned for an offense against the public peace, from Old High German fridu peace, German friede . See Affray .]
1. To pay or discharge; to serve in payment of; to provide for, as a charge, debt, expenses, costs, etc.

For the discharge of his expenses, and defraying his cost, he allowed him . . . four times as much.

Usher.

2. To avert or appease, as by paying off; to satisfy; as, to defray wrath. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Defrayal noun The act of defraying; payment; as, the defrayal of necessary costs.

Defrayer noun One who pays off expenses.

Defrayment noun Payment of charges.

Deft adjective [ Middle English daft , deft , becoming, mild, gentle, stupid (cf. Middle English daffe , deffe , fool, coward), Anglo-Saxon dæft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to dafen , gedafen , becoming, fit, Goth. gadaban to be fit. Confer Daft , Daff , Dapper .] Apt; fit; dexterous; clever; handy; spruce; neat. [ Archaic or Poetic] "The deftest way." Shak. " Deftest feats." Gay.

The limping god, so deft at his new ministry.

Dryden.

Let me be deft and debonair.

Byron.

Deftly adverb [ Confer Defly .] Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. " Deftly dancing." Drayton.

Thyself and office deftly show.

Shak.

Deftness noun The quality of being deft. Drayton.

Defunct adjective [ Latin defunctus , past participle of defungi to acquit one's self of, to perform, finish, depart, die; de + fungi to perform, discharge: confer French défunt . See Function .] Having finished the course of life; dead; deceased. " Defunct organs." Shak.

The boar, defunct , lay tripped up, near.

Byron.

Defunct noun A dead person; one deceased.

Defunction noun [ Latin defunctio performance, death.] Death. [ Obsolete]

After defunction of King Pharamond.

Shak.

Defunctive adjective Funereal. [ Obsolete] " Defunctive music." Shak.

Defuse transitive verb [ Confer Diffuse .] To disorder; to make shapeless. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Defy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Defied ; present participle & verbal noun Defying .] [ French défier , Old French deffier , desfier , Late Latin disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to challenge, defy; from Latin dis- + fides faith. See Faith , and confer Diffident , Affiance .]
1. To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [ Obsolete]

I defy the surety and the bond.

Chaucer.

For thee I have defied my constant mistress.

Beau. & Fl.

2. To provoke to combat or strife; to call out to combat; to challenge; to dare; to brave; to set at defiance; to treat with contempt; as, to defy an enemy; to defy the power of a magistrate; to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy public opinion.

I once again
Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight.

Milton.

I defy the enemies of our constitution to show the contrary.

Burke.

Defy noun A challenge. [ Obsolete] Dryden.

Dégagé adjective [ French, past participle of dégager to disengage. See De- , lst Gage, and confer Disgage .] Unconstrained; easy; free. Vanbrugh.

A graceful and dégagé manner.

Poe.

Degarnish transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Degarnished ; present participle & verbal noun Degarnishing .] [ French dégarnir ; prefix dé- , des- (L. dis- ) + garnir to furnish. See Garnish , and confer Disgarnish .]
1. To strip or deprive of entirely, as of furniture, ornaments, etc.; to disgarnish; as, to degarnish a house, etc. [ R.]

2. To deprive of a garrison, or of troops necessary for defense; as, to degarnish a city or fort. [ R.] Washington.

Degarnishment noun The act of depriving, as of furniture, apparatus, or a garrison. [ R.]

Degender, Degener intransitive verb [ See Degenerate .] To degenerate. [ Obsolete] " Degendering to hate." Spenser.

He degenereth into beastliness.

Joye.

Degeneracy noun [ From Degenerate , adjective ]
1. The act of becoming degenerate; a growing worse.

Willful degeneracy from goodness.

Tillotson.

2. The state of having become degenerate; decline in good qualities; deterioration; meanness.

Degeneracy of spirit in a state of slavery.

Addison.

To recover mankind out of their universal corruption and degeneracy .

S. Clarke.

Degenerate adjective [ Latin degeneratus , past participle of degenerare to degenerate, cause to degenerate, from degener base, degenerate, that departs from its race or kind; de- + genus race, kind. See Kin relationship.] Having become worse than one's kind, or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low.

Faint-hearted and degenerate king.

Shak.

A degenerate and degraded state.

Milton.

Degenerate from their ancient blood.

Swift.

These degenerate days.

Pope.

I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

Jer. ii. 21.

Degenerate intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Degenerated ; present participle & verbal noun Degenerating .]
1. To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner, or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to deteriorate.

When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into insolence and impiety.

Tillotson.

2. (Biol.) To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.

Degenerately adverb In a degenerate manner; unworthily.

Degenerateness noun Degeneracy.

Degeneration noun [ Confer French dégénération .]
1. The act or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse; decline; degradation; debasement; degeneracy; deterioration.

Our degeneration and apostasy.

Bates.

2. (Physiol.) That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure; as, fatty degeneration of the liver.

3. (Biol.) A gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.

4. The thing degenerated. [ R.]

Cockle, aracus, . . . and other degenerations .

Sir T. Browne.

Amyloid degeneration , Caseous degeneration , etc. See under Amyloid , Caseous , etc.

Degenerationist noun (Biol.) A believer in the theory of degeneration, or hereditary degradation of type; as, the degenerationists hold that savagery is the result of degeneration from a superior state.

Degenerative adjective Undergoing or producing degeneration; tending to degenerate.

Degenerous adjective [ Latin degener . See Degenerate .] Degenerate; base. [ Obsolete] " Degenerous passions." Dryden. " Degenerous practices." South.

Degenerously adverb Basely. [ Obsolete]

Degerm transitive verb (Milling) To extract the germs from, as from wheat grains.

Degerminator noun (Milling) A machine for breaking open the kernels of wheat or other grain and removing the germs.

Deglaze transitive verb To remove the glaze from, as pottery or porcelain, so as to give a dull finish.

Deglazing noun The process of giving a dull or ground surface to glass by acid or by mechanical means. Knight.

Degloried adjective Deprived of glory; dishonored. [ Obsolete] "With thorns degloried ." G. Fletcher.

Deglutinate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deglutinated ; present participle & verbal noun Deglutinating .] [ Latin deglutinatus , past participle of deglutinare to deglutinate; de- + glutinare to glue, gluten glue.] To loosen or separate by dissolving the glue which unties; to unglue.

Deglutination noun The act of ungluing.

Deglutition noun [ Latin deglutire to swallow down; de- + glutire to swallow: confer French déglutition . See Glut .] The act or process of swallowing food; the power of swallowing.

The muscles employed in the act of deglutition .

Paley.