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nding toward extinction or a less perfect state; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion. Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. Swift.

To prepare by boiling; to digest in hot or boiling water; to extract the strength or flavor of by boiling; to make an infusion of.

to increase; to be diminished gradually, in size, degree, number, duration, etc., or in strength, quality, or excellence; as, they days decrease in length from June to December. He must increase, but I must decrease. John iii. 30.

ective; imperfect; incomplete; lacking; as, deficient parts; deficient estate; deficient strength; deficient in judgment. The style was indeed deficient in ease and variety. Macaulay. Deficient number. (Arith.) See under Abundant. -- De*fi"cient-ly, adv.

Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration. The development and degradation of the alphabetic forms can be traced. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

rt, a word whose place neither "dissuade" nor any other exactly supplies, has escaped us. Trench.

Free; nimble; sprightly; active. [Obs.] Wonderly deliver and great of strength. Chaucer.

The act of exerting one's strength or limbs. Neater limbs and freer delivery. Sir H. Wotton.

o reduce by destroying or consuming the vital powers of; to exhaust, as a country of its strength or resources, a treasury of money, etc. Saturday Review.

Joseph sent to descry Bethel. Judg. i. 23. Edmund, I think, is gone . . . to descry The strength o' the enemy. Shak. And now their way to earth they had descried. Milton.

discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.

velops 100 horse power. These serve to develop its tenets. Milner. The 20th was spent in strengthening our position and developing the line of the enemy. The Century.

with dexterity; skillful; artful; as, dexterous management. "Dexterous sleights of hand." Trench.

ore, digging potatoes. -- To dig in, to cover by digging; as, to dig in manure.(b) To entrench oneself so as to give stronger resistance; -- used of warfare. Also figuratively, esp. in the phrase to dig in one's heels.

To appropriate for strengthening and comfort. Grant that we may in such wise hear them [the Scriptures], read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. Book of Common Prayer.

A medicine or an article of food that aids digestion, or strengthens digestive power. Rice is . . . a great restorer of health, and a great digester. Sir W. Temple.

e; to expand; to swell or extend in all directions. His heart dilates and glories in his strength. Addison.

To diminish the strength, flavor, color, etc., of, by mixing; to reduce, especially by the addition of water; to temper; to attenuate; to weaken. Lest these colors should be diluted and weakened by the mixture of any adventitious light. Sir I. Newton.

Reduced in strength; thin; weak. -- Di*lut"ed*ly, adv.

ow you weep; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity. Shak. It was by dint of passing strength That he moved the massy stone at length. Sir W. Scott.