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toward the south. -- Descending node (Astron.), that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Descending series (Math.), a series in which each term is numerically smaller than the preceding one; also, a series arranged according to descending powers of a quantity.…

e with regret, or sicken with despair. Keble. Before he [Bunyan] was ten, his sports were interrupted by fits of remorse and despair. Macaulay.

dessert is not so pleasant." Pope. Dessert spoon, a spoon used in eating dessert; a spoon intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. -- Dessert-spoonful, n., pl. Dessert-spoonfuls, as much as a dessert spoon will hold, usually reckoned at about two and a half fluid drams.

ce described by a moving right line, and such that consecutive positions of the generator intersect each other. Hence, the surface can be developed into a plane.

A curved formed by the consecutive intersections of rays of light refracted through a lens.

sists of a set of parallel lines, with other lines crossing them obliquely, so that their intersections furnish smaller subdivisions of the unit of measure than could be conveniently marked on a plain scale. -- Diagonal stratification. (Geol.) Same as Cross bedding, under Cross, a.

Meeting and intersecting, as lines; not parallel; -- opposed to parallel. [Obs.] Ash.

A geometrical figure, consisting of four equal straight lines, and having two of the interior angles acute and two obtuse; a rhombus; a lozenge.

The octave, or interval which includes all the tones of the diatonic scale.

The interval of the fifth.

Intervening space; interval.

See under Intercolumniation.

The interval of a fourth.

octave of the first. Diatonic scale (Mus.), a scale consisting of eight sounds with seven intervals, of which two are semitones and five are whole tones; a modern major or minor scale, as distinguished from the chromatic scale.

Having two of the intersections between the three axes oblique. See Crystallization.

To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away. Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness. Spectator.

The interbrain or thalamencephalon; -- sometimes abbreviated to dien. See Thalamencephalon.

A type of internal-combustion engine in which the air drawn in by the suction stroke is so highly compressed that the heat generated ignites the fuel (usually crude oil), the fuel being automatically sprayed into the cylinder under pressure. The Diesel engine has a very high thermal efficiency.

A small interval, less than any in actual practice, but used in the mathematical calculation of intervals.

iculty of a task or enterprise; a work of difficulty. Not being able to promote them [the interests of life] on account of the difficulty of the region. James Byrne.