Destitution Des`ti·tu"tion noun [ Latin
destitutio a forsaking.]
The state of being deprived of anything; the state or condition of being destitute, needy, or without resources; deficiency; lack; extreme poverty; utter want; as, the inundation caused general destitution .
Destrer, Dextrer Des·trer", Dex"trer noun [ Old French
destrier , from Latin
dextra on the right side. The squire led his master's horse beside him, on his right hand.
Skeat .]
A war horse. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Destrie De·strie" transitive verb To destroy. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Destroy De·stroy" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Destroyed ;
present participle & verbal noun Destroying .] [ Middle English
destroien ,
destruien ,
destrien , Old French
destruire , French
détruire , from Latin
destruere ,
destructum ;
de +
struere to pile up, build. See
Structure .]
1. To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish. But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves.
Ex. xxxiv. 13. 2. To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume. I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation.
Jer. xii. 17. 3. To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill. If him by force he can destroy , or, worse,
By some false guile pervert.
Milton. Syn. -- To demolish; lay waste; consume; raze; dismantle; ruin; throw down; overthrow; subvert; desolate; devastate; deface; extirpate; extinguish; kill; slay. See
Demolish .
Destroyable De·stroy"a·ble adjective Destructible. [ R.]
Plants . . . scarcely destroyable by the weather.
Derham.
Destroyer De·stroy"er noun [ Confer Old French
destruior .]
One who destroys, ruins, kills, or desolates.
Destroyer De·stroy"er noun = Torpedo-boat destroyer .
Destruct De·struct" transitive verb [ Latin
destructus , past participle of
destruere . See
Destroy .]
To destroy. [ Obsolete]
Mede.
Destructibility De·struc`ti·bil"i·ty noun [ Confer French
destructibilité .]
The quality of being capable of destruction; destructibleness.
Destructible De·struc"ti·ble adjective [ Latin
destructibilis .]
Liable to destruction; capable of being destroyed.
Destructibleness De·struc"ti·ble·ness noun The quality of being destructible.
Destruction De·struc"tion noun [ Latin
destructio : confer French
destruction . See
Destroy .]
1. The act of destroying; a tearing down; a bringing to naught; subversion; demolition; ruin; slaying; devastation. The Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction .
Esth. ix. 5. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.
Shak. Destruction of venerable establishment.
Hallam. 2. The state of being destroyed, demolished, ruined, slain, or devastated. This town came to destruction .
Chaucer. Thou castedst them down into destruction .
Ps. lxxiii. 18. 2. A destroying agency; a cause of ruin or of devastation; a destroyer. The destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Ps. xci. 6. Syn. -- Demolition; subversion; overthrow; desolation; extirpation; extinction; devastation; downfall; extermination; havoc; ruin.
Destructionist De·struc"tion·ist noun 1. One who delights in destroying that which is valuable; one whose principles and influence tend to destroy existing institutions; a destructive. 2. (Theol.) One who believes in the final destruction or complete annihilation of the wicked; -- called also annihilationist . Shipley.
Destructive De·struc"tive adjective [ Latin
destructivus : confer French
destructif .]
Causing destruction; tending to bring about ruin, death, or devastation; ruinous; fatal; productive of serious evil; mischievous; pernicious; -- often with of or to ; as, intemperance is destructive of health; evil examples are destructive to the morals of youth. Time's destructive power.
Wordsworth. Destructive distillation .
See Distillation . --
Destructive sorties (Logic) ,
a process of reasoning which involves the denial of the first of a series of dependent propositions as a consequence of the denial of the last; a species of reductio ad absurdum . Whately. Syn. -- Mortal; deadly; poisonous; fatal; ruinous; malignant; baleful; pernicious; mischievous.
Destructive De·struc"tive noun One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.
Destructively De·struc"tive·ly adverb In a destructive manner.
Destructiveness De·struc"tive·ness noun 1. The quality of destroying or ruining. Prynne. 2. (Phren.) The faculty supposed to impel to the commission of acts of destruction; propensity to destroy.
