Search the Dictionary

dot or full stop at the left of a decimal fraction. The figures at the left of the point represent units or whole numbers, as 1.05.

An account or report of a conclusion, especially of a legal adjudication or judicial determination of a question or cause; as, a decision of arbitrators; a decision of the Supreme Court.

se trite arguments in debate; to rant. Grenville seized the opportunity to declaim on the repeal of the stamp act. Bancroft.

To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [R.] Shak.

A painting representing the beheading of a saint or martyr, esp. of St. John the Baptist.

Repeatedly compound; made up of complex constituents.

Repeated composition; a combination of compounds. [Obs.] Decomposition of forces. Same as Resolution of forces, under Resolution. -- Decomposition of light, the division of light into the prismatic colors.

ve*ness, n. Decorative art, fine art which has for its end ornamentation, rather than the representation of objects or events.

A number ten times repeated. [R.]

Act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another; slander; detraction; calumny; aspersion.

Containing defamation; injurious to reputation; calumnious; slanderous; as, defamatory words; defamatory writings.

To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse.

An overthrow, as of an army in battle; loss of a battle; repulse suffered; discomfiture; -- opposed to victory.

To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel. [A Latinism & Obs.] Th' other strove for to defend The force of Vulcan with his might and main. Spenser.

To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint. He is . . . among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by . . . dirty hands. Swift.

To clear of forests; to dis U. S. Agric. Reports.

The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop. He saw many removes and degradations in all the other offices of which he had been possessed. Clarendon.…

To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man. O miserable mankind, to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! Milton. He pride . . . str…

Reduced in rank, character, or reputation; debased; sunken; low; base. The Netherlands . . . were reduced practically to a very degraded condition. Motley.

Any one sent and empowered to act for another; one deputed to represent; a chosen deputy; a representative; a commissioner; a vicar.