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A betrothing; betrothal. [Obs.] For all this desponsation of her . . . she had not set one step toward the consummation of her marriage. Jer. Taylor.

eserved, and destined to eternal woe. Milton. Till the loathsome opposite Of all my heart had destined, did obtain. Tennyson. Not enjoyment and not sorrow Is our destined end or way. Longfellow.

In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Ps. cxli. 8. Totally destitute of all shadow of influence. Burke.

e of practice, custom, or fashion. The desuetude abrogated the law, which, before, custom had established. Jer. Taylor.

less; as, desultory minds. Atterbury. He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory. Macaulay.

oitness. His wisdom . . . was turned . . . into a dexterity to deliver himself. Bacon. He had conducted his own defense with singular boldness and dexterity. Hallam.

An instrument, formerly much used for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; esp., a sundial; but there are lunar and astral dials. The style or gnomon is usually parallel to the earth's axis, but the dial plate may be either horizontal or vertical.…

rriage; -- 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).

That which aids digestion, as a food or medicine. Chaucer. That digestive [a cigar] had become to me as necessary as the meal itself. Blackw. Mag.

An embankment to prevent inundations; a levee. Dikes that the hands of the farmers had raised . . . Shut out the turbulent tides. Longfellow.

a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent. Dryden. Every dint a sword had beaten in it [the shield]. Tennyson.

A person employed in, or skilled in, diplomacy; a diplomat. In ability, Avaux had no superior among the numerous able diplomatics whom his country then possessed. Macaulay.

Two metrical feet taken together, or included in one measure. Hadley. Trochaic, iambic, and anapestic verses . . . are measured by dipodies. W. W. Goodwin.

rcise, a wrestling and warfare, for which sensual pleasure disables him. Jer. Taylor. And had performed it, if my known offense Had not disabled me. Milton. I have disabled mine estate. Shak.

s disadvantageous for attack or defense. Even in the disadvantageous position in which he had been placed, he gave clear indications of future excellence. Prescott. -- Dis*ad`van*ta"geous*ly, adv. -- Dis*ad`van*ta"geous*ness, n.

of; to make unfriendly or less friendly; to fill with discontent and unfriendliness. They had attempted to disaffect and discontent his majesty's late army. Clarendon.

, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or ex Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden.

by means of misfortune, suffering, punishment, etc. A sharp discipline of half a century had sufficed to educate Macaulay.

de glorious summer by this sun of York. Shak. The rapacity of his father's administration had excited such universal discontent. Hallam

e to cease; to cease using, to stop; to leave off. Set up their conventicles again, which had been discontinued. Bp. Burnet. I have discontinued school Above a twelvemonth. Shak. Taught the Greek tongue, discontinued before in these parts the space of seven hundred years. Daniel. They modify and discriminate the voice,…