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To free from extraneous or polluting matter; to clear; to purify, as from that which materializes. We defecate the notion from materiality. Glanvill. Defecated from all the impurities of sense. Bp. Warburton.

a respectful manner; to refer; -- with to. Hereupon the commissioners . . . deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland. Bacon.

A discharge or flowing of humors or fluid matter, as from the nose in catarrh; -- sometimes used synonymously with inflammation. Dunglison.

To remove grease or fatty matter from, as wool or silk.

A division, space, or interval, marked on a mathematical or other instrument, as on a thermometer.

ent or suture, without tearing, as in the opening of pods, or the bursting of capsules at maturity so as to emit seeds, etc.; also, the bursting open of follicles, as in the ovaries of animals, for the expulsion of their contents.

o defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before. My lord delayeth his coming. Matt. xxiv. 48.

To weigh in the mind; to consider the reasons for and against; to consider maturely; to reflect upon; to ponder; as, to deliberate a question.

ing and examining the reasons for and against a choice or measure; careful consideration; mature reflection. Choosing the fairest way with a calm deliberation. W. Montagu.

To deprive of material or physical qualities or characteristics. Dematerializing matter by stripping if of everything which . . . has distinguished matter. Milman.

To manage; to conduct; to treat. [Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter. Milton.

According to the Gnostics, an agent or one employed by the Supreme Being to create the material universe and man.

oms, and previously established propositions. Direct, or Positive, demonstration (Logic & Math.), one in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence of reasoning from axiomatic or established premises; -- opposed to Indirect, or Negative, demonstration (called also reductio ad absurdum), in which the correct…

of gravity or modesty. They . . . looked as demurely as they could; for 't was a hanging matter to laugh unseasonably. Dryden.

action, for the judgment of the court on the question, whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defense, and hence whether the party resting is bound to answer or proceed further. Demurrer to evidence, an exception taken by a party to the…

the constituent parts massed or crowded together; close; compact; thick; containing much matter in a small space; heavy; opaque; as, a dense crowd; a dense forest; a dense fog. All sorts of bodies, firm and fluid, dense and rare. Ray. To replace the cloudy barrier dense. Cowper.

The ratio of mass, or quantity of matter, to bulk or volume, esp. as compared with the mass and volume of a portion of some substance used as a standard.

he dense calcified substance of which teeth are largely composed. It contains less animal matter than bone, and in the teeth of man is situated beneath the enamel.

petites or desires; to practice self-denial. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross. Matt. xvi. 24.

A matter depending, or in suspense, and still to be determined; ground of controversy or quarrel. [Obs.] To go on now with my first dependence. Beau. & Fl.