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ee of the genus Cupressus. The species are mostly evergreen, and have wood remarkable for its durability.

Pertaining to Cyrenaica, an ancient country of northern Africa, and to Cyrene, its principal city; also, to a school of philosophy founded by Aristippus, a native of Cyrene. -- n.

A small water bird (Podilymbus podiceps), allied to the grebes, remarkable for its quickness in diving; -- called also dapchick, dobchick, dipchick, didapper, dobber, devil-diver, hell-diver, and pied-billed grebe.

owed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgmînê, E. mer"ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. [Written also dactyle.]

That department of farming which is concerned in the production of milk, and its conversion into butter and cheese. Grounds were turned much in England either to feeding or dairy; and this advanced the trade of English butter. Temple.

amask steel, or Damascus steel, steel of the kind originally made at Damascus, famous for its hardness, and its beautiful texture, ornamented with waving lines; especially, that which is inlaid with damaskeening; -- formerly much valued for sword blades, from its great flexibility and tenacity.

A cruciferrous plant (Hesperis matronalis), remarkable for its fragrance, especially toward the close of the day; -- called also rocket and dame's violet. Loudon.

Condemnation to everlasting punishment in the future state, or the punishment itself. How can ye escape the damnation of hell Matt. xxiii. 33. Wickedness is sin, and sin is damnation. Shak.

-- Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and brought into contact with flame.

A dark blue, edible berry with a white bloom, and its shrub (Gaylussacia frondosa) closely allied to the common huckleberry. The bush is also called blue tangle, and is found from New England to Kentucky, and southward.

g makes men dare every thing and do anything Bagehot. To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. The Century.

ve been reputed poisonous. Other species, as Lolium perenne (rye grass or ray grass), and its variety L. Italicum (Italian rye grass), are highly esteemed for pasture and for making hay.

The snakebird, a water bird of the genus Plotus; -- so called because it darts out its long, snakelike neck at its prey. See Snakebird.

nting, denoting a sudden break, stop, or transition in a sentence, or an abrupt change in its construction, a long or significant pause, or an unexpected or epigrammatic turn of sentiment. Dashes are also sometimes used instead of marks or parenthesis. John Wilson.

The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.

one side of which the same day shall have a different name and date in the calendar from its name and date on the other side.

The period of the earth's revolution on its axis. -- ordinarily divided into twenty-four hours. It is measured by the interval between two successive transits of a celestial body over the same meridian, and takes a specific name from that of the body. Thus, if this is the sun, the day (the interval between two success…

s directed, is then sent to the general post office to be opened. (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the law has become a dead letter. -- Dead-letter office, a department of the general post office where dead letters are examined and disposed of. -- Dead level, a term applied to a flat country. -- D…

f galvanometers and other instruments in which the needle or index moves to the extent of its deflection and stops with little or no further oscillation. Deadbeat escapement. See under Escapement.

stical magistrate next in degree to bishop, and has immediate charge of the cathedral and its estates. -- Dean of peculiars, a dean holding a preferment which has some peculiarity relative to spiritual superiors and the jurisdiction exercised in it. [Eng.] -- Rural dean, one having, under the bishop, the especial care…