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tation; esp., women who are kept as mistresses, though not public prostitutes; demireps. Literary demimonde, writers of the lowest kind.

ppointed sphere or walk; province. Superior to Pope in Pope's own peculiar department of literature. Macaulay.

The loss or obliteration of division into segments; as, a desegmentation of the body.

A table, frame, or case, usually with sloping top, but often with flat top, for the use writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.

Work done at a desk, as by a clerk or writer. Tennyson.

ia (Myogale moschata). It is allied to the moles, but is called muscrat by some English writers. [Written also dæsman.]

To explode with a sudden report; as, niter detonates with sulphur.

o defame; -- often with from. It has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero. V. Knox.

One who detracts; a detractor. Other detracters and malicious writers. Sir T. North.

The writer of Deuteronomy.

That which is seen at a second view; a meaning beyond the literal sense; the second intention; a hidden signification. Sir T. Browne.

n, the regular and usual course of the specific voyage insured, thus releasing the underwriters from their responsibility. Deviation of a falling body (Physics), that deviation from a strictly vertical line of descent which occurs in a body falling freely, in consequence of the rotation of the earth. -- Deviation of t…

difficulties, which diacritical marks necessarily throw in the way of both printer and writer. A. J. Ellis.

A writer of dialogues. P. Skelton.

The daughter of Jupiter and Latona; a virgin goddess who presided over hunting, chastity, and marriage; -- identified with the Greek goddess Artemis. And chaste Diana haunts the forest shade. Pope. Diana monkey (Zoöl.), a handsome, white-bearded monkey of West Africa (Cercopithecus Diana).

To compose literary works; to tell what shall be written or said by another. Sylla could not skill of letters, and therefore knew not how to dictate. Bacon.

r meanings; a lexicon; a vocabulary; a wordbook. I applied myself to the perusal of our writers; and noting whatever might be of use to ascertain or illustrate any word or phrase, accumulated in time the materials of a dictionary. Johnson.

of style, opposed to concise or terse; verbose; prolix; as, a diffuse style; a diffuse writer. A diffuse and various knowledge of divine and human things. Milton.

ff what ought to be done at once; given the procrastination; delaying; procrastinating; loitering; as, a dilatory servant.

The state or quality of being a dilettante; the desultory pursuit of art, science, or literature.