<B>debridement, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the cleansing of a wound by cutting away dead or infected tissue, foreign matter, bone, or other debris. <BR> <I>Ex. Under conditions of shock and delayed debridement of wounds which occur in mass casualties, antibiotics may be less effective (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debrief">
<B>debrief, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to question or obtain information from (someone, such as an emissary, pilot, or intelligence officer) on his return from a mission. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be debriefed. <BR> <I>Ex. Other planes are still landing as I go below to debrief (Saturday Evening Post).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debris">
<B>debris, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>scattered fragments; ruins; rubbish. <BR> <I>Ex. The street was covered with broken glass, stone, and other debris from the explosion.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Geology.) a mass of large fragments worn away from rock; detritus. <BR> <I>Ex. the debris left by a glacier.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debrogliewave">
<B>de Broglie wave,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a wave or group of waves thought to surround moving particles, as electrons, protons, or neutrons. </DL>
<A NAME="debrouillard">
<B>debrouillard, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><I>adj. </I> talented and resourceful in shifting for oneself. <BR> <I>Ex. But abroad you are not clever enough, not flexible enough, not debrouillard enough to really get along in France (Harper's).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person who is debrouillard. <BR> <I>Ex. Always virtuoso debrouillards, they [Hungarians] have had a lot of experience in adapting to strong regimes (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debt">
<B>debt, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>something owed to another. <BR> <I>Ex. Having borrowed money a few times, he had debts to pay back to several people. My debt for her kindness can never be repaid.</I> (SYN) duty. <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of owing; indebtedness. <BR> <I>Ex. to get out of debt. He is in debt to the automobile dealer for his car.</I> (SYN) arrears. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a sin; trespass. <BR> <I>Ex. Forgive us our debts.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debtlimit">
<B>debt limit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the limit, as established by law or constitution, beyond which a government may not incur indebtedness. <BR> <I>Ex. I have no alternative but to ask Congress to again increase the debt limit (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debtofhonor">
<B>debt of honor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a betting or gambling debt. </DL>
<A NAME="debtor">
<B>debtor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who owes something to another. <BR> <I>Ex. If I borrow a dollar from you, I am your debtor.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Bookkeeping.) the debit side of an account. (Abbr: dr.) </DL>
<A NAME="debtorship">
<B>debtorship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality, state, or condition of being in debt. </DL>
<A NAME="debtservice">
<B>debt service,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the total yearly payment of interest and principle due on a debt. </DL>
<A NAME="debug">
<B>debug, </B>transitive verb, <B>-bugged,</B> <B>-bugging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to remove or correct the defects or difficulties of. <BR> <I>Ex. During this period, the new weapon is extensively tested and "debugged" by the Air Force (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to find and remove hidden microphones and other electronic spying devices from (a room, building, automobile, airplane, or telephone). <BR> <I>Ex. Top company executives will ... be shown how to bug and debug a board room (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debunk">
<B>debunk, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>to remove nonsense or sentimentality from association with. <BR> <I>Ex. Debunking Washington, however, has never been popular (Sunday Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to prove incorrect or false; refute. <BR> <I>Ex. to debunk a theory, to debunk the claims of an advertiser.</I> noun <B>debunker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="deburr">
<B>deburr, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to remove metal burrs from (a part, gear, or other machinery). noun <B>deburrer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="debus">
<B>debus, </B>verb, <B>-bussed,</B> <B>-bussing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to alight from a bus. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to let (passengers) get off a bus. </DL>
<A NAME="debussyan">
<B>Debussyan</B> or <B>Debussian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Claude Debussy (1862-1918), his music, theories, or style. <BR> <I>Ex. The work teeters uneasily between Debussian impressionism, Wagnerian brassiness, and artificial invention (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an admirer of Debussy's style or theory of music. </DL>
<A NAME="debussyesque">
