Desmodont (-dŏnt) noun [ Greek desmo`s bond + 'odoy`s , 'odo`ntos , tooth.] (Zoology) A member of a group of South American blood-sucking bats, of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla . See Vampire .

Desmognathous adjective [ Greek desmo`s bond + gna`qos jaw.] (Zoology) Having the maxillo-palatine bones united; -- applied to a group of carinate birds ( Desmognathæ ), including various wading and swimming birds, as the ducks and herons, and also raptorial and other kinds.

Desmoid adjective [ Greek desmo`s ligament + -oid .] (Anat.) Resembling, or having the characteristics of, a ligament; ligamentous.

Desmology noun [ Greek desmo`s ligament + -logy .] The science which treats of the ligaments. [ R.]

Desmomyaria noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... bond + ... muscle.] (Zoology) The division of Tunicata which includes the Salpæ. See Salpa .

Desolate adjective [ Latin desolatus , past participle of desolare to leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus alone. See Sole , adjective ]
1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house.

I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate , without an inhabitant.

Jer. ix. 11.

And the silvery marish flowers that throng
The desolate creeks and pools among.

Tennyson.

2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.

3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.

Have mercy upon, for I am desolate .

Ps. xxv. 16.

Voice of the poor and desolate .

Keble.

4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

5. Destitute of; lacking in. [ Obsolete]

I were right now of tales desolate .

Chaucer.

Syn. -- Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste.

Desolate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Desolated ; present participle & verbal noun Desolating .]
1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood.

2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city.

Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war.

Sparks.

Desolately adverb In a desolate manner.

Desolateness noun The state of being desolate.

Desolater noun One who, or that which, desolates or lays waste. Mede.

Desolation noun [ French désolation , Latin desolatio .]
1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.

Unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Dan. ix. 26.

2. The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin; solitariness; destitution; gloominess.

You would have sold your king to slaughter, . . .
And his whole kingdom into desolation .

Shak.

3. A place or country wasted and forsaken.

How is Babylon become a desolation !

Jer. l. 23.

Syn. -- Waste; ruin; destruction; havoc; devastation; ravage; sadness; destitution; melancholy; gloom; gloominess.

Desolator noun [ Latin ] Same as Desolater . Byron.

Desolatory adjective [ Latin desolatorius .] Causing desolation. [ R.] Bp. Hall.

Desophisticate transitive verb To clear from sophism or error. [ R.] Hare.

Desoxalic adjective [ French prefix des- from + English oxalic .] (Chemistry) Made or derived from oxalic acid; as, desoxalic acid.

Despair intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Despaired ; present participle & verbal noun Despairing .] [ Middle English despeiren , dispeiren , Old French desperer , from Latin desperare ; de- + sperare to hope; akin to spes hope, and perhaps to spatium space, English space , speed ; confer Old French espeir hope, French espoir . Confer Prosper , Desperate .] To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation; -- often with of .

We despaired even of life.

2 Cor. i. 8.

Never despair of God's blessings here.

Wake.

Syn. -- See Despond .

Despair transitive verb
1. To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of. [ Obsolete]

I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted.

Milton.

2. To cause to despair. [ Obsolete] Sir W. Williams.

Despair noun [ Confer Old French despoir , from desperer .]
1. Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.

We in dark dreams are tossing to and fro,
Pine with regret, or sicken with despair .

Keble.

Before he [ Bunyan] was ten, his sports were interrupted by fits of remorse and despair .

Macaulay.

2. That which is despaired of. "The mere despair of surgery he cures." Shak.

Syn. -- Desperation; despondency; hopelessness.

Despairer noun One who despairs.

Despairful adjective Hopeless. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Despairing adjective Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless. -- De*spair"ing*ly , adverb -- De*spair"ing*ness , noun

Desparple transitive verb & i. [ Old French desparpeillier .] To scatter; to disparkle. [ Obsolete] Mandeville.

Despatch noun & v. Same as Dispatch .

Despecificate transitive verb [ Prefix de- (intens.) + specificate .] To discriminate; to separate according to specific signification or qualities; to specificate; to desynonymize. [ R.]

Inaptitude and ineptitude have been usefully despecificated .

Fitzed. Hall.

