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One who fails to perform a duty; a delinquent; particularly, one who fails to account for public money intrusted to his care; a peculator; a defalcator.

natural or moral qualities; as, a defective limb; defective timber; a defective copy or account; a defective character; defective rules.

xhibit the boundaries of; to mark the limits of; as, to define the extent of a kingdom or country.

Cast down; afflicted; low-spirited; sad; as, a dejected look or countenance. -- De*ject"ed*ly, adv. -- De*ject"ed*ness, n.

The Numidian crane (Antropoides virgo); -- so called on account of the grace and symmetry of its form and movements.

One admitted to residence in a foreign country. Ye gods, Natives, or denizens, of blest abodes. Dryden.

To breed or cut new teeth. [R.] The old countess . . . did dentize twice or thrice. Bacon.

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 withdraw, or cause to withdraw, from one's country; to banish. [Obs.] A subject born in any state May, if he please, depatriate. Mason.

To reduce by destroying or consuming the vital powers of; to exhaust, as a country of its strength or resources, a treasury of money, etc. Saturday Review.

To become dispeopled. [R.] Whether the country be depopulating or not. Goldsmith.

To take plunder or prey; to commit waste; as, the troops depredated on the country.

lowed by of, from, or to. I hope it is no derogation to the Christian religion. Locke. He counted it no derogation of his manhood to be seen to weep. F. W. Robertson.

Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song.

To represent by words written or spoken; to give an account of; to make known to others by words or signs; as, the geographer describes countries and cities.

A sketch or account of anything in words; a portraiture or representation in language; an enumeration of the essential qualities of a thing or species. Milton has descriptions of morning. D. Webster.

pt sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country. "The deserted fortress." Prescott.

A deserted condition. [R.] "The desertness of the country." Udall.

to distinguish by marks or description; to specify; as, to designate the boundaries of a country; to designate the rioters who are to be arrested.

A place or country wasted and forsaken. How is Babylon become a desolation! Jer. l. 23.