Didascalic Di`das·cal"ic adjective [ Latin didascalius , Greek ..., from ... to teach: confer French didascalique .] Didactic; preceptive. [ R.] Prior.

Diddle Did"dle intransitive verb [ Confer Daddle .] To totter, as a child in walking. [ Obsolete] Quarles.

Diddle Did"dle transitive verb [ Perh. from Anglo-Saxon dyderian to deceive, the letter r being changed to l .] To cheat or overreach. [ Colloq.] Beaconsfield.

Diddler Did"dler noun A cheat. [ Colloq.] Jeremy Diddler , a character in a play by James Kenney, entitled "Raising the wind." The name is applied to any needy, tricky, constant borrower; a confidence man.

Didelphia Di·del"phi·a noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... = ... matrix, uterus.] (Zoology) The subclass of Mammalia which includes the marsupials. See Marsupialia .

Didelphian Di·del"phi·an adjective (Zoology) Of or relating to the Didelphia. -- noun One of the Didelphia.

Didelphic Di·del"phic adjective (Zoology) Having the uterus double; of or pertaining to the Didelphia.

Didelphid Di·del"phid adjective (Zoology) Same as Didelphic .

Didelphid Di·del"phid noun (Zoology) A marsupial animal.

Didelphous Di·del"phous adjective (Zoology) Didelphic.

Didelphyc Di·del"phyc adjective (Zoology) Same as Didelphic .

Didelphys Di·del"phys noun [ New Latin See Didelphia .] (Zoology) Formerly, any marsupial; but the term is now restricted to an American genus which includes the opossums, of which there are many species. See Opossum . [ Written also Didelphis .] See Illustration in Appendix. Cuvier.

Didine Di"dine adjective (Zoology) Like or pertaining to the genus Didus , or the dodo.

Dido Di"do noun ; plural Didos A shrewd trick; an antic; a caper. To cut a dido , to play a trick; to cut a caper; -- perhaps so called from the trick of Dido, who having bought so much land as a hide would cover, is said to have cut it into thin strips long enough to inclose a spot for a citadel.

Didonia Di·do"ni·a noun [ New Latin So called in allusion to the classical story of Dido and the bull's hide.] (Geom.) The curve which on a given surface and with a given perimeter contains the greatest area. Tait.

Didrachm, Didrachma Di"drachm, Di·drach"ma noun [ Greek ...; di- = di`s- twice + ... a drachm.] A two-drachma piece; an ancient Greek silver coin, worth nearly forty cents.

Didst Didst the 2d pers. sing. imperfect of Do .

Diducement Di·duce"ment noun Diduction; separation into distinct parts. Bacon.

Diduction Di·duc"tion noun [ Latin diductio , from diducere , diductum , to draw apart; di- = dis- + ducere to lead, draw.] The act of drawing apart; separation.

Didym Di"dym noun (Chemistry) See Didymium .

Didymium Di·dym"i·um noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... twin.] (Chemistry) A rare metallic substance usually associated with the metal cerium; -- hence its name. It was formerly supposed to be an element, but has since been found to consist of two simpler elementary substances, neodymium and praseodymium. See Neodymium , and Praseodymium .

Didymous Did"y·mous (dĭd"ĭ*mŭs) adjective [ Greek di`dymos twofold, twin.] (Botany) Growing in pairs or twins.

Didynamia Did`y·na"mi·a noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek di- = di`s- twice + ... power.] (Botany) A Linnæan class of plants having four stamens disposed in pairs of unequal length.

Didynamian Did`y·na"mi·an adjective Didynamous.

Didynamous Di·dyn"a·mous adjective (Botany) Of or pertaining to the Didynamia; containing four stamens disposed in pairs of unequal length.

Die Die intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Died ; present participle & verbal noun Dying .] [ Middle English deyen , dien , of Scand. origin; confer Icelandic deyja ; akin to Danish döe , Swedish dö , Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd...jan to harass), OFries. d...ia to kill, Old Saxon doian to die, Old High German touwen , OSlav. daviti to choke, Lithuanian dovyti to torment. Confer Dead , Death .] 1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish; -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of , by , with , from , and rarely for , before the cause or occasion of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought.

To die by the roadside of grief and hunger.

Macaulay.

She will die from want of care.

Tennyson. 2. To suffer death; to lose life.

In due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom. v. 6. 3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished.

Letting the secret die within his own breast.

Spectator.

Great deeds can not die .

Tennyson. 4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc.

His heart died within, and he became as a stone.

1 Sam. xxv. 37.

The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca.

Tatler. 5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die to pleasure or to sin. 6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away .

Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness.

Spectator. 7. (Architecture) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face. 8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor. To die in the last ditch , to fight till death; to die rather than surrender.

"There is one certain way," replied the Prince [ William of Orange] " by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch ."

Hume (Hist. of Eng. ). -- To die out , to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out . Syn. -- To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish.

Die Die noun ; plural in 1 and (usually) in 2, Dice (dīs); in 4 & 5, Dies (dīz). [ Middle English dee , die , French dé , from Latin datus given, thrown, past participle of dare to give, throw. See Date a point of time.] 1. A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box and thrown from it. See Dice . 2. Any small cubical or square body.

Words . . . pasted upon little flat tablets or dies .

Watts. 3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance.

Such is the die of war.

