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near in value to a fixed quantity, which is called the sum of the series; -- opposed to a diverging series.

To apply to any use by a diversion from the proper or intended use; to appropriate dishonestly or illegally. When a bystander took a coin to get it changed, and converted it, [it was] held no larceny. Cooley.

To checker; to diversify, as in heraldic counterchanging. See Counterchaged, a., 2. With-elms, that counterchange the floor Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright. Tennyson.

To brood or sit on; to incubate. While the hen is covering her eggs, the male . . . diverts her with his songs. Addison.

ord, to which another finds a rhyme. I saw in one corner . . . a cluster of men and women,diverting themselves with a game at crambo. I heard several double rhymes . . . which raised a great deal of mirth. Addison.

dic and painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, as of the leg. The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs. Sir T. More. Cramp bone, the patella of a sheep; -- formerly used as a charm for the cramp. Halliwell. "He could turn cramp bones into chess men." Dickens. -- Cramp ring, a ring formerly su…

Worthy of belief. [Obs.] Divers creditable witnesses deposed. Ludlow.

quickness in diving; -- called also dapchick, dobchick, dipchick, didapper, dobber, devil-diver, hell-diver, and pied-billed grebe.

To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. Wordsworth.

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

To turn the course of, as water; to divert and distribute into subordinate channels; to diffuse; to communicate; to transmit; -- followed by to, into, on, upon. [Obs.] For fear it [water] choke up the pits . . . they [the workman] derive it by other drains. Holland. Her due loves derived to that vile witch's share. Spe…

To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate. The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated. W. Tooke. The founders of monasteries imprecated evil…

See Divergence. [Obs.]

y; to turn aside from a course or a method; to stray or go astray; to err; to digress; to diverge; to vary. Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take, May boldly deviate from the common track. Pope.

Irregularity of form; diversity of form; want of uniformity. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

f transmitted and reflected light, and by contrivances such as screens and shutters, much diversity of scenic effect is produced.

The state of disagreeing; a being at variance; dissimilitude; diversity.

Variegated; of divers colors. [R.] That ever wore discolored arms. Chapman.

; a chord demanding resolution into a concord. For a discord itself is but a harshness of divers sounds mBacon. Apple of discord. See under Apple.

Discordance or diversity of form; unlikeness in form. Uniformity or disformity in comparing together the respective figures of bodies. S. Clarke.