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Causing deflection. Deflective forces, forces that cause a body to deviate from its course.

Having finished the course of life; dead; deceased. "Defunct organs." Shak. The boar, defunct, lay tripped up, near. Byron.

To take counsel with one's self; to weigh the arguments for and against a proposed course of action; to reflect; to consider; to hesitate in deciding; -- sometimes with on, upon, concerning. The woman the deliberation is lost. Addison.

A discourse in which a question is discussed, or weighed and examined. Bacon.

A course of reasoning showing that a certain result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; -- these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously established propositions. Direct, or Positive, demonstration (Logic & Math.), one in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence of reasoning from ax…

A discourse or treatise on trees; the natural history of trees.

A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province. Superior to Pope in Pope's own peculiar department of literature. Macaulay.

Deviation or abandonment, as from or of a rule or course of action, a plan, or a purpose. Any departure from a national standard. Prescott.

minds of his [Chatham's] friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy. Burke. A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties. J. Buchanan.

To turn the course of, as water; to divert and distribute into subordinate channels; to diffuse; to communicate; to transmit; -- followed by to, into, on, upon. [Obs.] For fear it [water] choke up the pits . . . they [the workman] derive it by other drains. Holland. Her due loves derived to that vile witch's share. Spe…

One who discourses on the skin and its diseases; one versed in dermatology.

A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments. Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant! De Quincey.

etmeats, at the close of a feast or entertainment; pastry, fruits, etc., forming the last course at dinner. "An 't please your honor," quoth the peasant, "This same dessert is not so pleasant." Pope. Dessert spoon, a spoon used in eating dessert; a spoon intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. -- Des…

Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.

termine; limiting; shaping; directing; conclusive. Incidents . . . determinative of their course. I. Taylor. Determinative tables (Nat. Hist.), tables presenting the specific character of minerals, plants, etc., to assist in determining the species to which a specimen belongs.

divinely beautiful . . . that at some time or other might influence or even determine her course of life. W. Black.

A turning; a circuitous route; a deviation from a direct course; as, the detours of the Mississippi.

To go out of the way; to turn aside from a course or a method; to stray or go astray; to err; to digress; to diverge; to vary. Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take, May boldly deviate from the common track. Pope.

riation from the common way, from an established rule, etc.; departure, as from the right course or the path of duty.

Going out of the right or common course; going astray; erring; wandering; as, a devious step.