| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| descant | verb i. | Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song., The upper voice in part music., The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble., A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments., To sing a variation or accomplishment., To comment freely; to discourse with fullness and particularity; to discourse at large. |
| descend | verb i. | To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; — the opposite of ascend., To enter mentally; to retire., To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; — with on or upon., To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one’s self; as, he descended from his high estate., To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered., To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir., To move toward the south, or to the southward., To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone., To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder. |
| descent | noun | The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower., Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; — often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy., Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc., Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction., Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity., Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent., That which is descended; descendants; issue., A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation., Lowest place; extreme downward place., A passing from a higher to a lower tone. |
| deserve | verb t. | To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise., To serve; to treat; to benefit., To be worthy of recompense; — usually with ill or with well. |
| desight | noun | An unsightly object. |
| desired | imp. & past participle | of Desire |
| desirer | noun | One who desires, asks, or wishes. |
| desking | present participle & vb. noun | of Desk |
| desmine | noun | Same as Stilbite. It commonly occurs in bundles or tufts of crystals. |
| desmoid | adjective | Resembling, or having the characteristics of, a ligament; ligamentous. |
| despair | verb i. | To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation; — often with of., To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of., To cause to despair., Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency., That which is despaired of. |
| despect | noun | Contempt. |
| despeed | verb t. | To send hastily. |
| despend | verb t. | To spend; to squander. See Dispend. |
| despise | verb t. | To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. |
| despite | noun | Malice; malignity; spite; malicious anger; contemptuous hate., An act of malice, hatred, or defiance; contemptuous defiance; a deed of contempt., To vex; to annoy; to offend contemptuously., In spite of; against, or in defiance of; notwithstanding; as, despite his prejudices. |
| despoil | verb t. | To strip, as of clothing; to divest or unclothe., To deprive for spoil; to plunder; to rob; to pillage; to strip; to divest; — usually followed by of., Spoil. |
| despond | verb i. | To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view., Despondency. |
| desport | verb t. & i. | See Disport. |
| despume | verb t. | To free from spume or scum. |
| dessert | noun | A service of pastry, fruits, or sweetmeats, at the close of a feast or entertainment; pastry, fruits, etc., forming the last course at dinner. |
| destine | verb t. | To determine the future condition or application of; to set apart by design for a future use or purpose; to fix, as by destiny or by an authoritative decree; to doom; to ordain or preordain; to appoint; — often with the remoter object preceded by to or for. |
| destiny | noun | That to which any person or thing is destined; predetermined state; condition foreordained by the Divine or by human will; fate; lot; doom., The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; a resistless power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual. |
| destrer | noun | Alt. of Dextrer |
| destrie | verb t. | To destroy. |
| destroy | verb t. | To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish., To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume., To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill. |
| desuete | adjective | Disused; out of use. |