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The faculty supposed to impel to the commission of acts of destruction; propensity to destroy.

Leaping or skipping about. [Obs.] I shot at it [a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim. Gilbert White.

Direction or tendency to a certain end; impulsion. Remissness can by no means consist with a constant determination of the will . . . to the greatest apparent good. Locke.

A turning; a circuitous route; a deviation from a direct course; as, the detours of the Mississippi.

To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or down; -- generally with on or upon, sometimes with to or into; as, after the general fell, the command devolved upon (or on) the next officer in rank. His estate . . . devolved to Lord Somerville. Johnson.

ans isolated from their own communion, as among the Moravians to those living, usually as missionaries, outside of the parent congregation.

The doctrine or the phenomena of the transmission of radiant heat. Nichol.

Omission, inaccuracy, or defect in a record.

To dismiss, let go, or release. [Obs.]

Of or pertaining to a diocese; as, diocesan missions.

The emission and diffusion of rays of light.

to disunite; to scatter; to disperse; to break up the organization of; especially, to dismiss from military service; as, to disband an army. They disbanded themselves and returned, every man to his own dwelling. Knolles.

To cast off as useless or as no longer of service; to dismiss from employment, confidence, or favor; to discharge; to turn away. They blame the favorites, and think it nothing extraordinary that the queen should . . . resolve to discard them. Swift.

Rejection; dismissal. [R.] Hayter.

To free of the missile with which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar. The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their gr…

To make disciples of; to convert to doctrines or principles. [R.] Sending missionaries to disciple all nations. E. D. Griffin.

Subjection to rule; submissiveness to order and control; habit of obedience. The most perfect, who have their passions in the best discipline, are yet obliged to be constantly on their guard. Rogers.

eprivation of privileges of citizenship or of chartered immunities. Sentenced first to dismission from the court, and then to disfranchisement and expulsion from the colony. Palfrey.

To put out favor; to dismiss with dishonor. Flatterers of the disgraced minister. Macaulay. Pitt had been disgraced and the old Duke of Newcastle dismissed. J. Morley.

Any sending away; dismissal; riddance. To the utter dispatch of all their most beloved comforts. Milton.