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ause to spread, as a fluid; to cause to flow on all sides; to send out, or extend, in all directions; to spread; to circulate; to disseminate; to scatter; as to diffuse information. Thence diffuse His good to worlds and ages infinite. Milton. We find this knowledge diffused among all civilized nations. Whewell.…

Capable of flowing or spreading in all directions; that may be diffused.

To expand; to distend; to enlarge or extend in all directions; to swell; -- opposed to contract; as, the air dilates the lungs; air is dilated by increase of heat.

Definition; logical direction. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.

e sun's rays from their surfaces, two images are presented to the eye, moving in opposite directions, and coinciding at the instant the sun's center is on the meridian.

Pertaining to the sending of two messages in the same direction at the same time. Diplex and contraplex are the two varieties of duplex.

In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; -- said of the motion of a celestial body. Direct action. (Mach.) See Direct-acting. -- Direct discourse (Gram.), the language of any one quoted without change in its form; as, he said "I can not come;" -…

A current flowing in one direction only; -- distinguished from alternating current. When steady and not pulsating a direct current is often called a continuous current.

Containing directions; enjoining; instructing; directorial.

Said of strata which lack conformity in direction of bedding, either as in unconformability, or as caused by a fault.

l out in portions; to distribute; to give; as, the steward dispenses provisions according directions; Nature dispenses her bounties; to dispense medicines. He is delighted to dispense a share of it to all the company. Sir W. Scott.

Ordering; regulation; adjustment; management; government; direction. The execution leave to high disposal. Milton.

ting from natural constitution; nature; quality; as, a disposition in plants to grow in a direction upward; a disposition in bodies to putrefaction.

The act of disposing; power to dispose of; disposal; direction. Give up My estate to his disposure. Massinger.

To extend in some one direction; to lengthen out; to stretch. [R.] But say, what mean those colored streaks in heaven Distended as the brow of God appeased Milton.

The act of distending; the act of stretching in breadth or in all directions; the state of being Distended; as, the distention of the lungs.

Cyanite or kyanite; -- so called in allusion to its unequal hardness in two different directions. See Cyanite.

To force or put out of the true posture or direction; to twist aside mentally or morally. Wrath and malice, envy and revenge, do darken and distort the understandings of men. Tillotson.

To draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention. Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination. Goldsmith.