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p; deception; a wily device; fraud. Making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit. Amos viii. 5. Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. Milton. Yet still we hug the dear deceit. N. Cotton.

ut competent; sufficient; hence, respectable; fairly good; reasonably comfortable or satisfying; as, a decent fortune; a decent person. A decent retreat in the mutability of human affairs. Burke. -- De"cent*ly, adv. -- De"cent*ness, n.

To deck with that which is becoming, ornamental, or honorary; to adorn; to beautify; to embellish; as, to decorate the person; to decorate an edifice; to decorate a lawn with flowers; to decorate the mind with moral beauties; to decorate a hero with honors. Her fat neck was ornamented with jewels, rich bracelets decora…

To decorate; to beautify. [Obs.] To decore and beautify the house of God. E. Hall.

An address to a patron or friend, prefixed to a book, testifying respect, and often recommending the work to his special protection and favor.

To clear from impurities, as lees, dregs, etc.; to clarify; to purify; to refine. To defecate the dark and muddy oil of amber. Boyle.

To furnish with defenses; to fortify. [Obs.] [Written also defence.] Better manned and more strongly defensed. Hales.

The act of defying, putting in opposition, or provoking to combat; a challenge; a provocation; a summons to combat. A war without a just defiance made. Dryden. Stood for her cause, and flung defiance down. Tennyson.

To avert or appease, as by paying off; to satisfy; as, to defray wrath. [Obs.] Spenser.

The act of deifying; exaltation to divine honors; apotheosis; excessive praise.

A prefix signifying ten. See Deca-.

The act of deliquescing or liquefying; process by which anything deliquesces; tendency to melt.

Dissolving; liquefying by contact with the air; capable of attracting moisture from the atmosphere and becoming liquid; as, deliquescent salts.

To purify from mephitic. -- De*meph`i*ti*za"tion, n.

A prefix, signifying half.

To soothe; to mollify; to pacify; to soften. [R.] Sir T. Elyot.

Softening; mollifying; soothing; assuasive; as, oil is demulcent.

f any expression under a fractional form which is situated below the horizontal line signifying division.

To mark out plainly; to signify by a visible sign; to serve as the sign or name of; to indicate; to point out; as, the hands of the clock denote the hour. The better to denote her to the doctor. Shak.

To refuse to grant; to withhold; to refuse to gratify or yield to; as, to deny a request. Who finds not Providence all good and wise, Alike in what it gives, and what denies Pope. To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it. J. Edwards.