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A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. Then shall these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. Shak.

Of or pertaining to David, the king and psalmist of Israel, or to his family.

A European bird of the Crow family (Corvus monedula), often nesting in church towers and ruins; a jackdaw. The loud daw, his throat displaying, draw The whole assembly of his fellow daws. Waller.

A venomous Australian snake of the family Elapidæ, of several species, as the Hoplocephalus superbus and Acanthopis antarctica. -- Death bell, a bell that announces a death. The death bell thrice was heard to ring. Mickle. -- Death candle, a light like that of a candle, viewed by the superstitious as presaging death.…

A small wingless insect, of the family Psocidæ, which makes a similar but fainter sound; -- called also deathtick. She is always seeing apparitions and hearing deathwatches. Addison. I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the deathwatch beat. Tennyson.

A falling away; decay; deterioration; declension. "The old castle, where the family lived in their decadence.' Sir W. Scott.

condescend. "With declining head." Shak. He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. Lady Hutchinson. Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. Byron. The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. Sir W. Scott.

A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.

To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as, a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera.

A small South American rodent (Octodon Cumingii), of the family Octodontidæ.

An edible European marine fish (Sparus dentex, or Dentex vulgaris) of the family Percidæ.

A microscopic plant of the family Desmidiæ, a group of unicellular algæ in which the species have a greenish color, and the cells generally appear as if they consisted of two coalescing halves.

One of the Diatomaceæ, a family of minute unicellular Algæ having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous division. By some authors diatoms are called Bacillariæ, but this word is not in general use.

To destroy or disturb the comfort of; to deprive oas, a smoky chimney discomforts a family.

in their dispersion retained their rites and ceremonies; a great dispersion of the human family took place at the building of Babel. The days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished. Jer. xxv. 34.

A plant of the Mint family (Origanum Dictamnus), a native of Crete.

. If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom can not stand. Mark iii. 24. Every family became now divided within itself. Prescott.

That dives or is used or diving. Diving beetle (Zoöl.), any beetle of the family Dytiscidæ, which habitually lives under water; - - called also water tiger. -- Diving bell, a hollow inverted vessel, sometimes bell-shaped, in which men may descend and work under water, respiration being sustained by the compressed air…

ooth of a dog. See Calcite. -- Dogtooth violet (Bot.), a small, bulbous herb of the Lily family (genus Erythronium). It has two shining flat leaves and commonly one large flower. [Written also dog's-tooth violet.]

Of or pertaining to one's house or home, or one's household or family; relating to home life; as, domestic concerns, life, duties, cares, happiness, worship, servants. His fortitude is the more extraordinary, because his domestic feelings were unusually strong. Macaulay.