<B>defenseman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> either one of two hockey players assigned to defend the area in front of a goal. <BR> <I>Ex. If a defenseman can't stop the puck, he falls on it (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="defensemechanism">
<B>defense mechanism</B> or <B>reaction,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any self-protective reaction by an organism, such as the development of resistance to infection. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Psychology.) any psychological device by which a person limits or prevents his own awareness of unpleasant feelings such as guilt or anxiety, by rationalizing or denying a situation, concealing or repressing an unacceptable drive, or transferring emotion to a new object or activity. </DL>
<A NAME="defensibility">
<B>defensibility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being defensible. </DL>
<A NAME="defensible">
<B>defensible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that can be defended. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) justifiable; proper. noun <B>defensibleness.</B> </DL>
<B>defensive, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>ready to defend; intended to defend; defending. <BR> <I>Ex. a defensive war, a defensive end in football.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>used for defense. <BR> <I>Ex. a defensive weapon.</I> (SYN) protective. <DD><B> 3. </B>of defense. <BR> <I>Ex. a defensive attitude.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a position or attitude of defense. <DD><B> 2. </B>a thing that defends. <BR><I>expr. <B>on the defensive,</B> </I>ready to defend, apologize, or explain. <BR> <I>Ex. Casual comments about her new hairdo put her on the defensive.</I> adv. <B>defensively.</B> noun <B>defensiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="defer">
<B>defer</B> (1), transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-ferred,</B> <B>-ferring.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to put off; delay. <BR> <I>Ex. Examinations were deferred because so many students were sick.</I> (SYN) postpone. </DL>
<A NAME="defer">
<B>defer</B> (2), intransitive verb, <B>-ferred,</B> <B>-ferring.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to yield in judgment or opinion; submit courteously. <BR> <I>Ex. Children should defer to their parents' wishes.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deference">
<B>deference, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a yielding to the judgment, opinion, or wishes of another; courteous submission. <DD><B> 2. </B>great respect. <BR> <I>Ex. Boys and girls should show deference to persons who are much older and wiser.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in deference to,</B> </I>out of respect for the wishes or authority of. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the resignation of a Prime Minister in deference to the will of the House of Commons (Homersham Cox).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>pay</B> (or <B>show</B>) <B>deference to,</B> </I>to submit to the superior claims, skill, judgment, or other qualities of another. <BR> <I>Ex. Now, Sir, you shall stay and see what a deference they pay to my skill and authority (Richard Estcourt).</I> </DL>
<B>deferent</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> carrying down or away; efferent. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something that carries or conveys; conductor. <BR> <I>Ex. All of them are dull and inapt deferents except air (Francis Bacon).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(in Ptolemaic astronomy) a circle around the earth, along the circumference of which the orbits of the other planets were supposed to rotate. </DL>
<B>deferment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a putting off; delay; postponement. <BR> <I>Ex. a deferment from military service, a deferment in paying a loan.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deferrable">
<B>deferrable, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> that can be deferred. <DD><I>noun </I> a person or thing that can be deferred. </DL>
<A NAME="deferral">
<B>deferral, </B>noun. <B>=deferment.</B></DL>
<A NAME="deferred">
<B>deferred, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>postponed; delayed. <DD><B> 2. </B>withheld for a certain period. <BR> <I>Ex. Such an account is a deferred expense and is shown in the balance sheet as an asset (Schmidt and Bergstrom).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deferredannuity">
<B>deferred annuity,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a annuity which does not begin until after a period or number of years, or until the death of some person, or until some future event. </DL>
<A NAME="deferredcharge">
<B>deferred charge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Accounting.) a current expenditure incurred for a future operation, and written off in the future. </DL>
<A NAME="deferredincome">
<B>deferred income,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Accounting.) income received or placed on record before earned or due, such as rent payments received in advance. </DL>
<A NAME="deferredpay">
<B>deferred pay,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a part of the pay of a soldier or other member of the armed forces which is held over to be paid at his discharge, or at death. </DL>
<A NAME="deferredshares">
<B>deferred shares,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> stock shares not entitling the holder to a full share of profits, or to any at all, until a future date or some future occurrence. </DL>
