<B>dithiazanine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline compound used as a sensitizing agent for photographic emulsions, and as a drug in the treatment of hookworm and similar conditions. </DL>
<A NAME="dithionicacid">
<B>dithionic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an acid occurring only in solution or in its salts. </DL>
<B>dithizone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline organic compound that forms colors with certain metals, such as silver and lead, used as a selective reagent. <BR> <I>Ex. Using a coloring agent, dithizone, the solution will turn from green to orange if there are barbiturate poisons in the blood (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dithyramb">
<B>dithyramb, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Greek choral song in honor of Dionysus. <DD><B> 2. </B>a poem that is full of wild emotion or enthusiasm. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) any speech or writing like this. </DL>
<A NAME="dithyrambic">
<B>dithyrambic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or like a dithyramb. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) wildly enthusiastic. <BR> <I>Ex. She expressed her boundless satisfaction in a dithyrambic letter to the Prime Minister (Lytton Strachey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dithyrambically">
<B>dithyrambically, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in or as in dithyrambs; with dithyrambic expression. </DL>
<A NAME="ditsy">
<B>ditsy</B> or <B>ditsey, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) flighty, confused, or eccentric; dizzy. <BR> <I>Ex. He thinks women who want equality are ditsey (New Yorker). </I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>ditzy.</B> [perhaps alteration of <I>dizzy</I>] </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="dittany">
<B>dittany, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a perennial plant of the rue family cultivated for its showy white, pink, or purple flowers; fraxinella. <DD><B> 2. </B>either of several plants of the mint family with clusters of purplish flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="dittied">
<B>dittied, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> composed or sung as a ditty. </DL>
<A NAME="ditto">
<B>ditto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tos,</B> verb, <B>-toed,</B> <B>-toing,</B> adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the same; exactly the same as appeared or was said before. <DD><B> 2. </B>the ditto mark or the abbreviation (do.) that stands for "ditto." <DD><B> 3. </B>a copy; duplicate. <BR> <I>Ex. Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to copy; duplicate; match. <BR> <I>Ex. The Navy and Marine Corps dittoes an average of 6,569 releases every working day (Harper's).</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> (Informal.) as said before; likewise. <BR> <I>Ex. There is a research thesis waiting for somebody on the effects of dieting on conversation, ditto vegetarianism (Atlantic).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> matching; similar. <BR> <I>Ex. a mixed-up film version of [his] offbeat romance between a frustrated American housewife and a ditto American working man (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dittograph">
<B>dittograph, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a letter or series of letters repeated unintentionally in writing or copying. </DL>
<A NAME="dittographic">
<B>dittographic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or like a dittograph. </DL>
<A NAME="dittography">
<B>dittography, </B>noun, pl. <B>-phies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the unintentional repetition of a letter or word, or of a series of letters or words, in writing or copying. <DD><B> 2. </B>a passage having such repetition. </DL>
<A NAME="dittomark">
<B>ditto mark,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a mark used to avoid repeating something written immediately above. Ditto marks are often used on long lists, bills, and tables. </DL>
<A NAME="ditty">
<B>ditty, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a short, simple song or poem. <BR> <I>Ex. The series includes twenty-one lively ditties intended for 5 to 10-year-old boys and girls (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dittybag">
<B>ditty bag,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small bag, used especially by sailors, to hold needles and thread, buttons, soap, laundry, and other items for household chores away from home. </DL>
<A NAME="dittybox">
<B>ditty box,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small box used like a ditty bag. </DL>
<A NAME="ditz">
<B>ditz, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a flighty, confused, or eccentric person. <BR> <I>Ex. A nurse ... inadvertently administers a fatal overdose to a patient--and catches all kinds of flak for being such a ditz (Rolling Stone).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ditzy">
<B>ditzy, </B>adjective. =ditsy.</DL>
<A NAME="diuresis">
<B>diuresis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> excessive discharge of urine. </DL>
<A NAME="diuretic">
