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Confusion of affairs; tumult; disorder; as, political distractions. Never was known a night of such distraction. Dryden.

Relating to the daytime; belonging to the period of daylight, distinguished from the night; -- opposed to Ant: nocturnal; as, diurnal heat; diurnal hours.

To turn aside. [Obs.] The redcross knight diverst, but forth rode Britomart. Spenser.

ak. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. Prov. xvi. 10. But not to one in this benighted age Is that diviner inspiration given. Gray.

or thrust away; to rid one's self of. And made us doff our easy robes of peace. Shak. At night, or in the rain, He dons a surcoat which he doffs at morn. Emerson.

The bolt of the cap-square over the trunnion of a cannon. Knight.

A tool with an indented head for shaping the head of a rivet. Knight.

Master; sir; -- a title of respect formerly applied to a knight or a clergyman, and sometimes to the lord of a manor. Cowell.

to dress in; to invest one's self with. Should I don this robe and trouble you. Shak. At night, or in the rain, He dons a surcoat which he doffs at morn. Emerson.

The quality or rank of a don, gentleman, or knight. Hudibras.

A young squire, or knight's attendant; a page. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

ouble portion of thy spirit be upon me. 2 Kings ii. 9. Darkness and tempest make a double night. Dryden.

A locomotive with pilot at each end. Knight.

One of several pieces fayed across the apron and lapped in the knightheads, or inside planking above the upper deck. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indicating motion. It will be rain to-night. Let it come down. Shak. I sit me down beside the hazel grove. Tennyson. And that drags down his life. Tennyson. There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world than a man who has written himself down. Addison. Th…

A breastplow used in paring off turf on downs. [Eng.] Knight.

. These starry blossoms, [of the snow] pure and white, Soft falling, falling, through the night, Have draped the woods and mere. Bungay.

The system of furrows on the face of a millstone. Knight. Dress circle. See under Circle. -- Dress parade (Mil.), a parade in full uniform for review.

The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments. [R.] Knight.

A contrivance for holding and turning a drill. Knight.