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son or cause to which one is bound by allegiance or duty, or to which one has attached himself; desertion; failure in duty; a falling away; apostasy; backsliding. "Defection and falling away from God." Sir W. Raleigh. The general defection of the whole realm. Sir J. Davies.

cter; to defend the absent; -- sometimes followed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies. The lord mayor craves aid . . . to defend the city. Shak. God defend the right! Shak. A village near it was defended by the river. Clarendon.

f's or prosecutor's case; the method of proceeding adopted by the defendant to protect himself against the plaintiff's action.

Same as Deficiency. Thou in thyself art perfect, and in thee Is no deficience found. Milton.

To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute. That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile therewith. Lev. xxii. 8.

Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. "Deftly dancing." Drayton. Thyself and office deftly show. Shak.

To cast down. [Obs. or Archaic] Christ dejected himself even unto the hells. Udall. Sometimes she dejects her eyes in a seeming civility; and many mistake in her a cunning for a modest look. Fuller.

The act of humbling or abasing one's self. Adoration implies submission and dejection. Bp. Pearson.

ipal the solvency of the purchaser, the engagement of the factor being to pay the debt himself if it is not punctually discharged by the buyer when it becomes due.

To take counsel with one's self; to weigh the arguments for and against a proposed course of action; to reflect; to consider; to hesitate in deciding; -- sometimes with on, upon, concerning. The woman the deliberation is lost. Addison.

To delight one's self; to indulge in feasting; to revel. [Obs.]

To discover; to show. [Poetic] I 'll deliver Myself your loyal servant. Shak.

base; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. Her son would demean himself by a marriage with an artist's daughter. Thackeray.

To yield or submit; to humble; to lower; as, to demit one's self to humble duties. [R.]

The shade itself; neither the darkest nor the lightest in a composition. Also called half tint.

A form of madness in which the patient conceives himself possessed of devils.

The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or the proof itself.

demure. Milton. Nan was very much delighted in her demure way, and that delight showed itself in her face and in her clear bright eyes. W. Black.

of confession; as, the denial of a fault charged on one; a denial of God. Denial of one's self, a declining of some gratification; restraint of one's appetites or propensities; self-denial.

acterize by an epithet; to entitle; to name; to designate. Passions commonly denominating selfish. Hume.