<B>diuretic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> causing an increase in the flow of urine. <DD><I>noun </I> a drug or agent that causes an increase in the flow of urine. <BR> <I>Ex. These drugs include a diuretic for the elimination of excess water in the body (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<B>diurnal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>occurring every day; daily. <BR> <I>Ex. Sunrise is a diurnal event.</I> (SYN) quotidian. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or belonging to the daytime. <BR> <I>Ex. Diurnal temperatures are usually higher than those of the night.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>active only during the day, as certain animals and insects are. <BR> <I>Ex. Butterflies are diurnal.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>lasting a day; opening by day and closing by night, as certain flowers do. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Ecclesiastical.) a service book containing the offices for the day hours of prayer. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) a diary; journal. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) a daily newspaper. adv. <B>diurnally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="diurnalarc">
<B>diurnal arc,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through above the horizon. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnalcircle">
<B>diurnal circle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the apparent circle described by a heavenly body in its daily motion of rising and setting, resulting from the rotation of the earth. The diurnal circles of the stars are parallel and are described in the same period, but those of the sun, moon, and planets are not parallel and have different periods. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnalhibernation">
<B>diurnal hibernation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> hibernation that occurs at certain periods each day among some animals. Some bats spend the day in hibernation and become active at night. The diurnal hibernation of some hummingbirds takes place at night. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnality">
<B>diurnality, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality, condition, or habit of being diurnal. <BR> <I>Ex. Studies of the physiology of vertebrate eyes suggest that diurnality and nocturnality come and go as mutation and ecological expedience direct (J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="diurnallibration">
<B>diurnal libration,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an apparent oscillation of the moon as perceived by an observer, produced by the effect of the earth's rotation. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnalmotion">
<B>diurnal motion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the apparent daily rotation of the heavenly bodies from east to west, an effect produced by the earth's rotation on its axis from west to east. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnalparallax">
<B>diurnal parallax,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the parallax that a heavenly body would have if viewed from two points on the earth separated by an angle of 90 degrees with the earth's center; geocentric parallax. </DL>
<A NAME="diurnation">
<B>diurnation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the habit of sleeping or being inactive during the day, as contrasted with being active at night. </DL>
<A NAME="diuron">
<B>diuron, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a highly toxic, white, crystalline solid used as a weedkiller. </DL>
<A NAME="diuturnal">
<B>diuturnal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of long duration. </DL>
<A NAME="diuturnity">
<B>diuturnity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> long duration; length of time. <BR> <I>Ex. I promise myself, if not immortality, yet diuturnity of being read (Charles Lamb).</I> </DL>
<B>diva, </B>noun, pl. <B>-vas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a prima donna; famous woman opera singer. </DL>
<A NAME="divagate">
<B>divagate, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-gated,</B> <B>-gating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to wander; stray from one place or subject to another. </DL>
<A NAME="divagation">
<B>divagation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the action of divagating; wandering or straying; deviation; digression. <BR> <I>Ex. The only divagation from the story that he enjoys is the "spot" in which small children from the audience join him in the fun on the stage (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="divagatory">
<B>divagatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> characterized by divagating; digressive. <BR> <I>Ex. It all makes for a relaxed, divagatory mode of speech (John Russell).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="divalence">
<B>divalence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> divalent quality or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="divalent">
<B>divalent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) having a valence of 2; bivalent. </DL>
<A NAME="divali">
<B>Divali, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Hindu festival of lightsto commemorate the new year. <BR> <I>Ex. One of the prettiest of India's celebrations is Divali (Santha Rama Rau).</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>Dewalee,</B> <B>Diwali.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="divan">
<B>divan, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a long, low, soft couch or sofa. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a court or council in Turkey and other Oriental countries. <DD><B> b. </B>a council chamber or hall. <DD><B> 3. </B>a smoking room. <BR> <I>Ex. She ... directed him to the cigar divan on the other side of the street (Anthony Trollope).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a collection of Persian or other Oriental poems, especially a series by a single author. <BR> <I>Ex. His chief work was a divan ... of about 700 of his poems (Walter J. Fischel).</I> </DL>