<A NAME="deferrer">
<B>deferrer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who defers. </DL>
<A NAME="defervescence">
<B>defervescence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the abatement of fever; decrease in body temperature in recovering from fever. </DL>
<A NAME="defeudalize">
<B>defeudalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to deprive of feudal character. </DL>
<A NAME="defi">
<B>defi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a defiance; challenge. </DL>
<A NAME="defiance">
<B>defiance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of defying; standing up against authority and refusing to recognize or obey it; open resistance to power. <BR> <I>Ex. He shouted defiance at the policeman and was promptly arrested.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a challenge to meet in a contest, to do something, or to prove something. <BR> <I>Ex. A defiance, once made, must be sustained.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>bid defiance to,</B> </I>to defy. <BR> <I>Ex. See how scornfully they look down upon you, and bid defiance to the elements (Richard J. Sullivan).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in defiance of,</B> </I>without regard for; in spite of. <BR> <I>Ex. in defiance of authority. He goes without a hat all winter in defiance of the cold weather.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="defiant">
<B>defiant, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> showing defiance; openly resisting; disobedient; challenging. <BR> <I>Ex. The boy said, "I won't," in a defiant manner. ... the man's heart that dare rise defiant against Hell itself (Thomas Carlyle).</I> (SYN) rebellious, recalcitrant. adv. <B>defiantly.</B> noun <B>defiantness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="defibrate">
<B>defibrate, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-brated,</B> <B>-brating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to reduce (wood or paper) to fibers; break down to fibrous form. </DL>
<A NAME="defibrillate">
<B>defibrillate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to cause defibrillation in. <BR> <I>Ex. It has been possible in a hospital to defibrillate the heart by electric shock and then to start it beating again within a relatively few minutes after "death" (Paul Dudley White).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to undergo defibrillation. </DL>
<A NAME="defibrillation">
<B>defibrillation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of relaxing fibrillating muscle fibers of the heart, especially by electric shock. <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition so produced. </DL>
<A NAME="defibrillator">
<B>defibrillator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electrical device for overcoming the effects of fibrillation of the muscle fibers of the heart. <BR> <I>Ex. Every operating theater should have emergency equipment: oxygen, an electric "defibrillator" to shock the heart back into action (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="defibrinate">
<B>defibrinate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-nated,</B> <B>-nating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to deprive (blood) of fibrin; remove fibrin from (blood). </DL>
<A NAME="defibrination">
<B>defibrination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of defibrinating. </DL>
<A NAME="deficience">
<B>deficience, </B>noun. <B>=deficiency.</B></DL>
<A NAME="deficiency">
<B>deficiency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a lack or absence of something needed; incompleteness. <BR> <I>Ex. a deficiency of judgment, deficiency of moral fiber. A deficiency of calcium in your diet can cause weak teeth.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the amount by which a thing falls short or is too small. <BR> <I>Ex. If a bill to be paid is $10 and you have only $6, the deficiency is $4.</I> (SYN) deficit, shortage. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Genetics.) the loss of a gene or group of genes from a chromosome. <BR> <I>Ex. Under the microscope a deficiency can be detected most easily in the giant chromosomes of the salivary glands (Theodosius Dobzhanky).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deficiencydisease">
<B>deficiency disease,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any disease caused by a lack of essential substances in the diet, especially of certain vitamins and minerals, as in pellagra or rickets. </DL>
<A NAME="deficiencyjudgment">
<B>deficiency judgment,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Law.) a judgment for the balance due on a debt, part of which has been paid or met by the forfeiture of the security. </DL>
<A NAME="deficient">
<B>deficient, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>not complete; defective. <BR> <I>Ex. The child's knowledge of arithmetic is deficient.</I> (SYN) imperfect, incomplete. <DD><B> 2. </B>not enough; lacking; not sufficient in amount, force, or quality. <BR> <I>Ex. This bread is deficient in protein and the milk is deficient in fat.</I> (SYN) short, scant, inadequate. <DD><I>noun </I> a deficient person or thing. adv. <B>deficiently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="deficientnumber">
<B>deficient number,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a positive number whose divisors have a sum less than twice that number. (Example:) 8 is a deficient number because 1 + 2 + 4 = 7. </DL>
