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ine art which has for its end ornamentation, rather than the representation of objects or events.

A becoming less; gradual diminution; decay; as, a decrease of revenue or of strength.

rty, and distinguished from an indenture by having the edge of the parchment or paper cut even, or polled as it was anciently termed, instead of being indented. Burrill.

To make darker or more intense; to darken; as, the event deepened the prevailing gloom. You must deepen your colors. Peacham.

Frustration by rendering null and void, or by prevention of success; as, the defeat of a plan or design.

That which defends; a safeguard. Wars preventive, upon just fears, are true defensive. Bacon. To be on the defensive, To stand on the defensive, to be or stand in a state or posture of defense or resistance, in opposition to aggression or attack.

Deficiency in amount or quality; a falling short; lack; as, a deficit in taxes, revenue, etc. Addison.

y an opinion began to gain ground in Italy, that third cousins might marry, being in the seventh degree according to the civil law. Hallam.

To deprive of horns; to prevent the growth or the horns of (cattle) by burning their ends soon after they start. See Dishorn. "Dehorning cattle." Farm Journal (1886).

To cast down. [Obs. or Archaic] Christ dejected himself even unto the hells. Udall. Sometimes she dejects her eyes in a seeming civility; and many mistake in her a cunning for a modest look. Fuller.

To blot out; to erase; to expunge; to dele; to omit. I have, therefore, . . . inserted eleven stanzas which do not appear in Sir Walter Scott's version, and have deleted eight. Aytoun.

ee; a misdemeanor. Every regulation of the civil code necessarily implies a delict in the event of its violation. Jeffrey.

A half vault; one of the seven artificial motions of a horse, in which he raises his fore legs in a particular manner.

a wall. I expected the fabric of my book would long since have been demolished, and laid even with the ground. Tillotson.

lar; common. Demotic alphabet or character, a form of writing used in Egypt after six or seven centuries before Christ, for books, deeds, and other such writings; a simplified form of the hieratic character; -- called also epistolographic character, and enchorial character. See Enchorial.

Demur; delay in acting or deciding. The same causes of demurral existed which prevented British troops from assisting in the expulsion of the French from Rome. Southey.

Flattened; made level or even.

A substance used to prevent polarization, as upon the negative plate of a voltaic battery.

The act of deprecating; a praying against evil; prayer that an evil may be removed or prevented; strong expression of disapprobation. Humble deprecation. Milton.

; to mark off; to class. [Obs.] Passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book. Josh. xviii. 9.