Spenser. 4. (Architecture) That part of a pedestal included between base and cornice; the dado. 5. (Machinery) (a) A metal or plate (often one of a pair) so cut or shaped as to give a certain desired form to, or impress any desired device on, an object or surface, by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals, coining, striking up sheet metal, etc. (b) A perforated block, commonly of hardened steel used in connection with a punch, for punching holes, as through plates, or blanks from plates, or for forming cups or capsules, as from sheet metal, by drawing. (c) A hollow internally threaded screw-cutting tool, made in one piece or composed of several parts, for forming screw threads on bolts, etc.; one of the separate parts which make up such a tool. Cutting die (Mech.) , a thin, deep steel frame, sharpened to a cutting edge, for cutting out articles from leather, cloth, paper, etc. -- The die is cast , the hazard must be run; the step is taken, and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.

Diecian Di·e"cian adjective , Di*e"cious adjective (Botany) See Diœcian , and Diœcious .

Diedral Di·e"dral adjective The same as Dihedral .

Diegesis Di`e·ge"sis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ..., from ... to narrate; dia` through + ... to lead.] A narrative or history; a recital or relation.

Dielectric Di`e·lec"tric noun [ Prefix dia- + electric .] (Electricity) Any substance or medium that transmits the electric force by a process different from conduction, as in the phenomena of induction; a nonconductor. separating a body electrified by induction, from the electrifying body.

Dielytra Di·el"y·tra noun (Botany) See Dicentra .

Diencephalon Di`en·ceph"a·lon noun [ New Latin See Dia- , and Encephalon .] (Anat.) The interbrain or thalamencephalon; -- sometimes abbreviated to dien . See Thalamencephalon .

Dieresis Di·er"e·sis noun [ New Latin ] Same as Diæresis .

Dies Iræ Di"es I"ræ Day of wrath; -- the name and beginning of a famous mediæval Latin hymn on the Last Judgment.

Dies juridicus Di"es ju·rid"i·cus ; plural Dies juridici . [ Latin ] (Law) A court day.

Dies non Di"es non" [ Latin dies non juridicus .] (Law) A day on which courts are not held, as Sunday or any legal holiday.

Diesel engine, motor Die"sel en`gine, mo`tor [ After Dr. Rudolf Diesel, of Munich, the inventor.] A type of internal- combustion engine in which the air drawn in by the suction stroke is so highly compressed that the heat generated ignites the fuel (usually crude oil), the fuel being automatically sprayed into the cylinder under pressure. The Diesel engine has a very high thermal efficiency.

Diesinker Die"sink`er noun An engraver of dies for stamping coins, medals, etc.

Diesinking Die"sink`ing noun The process of engraving dies.

Diesis Di"e·sis noun ; plural Dieses . [ New Latin , from Greek ..., from ... to let go through, dissolve; dia` through + ... to let go, send.] 1. (Mus.) A small interval, less than any in actual practice, but used in the mathematical calculation of intervals. 2. (Print.) The mark ‡; -- called also double dagger .

Diestock Die"stock` noun A stock to hold the dies used for cutting screws.

Diet Di"et noun [ French diète , Latin diaeta , from Greek ... manner of living.] 1. Course of living or nourishment; what is eaten and drunk habitually; food; victuals; fare. "No inconvenient diet ." Milton. 2. A course of food selected with reference to a particular state of health; prescribed allowance of food; regimen prescribed.

To fast like one that takes diet .

Shak. Diet kitchen , a kitchen in which diet is prepared for invalids; a charitable establishment that provides proper food for the sick poor.

Diet Di"et transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Dieted ; present participle & verbal noun Dieting .] 1. To cause to take food; to feed. [ R.] Shak. 2. To cause to eat and drink sparingly, or by prescribed rules; to regulate medicinally the food of.

She diets him with fasting every day.

Spenser.

Diet Di"et intransitive verb 1. To eat; to take one's meals. [ Obsolete]

Let him . . . diet in such places, where there is good company of the nation, where he traveleth.

Bacon. 2. To eat according to prescribed rules; to ear sparingly; as, the doctor says he must diet .

Diet Di"et noun [ French diète , Late Latin dieta , diaeta , an assembly, a day's journey; the same word as diet course of living, but with the sense changed by Latin dies day: confer German tag day... and Reichstag .] A legislative or administrative assembly in Germany, Poland, and some other countries of Europe; a deliberative convention; a council; as, the Diet of Worms, held in 1521.

Diet Di"et noun Specifically: Any of various national or local assemblies; as, (a) Occasionally, the Reichstag of the German Empire, Reichsrath of the Austrian Empire, the federal legislature of Switzerland, etc. (b) The legislature of Denmark, Sweden, Japan, or Hungary. (c) The state assembly or any of various local assemblies in the states of the German Empire, as the legislature (Landtag) of the kingdom of Prussia, and the Diet of the Circle (Kreistag) in its local government. (d) The local legislature (Landtag) of an Austrian province. (e) The federative assembly of the old Germanic Confederation (1815 -- 66). (f) In the old German or Holy Roman Empire, the great formal assembly of counselors (the Imperial Diet or Reichstag) or a small, local, or informal assembly of a similar kind (the Court Diet, or Hoftag). The most celebrated Imperial Diets are the three following, all held under Charles V.: Diet of Worms , 1521, the object of which was to check the Reformation and which condemned Luther as a heretic; D. of Spires, or Speyer , 1529, which had the same object and issued an edict against the further dissemination of the new doctrines, against which edict Lutheran princes and deputies protested (hence Protestants ): D. of Augsburg , 1530, the object of which was the settlement of religious disputes, and at which the Augsburg Confession was presented but was denounced by the emperor, who put its adherents under the imperial ban.

Dietarian Di`e·ta"ri·an noun One who lives in accordance with prescribed rules for diet; a dieter.

Dietary Di"et·a·ry adjective Pertaining to diet, or to the rules of diet.

Dietary Di"et·a·ry noun ; plural Dietaries A rule of diet; a fixed allowance of food, as in workhouse, prison, etc.