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To make toneless; to deprive of vowel quality. -- De*vo`cal*i*za"tion, n. If we take a high vowel, such as (i) [= nearly i of bit], and devocalize it, we obtain a hiss which is quite distinct enough to stand for a weak (jh). H. Sweet.

To enjoy with avidity; to appropriate or take in eagerly by the senses. Longing they look, and gaping at the sight, Devour her o'er with vast delight. Dryden.

Sacred. [R.] To take her from austerer check of parents, To make her his by most devoutful rights. Marston.

To take part in a dialogue; to dialogize. [R.] Shak.

taining to, or exhibiting the phenomena of, diamagnetism; taking, or being of a nature to take, a position at right angles to the lines of magnetic force. See Paramagnetic. Diamagnetic attraction. See under Attraction.

any compartment, for various purposes. Diaphragm pump, one in which a flexible diaphragm takes the place of a piston.

from leather, cloth, paper, etc. -- The die is cast, the hazard must be run; the step is taken, and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.

state of health; prescribed allowance of food; regimen prescribed. To fast like one that takes diet. Shak. Diet kitchen, a kitchen in which diet is prepared for invalids; a charitable establishment that provides proper food for the sick poor.

One who diets; one who prescribes, or who partakes of, food, according to hygienic rules.

To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.

ed and persevering application; devoted and painstaking effort to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduity in service. That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is diligence. Shak.

To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull; to obscure; to eclipse. A king among his courtiers, who dims all his attendants. Dryden. Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways. Cowper.

To take away; to subtract. Neither shall ye diminish aught from it. Deut. iv. 2. Diminished column, one whose upper diameter is less than the lower. -- Diminished, or Diminishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. Gwilt. -- Diminishing rule (A…

To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep. Shak. To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner; -- a phrase common in Elizabethan literature, said to be from the practice of the poor gentry, who beguiled the dinner hour by a promenade near the tomb of…

One who often takes his dinner away from home, or in company. A brilliant diner-out, though but a curate. Byron.

To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; -- often with out; as, to dip water from a boiler; to dip out water.

Two metrical feet taken together, or included in one measure. Hadley. Trochaic, iambic, and anapestic verses . . . are measured by dipodies. W. W. Goodwin.

The office of director; also, a body of directors taken jointly.

To set free from mistakes; to undeceive; to disengage from fallacy or deception; to set right. To undeceive and disabuse the people. South. If men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves or artifice, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. J. Adams.…

To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. Security disarms the best-appointed army. Fuller. The proud was half disarmed of pride. Tennyson.