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Stupid; gross; crass; as, dense ignorance.

A going away; departure; hence, death. [Obs.] At my depart for France. Shak. Your loss and his depart. Shak.

A territorial division; a district; esp., in France, one of the districts composed of several arrondissements into which the country is divided for governmental purposes; as, the Department of the Loire.

to rely; to confide; to be certain; -- with on or upon; as, we depend on the word or assurance of our friends; we depend on the mail at the usual hour. But if you 're rough, and use him like a dog, Depend upon it -- he 'll remain incog. Addison.

against, as an evil; to seek to avert by player; to desire the removal of; to seek deliverance from; to express deep regret for; to disapprove of strongly. His purpose was deprecated by all round him, and he was with difficulty induced to adandon it. Sir W. Scott.

sinking below its true place; a cavity or hollow; as, roughness consists in little protuberances and depressions.

A member of the Chamber of Deputies. [France] Chamber of Deputies, one of the two branches of the French legilative assembly; -- formerly called Corps Législatif. Its members, called deputies, are elected by the people voting in districts.

; productive of serious evil; mischievous; pernicious; -- often with of or to; as, intemperance is destructive of health; evil examples are destructive to the morals of youth. Time's destructive power. Wordsworth. Destructive distillation. See Distillation. -- Destructive sorties ( (Logic), a process of reasoning whic…

That which deters; a deterrent; a hindrance. [R.]

aws of being -- higher metaphysics. By Kant, it was employed to signify the logic of appearances or illusions, whether these arise from accident or error, or from those necessary limitations which, according to this philosopher, originate in the constitution of the human intellect.

The speaking to, or the giving orders to, in an overbearing manner; authoritative utterance; as, his habit, even with friends, was that of dictatio.

do or to understand; that which occasions labor or perplexity, and requires skill perseverance to overcome, solve, or achieve; a hard enterprise; an obstacle; an impediment; as, the difficulties of a science; difficulties in theology. They lie under some difficulties by reason of the emperor's displeasure. Addison.…

light in passing by the edges of opaque bodies or through narrow slits, causing the appearance of parallel bands 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…

A four-wheeled public stagecoach, used in France.

Consisting of only one half of what the normal condition requires; having the appearance of lacking one half; as, a dimidiate leaf, which has only one side developed.

e or both sexes of the same species of butterfly. Dimorphism is the condition of the appearance of the same species under two dissimilar forms. Darwin.

inted to manage the affairs of a company or corporation; as, the directors of a bank, insurance company, or railroad company. What made directors cheat in South-Sea year Pope.

Pertaining to: director or directory; specifically, relating to the Directory of France under the first republic. See Directory, 3. Whoever goes to the directorial presence under this passport. Burke.

of directors; board of management; especially, a committee which held executive power in France under the first republic.

Loss; detriment; hindrance; prejudice to interest, fame, credit, profit, or other good. They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public. Bancroft.