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<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: die - dies</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="die"> die (1), intransitive verb, died, dying.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. to stop living; become dead. Ex. The flowers in the garden died from frost. It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives (Samuel Johnson). <DD> 2. (Figurative.) to lose force, strength, or active qualities. Ex. My sudden anger died. ... and so dies my revenge (Shakespeare). <DD> 3. (Figurative.) to come to an end; stop. Ex. My secret must die with me (George Du Maurier). <DD> 4. to stop running or functioning. Ex. The motor sputtered and died. <DD> 5. (Informal, Figurative.) to want very much. Ex. I'm dying to go to Alaska. The little boy was dying for an ice-cream cone. <DD> 6. (Figurative.) to pass gradually away; fade away. Ex. A wave died along the shore. I hear soft music die along the grove (Alexander Pope). <DD> 7. (Figurative.) to pass gradually (into). Ex. The twilight died into the dark (Tennyson). <DD> 8. (Figurative.) to become suddenly faint. Ex. It might be seen ... how her heart died within her (Robert Southey). <DD> 9. (Figurative.) to suffer as if dying. Ex. Cowards die many times before their deaths (Shakespeare). <DD> 10. (Theology.) to suffer spiritual death. Ex. The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). expr. die away (or down), to stop or end little by little; lose force or strength gradually. Ex. The music died away. He thought the criticism ... that had followed his announcement would die down (New York Times). expr. die hard, <DD> a. to struggle until death; resist to the very end; refuse to give in. Ex. The old politician died hard, refusing to concede victory of the election to his young opponent until all of the votes had been counted. <DD> b. to go on without loss of force; persist indefinitely. Ex. Old customs die hard. expr. die off, to die one after another until all are dead. Ex. The whole herd of cattle died off in the epidemic of hoof-and-mouth disease. expr. die out, <DD> a. to stop or end little by little. Ex. The old ways are dying out. <DD> b. to cease or end completely. Ex. He is the last of the family; after his death the name will die out. </DL> <A NAME="die"> die (2), noun, pl. dies (for 1, 3, 4,) dice (for 2,) verb, died, dieing.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. any tool or apparatus for shaping, cutting, punching, or stamping things. It is usually a metal block or plate cut in a way to fit its purpose. Different kinds of dies are used for coining money, for raising letters up from the surface of paper, and for giving a certain shape to articles made by forging and cutting. Ex. A few feet away a begrimed hammer operator thrusts another hot piece of steel into his die (Wall Street Journal). <DD> 2. one of a set of dice. <DD> 3. any small cube or square block. <DD> 4. (Architecture.) a cubical dado of a pedestal. <DD>v.t. to mold, shape, or cut with a die. expr. the die is cast, the decision is made and cannot be changed. Ex. The die is cast--I cannot go back (George Meredith). </DL> <A NAME="dieaway"> die-away, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> languishing; languid. </DL> <A NAME="dieback"> dieback, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a condition of trees and bushes, especially of orange and other citrus trees and of the coffee plant, in which the tree or bush dies from the outer parts inward or from the top downward. Ex. Foresters call it a "dieback," a term they use for a variety of diseases in which the tree "dies back" slowly from the outer twigs and leaves inward (Maclean's). </DL> <A NAME="diecast"> die-cast, adjective, verb, -cast, -casting.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. made by the process of die casting. Ex. a die-cast engine block. <DD>v.t. to subject to or make by die casting. Ex. Manufacturers do not die-cast steeland iron because these metals do not melt at low temperatures (Allison Butts). </DL> <A NAME="diecaster"> die caster,<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who makes die castings. Ex. Special high grade zinc is used by die casters for the automobile and appliance industries (Wall Street Journal). </DL> <A NAME="diecasting"> die casting,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a process for making castings by pressing molten metal into metallic molds under pressure. <DD> 2. a casting made this way. </DL> <A NAME="diecious"> diecious, adjective. =dioecious.</DL> <A NAME="diectasis"> diectasis, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Prosody.) lengthening by the insertion of a syllable. </DL> <A NAME="diecut"> die-cut, transitive verb, -cut, -cutting.