Search the Dictionary

To cross at an acute angle; to cut or divide in the form of X; to intersect; -- said of lines in geometrical figures, rays of light, nerves, etc.

Crossed; intersected.

Act of crossing at an acute angle, or state of being thus crossed; an intersection in the form of an X; as, the decussation of lines, nerves, etc.

Intersecting at acute angles. Sir T. Browne.

To raise, as a rampart, so as to shelter interior works commanded from some higher point.

he directions and heights of the lines of rampart with reference to the protection of the interior from exposure to an enemy's fire from any point within range, or from any works which may be erected. Farrow.

he act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior. See Defilade.

The protection of the interior walls of a fortification from an enfilading fire, as by covering them, or by a high parapet on the exposed side.

ignification of; to fix the meaning of; to describe accurately; to explain; to expound or interpret; as, to define a word, a phrase, or a scientific term. They define virtue to be life ordered according to nature. Robynson (More's Utopia).

atness; limited; fixed; as, definite dimensions; a definite measure; a definite period or interval. Elements combine in definite proportions. Whewell.

To deprive of some right, interest, or property, by a deceitful device; to withhold from wrongfully; to injure by embezzlement; to cheat; to overreach; as, to defraud a servant, or a creditor, or the state; -- with of before the thing taken or withheld. We have defrauded no man. 2 Cor. vii. 2. Churches seem injured and…

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

One's genius; a tutelary spirit or internal voice; as, the demon of Socrates. [Often written dæmon.]

oof beyond the possibility of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason. Those intervening ideas which serve to show the agreement of any two others are called "proofs;" and where agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived, it is called demonstration. Locke.

To interpose a demurrer. See Demurrer, 2.

A denominational or class spirit or policy; devotion to the interests of a sect or denomination.

Having a form intermediate between dentate and sinuate.

own in writting, under oath or affirmation, befor some competent officer, and in reply to interrogatories and cross-interrogatories.

part or organ, or the whole of a machine or organism. A sudden fall deranges some of our internal parts. Blair.

n some parts of the body, in which the arteries empty directly into the veins without the interposition of capillaries. Flint. -- De*riv"a*tive*ly, adv. -- De*riv"a*tive*ness, n.