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Of or pertaining to descent; moving downwards. Descending constellations or signs (Astron.), those through which the planets descent toward the south. -- Descending node (Astron.), that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Descending series (Math.), a series in which eac…

ing downward; descent; falling or sinking; declension; degradation. Oblique descension (Astron.), the degree or arc of the equator which descends, with a celestial object, below the horizon of an oblique sphere. -- Right descension, the degree or arc of the equator which descends below the horizon of a right sphere at…

n its eyes hitherward, and be assured that foundations of our national power still stand strong. D. Webster.

by a fuse; -- used to explode gun cotton in blasting operations. -- Detonating tube, a strong tube of glass, usually graduated, closed at one end, and furnished with two wires passing through its sides at opposite points, and nearly meeting, for the purpose of exploding gaseous mixtures by an electric spark, as in ga…

Consecrated to a purpose; strongly attached; zealous; devout; as, a devoted admirer. -- De*vot"ed*ly, adv. -- De*vot"ed*ness, n.

The state of being devoted; addiction; eager inclination; 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.

A colored photograph produced by superimposing a translucent colored positive over a strong uncolored one.

A suffrutescent, D. Fraxinella (the only species), with strong perfume and showy flowers. The volatile oil of the leaves is highly inflammable.

A colorless, volatile, alkaline liquid, NH(C2H5)2, having a strong fishy odor resembling that of herring or sardines. Cf. Methylamine.

dig in, to cover by digging; as, to dig in manure.(b) To entrench oneself so as to give stronger resistance; -- used of warfare. Also figuratively, esp. in the phrase to dig in one's heels.

A strong closed vessel, in which bones or other substances may be subjected, usually in water or other liquid, to a temperature above that of boiling, in order to soften them.

rse to pursue; a vexatious alternative or predicament; a difficult choice or position. A strong dilemma in a desperate case! To act with infamy, or quit the place. Swift. Horns of a dilemma, alternatives, each of which is equally difficult of encountering.

eal; to feed; as, to dine a hundred men. A table massive enough to have dined Johnnie Armstrong and his merry men. Sir W. Scott.

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…

The American dipper or ouzel (Cinclus Mexicanus). The Dipper (Astron.), the seven principal stars in the constellation of the Great Bear; popularly so called from their arrangement in the form of a dipper; -- called also Charles's Wain. See Ursa Major, under Ursa.

e disadvantage of being unknown by sight to any of you. Burke. Abandoned by their great patron, the faction henceforward acted at disadvantage. Palfrey.

erious mishap. But noble souls, through dust and heat, Rise from disaster and defeat The stronger. Longfellow.

To refuse strongly and solemnly to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, an the like; to disclaim; to disown; as, he was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the crime. A solemn promise made and disavowed. Dryden.

One of a species of coccoliths, having an oval discoidal body, with a thick strongly refracting rim, and a thinner central portion. One of them measures about

To talk to; to confer with. [Obs.] I have spoken to my brother, who is the patron, to discourse the minister about it. Evelyn.