Distort Dis·tort" adjective [ Latin
distortus , past participle of
distorquere to twist, distort;
dis- +
torquere to twist. See
Torsion .]
Distorted; misshapen. [ Obsolete]
Her face was ugly and her mouth distort .
Spenser.
Distort Dis·tort" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Distorted ;
present participle & verbal noun Distorting .]
1. To twist of natural or regular shape; to twist aside physically; as, to distort the limbs, or the body. Whose face was distorted with pain.
Thackeray. 2. To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to twist aside mentally or morally. Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and distort the understandings of men.
Tillotson. 3. To wrest from the true meaning; to pervert; as, to distort passages of Scripture, or their meaning. Syn. -- To twist; wrest; deform; pervert.
Distorter Dis·tort"er noun One who, or that which, distorts.
Distortion Dis·tor"tion noun [ Latin
distortio : confer French
distortion .]
1. The act of distorting, or twisting out of natural or regular shape; a twisting or writhing motion; as, the distortions of the face or body. 2. A wresting from the true meaning. Bp. Wren. 3. The state of being distorted, or twisted out of shape or out of true position; crookedness; perversion. 4. (Medicine) An unnatural deviation of shape or position of any part of the body producing visible deformity.
Distortive Dis·tort"ive adjective Causing distortion.
Distract Dis·tract" adjective [ Latin
distractus , past participle of
distrahere to draw asunder;
dis- +
trahere to draw. See
Trace , and confer
Distraught .]
1. Separated; drawn asunder. [ Obsolete]
2. Insane; mad. [ Obsolete]
Drayton.
Distract Dis·tract" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Distracted , old
past participle Distraught ;
present participle & verbal noun Distracting .]
1. To draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin. A city . . . distracted from itself.
Fuller. 2. To draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention. Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination.
Goldsmith. 3. To agitate by conflicting passions, or by a variety of motives or of cares; to confound; to harass. Horror and doubt distract
His troubled thoughts.
Milton. 4. To unsettle the reason of; to render insane; to craze; to madden; -- most frequently used in the participle, distracted . A poor mad soul; . . . poverty hath distracted her.
Shak.
Distracted Dis·tract"ed adjective Mentally disordered; unsettled; mad. My distracted mind.
Pope.
Distractedly Dis·tract"ed·ly adverb Disjointedly; madly. Shak.
Distractedness Dis·tract"ed·ness noun A state of being distracted; distraction. Bp. Hall.
Distracter Dis·tract"er noun One who, or that which, distracts away.
Distractful Dis·tract"ful adjective Distracting. [ R.]
Heywood.
Distractible Dis·tract"i·ble adjective Capable of being drawn aside or distracted.
Distractile Dis·tract"ile adjective (Botany) Tending or serving to draw apart.
Distracting Dis·tract"ing adjective Tending or serving to distract.
Distraction Dis·trac"tion noun [ Latin
distractio : confer French
distraction .]
1. The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. To create distractions among us.
Bp. Burnet. 2. That which diverts attention; a diversion. "Domestic
distractions ."
G. Eliot. 3. A diversity of direction; detachment. [ Obsolete]
His power went out in such distractions as
Beguiled all species.
Shak. 4. State in which the attention is called in different ways; confusion; perplexity. That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction .
1 Cor. vii. 35. 5. Confusion of affairs; tumult; disorder; as, political distractions . Never was known a night of such distraction .
Dryden. 6. Agitation from violent emotions; perturbation of mind; despair. The distraction of the children, who saw both their parents together, would have melted the hardest heart.
Tatler. 7. Derangement of the mind; madness. Atterbury. Syn. -- Perplexity; confusion; disturbance; disorder; dissension; tumult; derangement; madness; raving; franticness; furiousness.
Distractious Dis·trac"tious adjective Distractive. [ Obsolete]
Distractive Dis·trac"tive adjective Causing perplexity; distracting. "
Distractive thoughts."
Bp. Hall.
Distrain Dis·train" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Distrained ;
present participle & verbal noun Distraining .] [ Middle English
destreinen to force, Old French
destreindre to press, oppress, force, from Latin
distringere ,
districtum , to draw asunder, hinder, molest, Late Latin , to punish severely;
di- =
stringere to draw tight, press together. See
Strain , and confer
Distress ,
District ,
Distraint .]
1. To press heavily upon; to bear down upon with violence; hence, to constrain or compel; to bind; to distress, torment, or afflict. [ Obsolete] "
Distrained with chains."
Chaucer. 2. To rend; to tear. [ Obsolete]
Neither guile nor force might it [ a net] distrain .
