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

detract; to withdraw; -- usually with from. If we did derogate from them whom their industry hath made great. Hooker. It derogates little from his fortitude, while it adds infinitely to the honor of his humanity. Burke.

eats of the forms and relations of parts, but not of their textures. -- Descriptive geometry, that branch of geometry. which treats of the graphic solution of problems involving three dimensions, by means of projections upon auxiliary planes. Davies & Peck (Math. Dict. ) -- De*scrip"tive*ly, adv. -- De*scrip"tive*nes…

ometimes 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.

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.

becoming desperate; a giving up of hope. This desperation of success chills all our industry. Hammond.

A service of pastry, fruits, or sweetmeats, at the close of a feast or entertainment; pastry, fruits, etc., forming the last course at dinner. "An 't please your honor," quoth the peasant, "This same dessert is not so pleasant." Pope. Dessert spoon, a spoon used in eating dessert; a spoon intermediate in size between a…

sult of developing, or a developed state. A new development of imagination, taste, and poetry. Channing.

Deviltry. Bp. Warburton.

Conduct suitable to the devil; extreme wickedness; deviltry. Stark lies and devilry. Sir T. More.

One of a breed of hardy cattle originating in the country of Devon, England. Those of pure blood have a deep red color. The small, longhorned variety, called North Devons, is distinguished by the superiority of its working oxen.

way," replied the Prince [William of Orange] " by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch." Hume (Hist. of Eng. ). -- To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

n. The business of dilapidations came on between our bishop and the Archibishop of York. Strype.

One who causes dilapidation. Strype.

In a diligent manner; not carelessly; not negligently; with industry or assiduity. Ye diligently keep commandments of the Lord your God. Deut. vi. 17.

und; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished. The dim magnificence of poetry. Whewell. How is the gold become dim! Lam. iv. 1. I never saw The heavens so dim by day. Shak. Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, Through words and things, a dim and perilous way. Wordsworth.

-- 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 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in Old Saint Paul's.

The clergy or the people of a diocese. Strype.