<DL COMPACT><DD> to cut out with a die or dies. noun die-cutter. </DL> <A NAME="dieffenbachia"> dieffenbachia, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several ornamental plants of parti-colored foliage native to tropical America, including the dumb cane. Ex. Dieffenbachias are tropical cousins of the jack-in-the-pulpit (New York Times). </DL> <A NAME="diehard"> die-hard or diehard, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. resisting to the very end; refusing to give in. Ex. The Senator was a die-hard opponent of any changes in the Constitution. His book is an ... account of the struggle for public housing against the owners of slums and die-hard politicians (New Yorker). <DD>noun a person who refuses to give in. Ex. Grandfather was a die-hard; he refused to use modern machinery on his farm. The waitresses were shooing out the last die-hards, turning off the lights in earnest (New Yorker). </DL> <A NAME="diehardism"> die-hardism, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the principles or spirit of a die-hard. Ex. In the case of Ezra Pound, American die-hardism and nonconformity were pushed to tragic limits (London Times Literary Supplement). </DL> <A NAME="diel"> diel, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Ecology.) <DD>adj. occurring with a periodicity of 24 hours; daily. Ex. the diel cycle of lizards. <DD>noun the 24-hour period; day. </DL> <A NAME="dieldrin"> dieldrin, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a very poisonous insecticide obtained by the oxidation of aldrin with certain acids, used especially against soil-infesting insects, such as locusts and grasshoppers. </DL> <A NAME="dielectric"> dielectric, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Electricity.) <DD>adj. 1. nonconducting. <DD> 2. having to do with a nonconducting medium or with the transmission of electricity without conduction. <DD>noun a dielectric substance or medium, such as glass, rubber, or wood. adv. dielectrically. </DL> <A NAME="dielectrical"> dielectrical, adjective. =dielectric.</DL> <A NAME="dielectricconstant"> dielectric constant or coefficient,<DL COMPACT><DD> (Electricity.) a measure of the degree to which a nonconductor increases the capacitance of a condenser when placed around or between its plates. Ex. The dielectric constant is a number denoting the ability of a material to resist the flow of electric current through it (Science News Letter). </DL> <A NAME="dielectricheating"> dielectric heating,<DL COMPACT><DD> heating of a nonconductor in a varying electric field, due to dielectric loss. Ex. Dielectric heating can now be used for drying and setting textile materials (New Scientist). </DL> <A NAME="dielectricloss"> dielectric loss,<DL COMPACT><DD> loss of energy in a dielectric subjected to a varying electric field. This energy is converted to heat. </DL> <A NAME="dielectricstrength"> dielectric strength,<DL COMPACT><DD> the maximum electrical intensity against which a given dielectric can provide effective insulation. Ex. Dielectric strength determines how much voltage [a] condenser will stand without breaking down (Shortley and Williams). </DL> <A NAME="diemaking"> diemaking, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process of molding dies used to shape metals. </DL> <A NAME="diencephalic"> diencephalic, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the diencephalon. </DL> <A NAME="diencephalon"> diencephalon, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy.) the posterior part of the forebrain, connecting the cerebrum to the midbrain and including the optic vesicles and pineal body; interbrain. </DL> <A NAME="diene"> diene, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) an aliphatic hydrocarbon having two double bonds; diolefin. </DL> <A NAME="dieoff"> die-off, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the dying off of a population of animals or plants in a particular locality. Ex. Scientists have investigated a number of less spectacular alewife "die-offs" in recent years, but they still have conflicting theories about the cause of the phenomenon (Time). Stage-4 degeneration is characterized by shrub die-offs (as a result of overbrowsing and a low water table) (New Scientist). </DL> <A NAME="dier"> dier, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who dies. </DL> <A NAME="dieresis"> dieresis, noun, pl. -ses.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. two dots placed over the second of two consecutive vowels to indicate that the second vowel is to be pronounced in a separate syllable. <DD> 2. the division of one syllable into two, especially by the separation of a dipthong into two simple vowels. <DD> 3. (Prosody.) the break which occurs when the end of a foot coincides with the end of a word. Also diaeresis. </DL> <A NAME="dieretic"> dieretic, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with dieresis. Also, diaeretic. </DL> <A NAME="dies"> dies, noun, pl. dies.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) day. </DL> <A HREF="diesel.dic">NEXT</A>