Destructor De·struc"tor noun [ Latin , from
destruere . See
Destroy , and confer
Destroyer .]
A destroyer. [ R.]
Fire, the destructor and the artificial death of things.
Boyle.
Destructor De·struct"or noun A furnace or oven for the burning or carbonizing of refuse ; specif.
(Sewage Disposal) ,
a furnace (called in full refuse destructor ) in which the more solid constituents of sewage are burnt. Destructors are often so constructed as to utilize refuse as fuel.
Destruie De·struie" transitive verb To destroy. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Desudation Des`u·da"tion noun [ Latin
desudatio , from
desudare to sweat greatly;
de +
sudare to sweat.]
(Medicine) A sweating; a profuse or morbid sweating, often succeeded by an eruption of small pimples.
Desuete De·suete" adjective [ Latin
desuetus , past participle of
desuescere to disuse.]
Disused; out of use. [ R.]
Desuetude Des"ue·tude noun [ Latin
desuetudo , from
desuescere , to grow out of use, disuse;
de +
suescere to become used or accustomed: confer French
désuétude . See
Custom .]
The cessation of use; disuse; discontinuance of practice, custom, or fashion. The desuetude abrogated the law, which, before, custom had established.
Jer. Taylor.
Desulphurate De·sul"phu·rate transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Desulphurated ;
present participle & verbal noun Desulphurating .]
To deprive of sulphur.
Desulphuration De·sul`phu·ra"tion noun [ Confer French
désulfuration .]
The act or process of depriving of sulphur.
Desulphurize De·sul"phur·ize transitive verb To desulphurate; to deprive of sulphur. --
De*sul`phur*i*za"tion noun
Desultorily Des"ul·to·ri·ly adverb In a desultory manner; without method; loosely; immethodically.
Desultoriness Des"ul·to·ri·ness noun The quality of being desultory or without order or method; unconnectedness. The seeming desultoriness of my method.
Boyle.
Desultorious Des`ul·to"ri·ous adjective Desultory. [ R.]
Desultory Des"ul·to·ry adjective [ Latin
desultorius , from
desultor a leaper, from
desilire ,
desultum , to leap down;
de +
salire to leap. See
Saltation .]
1. Leaping or skipping about. [ Obsolete]
I shot at it [ a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim.
Gilbert White. 2. Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless; as, desultory minds. Atterbury. He [ Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory .
Macaulay. 3. Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark. Syn. -- Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.
Desume De·sume" transitive verb [ Latin
desumere ;
de +
sumere to take.]
To select; to borrow. [ Obsolete]
Sir. M. Hale.
Desynonymization De`syn·on`y·mi·za"tion noun The act of desynonymizing.
Desynonymize De`syn·on"y·mize transitive verb To deprive of synonymous character; to discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.
Detach De·tach" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Detached ;
present participle & verbal noun Detaching .] [ French
détacher (cf. Italian
distaccare ,
staccare ); prefix
dé (L.
dis ) + the root found also in English
attach . See
Attach , and confer
Staccato .]
1. To part; to separate or disunite; to disengage; -- the opposite of attach ; as, to detach the coats of a bulbous root from each other; to detach a man from a leader or from a party. 2. To separate for a special object or use; - - used especially in military language; as, to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment. Syn. -- To separate; disunite; disengage; sever; disjoin; withdraw; draw off. See
Detail .
Detach De·tach" intransitive verb To push asunder; to come off or separate from anything; to disengage. [ A vapor] detaching , fold by fold,
From those still heights.
Tennyson.
Detachable De·tach"a·ble adjective That can be detached.
Detached De·tached" adjective Separate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. "Extensive and
detached empire."
Burke. Detached escapement .
See Escapement .
Detachment De·tach"ment noun [ Confer French
détachement .]
1. The act of detaching or separating, or the state of being detached. 2. That which is detached; especially, a body of troops or part of a fleet sent from the main body on special service. Troops . . . widely scattered in little detachments .
