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A small armed vessel, usually a steamer, in the revenue marine service; -- also called revenue cutter.

An interval of time in which a certain succession of events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of something peculiar; as, the cucle of the seasons, or of the year. Wages . . . bear a full proportio…

The circle or compass of the arts and sciences (originally, of the seven so-called liberal arts and sciences); circle of human knowledge. Hence, a work containing, in alphabetical order, information in all departments of knowledge, or on a particular department or branch; as, a cyclopedia of the physical sciences, or o…

As a numeral D stands for 500. in this use it is not the initial of any word, or even strictly a letter, but one half of the sign

A kind of zooid of Siphonophora which has an elongated or even vermiform body, with one tentacle, but no mouth. See Siphonophora.

A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.

Dejection; depression; cloud of the mind. Even now, while thus I stand blest in thy presence, A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul. Addison. It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion. J. D. Forbes.

n 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.

c or hydraulic cushion for a falling weight, as in the valve gear of a steam engine, to prevent shock.

The point of time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time; epoch; as, the date of a battle. He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest.…

To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter. Come some evening and dawdle over a dish of tea with me. Johnson. We . . . dawdle up and down Pall Mall. Thackeray.

phthalus, etc. -- Dead plate (Mach.), a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part. -- Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage. -- Dead point. (Mach.) See Dead center. -- Dead reckoning (Naut.), the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the c…

of speech, or has lost it. [See Illust. of Dactylology.] Deaf-mutes are still so called, even when, by artificial methods, they have been taught to speak imperfectly.

Incapacity of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.

er made by sawing; a board or plank; particularly, a board or plank of fir or pine above seven inches in width, and exceeding six feet in length. If narrower than this, it is called a batten; if shorter, a deal end.

The office or the revenue of a dean. See the Note under Benefice, n., 3.

A mortal or crushing blow; a stroke or event which kills or destroys. The deathblow of my hope. Byron.

To prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.

hers annexed; according to the French and American notation, a thousand involved to the eleventh power, or a unit with thirty-three ciphers annexed. [See the Note under Numeration.]

ss, despondency, etc.; to condescend. "With declining head." Shak. He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. Lady Hutchinson. Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. Byron. The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. Sir W. Scott.