Search the Dictionary

One who designs, marks out, or plans; a contriver.

Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality. A desperate offendress against nature. Shak. The most desperate of reprobates. Macaulay.

Marked by despondence; given to despondence; low-spirited; as, a despondent manner; a despondent prisoner. -- De*spond"ent*ly, adv.

posed powers which preside over human life, and determine its circumstances and duration. Marked by the Destinies to be avoided. Shak.

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

A mark or attribute, attached to the subject or predicate, narrowing the extent of both, but rendering them more definite and precise. Abp. Thomson.

To fix the boundaries of; to mark off and separate. [God] hath determined the times before appointed. Acts xvii. 26.

contain, besides plants and numerous invertebrates, the bony portions of many large and remarkable fishes of extinct groups. See the Diagram under Geology.

A fierce, wild dog (Canis Dukhunensis), found in the mountains of India. It is remarkable for its propensity to hunt the tiger and other wild animals in packs.

That separates or distinguishes; -- applied to points or marks used to distinguish letters of similar form, or different sounds of the same letter, as, a, â, ä, o, ô, etc. "Diacritical points." Sir W. Jones. A glance at this typography will reveal great difficulties, which diacritical marks necessarily throw in the way…

A mark consisting of two dots [..], placed over the second of two adjacent vowels, to denote that they are to be pronounced as distinct letters; as, coöperate, aërial.

The mark or symptom by which one disease is known or distinguished from others.

ersections furnish smaller subdivisions of the unit of measure than could be conveniently marked on a plain scale. -- Diagonal stratification. (Geol.) Same as Cross bedding, under Cross, a.

ecious stone or gem excelling in brilliancy and beautiful play of prismatic colors, and remarkable for extreme hardness.

An order of worms parasitic in cephalopods. They are remarkable for the extreme simplicity of their structure. The embryo exists in two forms.

A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box and thrown from it. See Dice.

The mark ||; -- called also double dagger.

t by which one thing differs from another; that which distinguishes or causes to differ;; mark of distinction; characteristic quality; specific attribute. The marks and differences of sovereignty. Davies.

To distinguish or mark by a specific difference; to effect a difference in, as regards classification; to develop differential characteristics in; to specialize; to desynonymize. The word then was differentiated into the two forms then and than. Earle. Two or more of the forms assumed by the same original word become d…

ds or fringes of prismatic colors, as by the action of a grating of fine lines or bars. Remarked by Grimaldi (1665), and referred by him to a property of light which he called diffraction. Whewell. Diffraction grating. (Optics) See under Grating. -- Diffraction spectrum. (Optics) See under Spectrum.…