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A verb formed from another verb by a change of termination, and expressing the desire of doing that which is indicated by the primitive verb.

e formed in the mind of something to be done; preliminary conception; idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action; intention; purpose; -- often used in a bad sense for evil intention or purpose; scheme; plot. The vast design and purposTennyson. The leaders of that assembly who withstood the d…

To express a wish for; to entreat; to request. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord 2 Kings iv. 28. Desire him to go in; trouble him no more. Shak.

A proposition relating to or expressing an end or conclusion. [Obs.] I. Watts.

Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless. -- De*spair"ing*ly, adv. -- De*spair"ing*ness, n.

Full of despite; expressing malice or contemptuous hate; malicious. -- De*spite"ful*ly, adv. -- De*spite"ful*ness, n. Haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters. Rom. i. 30. Pray for them which despitefully use you. Matt. v. 44. Let us examine him with despitefulness and fortune. Book of Wisdom ii. 19.…

erves 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).

To change the form of, as of an algebraic expression, by executing certain indicated operations without changing the value.

The act or process of changing or expanding an expression into another of equivalent value or meaning.

strong attachment love or affection; zeal; especially, feelings toward God appropriately expressed by acts of worship; devoutness. Genius animated by a fervent spirit of devotion. Macaulay.

Expressing devotion or piety; as, eyes devout; sighs devout; a devout posture. Milton.

Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech. This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal dialect of the world. South.

To express as in dialogue. [R.] And dialogued for him what he would say. Shak.

Choice of words for the expression of ideas; the construction, disposition, and application of words in discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.; mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's poems. His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. De Quincey.…

A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.

To express the specific difference of; to describe the properties of (a thing) whereby it is differenced from another of the same class; to discriminate. Earle.

being diffuse; especially, in writing, the use of a great or excessive number of word to express the meaning; copiousness; verbosity; prolixity.

One of the ten figures or symbols, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, by which all numbers are expressed; -- so called because of the use of the fingers in counting and computing.

n. [R.] Sir T. Browne. computers to convert (information, a signal, an image) into a form expressible in binary notation

Two signs or characters combined to express a single articulated sound; as ea in head, or th in bath.