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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



2,275 words match “ACTION”

DEPRAVATION n.
Detraction; depreciation. [Obs.] To stubborn critics, apt, without a theme, For depravation. Shak.
DERANGE v. 2 definitions
To disturb in action or function, as a part or organ, or the whole of a machine or organism. A sudden fall deranges some of our internal parts. Blair.
DEROGATE v.
To annul in part; to repeal partly; to restrict; to limit the action of; -- said of a law. By several contrary customs, . . . many of the civil and canon laws are controlled and derogated. Sir M. Hale.
DEROGATION n. 2 definitions
The act of derogating, partly repealing, or lessening in value; disparagement; detraction; depreciation; -- followed 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.
DESCANT v.
to discourse at large. A virtuous man should be pleased to find people descanting on his actions. Addison.
DESCENT n.
Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. Dryden.
DESIGN n.
; preliminary conception; idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action; intention; purpose; -- often used in a bad sense for evil intention or purpose; scheme; plot. The vast design and purposTennyson. The leaders of that assembly who withstood the designs of a besotted woman. Hallam. A . . .…
DESIRE n.
atural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy. Unspeakable desire to see and know. Milton.
DETACHMENT n.
Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation. A trial which would have demanded of him a most heroic faith and the detachment of a saint. J. H. Newman.
DETAIL n.
particular; an item; - - used chiefly in the plural; as, the details of a scheme or transaction. The details of the campaign in Italy. Motley.
DETER v.
To prevent by fear; hence, to hinder or prevent from action by fear of consequences, or difficulty, risk, etc. Addison. Potent enemies tempt and deter us from our duty. Tillotson. My own face deters me from my glass. Prior.
DETINUE n.
a form of action for the recovery of a personal chattel wrongfully detained. Writ of detinue (Law), one that lies against him who wrongfully detains goods or chattels delivered to him, or in possession, to recover the thing itself, or its value and damages, from the detainer. It is now in a great measure superseded by…
DETRACTIOUS a.
Containing detraction; detractory. [R.] Johnson.
DEVELOPER n.
A reagent by the action of which the latent image upon a photographic plate, after exposure in the camera, or otherwise, is developed and visible.
DEVIATION n.
it would have if the earth were a perfect ellipsoid and homogeneous, -- caused by the attraction of a mountain, or irregularities in the earth's density.
DEXTRIN n.
odorless, used as a substitute for gum, for sizing, etc., and obtained from starch by the action of heat, acids, or diastase. It is of somewhat variable composition, containing several carbohydrates which change easily to their respective varieties of sugar. It is so named from its rotating the plane of polarization to…
DEXTROSE n.
cane sugar or sucrose, and hence called invert sugar. Dextrose is chiefly obtained by the action of heat and acids on starch, and hence called also starch sugar. It is also formed from starchy food by the action of the amylolytic ferments of saliva and pancreatic juice.
DIABOLISM n.
Character, action, or principles appropriate to the devil.
DIACAUSTIC a. 2 definitions
Pertaining to, or possessing the properties of, a species of caustic curves formed by refraction. See Caustic surface, under Caustic.
DIAMAGNETIC a.
osition at right angles to the lines of magnetic force. See Paramagnetic. Diamagnetic attraction. See under Attraction.
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