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etimes he that deals between man and man, raiseth his own credit with both, by pretending greater interest than he hath in either. Bacon.

Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. "Hear me, dear lady." Shak. Neither count I my life dear unto myself. Acts xx. 24. And the last joy was dearer than the rest. Pope. Dear as remember'd kisses after death. Tennyson.

Greatly beloved. Shak.

The destroyer of life, -- conventionally represented as a skeleton with a scythe. Death! great proprietor of all. Young. And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that at on him was Death. Rev. vi. 8.

xamine different arguments in the mind; -- often followed by on or upon. He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends. Tatler.

rivance to entrap; 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.

ty of being decided; prompt and fixed determination; unwavering firmness; as, to manifest great decision.

on, as a medal, cross, or ribbon of an order of knighthood, bestowed 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.]…

To divest of the bark, husk, or exterior coating; to husk; to peel; to hull. "Great barley dried and decorticated." Arbuthnot.

thing done; -- a word of extensive application, including, whatever is done, good or bad, great or small. And Joseph said to them, What deed is this which ye have done Gen. xliv. 15. We receive the due reward of our deeds. Luke xxiii. 41. Would serve his kind in deed and word. Tennyson.

Extending far below the surface; of great perpendicular dimension (measured from the surface downward, and distinguished from high, which is measured upward); far to the bottom; having a certain depth; as, a deep sea. The water where the brook is deep. Shak.

Profoundly book-learned. "Great writers and deep-read men." L'Estrange.

to the deeper parts of the sea; as, a deep-sea line (i. e., a line to take soundings at a great depth); deep-sea lead; deep-sea soundings, explorations, etc.

At or to a great depth; far below the surface; as, to sink deeply.

a wild animal. [Obs.] Chaucer. Mice and rats, and such small deer. Shak. The camel, that great deer. Lindisfarne MS.

Great imperfection. [Obs.] W. Montagu.

defensive plan or policy; practice in self defense, as in fencing, boxing, etc. A man of great defense. Spenser. By how much defense is better than no skill. Shak.

To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint. He is . . . among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by . . . dirty hands. Swift.

Having certain or distinct; determinate in extent or greatness; limited; fixed; as, definite dimensions; a definite measure; a definite period or interval. Elements combine in definite proportions. Whewell.

lower or choicest part; careful culling or selection. [R.] The laws of Normandy are, in a great measure, the defloration of the English laws. Sir M. Hale.