Dingdong Ding"dong` noun [ See
Ding .]
1. The sound of, or as of, repeated strokes on a metallic body, as a bell; a repeated and monotonous sound. 2. (Horol.) An attachment to a clock by which the quarter hours are struck upon bells of different tones.
Dingdong theory Ding"dong` the"o·ry (Philol.) The theory which maintains that the primitive elements of language are reflex expressions induced by sensory impressions; that is, as stated by Max Müller, the creative faculty gave to each general conception as it thrilled for the first time through the brain a phonetic expression; -- jocosely so called from the analogy of the sound of a bell induced by the stroke of the clapper.
Dingey, Dingy Din"gey, Din"gy Din"ghy noun [ Bengalee
dingi .]
1. A kind of boat used in the East Indies. [ Written also
dinghey .]
Malcom. 2. A ship's smallest boat.
Dingily Din"gi·ly adverb In a dingy manner.
Dinginess Din"gi·ness noun Quality of being dingy; a dusky hue.
Dingle Din"gle noun [ Of uncertain origin: confer Anglo-Saxon
ding prison; or perhaps akin to
dimble .]
A narrow dale; a small dell; a small, secluded, and embowered valley.
Dingle-dangle Din"gle-dan`gle adverb In a dangling manner.
Dingo Din"go noun (Zoology) A wild dog found in Australia, but supposed to have introduced at a very early period. It has a wolflike face, bushy tail, and a reddish brown color.
Dingthrift Ding"thrift` noun A spendthrift. [ Obsolete]
Wilt thou, therefore, a drunkard be,
A dingthrift and a knave?
Drant.
Dingy Din"gy adjective [
Compar. Dingier ;
superl. Dingiest .] [ Prob. from
dung . Confer
Dungy .]
Soiled; sullied; of a dark or dusky color; dark brown; dirty. "Scraps of
dingy paper."
Macaulay.
Dinichthys Di·nich"thys noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... terrible + ... fish.]
(Paleon.) A genus of large extinct Devonian ganoid fishes. In some parts of Ohio remains of the Dinichthys are abundant, indicating animals twenty feet in length.
Dining Din"ing noun & adjective from Dine , adjective » Used either adjectively or as the first part of a compound; as,
dining hall or
dining -hall,
dining room,
dining table, etc.
Dink Dink adjective [ Etymol. uncertain.]
Trim; neat. [ Scot.]
Burns. --
Dink"ly ,
adverb
Dink Dink transitive verb To deck; -- often with out or up . [ Scot.]
Dinmont Din"mont noun (Zoology) A wether sheep between one and two years old. [ Scot.]
Dinner Din"ner noun [ French
dîner , from
dîner to dine. See
Dine .]
1. The principal meal of the day, eaten by most people about midday, but by many (especially in cities) at a later hour. 2. An entertainment; a feast. A grand political dinner .
Tennyson. »
Dinner is much used, in an obvious sense, either adjectively or as the first part of a compound; as,
dinner time, or
dinner -time,
dinner bell,
dinner hour, etc.
Dinnerless Din"ner·less adjective Having no dinner. Fuller.
Dinnerly Din"ner·ly adjective Of or pertaining to dinner. [ R.]
The dinnerly officer.
Copley.
Dinoceras Di·noc"e·ras noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... terrible + ..., ..., horn.]
(Paleon.) A genus of large extinct Eocene mammals from Wyoming; -- called also Uintatherium . See Illustration in Appendix. » They were herbivorous, and remarkable for three pairs of hornlike protuberances on the skull. The males were armed with a pair of powerful canine tusks.
Dinornis Di·nor"nis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... terrible + ... bird.]
(Paleon.) A genus of extinct, ostrichlike birds of gigantic size, which formerly inhabited New Zealand. See Moa . [ Written also
Deinornis .]
Dinosaur, Dinosaurian Di"no·saur, Di`no·sau"ri·an noun [ Greek ... terrible + ... lizard.]
(Paleon.) One of the Dinosauria. [ Written also
deinosaur , and
deinosaurian .]
Dinosauria Di`no·sau"ri·a noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... terrible + ... lizard.]
(Paleon.) An order of extinct mesozoic reptiles, mostly of large size (whence the name). Notwithstanding their size, they present birdlike characters in the skeleton, esp. in the pelvis and hind limbs. Some walked on their three-toed hind feet, thus producing the large "bird tracks," so- called, of mesozoic sandstones; others were five-toed and quadrupedal. See Illust. of Compsognathus , also Illustration of Dinosaur in Appendix.
Dinothere Di"no·there Di`no*the"ri*um noun [ New Latin dinotherium , from Greek deino`s terrible + qhri`on beast.] (Paleon.) A large extinct proboscidean mammal from the miocene beds of Europe and Asia. It is remarkable fora pair of tusks directed downward from the decurved apex of the lower jaw.
Dinoxide Din·ox"ide noun (Chemistry) Same as Dioxide .
Dinsome Din"some adjective Full of din. [ Scot.]
Burns.
Dint Dint noun [ Middle English
dint ,
dent ,
dunt , a blow, Anglo-Saxon
dynt ; akin to Icelandic
dyntr a dint,
dynta to dint, and perhaps to Latin
fendere (in composition). Confer 1st
Dent ,
Defend .]
1. A blow; a stroke. [ Obsolete] "Mortal
dint ."
Milton. "Like thunder's
dint ."
Fairfax. 2. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent. Dryden. Every dint a sword had beaten in it [ the shield].
Tennyson. 3. Force; power; -- esp. in the phrase by dint of . Now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel
The dint of pity.
Shak. It was by dint of passing strength
That he moved the massy stone at length.
