<B>describe, </B>transitive verb, <B>-scribed,</B> <B>-scribing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to tell in words how a person looks, feels, or acts, or how a place, a thing, or an event looks or happened; tell or write about. <BR> <I>Ex. The reporter described the accident in detail. He described his sufferings as a prisoner of war. There are no books which I more delight in than in ... those that describe remote countries (Joseph Addison).</I> (SYN) depict. <DD><B> 2. </B>to trace or form; draw the outline of. <BR> <I>Ex. The spinning top described a figure 8.</I> (SYN) trace. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to descry. noun <B>describer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="descrier">
<B>descrier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who descries. </DL>
<A NAME="description">
<B>description, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of describing; telling in words how a person, place, thing, or event looks, behaves, or happened. <DD><B> 2. </B>a composition or account that gives a picture in words. <BR> <I>Ex. The vivid description of the hotel fire made me feel as if I had seen it.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>kind; sort; type. <BR> <I>Ex. I have seen no dog of any description today. In the crowd there were people of every description.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the act of tracing; act of drawing in outline; delineation. </DL>
<A NAME="descriptive">
<B>descriptive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>describing; using description. <BR> <I>Ex. A descriptive booklet tells about the places to be seen on the trip. Write a descriptive paragraph about a flower garden.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Grammar.) <DD><B> a. </B>serving to describe. "Big" in "big house" is a descriptive adjective. <DD><B> b. </B><B>=nonrestrictive.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>(of a branch of science) having to do with objective description; based upon observed or empirical facts exclusive of historical, theoretical, or other considerations. <BR> <I>Ex. descriptive linguistics, descriptive botany.</I> adv. <B>descriptively.</B> noun <B>descriptiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="descriptivegeometry">
<B>descriptive geometry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the branch of geometry that solves three-dimensional problems by making projections of figures on two planes that are perpendicular to each other. <DD><B> 2. </B>geometry in which projections are used in solving problems. </DL>
<A NAME="descriptor">
<B>descriptor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a word, phrase, or symbol that identifies a particular subject in the storage unit of a computer. <BR> <I>Ex. When a research worker wants to extract from the microfilm all the material bearing on a certain item of information, he punches the descriptors defining this item on a card and inserts the card in the machine (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a subject heading or key word. </DL>
<A NAME="descry">
<B>descry, </B>verb, <B>-scried,</B> <B>-scrying,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to catch sight of; be able to see; make out; see at a distance; see with difficulty. <BR> <I>Ex. to descry an island on the horizon. We descried the little boat two miles away.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to discover by observation; see; detect; perceive. <BR> <I>Ex. He thought he could descry a way out of his troubles.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to disclose; reveal. <DD><I>noun </I> (Obsolete.) a sight or discovery of something distant or obscure. </DL>
<A NAME="desdemona">
<B>Desdemona, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the young wife of Othello in Shakespeare's tragedy <I>Othello.</I> Her husband smothered her when Iago tricked him into believing her unfaithful. </DL>
<A NAME="deseam">
<B>deseam, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Metallurgy.) to remove surface blemishes, such as seams, from (ingots); scarf. </DL>
<A NAME="desecrate">
<B>desecrate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-crated,</B> <B>-crating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to treat or use without respect; disregard the sacredness of; profane. <BR> <I>Ex. The enemy desecrated the church by using it as a stable.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desecrater">
<B>desecrater, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who desecrates. </DL>
<A NAME="desecration">
<B>desecration, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of desecrating; profanation. <BR> <I>Ex. The Puritans felt that work or amusement on Sunday was a desecration of the Sabbath.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the fact or condition of being desecrated. </DL>
<A NAME="desecrator">
<B>desecrator, </B>noun. =desecrater.</DL>
<A NAME="desectionalize">
<B>desectionalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to free from sectionalism; widen in scope by the removal of whatever limits or divides. </DL>
<A NAME="desegmentation">
<B>desegmentation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state or quality of not being segmented; change from a segmented condition. <DD><B> 2. </B>the reduction of the number of segments by the coalescence of two or more, as in the carapace of a lobster. </DL>
<A NAME="desegmented">
<B>desegmented, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> showing or characterized by desegmentation. </DL>
<A NAME="desegregate">
<B>desegregate, </B>verb, <B>-gated,</B> <B>-gating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to abolish racial segregation in. <BR> <I>Ex. to desegregate a public school.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to become desegregated; bring about desegregation. <BR> <I>Ex. The national guard desegregated, putting Negroes and whites in the same units.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desegregation">
