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One who delivers or rescues; a preserver.

middle of the base. -- Deltoid muscle (Anat.), a triangular muscle in the shoulder which serves to move the arm directly upward.

That which one merits or deserves, either of good or ill; desert. [Obs.] By many benefits and demerits whereby they obliged their adherents, [they] acquired this reputation. Holland.

ty of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason. Those intervening ideas which serve to show the agreement of any two others are called "proofs;" and where agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived, it is called demonstration. Locke.

To mark out plainly; to signify by a visible sign; to serve as the sign or name of; to indicate; to point out; as, the hands of the clock denote the hour. The better to denote her to the doctor. Shak.

To serve; to attend; to act as a dependent or retainer. [Obs.] Shak.

Having the skin modified to serve as a gill.

ament (Law), a sentence of secret character inserted by the testator alone, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter shall be valid, unless this clause is inserted word for word; -- a precaution to guard against later wills extorted by violence, or obtained by…

That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. According to their deserts will I judge them. Ezek. vii. 27. Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. Shak. His reputation falls far below his desert. A. Hamil…

Undeservedly. [R.] Beau. & Fl.

To dry up; to deprive or exhaust of moisture; to preserve by drying; as, to desiccate fish or fruit. Bodies desiccated by heat or age. Bacon.

phuric acid or calcium chloride, above which is suspended the material to be dried, or preserved from moisture.

in; to appoint; -- often with the remoter object preceded by to or for. We are decreed, Reserved, and destined to eternal woe. Milton. Till the loathsome opposite Of all my heart had destined, did obtain. Tennyson. Not enjoyment and not sorrow Is our destined end or way. Longfellow.

of an individual. But who can turn the stream of destiny Spenser. Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny. Longfellow. The Destinies (Anc. Myth.), the three Parcæ, or Fates; the supposed powers which preside over human life, and determine its circumstances and duration. M…

That which serves to determine; that which causes determination.

That which serves to determine. Explanatory determinatives . . . were placed after words phonetically expressed, in order to serve as an aid to the reader in determining the meaning. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

duce or give forth; as, to develop theories; a motor that develops 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.

right, or like the hands of a watch when the apex of the spire is toward the eye of the observer.

Distrust of one's self or one's own powers; lack of self-reliance; modesty; modest reserve; bashfulness. It is good to speak on such questions with diffidence. Macaulay. An Englishman's habitual diffidence and awkwardness of adress. W. Irving.

of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve. The diffident maidens, Folding their hands in prayer. Longfellow.