Search the Dictionary

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.

tmeats, 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. -- Dess…

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

To bring to an end; to determine. See Determine. [Obs.] The sly, slow hours shall not determinate The dateless limit of thy dear exile. Shak.

ermine; 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.

ivinely 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.

iation 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.

One who, or that which, devours.

A complete course or vibration; time of vibration, as of a pendulum. [Obs.] Locke.

To measure with a dial. Hours of that true time which is dialed in heaven. Talfourd.

A method of surveying, especially in mines, in which the bearings of the courses, or the angles which they make with each other, are determined by means of the circumferentor.

To discourse in dialogue. Fotherby.

r 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.

Course of living or nourishment; what is eaten and drunk habitually; food; victuals; fare. "No inconvenient diet." Milton.

To have sexual intercourse with. [Obs.] Chaucer.

to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking. Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude. Holland. In the pursuit of an argument there is hardly room to digress into a particular definition as often as a man varies the significati…