Bancroft. 3. Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation. A trial which would have demanded of him a most heroic faith and the detachment of a saint.
J. H. Newman.
Detail De"tail (dē"tāl
or de*tāl"; 277)
noun [ French
détail , from
détailler to cut in pieces, tell in detail; prefix
dé- (L.
de or
dis- ) +
tailler to cut. See
Tailor .]
1. A minute portion; one of the small parts; a particular; an item; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the details of a scheme or transaction. The details of the campaign in Italy.
Motley. 2. A narrative which relates minute points; an account which dwells on particulars. 3. (Mil.) The selection for a particular service of a person or a body of men; hence, the person or the body of men so selected. Detail drawing ,
a drawing of the full size, or on a large scale, of some part of a building, machine, etc. - -
In detail ,
in subdivisions; part by part; item; circumstantially; with particularity. Syn. -- Account; relation; narrative; recital; explanation; narration.
Detail De"tail (de*tāl")
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Detailed (-tāld");
present participle & verbal noun Detailing .] [ Confer French
détailler to cut up in pieces, tell in detail. See
Detail ,
noun ]
1. To relate in particulars; to particularize; to report minutely and distinctly; to enumerate; to specify; as, he detailed all the facts in due order. 2. (Mil.) To tell off or appoint for a particular service, as an officer, a troop, or a squadron. Syn. --
Detail ,
Detach .
Detail respect the act of individualizing the person or body that is separated;
detach , the removing for the given end or object.
Detail De·tail" noun (Arch. & Mach.) (a) A minor part, as, in a building, the cornice, caps of the buttresses, capitals of the columns, etc., or (called larger details ) a porch, a gable with its windows, a pavilion, or an attached tower. (b) A detail drawing. In detail ,
in subdivisions; part by part; item by item; circumstantially; with particularity.
Detailer De·tail"er noun One who details.
Detain De·tain" (de*tān")
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Detained ;
present participle & verbal noun Detaining .] [ French
détenir , Latin
detinere ,
detentum ;
de +
tenere to hold. See
Tenable .]
1. To keep back or from; to withhold. Detain not the wages of the hireling.
Jer. Taylor. 2. To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident. Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
Judges xiii. 15. 3. To hold or keep in custody. Syn. -- To withhold; retain; stop; stay; arrest; check; retard; delay; hinder.
Detain De·tain" noun Detention. [ Obsolete]
Spenser.
Detainder De·tain"der (-dẽr)
noun (Law) A writ. See Detinue .
Detainer De·tain"er (-ẽr)
noun 1. One who detains. 2. (Law) (a) The keeping possession of what belongs to another; detention of what is another's, even though the original taking may have been lawful. Forcible detainer is indictable at common law. (b) A writ authorizing the keeper of a prison to continue to keep a person in custody.
Detainment De·tain"ment noun [ Confer Old French
detenement .]
Detention. [ R.]
Blackstone.
Detect De·tect" (de*tĕkt")
adjective [ Latin
detectus , past participle of
detegere to uncover, detect;
de +
tegere to cover. See
Tegument .]
Detected. [ Obsolete]
Fabyan.
Detect De·tect" (de*tĕkt")
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Detected ;
present participle & verbal noun Detecting .]
1. To uncover; to discover; to find out; to bring to light; as, to detect a crime or a criminal; to detect a mistake in an account. Plain good intention . . . is as easily discovered at the first view, as fraud is surely detected at last.
Burke. Like following life through creatures you dissect,
You lose it in the moment you detect .
Pope. 2. To inform against; to accuse. [ Obsolete]
He was untruly judged to have preached such articles as he was detected of.
Sir T. More. Syn. -- To discover; find out; lay bare; expose.
Detectable De·tect"a·ble (-ȧ*b'l),
De*tect"i*ble adjective Capable of being detected or found out; as, parties not detectable . "Errors
detectible at a glance."
Latham.
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