Thomas Davidson

“ Diocesan (dī-os′es-an, or dī′ō-sē-san) , pertaining to a diocese.—n. a bishop as regards his diocese: one of the clergy in the diocese. [Through Fr. and L. from Gr. dioikēsis, dioikein, to keep house—di, for dia, sig. completeness, oikein, to manage a household—oikos, a house.]
Diodon, dī′o-don, n. a genus of globe-fishes which have all their teeth consolidated on the jaws, so as to make them like the beak of a bird. [Gr. dis, twice, double, odous, odontos, a tooth.]
Diœcia, dī-ē′shi-a, n. a class of plants having the stamens on one plant and the pistils on another.—adjs. ”

“ Digitā′lis, a genus of plants, including the foxglove; Digitā′ria, a genus of grasses with digitate spikes.—adjs. Digitate, -d, consisting of several finger-like sections.—adv. Dig′itately.—n. Digitā′tion, finger-like arrangement: a finger-like process.—adj. Digit′iform, formed like fingers; Dig′itigrade, walking on the toes.—n. an animal that walks on its toes, as the lion—opp. to Plantigrade.—ns. Dig′itigradism; Digitō′rium, a small portable instrument used for making the fingers flexible for piano-playing. [L. digitus, a finger or toe, akin to Gr. daktylos.]
Diglyph, dī′glif, n. ”

“ Dev′il-wor′ship, the worship of the devil, or of devils; Dev′il-wor′shipper.—Devil a bit, not at all; Devil of a mess, a very bad mess.—Devil's advocate, a name given to the Promoter of the Faith, an advocate at the papal court, whose duty it is to propose all reasonable objections against a person's claims to canonisation; Devil's bit, a popular name for scabious; Devil's books, playing-cards; Devil's coach-horse, a large dark-coloured beetle; Devil's dozen, thirteen (like baker's dozen) ; Devil's dung, a popular name for asafœtida; Devil's dust, shoddy made by a machine called the devil ”

“ Dip, dip, v.t. to dive or plunge into any liquid for a moment: to lower and raise again (as a flag) : to baptise by immersion.—v.i. to sink: to enter slightly: to look cursorily: to incline downwards:—pr.p. dip′ping; pa.p. dipped.—n. inclination downwards: a sloping: (geol.) the angle a stratum of rock makes with a horizontal plane: a bath: a candle made by dipping a wick in tallow.—Dip of the horizon, the angle of the horizon below the level of the eye; Dip of the needle, the angle a balanced magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon, measured by the Dipping needle, or Compass. ”

“ Digest′er, one who digests: a close vessel in which by heat and pressure strong extracts are made from animal and vegetable substances.—n. Digestibil′ity.—adj. Digest′ible, that may be digested.—n. Diges′tion, the dissolving of the food in the stomach: orderly arrangement: exposing to slow heat, &c.—adj. Digest′ive, pertaining to digestion: promoting digestion.—adv. Digest′ively. [L. digerĕre, digestum, to carry asunder or dissolve—di (= dis) , asunder, and gerĕre, to bear.]
Digest, dī′jest, n. a body of laws collected and arranged, esp. ”

“ Dinosaur, dī′no-sawr, n. a gigantic extinct reptile, which attained a length of eighty feet. [Formed from Gr. deinos, terrible, and sauros, lizard.]
Dinotherium, dī-no-thē′ri-um, n. an extinct animal of huge size, with elephant-like tusks and trunk. [Gr. deinos, terrible, thērion, a beast.]
Dint, dint, n. a blow or stroke: the mark of a blow (often Dent) : force: power (as in 'by dint of') .—v.t. to make a dint in. [A.S. dynt, a blow; Scot. dunt, a blow with a dull sound, Ice. dyntr.]
Diocese, dī′ō-sēs, n. ”

“ Diarchy, dī′ar-ki, n. a form of government in which two persons are jointly vested with supreme power—less correctly Dī′narchy. [Formed from Gr. di-, two, archein, to rule.]
Diarrhœa, Diarrhea, dī-a-rē′a, n. a persistent purging or looseness of the bowels.—adjs. Diarrhœ′al, Diarrhœ′ic, Diarrhœt′ic (also -rhē′al, -rhē′ic, -rhet′ic) . [Gr. diarroia—dia, through, and rhein, to flow.]
Diarthrosis, dī-ar-thrō′sis, n. the general name for all forms of articulation which admit of the motion of one bone upon another, free arthrosis—including Enarthrosis, Ginglymus, and Cyclarthrosis. [Gr.] ”

