<B>delectation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> great pleasure; delight; entertainment. <BR> <I>Ex. The magician did many tricks for our delectation.</I> (SYN) enjoyment. </DL>
<A NAME="delectus">
<B>delectus, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tuses</B> or (Latin) <B>-tus.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a selection of passages for translation, especially from Latin or Greek authors. </DL>
<A NAME="delegable">
<B>delegable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be delegated. <BR> <I>Ex. delegable authority.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="delegacy">
<B>delegacy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a group of delegates; delegation. <DD><B> 2. </B>the sending or appointing of a delegate. <DD><B> 3. </B>the position or authority of a delegate. <BR> <I>Ex. hope for a delegacy to a convention (James Bryce).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="delegalize">
<B>delegalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to end the legal authority for. </DL>
<A NAME="delegant">
<B>delegant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) a debtor who, to discharge his debt, assigns to his creditor a debt of a third party due to himself. </DL>
<A NAME="delegate">
<B>delegate, </B>noun, verb, <B>-gated,</B> <B>-gating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person given power or authority to act for others; representative. <BR> <I>Ex. Our club sent two delegates to the state meeting. The three Moroccan delegates to the former sultan of Morocco ... returned to Paris by air this morning (London Times).</I> (SYN) deputy. <DD><B> 2. </B>a representative of a territory in the U.S. House of Representatives who has a seat and the right to speak but no vote. <DD><B> 3. </B>a member of the lower branch of the legislature (House of Delegates) in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to appoint or send (a person) as a representative. <BR> <I>Ex. Each club delegated one member to attend the state meeting. The children delegated her to buy the flowers.</I> (SYN) depute. <DD><B> 2. </B>to give over (one's power or authority) to another so that he may act for one. <BR> <I>Ex. The teacher delegated the task of keeping order to the biggest boy in class. The states delegated the control of foreign affairs to the federal government.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Law.) to assign (one's own debtor) to a creditor to replace oneself as a debtor. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to give over power or authority. <BR> <I>Ex. A terrorist ... must delegate to a rather sanguinary and unscrupulous class of subordinate (John Kenneth Galbraith).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="delegatee">
<B>delegatee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) a person to whom a debtor is assigned in satisfaction of another's debt; assignee of a delegant. </DL>
<A NAME="delegateship">
<B>delegateship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the office or position of a delegate. </DL>
<A NAME="delegation">
<B>delegation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of delegating or fact of being delegated. <BR> <I>Ex. The Senator's delegation of power to an aide did not cover any important rights.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a group of delegates. <BR> <I>Ex. Each club sent a delegation to the state meeting.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the position or authority of a delegate or group of delegates. </DL>
<A NAME="delegator">
<B>delegator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who delegates. <BR> <I>Ex. Roncalli, on the other hand, is a great delegator of work (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="delenda">
<B>delenda, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> things to be deleted, erased, or blotted out. </DL>
<A NAME="delendaestcarthago">
<B>delenda est Carthago,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) Carthage must be destroyed (a course urged by Cato the Elder when speaking publicly on any subject whatever). </DL>
<A NAME="delete">
<B>delete, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-leted,</B> <B>-leting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to strike out or take out (anything written or printed); cross out; remove; omit. <BR> <I>Ex. In order to decrease the number of pages, many long passages were deleted from the book before printing.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to wipe out; erase; expunge. <BR> <I>Ex. The patient's high fever deleted most of his memories.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Genetics.) to cause the loss of (a section) of a chromosome. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Linguistics.) to remove (part of a phrase or sentence) in performing a transformation or derivation. </DL>
<A NAME="deleterious">
<B>deleterious, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> causing harm; injurious. <BR> <I>Ex. 'Tis pity wine should be so deleterious (Byron). The deleterious genetic effects [of radiation] would persist for hundreds of generations (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> (SYN) harmful, noxious, pernicious. adv. <B>deleteriously.</B> noun <B>deleteriousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="delethalize">
<B>delethalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to modify the design of (a dashboard, seat, or other fixture) in a vehicle so that it will not cause death or lethal injury in a collision or crash. </DL>
<A NAME="deletion">