Despecification noun Discrimination.

Despect noun [ Latin despectus , from despicere . See Despite , noun ] Contempt. [ R.] Coleridge.

Despection noun [ Latin despectio .] A looking down; a despising. [ R.] W. Montagu.

Despeed transitive verb To send hastily. [ Obsolete]

Despeeded certain of their crew.

Speed.

Despend transitive verb To spend; to squander. See Dispend . [ Obsolete]

Some noble men in Spain can despend £50,000.

Howell.

Desperado noun ; plural Desperadoes . [ OSp. desperado , past participle of desperar , from Latin desperare . See Desperate .] A reckless, furious man; a person urged by furious passions, and regardless of consequence; a wild ruffian.

Desperate adjective [ Latin desperatus , past participle of desperare . See Despair , and confer Desperado .]
1. Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [ Obsolete]

I am desperate of obtaining her.

Shak.

2. Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune.

3. Proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort. " Desperate expedients." Macaulay.

4. Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality.

A desperate offendress against nature.

Shak.

The most desperate of reprobates.

Macaulay.

Syn. -- Hopeless; despairing; desponding; rash; headlong; precipitate; irretrievable; irrecoverable; forlorn; mad; furious; frantic.

Desperate noun One desperate or hopeless. [ Obsolete]

Desperately adverb In a desperate manner; without regard to danger or safety; recklessly; extremely; as, the troops fought desperately .

She fell desperately in love with him.

Addison.

Desperateness noun Desperation; virulence.

Desperation noun [ Latin desperatio : confer Old French desperation .]
1. The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.

This desperation of success chills all our industry.

Hammond.

2. A state of despair, or utter hopeless; abandonment of hope; extreme recklessness; reckless fury.

In the desperation of the moment, the officers even tried to cut their way through with their swords.

W. Irving.

Despicability noun Despicableness. [ R.] Carlyle.

Despicable adjective [ Latin despicabilis , from despicari to despise; akin to despicere . See Despise .] Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean; vile; worthless; as, a despicable man; despicable company; a despicable gift.

Syn. -- Contemptible; mean; vile; worthless; pitiful; paltry; sordid; low; base. See Contemptible .

Despicableness noun The quality of being despicable; meanness; vileness; worthlessness.

Despicably adverb In a despicable or mean manner; contemptibly; as, despicably stingy.

Despiciency noun [ Latin despicientia . See Despise .] A looking down; despection. [ Obsolete]

Despisable adjective [ Confer Old French despisable .] Despicable; contemptible. [ R.]

Despisal noun A despising; contempt. [ R.]

A despisal of religion.

South.

Despise transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Despised ; present participle & verbal noun Despising .] [ Old French despis- , in some forms of despire to despise, from Latin despicere , despectum , to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere , specere , to look. See Spy , and confer Despicable , Despite .] To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of.

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prointransitive verb 7.

Men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.

Jowett (Thucyd. ).

Syn. -- To contemn; scorn; disdain; slight; undervalue. See Contemn .

Despisedness noun The state of being despised.

Despisement noun A despising. [ R.] Holland.

Despiser noun One who despises; a contemner; a scorner.

Despisingly adverb Contemptuously.

Despite noun [ Old French despit , French dépit , from Latin despectus contempt, from despicere . See Despise , and confer Spite , Despect .]
1. Malice; malignity; spite; malicious anger; contemptuous hate.

With all thy despite against the land of Israel.

Ezek. xxv. 6.

2. An act of malice, hatred, or defiance; contemptuous defiance; a deed of contempt.

A despite done against the Most High.

Milton.

In despite , in defiance of another's power or inclination. -- In despite of , in defiance of; in spite of. See under Spite . "Seized my hand in despite of my efforts to the contrary." W. Irving. -- In your despite , in defiance or contempt of you; in spite of you. [ Obsolete]

Despite transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Despited ; present participle & verbal noun Despiting .] [ Old French despitier , from Latin despectare , intens. of despicere . See Despite , noun ] To vex; to annoy; to offend contemptuously. [ Obsolete] Sir W. Raleigh.

Despite preposition In spite of; against, or in defiance of; notwithstanding; as, despite his prejudices.

Syn. -- See Notwithstanding .