Spenser. 3. (Law) (a) To seize, as a pledge or indemnification; to take possession of as security for nonpayment of rent, the reparation of an injury done, etc.; to take by distress; as, to distrain goods for rent, or of an amercement. (b) To subject to distress; to coerce; as, to distrain a person by his goods and chattels.
Distrain Dis·train" intransitive verb To levy a distress. Upon whom I can distrain for debt.
Camden.
Distrainable Dis·train"a·ble adjective Capable of being, or liable to be, distrained. Blackstone.
Distrainer Dis·train"er noun Same as Distrainor .
Distrainor Dis·train"or noun (Law) One who distrains; the party distraining goods or chattels. Blackstone.
Distraint Dis·traint" noun [ Old French
destrainte distress, force.]
(Law) The act or proceeding of seizing personal property by distress. Abbott.
Distrait Dis`trait" adjective [ French See
Distract .]
Absent-minded; lost in thought; abstracted.
Distraught Dis·traught" past participle & adjective [ Middle English
distract ,
distrauht . See
Distract ,
adjective ]
1. Torn asunder; separated. [ Obsolete] "His greedy throat . . .
distraught ."
Spenser. 2. Distracted; perplexed. "
Distraught twixt fear and pity."
Spenser. As if thou wert distraught and mad with terror.
Shak. To doubt betwixt our senses and our souls
Which are the most distraught and full of pain.
Mrs. Browning.
Distraughted Dis·traught"ed adjective Distracted. [ Obsolete]
Spenser.
Distream Dis·tream" intransitive verb [ Prefix
dis- (intens.) +
stream .]
To flow. [ Poetic]
Yet o'er that virtuous blush distreams a tear.
Shenstone.
Distress Dis·tress" noun [ Middle English
destresse ,
distresse , Old French
destresse ,
destrece , French
détresse , Old French
destrecier to distress, (assumed) Late Latin
districtiare , from Latin
districtus , past participle of
distringere . See
Distrain , and confer
Stress .]
1. Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of friends. Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress .
Shak. 2. That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery. Affliction's sons are brothers in distress .
Burns. 3. A state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress , from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water, etc. 4. (Law) (a) The act of distraining; the taking of a personal chattel out of the possession of a wrongdoer, by way of pledge for redress of an injury, or for the performance of a duty, as for nonpayment of rent or taxes, or for injury done by cattle, etc. (b) The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction. Bouvier. Kent. Burrill. If he were not paid, he would straight go and take a distress of goods and cattle.
Spenser. The distress thus taken must be proportioned to the thing distrained for.
Blackstone. Abuse of distress .
(Law) See under Abuse . Syn. -- Affliction; suffering; pain; agony; misery; torment; anguish; grief; sorrow; calamity; misfortune; trouble; adversity. See
Affliction .
Distress Dis·tress" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Distressed ;
present participle & verbal noun Distressing .] [ Confer Old French
destrecier . See
Distress ,
noun ]
1. To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed .
2 Cor. iv. 8. 2. To compel by pain or suffering. Men who can neither be distressed nor won into a sacrifice of duty.
A. Hamilton. 3. (Law) To seize for debt; to distrain. Syn. -- To pain; grieve; harass; trouble; perplex; afflict; worry; annoy.
Distressedness Dis·tress"ed·ness noun A state of being distressed or greatly pained.
Distressful Dis·tress"ful adjective Full of distress; causing, indicating, or attended with, distress; as, a distressful situation. "Some
distressful stroke."
Shak. "
Distressful cries."
Pope. --
Dis*tress"ful*ly ,
adverb
Distressing Dis·tress"ing (dĭs*trĕs"ĭng)
adjective Causing distress; painful; unpleasant.
Distressing Dis·tress"ing adverb In a distressing manner.
Distributable Dis·trib"u·ta·ble adjective Capable of being distributed. Sir W. Jones.
Distributary Dis·trib"u·ta·ry adjective Tending to distribute or be distributed; that distributes; distributive.
Distribute Dis·trib"ute transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Distributed ;
present participle & verbal noun Distributing .] [ Latin
distributus , past participle of
distribuere to divide, distribute;
dis- +
tribuere to assign, give, allot. See
Tribute .]
1. To divide among several or many; to deal out; to apportion; to allot. She did distribute her goods to all them that were nearest of kindred.