<B>Debussyesque, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like Debussy or his music. <BR> <I>Ex. Duke Ellington's magnificent two-platoon band ... is pulsing away, and so is the modernized Debussyesque music (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<B>debut, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a first public appearance. <BR> <I>Ex. a young actor's debut on the stage.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a first formal appearance of a young woman in society. <BR> <I>Ex. a girl's debut.</I> (SYN) coming-out. <DD><B> 3. </B>the first appearance of anything. <BR> <I>Ex. the debut of the latest model cars.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make a debut. <BR> <I>Ex. Other new models will debut in coming weeks (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="debutant">
<B>debutant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a man making a debut, especially an actor or speaker. </DL>
<A NAME="debutante">
<B>debutante, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a young womanduring her first season in society. <BR> <I>Ex. For five or six years he had been escorting debutantes to parties in St. Louis (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a woman making a debut. </DL>
<A NAME="dec">
<B>dec-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) the form of <B>deca-</B> before vowels, as in <I>decathlon.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dec">
<B>dec.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>deceased. <DD><B> 2. </B>decimeter. <DD><B> 3. </B>declension. <DD><B> 4. </B>declination. <DD><B> 5. </B>decrease. <DD><B> 6. </B>decrescendo. </DL>
<B>decaborane, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline compound of boron used especially in making high-energy fuels for rockets, missiles, etc. </DL>
<A NAME="decacerous">
<B>decacerous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having ten horns or hornlike arms, tentacles, or other appendages, as the squid. </DL>
<A NAME="decad">
<B>decad, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the number ten. <DD><B> 2. </B>a group of ten; decade. </DL>
<A NAME="decadal">
<B>decadal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a decad or decade. </DL>
<A NAME="decade">
<B>decade, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>ten years. From 1900 to 1910 was a decade. Two decades ago means twenty years age. <DD><B> 2. </B>a group, set, or series of ten. <BR> <I>Ex. A set of rosary beads is divided into five groups called decades, with ten beads per decade (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="decadence">
<B>decadence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a falling off; growing worse; decline; decay. <BR> <I>Ex. The appearance of poor books is a sign of a decadence in literature. The decadence of morals was one of the causes of the fall of Rome.</I> (SYN) degeneration, deterioration. <DD><B> 2. </B>a period of decline in art, literature, or other cultural activities. </DL>
<A NAME="decadency">
<B>decadency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B> <B>=decadence.</B></DL>
<A NAME="decadent">
<B>decadent, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>falling off; growing worse; declining; decaying. <BR> <I>Ex. a decadent nation.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or like the French decadents. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a decadent person. <BR> <I>Ex. He who sees it only from a gondola gets little more than a glimpse of the lifeless Venice of the decadents (Guido Piovene).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>one of a group of French writers and artists, such as Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Mallarme, of the late 1800's, whose work was characterized by great refinement of style and a tendency to glorify the abnormal and artificial qualities in life and literature. See also <B>symbolist.</B> adv. <B>decadently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="decadentism">
<B>decadentism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the literary movement or theories of the decadents. </DL>
<A NAME="decadering">
<B>decade ring,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a ring used like a rosary in counting prayers, usually having on the circumference ten knobs or bosses of one form for aves, with an additional knob for the pater, and sometimes also a twelfth for the credo. </DL>
<A NAME="decadic">
<B>decadic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with tens; based upon ten or tens; denary. <BR> <I>Ex. the decadic logarithm of two.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="decadrachm">
<B>decadrachm</B> or <B>decadram, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ancient Greek silver coin worth ten drachmas. </DL>
<A NAME="decaffeinate">
<B>decaffeinate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to remove caffeine from. <BR> <I>Ex. A cup of regular "decaffeinated" coffee still contains about one-third as much caffeine as the straight Java, but instant coffee can be decaffeinated to one-eighth of normal (Time).</I> </DL>
<B>decagon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a plane figure having ten angles and ten sides. </DL>
<A NAME="decagonal">
<B>decagonal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with a decagon. <DD><B> 2. </B>having the shape of a decagon; ten-sided. </DL>
<A NAME="decagram">
<B>decagram, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of mass in the metric system equal to 10 grams or 0.3527 ounce. (Abbr:) dkg. Also, <B>dekagram.</B> </DL>