<B>deletion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of deleting. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fact of being deleted. <DD><B> 3. </B>a deleted part. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Genetics.) the loss of a section of a chromosome. <BR> <I>Ex. Characteristic malformations have been related to deletion of parts of specific chromosomes (Victor A. McKusick).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Linguistics.) the removal of any part of a phrase or sentence to perform a transformation or derivation. (Example:) In the sentence "She is napping in the bedroom" the sentence "She is napping" can be derived by deletion of the phrase "in the bedroom." </DL>
<A NAME="delf">
<B>delf, </B>noun. <B>=delft.</B></DL>
<A NAME="delft">
<B>delft, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a kind of glazed earthenware made in the Netherlands, usually decorated in blue on a white background. <DD><B> 2. </B>any pottery like this. </DL>
<A NAME="delftware">
<B>delftware, </B>noun. <B>=delft.</B></DL>
<A NAME="deli">
<B>deli, </B>noun. pl. <B>delis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) delicatessen. <BR> <I>Ex. And it's time for lunch. He goes out and buys a pastrami sandwich at the deli (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="delian">
<B>Delian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or belonging to Delos. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Delos. </DL>
<A NAME="deliberate">
<B>deliberate, </B>adjective, verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>done on purpose; intended; thought over beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. His rude answer was a deliberate attempt to provoke her. They were the first great social thinkers of their century to try to make themselves, by deliberate discipline, both classless and international (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>slow and careful in deciding what to do. <BR> <I>Ex. A deliberate person takes enough time to make up his mind.</I> (SYN) thoughtful, cautious, circumspect. <DD><B> 3. </B>slow; not hurried. <BR> <I>Ex. The old man walked with deliberate steps.</I> <DD><I>v.i., v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to think over carefully; consider. <BR> <I>Ex. He was slow to answer, deliberating over each question. I am deliberating where to put up my new picture. The woman who deliberates is lost (Joseph Addison).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to talk over reasons for and against something; discuss; debate. <BR> <I>Ex. Congress deliberated the question of raising taxes.</I> noun <B>deliberateness.</B> </DL>
<B>deliberation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>careful thought. <BR> <I>Ex. After long deliberation, I decided not to go.</I> (SYN) reflection, study, consideration. <DD><B> 2. </B>a talking about reasons for and against an action; discussion; debate. <BR> <I>Ex. the deliberations of Congress over raising taxes. This sentence, after a lengthened deliberation between the Home Secretary and the Judges, was commuted for one of transportation for life (Lytton Strachey).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>slowness and care. <BR> <I>Ex. The hunter aimed his gun with great deliberation.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>slowness. <BR> <I>Ex. His everlasting deliberation used to infuriate his wife.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deliberative">
<B>deliberative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>for deliberation; having to do with deliberation; discussing reasons for and against something. <BR> <I>Ex. Congress is a deliberative body.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>characterized by deliberation; coming as a result of deliberation. <BR> <I>Ex. The judge made a just and deliberative decision.</I> adv. <B>deliberatively.</B> noun <B>deliberativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="deliberator">
<B>deliberator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who deliberates. </DL>
<A NAME="delible">
<B>delible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be erased or removed. </DL>
<A NAME="delicacy">
<B>delicacy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>fineness of weave, quality, or make; slightness and grace. <BR> <I>Ex. the delicacy of lace, the delicacy of a flower, the delicacy of a baby's skin.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>fineness of feeling for small differences; sensitiveness. <BR> <I>Ex. The pianist had a great delicacy of touch.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a need of care, skill, or tact. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) His refusal required delicacy; he did not wish to hurt his friend's feelings.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) thought for the feelings of others; consideration. <BR> <I>Ex. The minister had an inborn feeling of delicacy.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a shrinking from what is offensive or not modest. <BR> <I>Ex. A false delicacy is affectation, not politeness (Sir Richard Steele).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a being easily hurt or made ill; weakness; frailty. <BR> <I>Ex. The child's delicacy was a constant worry to his mother.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a choice kind of food; dainty. Nuts and candy are delicacies. Caviar is considered a delicacy. <DD><B> 8. </B>exquisite fineness or skill. <BR> <I>Ex. the delicacy of some of Shakespeare's sonnets.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>(Obsolete.) gratification; pleasure. </DL>
