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Formerly, a part of the Roman chancery; now, a separate office from which are sent graces or favors, cognizable in foro externo, such as appointments to benefices. The name is derived from the word datum, given or dated (with the indications of the time and place of granting the gift or favor).

-- Dead angle (Mil.), an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet. -- Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car. -- Dead calm (Naut.), no wind at all. -- Dead center, or Dead point (Mach.), either of two points in…

To divide; to separate in portions; hence, to give in portions; to distribute; to bestow successively; -- sometimes with out. Is not to deal thy bread to the hungry Is. lviii. 7. And Rome deals out her blessings and her gold. Tickell. The nightly mallet deals resounding blows. Gay. Hissing through the skies, the feathe…

ath been opened unto thee Job xxxviii. 17. -- The second death, condemnation to eternal separation from God. Rev. ii. 11. -- To be the death of, to be the cause of death to; to make die. "It was one who should be the death of both his parents." Milton.

The cavity from which the earth for parapets, etc. (remblai), is taken.

Hence, to depart suddenly; to run away; -- generally used disparagingly. The fathers were ordered to decamp, and the house was once again converted into a tavern. Goldsmith.

A liquid hydrocarbon, C10H22, of the paraffin series, including several isomeric modifications.

To cut off; to separate. [Obs.] Our seat denies us traffic here; The sea, too near, decides us from the rest. Fuller.

r slope of the roof. -- Deck roof (Arch.), a nearly flat roof which is not surmounted by parapet walls. -- Deck transom (Shipbuilding), the transom into which the deck is framed. -- To clear the decks (Naut.), to remove every unnecessary incumbrance in preparation for battle; to prepare for action. -- To sweep the…

A separate thin wooden frame used to form the border of a hand mold, or a curb of India rubber or other material which rests on, and forms the edge of, the mold in a paper machine and determines the width of the paper. [Spelt also deckel, and deckle.]

To remove from a class; to separate or degrade from one's class. North Am. Rev.

a descending line, or plane, with a horizontal plane. -- Circle of declination, a circle parallel to the celestial equator. -- Declination compass (Physics), a compass arranged for finding the declination of the magnetic needle. -- Declination of the compass or needle, the horizontal angle which the magnetic needle…

To separate the constituent parts of; to resolve into original elements; to set free from previously existing forms of chemical combination; to bring to dissolution; to rot or decay.

Separated or broken up; -- said of the crest of birds when the feathers are divergent.

olving the constituent parts of a compound body or substance into its elementary parts; separation into constituent part; analysis; the decay or dissolution consequent on the removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.

faulty, mean, or worthless; to clamor against; to blame clamorously; to discredit; to disparage. For small errors they whole plays decry. Dryden. Measures which are extolled by one half of the kingdom are naturally decried by the other. Addison.

ing alone, but regarded as the characteristic constituent of a number of compounds of the paraffin series.

To take away, separate, or remove, in numbering, estimating, or calculating; to subtract; -- often with from or out of. Deduct what is but vanity, or dress. Pope. Two and a half per cent should be deducted out of the pay of the foreign troops. Bp. Burnet. We deduct from the computation of our years that part of our tim…

The act of separating from impurities, as lees or dregs; purification.

That which cleanses or purifies; esp., an apparatus for removing the feculencies of juices and sirups. Knight.