Sir W. Scott.
Dint Dint transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Dinted ;
present participle & verbal noun Dinting .]
To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure; to dent. Donne. Tennyson.
Dinumeration Di·nu`mer·a"tion noun [ Latin
dinumeratio ;
di- = dis- +
numerare to count, from
numerus number.]
Enumeration. [ Obsolete]
Bullokar.
Diocesan Di·oc"e·san adjective [ Late Latin
dioecesanus : confer French
diocésain .]
Of or pertaining to a diocese; as, diocesan missions.
Diocesan Di·oc"e·san noun 1. A bishop, viewed in relation to his diocese; as, the diocesan of New York. 2. plural The clergy or the people of a diocese. Strype.
Diocese Di"o·cese noun ;
plural Dioceses . [ Middle English
diocise , Old French
diocise , French
diocése , Latin
dioecesis , from Greek ... housekeeping, administration, a province, a diocese, from ... to keep house, manage;
dia` through + ... to manage a household, ... a house. See
Economy .]
(Eccl.) The circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority. [ Frequently, but improperly, spelt
diocess .]
Diocesener Di`o·ce"se·ner noun One who belongs to a diocese. [ Obsolete]
Bacon.
Diodon Di"o·don noun [ Greek
di- =
di`s- twice +
'odoy`s ,
'odo`ntos , a tooth: confer French
diodon .]
1. (Zoology) A genus of spinose, plectognath fishes, having the teeth of each jaw united into a single beaklike plate. They are able to inflate the body by taking in air or water, and, hence, are called globefishes , swellfishes , etc. Called also porcupine fishes , and sea hedgehogs . 2. (Zoology) A genus of whales.
Diodont Di"o·dont adjective (Zoology) Like or pertaining to the genus Diodon. --
noun A fish of the genus Diodon, or an allied genus.
Diogenes Di·og"e·nes noun A Greek Cynic philosopher (412?-323 B. C. ) who lived much in Athens and was distinguished for contempt of the common aims and conditions of life, and for sharp, caustic sayings. Diogenes' crab (Zoology) ,
a species of terrestrial hermit crabs ( Cenobita Diogenes ), abundant in the West Indies and often destructive to crops. --
Diogenes' tub ,
the tub which the philosopher Diogenes is said to have carried about with him as his house, in which he lived.
Dioicous Di·oi"cous adjective See Diœcious .
Diomedea Di·om`e·de"a noun [ New Latin ]
(Zoology) A genus of large sea birds, including the albatross. See Albatross .
Dionysia Di`o·ny"si·a noun plural [ Latin , from Greek ....]
(Class. Antiq.) Any of the festivals held in honor of the Olympian god Dionysus. They correspond to the Roman Bacchanalia; the greater Dionysia were held at Athens in March or April, and were celebrated with elaborate performances of both tragedies and comedies.
Dionysiac Di`o·ny"si·ac adjective Of or pertaining to Dionysus or to the Dionysia; Bacchic; as, a Dionysiac festival; the Dionysiac theater at Athens.
Dionysian Di`o·ny"sian adjective Relating to Dionysius, a monk of the 6th century; as, the Dionysian , or Christian, era. Dionysian period ,
a period of 532 years, depending on the cycle of the sun, or 28 years, and the cycle of the moon, or 19 years; -- sometimes called the Greek paschal cycle , or Victorian period .
Dionæa Di`o·næ"a noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... a name of Aphrodite.]
(Botany) An insectivorous plant. See Venus's flytrap .
Diophantine Di`o·phan"tine adjective Originated or taught by Diophantus, the Greek writer on algebra. Diophantine analysis (Alg.) ,
that branch of indeterminate analysis which has for its object the discovery of rational values that satisfy given equations containing squares or cubes; as, for example, to find values of x and y which make x 2 + y 2 an exact square.
Diopside Di·op"side noun [ Greek
di- =
di`s- twice + ... a sight, from the root of ... I shall see: confer French
diopside .]
(Min.) A crystallized variety of pyroxene, of a clear, grayish green color; mussite.
Dioptase Di·op"tase noun [ Greek ... =
dia` through + ... to see: confer French
dioptase .]
(Min.) A hydrous silicate of copper, occurring in emerald-green crystals.
Diopter Di·op"ter Di*op"tra noun [ Latin dioptra , from Greek .... See 2d Dioptric .] An optical instrument, invented by Hipparchus, for taking altitudes, leveling, etc.
Dioptre Di·op"tre noun [ French See 2d
Dioptric .]
(Optics) A unit employed by oculists in numbering glasses according to the metric system; a refractive power equal to that of a glass whose principal focal distance is one meter.
Dioptric Di·op"tric adjective (Optics) Of or pertaining to the dioptre, or to the metric system of numbering glasses. --
noun A dioptre. See Dioptre .
Dioptric, Dioptrical Di·op"tric, Di·op"tric·al adjective [ Greek ... belonging to the use of the ...; ... =
dia` through + the root of ... I shall see: confer French
dioptrique .]
Of or pertaining to dioptrics; assisting vision by means of the refraction of light; refractive; as, the dioptric system; a dioptric glass or telescope. "
Dioptrical principles."
Nichol. Dioptric curve (Geom.) ,
a Cartesian oval. See under Cartesian .
Dioptrics Di·op"trics noun [ Greek ... ...: confer French
dioptrique .]
(Optics) The science of the refraction of light; that part of geometrical optics which treats of the laws of the refraction of light in passing from one medium into another, or through different mediums, as air, water, or glass, and esp. through different lenses; -- distinguished from catoptrics , which refers to reflected light.
Dioptry Di·op"try noun (Optics) A dioptre.
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