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The voluntary and unnecessary departure of a ship from, or delay in, the regular and usual course of the specific voyage insured, thus releasing the underwriters from their responsibility. Deviation of a falling body (Physics), that deviation from a strictly vertical line of descent which occurs in a body falling freel…

. . into a dexterity to deliver himself. Bacon. He had conducted his own defense with singular boldness and dexterity. Hallam.

Regularly dividing by pairs from bottom to top; as, a dichotomous stem. -- Di*chot"o*mous*ly, adv.

A kind of triangular spade. [Obs.]

Irregular in form; -- opposed to uniform; anomalous; hence, unlike; dissimilar; as, to difform corolla, the parts of which do not correspond in size or proportion; difform leaves. The unequal refractions of difform rays. Sir I. Newton.

Irregularity of form; diversity of form; want of uniformity. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

ce; loftiness and grace; impressiveness; stateliness; -- said of A letter written with singular energy and dignity of thought Macaulay.

The elongation, or angular distance from the sun; -- said chiefly of the inferior planets. [R.]

Having two plane faces; as, the dihedral summit of a crystal. Dihedral angle, the angular space contained between planes which intersect. It is measured by the angle made by any two lines at right angles to the two planes.

To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep. Shak. To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner; -- a phrase common in Elizabethan literature, said to be from the practice of the poor gentry, who beguiled the dinner hour by a promenade near the tomb of…

A dipped candle. [Colloq.] Marryat. Dip of the horizon (Astron.), the angular depression of the seen or visible horizon below the true or natural horizon; the angle at the eye of an observer between a horizontal line and a tangent drawn from the eye to the surface of the ocean. -- Dip of the needle, or Magnetic dip, t…

Want of array or regular order; disorder; confusion. Disrank the troops, set all in disarray. Daniel.

the removal of bad habits and the substitution of good ones, especially those of order, regularity, and obedience. C. J. Smith.

To deny, as a claim; to refuse. The payment was irregularly made, if not disclaimed. Milman.

Inordinate; irregular; vicious. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Want of order or regular disposition; lack of arrangement; confusion; disarray; as, the troops were thrown into disorder; the papers are in disorder.

In a disorderly manner; without law or order; irregularly; confusedly. Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly. 2 Thess. iii. 6. Savages fighting disorderly with stones. Sir W. Raleigh.

To destroy the organic structure or regular system of (a government, a society, a party, etc.); to break up (what is organized); to throw into utter disorder; to disarrange. Lyford . . . attempted to disorganize the church. Eliot (1809).

One who disputes; one who argues A singularly eager, acute, and pertinacious disputant. Macaulay.

ul of health, money, etc., in the pursuit of pleasure; dissolute; intemperate. A life irregular and dissipated. Johnson.