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o waste away; to scatter; to disperse; to vanish; as, a fog or cloud gradually dissipates before the rays or heat of the sun; the heat of a body dissipates.

union; to disunite; to disjoin; as, to dissociate the particles of a concrete substance. Before Wyclif's death in 1384, John of Gaunt had openly dissociated himself from the reformer. A. W. Ward.

onfer distinction upon; -- with by or for."To distinguish themselves by means never tried before." Johnson.

The aforesaid thing; the same (as before). Often contracted to do., or to two "turned commas" ("), or small marks. Used in bills, books of account, tables of names, etc., to save repetition. A spacious table in the center, and a variety of smaller dittos in the corners. Dickens.

ally known; to disclose; -- said of that which had been confided as a secret, or had been before unknown; as, to divulge a secret. Divulge not such a love as mine. Cowper.

not. "Do you love me" Shak. (d) Do, as an auxiliary, is supposed to have been first used before imperatives. It expresses entreaty or earnest request; as, do help me. In the imperative mood, but not in the indicative, it may be used with the verb to be; as, do be quiet. Do, did, and done often stand as a general subst…

ned down and soiled by careless or long-continued usage; -- said of a book. Statute books before unopened, not dog-eared. Ld. Mansfield.

hores used to hold a ship firmly and prevent her moving while the blocks are knocked away before launching.

The stone or plank forming a step before an outer door.

r lonely cell. Dryden. He survived the use of his reason, grew infatuated, and doted long before he died. South.

A feast in which the antiphon is doubled, hat is, said twice, before and after the Psalms, instead of only half being said, as in simple feasts. Shipley.

A kind of coasting sled, made of two sleds fastened together with a board, one before the other. [Local, U. S.]

Deceit; duplicity. Now cometh the sin of double-tongue, such as speak fair before folk and wickedly behind. Chaucer.

Uncertainty of condition. Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. Deut. xxviii. 66.

A collection of twelve objects; a tale or set of twelve; with or without of before the substantive which follows. "Some six or seven dozen of Scots." "A dozen of shirts to your back." "A dozen sons." "Half a dozen friends." Shak.

A flat stone so thrown along the surface of water as to skip from point to point before it sinks; also, the sport of so throwing stones; -- sometimes called ducks and drakes. Internal earthquakes, that, not content with one throe, run along spasmodically, like boys playing at what is called drakestone. De Quincey.…

A minute quantity; a mite. Were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be preferred before many times as mush the forcible hindrance of evildoing. Milton.

A race Hindostan, believed to be the original people who occupied the land before the Hindoo or Aryan invasion.

group of languages of Southern India, which seem to have been the idioms of the natives, before the invasion of tribes speaking Sanskrit. Of these languages, the Tamil is the most important.

the stranger into a private room. Sir W. Scott. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats James ii. 6. The arrow is now drawn to the head. Atterbury.