Destitute adjective [ Latin destitutus , past participle of destituere to set away, leave alone, forsake; de + statuere to set. See Statute .]
1. Forsaken; not having in possession (something necessary, or desirable); deficient; lacking; devoid; -- often followed by of .

In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute .

Ps. cxli. 8.

Totally destitute of all shadow of influence.

Burke.

2. Not possessing the necessaries of life; in a condition of want; needy; without possessions or resources; very poor.

They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute , afflicted, tormented.

Hebrew xi. 37.

Destitute transitive verb
1. To leave destitute; to forsake; to abandon. [ Obsolete]

To forsake or destitute a plantation.

Bacon.

2. To make destitute; to cause to be in want; to deprive; -- followed by of . [ Obsolete]

Destituted of all honor and livings.

Holinshed.

3. To disappoint. [ Obsolete]

When his expectation is destituted .

Fotherby.

Destitutely adverb In destitution.

Destituteness noun Destitution. [ R.] Ash.

Destitution 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 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 transitive verb To destroy. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Destroy 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 adjective Destructible. [ R.]

Plants . . . scarcely destroyable by the weather.

Derham.

Destroyer noun [ Confer Old French destruior .] One who destroys, ruins, kills, or desolates.

Destroyer noun = Torpedo-boat destroyer .

Destruct transitive verb [ Latin destructus , past participle of destruere . See Destroy .] To destroy. [ Obsolete] Mede.

Destructibility noun [ Confer French destructibilité .] The quality of being capable of destruction; destructibleness.

Destructible adjective [ Latin destructibilis .] Liable to destruction; capable of being destroyed.

Destructibleness noun The quality of being destructible.

Destruction 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 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 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 noun One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.

Destructively adverb In a destructive manner.

Destructiveness 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 noun [ Latin , from destruere . See Destroy , and confer Destroyer .] A destroyer. [ R.]

Fire, the destructor and the artificial death of things.

Boyle.

Destructor 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 transitive verb To destroy. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Desudation 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 adjective [ Latin desuetus , past participle of desuescere to disuse.] Disused; out of use. [ R.]

Desuetude 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 transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Desulphurated ; present participle & verbal noun Desulphurating .] To deprive of sulphur.

Desulphuration noun [ Confer French désulfuration .] The act or process of depriving of sulphur.

Desulphurize transitive verb To desulphurate; to deprive of sulphur. -- De*sul`phur*i*za"tion noun

Desultorily adverb In a desultory manner; without method; loosely; immethodically.

Desultoriness noun The quality of being desultory or without order or method; unconnectedness.

The seeming desultoriness of my method.

Boyle.

Desultorious adjective Desultory. [ R.]

Desultory 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 transitive verb [ Latin desumere ; de + sumere to take.] To select; to borrow. [ Obsolete] Sir. M. Hale.

Desynonymization noun The act of desynonymizing.

Desynonymize transitive verb To deprive of synonymous character; to discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.

Detach 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 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 adjective That can be detached.

Detached adjective Separate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. "Extensive and detached empire." Burke.

Detached escapement . See Escapement .

Detachment 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 (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*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 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 noun One who details.

Detain (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 noun Detention. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Detainder (-dẽr) noun (Law) A writ. See Detinue .

Detainer (-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 noun [ Confer Old French detenement .] Detention. [ R.] Blackstone.