Judith xvi. 24. 2. To dispense; to administer; as, to distribute justice. Shak. 3. To divide or separate, as into classes, orders, kinds, or species; to classify; to assort, as specimens, letters, etc. 4. (Printing) (a) To separate (type which has been used) and return it to the proper boxes in the cases. (b) To spread (ink) evenly, as upon a roller or a table. 5. (Logic) To employ (a term) in its whole extent; to take as universal in one premise. A term is said to be distributed when it is taken universal, so as to stand for everything it is capable of being applied to.
Whately. Syn. -- To dispense; deal out; apportion; allot; share; assign; divide.
Distribute Dis·trib"ute intransitive verb To make distribution. Distributing to the necessity of saints.
Rom. xii. 13.
Distributer Dis·trib"u·ter noun One who, or that which, distributes or deals out anything; a dispenser. Addison.
Distributing Dis·trib"u·ting adjective That distributes; dealing out. Distributing past office ,
an office where the mails for a large district are collected to be assorted according to their destination and forwarded.
Distribution Dis`tri·bu"tion noun [ Latin
distributio : confer French
distribution .]
1. The act of distributing or dispensing; the act of dividing or apportioning among several or many; apportionment; as, the distribution of an estate among heirs or children. The phenomena of geological distribution are exactly analogous to those of geography.
A. R. Wallace. 2. Separation into parts or classes; arrangement of anything into parts; disposition; classification. 3. That which is distributed. "Our charitable
distributions ."
Atterbury. 4. (Logic) A resolving a whole into its parts. 5. (Print.) The sorting of types and placing them in their proper boxes in the cases. 6. (Steam Engine) The steps or operations by which steam is supplied to and withdrawn from the cylinder at each stroke of the piston; viz., admission, suppression or cutting off, release or exhaust, and compression of exhaust steam prior to the next admission. Geographical distribution ,
the natural arrangements of animals and plants in particular regions or districts. Syn. -- Apportionments; allotment; dispensation; disposal; dispersion; classification; arrangement.
Distributional Dis`tri·bu"tion·al adjective Of or pertaining to distribution. Huxley.
Distributionist Dis`tri·bu"tion·ist noun A distributer. [ R.]
Dickens.
Distributive Dis·trib"u·tive adjective [ Confer French
distributif .]
1. Tending to distribute; serving to divide and assign in portions; dealing to each his proper share. "
Distributive justice."
Swift. 2. (Logic) Assigning the species of a general term. 3. (Gram.) Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly, not collectively; as, a distributive adjective or pronoun, such as each , either , every ; a distributive numeral, as (Latin) bini (two by two). Distributive operation (Math.) ,
any operation which either consists of two or more parts, or works upon two or more things, and which is such that the result of the total operation is the same as the aggregated result of the two or more partial operations. Ordinary multiplication is distributive , since a × (b + c) = ab + ac , and (a + b) × c = ac + bc . --
Distributive proportion .
(Math.) See Fellowship .
Distributive Dis·trib"u·tive noun (Gram.) A distributive adjective or pronoun; also, a distributive numeral.
Distributively Dis·trib"u·tive·ly adverb By distribution; singly; not collectively; in a distributive manner.
Distributiveness Dis·trib"u·tive·ness noun Quality of being distributive.
Distributor Dis·trib"u·tor noun [ Latin ]
One that distributes; a distributer; specif.:
(a) A machine for distributing type. (b) An appliance, as a roller, in a printing press, for distributing ink. (c) An apparatus for distributing an electric current, either to various points in rotation, as in some motors, or along two or more lines in parallel, as in a distributing system.
District Dis"trict adjective [ Latin
districtus , past participle ]
Rigorous; stringent; harsh. [ Obsolete]
Punishing with the rod of district severity.
Foxe.
District Dis"trict noun [ Late Latin
districtus district, from Latin
districtus , past participle of
distringere : confer French
district . See
Distrain .]
1. (Feudal Law) The territory within which the lord has the power of coercing and punishing. 2. A division of territory; a defined portion of a state, town, or city, etc., made for administrative, electoral, or other purposes; as, a congressional district , judicial district , land district , school district , etc. To exercise exclusive legislation . . . over such district not exceeding ten miles square.
The Constitution of the United States. 3. Any portion of territory of undefined extent; a region; a country; a tract. These districts which between the tropics lie.
Blackstone. Congressional district .
See under Congressional . --
District attorney ,
the prosecuting officer of a district or district court. --
District court ,
a subordinate municipal, state, or United States tribunal, having jurisdiction in certain cases within a judicial district. --
District judge ,
one who presides over a district court. --
District school ,
a public school for the children within a school district. [ U.S.]
Syn. -- Division; circuit; quarter; province; tract; region; country.
Use the search box below if you want to search in Websters only, use the search box at the right to search all of Enyclo.
