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any purpose; to be bold or venturesome; not to be afraid; to venture. I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. Shak. Why then did not the ministers use their new law Bacause they durst not, because they could not. Macaulay. Who dared to sully her sweet love with suspicion. Thackeray. The tie of…

Not clear to the understanding; not easily The dark problems of existence. Shairp. What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain. Hooker. What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word Shak.

To render dim; to deprive of vision. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Rom. xi. 10.

nt upon a picture. I take care to dash the character with such particular circumstance as may prevent ill-natured applications. Addison. The very source and fount of day Is dashed with wandering isles of night. Tennyson.

That may be dated; having a known or ascertainable date. "Datable almost to a year." The Century.

A kind of latch whose bolt may be so locked by a detent that it can not be opened from the inside by the handle, or from the outside by the latch key. Knight.

[parts of an ephah] of flour. Num. xv. 9. As an object of science it [the Celtic genius] may count for a good deal . . . as a spiritual power. M. Arnold. She was resolved to be a good deal more circumspect. W. Black.

he decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay. Perhaps my God, though he be far before, May turn, and take me by the hand, and more -May strengthen my decays. Herbert. His [Johnson's] failure was not to be ascribed to intellectual decay. Macaulay. Which has caused the decay of the consonants to follow somewhat differ…

The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.

That may be plucked off, cropped, or torn away. [Obs.] Bailey.

d for services in war, great achievements in literature, art, etc. Decoration Day, a day, May 30, appointed for decorating with flowers the graves of the Union soldiers and sailors, who fell in the Civil War in the United States; Memorial Day. [U.S.]

or deduct a part of; -- used chiefly of money, accounts, rents, income, etc. To show what may be practicably and safely defalcated from the [the estimates]. Burke.

er conveyance, containing conditions, on the performance of which the estate then created may be defeated.

To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [Obs.] His unkindness may defeat my life. Shak.

ed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies. The lord mayor craves aid . . . to defend the city. Shak. God defend the right! Shak. A village near it was defended by the river. Clarendon.

ior from exposure to an enemy's fire from any point within range, or from any works which may be erected. Farrow.

ion; to taint. He is . . . among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by . . . dirty hands. Swift.

Of such a nature that anything may be erased from it; -- said of paper.

To dig or labor with a spade, or as with a spade; to labor as a drudge. Delve may I not: I shame to beg. Wyclif (Luke xvi. 3).

The right or title in virtue of which anything may be claimed; as, to hold a demand against a person.