<B>desegregation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doing away with the practice of providing separate schools and other public facilities for racial groups, especially blacks and whites. <BR> <I>Ex. The device of closing public schools as a defense against desegregation is taking a heavy toll in terms of education, economics--and human emotions (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desegregationist">
<B>desegregationist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who supports or actively works for desegregation. <BR> <I>Ex. Democrats faced a critical problem ... how to keep the Northern desegregationists and the Southern segregationists from ripping the party apart (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deselect">
<B>deselect, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) to discharge (a trainee) during training. <BR> <I>Ex. The road from application to trainee to overseas volunteer is a hard one. Many individuals do not follow through. Many are "deselected" (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desensitization">
<B>desensitization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of desensitizing or state of being desensitized. <BR> <I>Ex. They treated a small number of patients by desensitization with a series of injections of weak solutions of ... antigen (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desensitize">
<B>desensitize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-tized,</B> <B>-tizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make less sensitive. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Photography.) to make less sensitive to light. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Medicine.) to reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (a person, organism, organ, or tissue). <BR> <I>Ex. Meanwhile, for the hay fever sufferer this season, shots to desensitize, or immunize, him against the pollens are the best that can be offered (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Psychiatry.) to relieve (a person) of an emotional disturbance. noun <B>desensitizer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="desequestrate">
<B>desequestrate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-trated,</B> <B>-trating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) to free from sequestration; release (something confiscated). <BR> <I>Ex. This property ... has now been desequestrated and in most cases returned to its owners or their agents (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="deseret">
<B>Deseret, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a region in the Western United States comprising Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and California, organized into a state by the Mormons in 1849 but refused admission to the Union by Congress. <BR> <I>Ex. The Mormon pioneers ... called the region Deseret. This name ... stands for industry and hard work (A. Russell Mortensen).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desert">
<B>desert</B> (1), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a barren region with little or no rainfall, usually sandy and without trees. The Sahara is a great desert in the northern part of Africa. <DD><B> b. </B>a barren region with little or no vegetation because of cold, perpetual snow, or ice. <BR> <I>Ex. Physiologically the Antarctic is a desert, the air is extremely dry and the surface frozen (Gabriele Rabel).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a region that is not inhabited or cultivated; wilderness. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a place or environment lacking intellectual or spiritual stimulation. <BR> <I>Ex. a cultural desert.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>dry and barren. <BR> <I>Ex. Arabia is largely desert land. The board would build dams to harness electrical power and irrigate desert wastelands (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>not inhabited or cultivated; wild. <BR> <I>Ex. Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on a desert island.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) deserted; abandoned. </DL>
<A NAME="desert">
<B>desert</B> (2), transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to go away and leave (a person or a place, especially one that should not be left); forsake. <BR> <I>Ex. A husband should not desert his wife and children. After the family deserted the farm, its buildings fell into ruin.</I> (SYN) abandon. <DD><B> 2. </B>to run away from (duty); leave without permission and without intending to return. <BR> <I>Ex. The young boy deserted the army because he was afraid.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to fail (one) when needed; leave. <BR> <I>Ex. His self-confidence deserted him.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to run away from duty. <DD><B> 2. </B>to leave military service without permission and without intending to return. <BR> <I>Ex. A soldier who deserts is punished.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="desert">
<B>desert</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Usually, <B>deserts.</B> what one deserves; suitable reward or punishment. <BR> <I>Ex. The reckless driver got his just deserts when he was fined and his driver's license was suspended. The characters of great men ... sooner or later receive the wages of fame or infamy according to their true deserts (William Cowper).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>meritoriousness; excellence; worth. <BR> <I>Ex. The greatest desert cannot be pleaded in answer to a charge of ... transgression (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the act or fact of deserving. </DL>
<A NAME="desertboot">
<B>desert boot,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. </B>a loose-fitting suede shoe reaching just above the ankle and now usually loosely laced, originally worn by soldiers in North Africa. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>Desert boot,</B> a trademark for this or a similar type of casual shoe. </DL>