“ Didynamia, did-i-nā′mi-a, n. a class of plants in the Linnæan system having in the flower four stamens in pairs of unequal length.—adjs. Didynā′mian, Didyn′amous. [Gr. di-, double, dynamis, strength.]
Die, dī, v.i. to lose life: to perish: to wither: to languish: to become insensible:—pr.p. dy′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. died (dīd) .—adj. Die′-away′, languishing.—Die away, to disappear by degrees, become gradually inaudible; Die game, to keep up one's spirit to the last; Die hard, to struggle hard against death, to be long in dying; Die off, to die quickly or in large numbers ”

“ Diffus′iveness. [L. diffundĕre, diffūsum—dif (= dis) , asunder, fundĕre, to pour out.]
Diffuse, dif-ūs′, adj. diffused: widely spread: wordy: not concise.—adv. Diffuse′ly.—n. Diffuse′ness.
Dig, dig, v.t. to excavate: to turn up the earth: to cultivate with a spade: to poke or thrust, as one's elbow into another's side, or spurs into a horse.—v.i. to till the ground; to occupy one's self in digging; (U.S. slang) to study hard:—pr.p. ”

“ Dictyogen, dik′ti-o-jen, n. a plant with net-veined leaves. [Gr. diktyon, a net; -genēs, producing.]
Dicynodont, di-sin′o-dont, n. an extinct reptile, allied to tortoises on one hand and mammals on the other. [Formed from Gr. di-, two, cyōn, dog, and odous, odontos, tooth.] ”

“ Dilacerate, di-las′ėr-āt, v.t. to rend or tear asunder.—n. Dilacerā′tion. [L. di, asunder, and lacerate.]
Dilapidate, di-lap′i-dāt, v.t. to pull stone from stone: to lay waste: to suffer to go to ruin.—adj. Dilap′idated, in ruins.—ns. Dilapidā′tion, the state of ruin: impairing of church property during an incumbency: (pl.) money paid at the end of an incumbency by the incumbent or his heirs for the purpose of putting the parsonage, &c. in good repair for the succeeding incumbent; Dilap′idator. [L. dilapidāre—di, asunder, lapis, lapidis, a stone.] ”

“ Diabetes, dī-a-bē′tēz, n. a disease marked by a morbid and excessive discharge of urine.—adjs. Diabet′ic, -al. [Gr., from diabainein, dia, through, and bainein, to go.]
Diablerie, Diablery, di-ab-le-rē′, n. magic: the black art: sorcery. [Fr.,—diable. See Devil.]
Diabolic, -al, dī-a-bol′ik, -al, adj. devilish.—adv. Diabol′ically.—v.t. Diab′olise, to render devilish.—ns. Diab′olism, devilish conduct: sorcery or black magic; Diabol′ogy, the doctrine of devils. [L.,—Gr. diabolikos, diabolos, the devil. See Devil.]
Diacatholicon, dī-a-ka-thol′i-kon, n. a purgative electuary. ”

“ Devitalise, de-vī′ta-līz, v.t. to deprive of vitality or life-giving qualities.—n. Devitalisā′tion.
Devitrify, de-vit′ri-fī, v.t. to take away or greatly diminish the vitreous quality of.—n. Devitrificā′tion, loss or diminution of the vitreous nature.
Devocalise, de-vō′ka-līz, v.t. to make voiceless: to reduce the vowel element in a sound or syllable.
Devoid, de-void′, adj. destitute: free from. [O. Fr. desvoidier, des—L. dis-, away, voidier—L. viduāre, viduus, deprived.]
Devoir, dev-wawr′, n. what is due, duty: service: an act of civility. [Fr.,—L. debēre, to owe.] ”

“ The argument was called a 'horned syllogism,' and the victim compared to a man certain to be impaled on one or other of the horns of an infuriated bull, hence the Horns of a dilemma: the usual phrase Landed in a dilemma is, or suggests, a mixed metaphor.—adj. Dilemmat′ic. [L.,—Gr. dilēmma—di-, twice, double, lēmma, an assumption—lambanein, to take.]
Dilettante, dil-et-an′te, n. one who loves the fine arts, but in a superficial way and without serious purpose (the amateur usually practises them) : a dabbler in art, science, or literature:—pl. ”

“ Dimethylaniline, di-meth-il-an′i-lin, n. an oily liquid: aniline heated with methyl alcohol and hydrochloric acid—from which dyes are obtained. [L. di-, twice, methyl, and aniline.]
Dimetric, dī-met′rik, adj. (crystal.) tetragonal.
Dimidiate, di-mid′i-āt, adj. divided into halves: having a shape that appears as if halved.—v.t. (her.) to represent the half of.—n. Dimidiā′tion. [L. dimidiāre, -ātum, to halve—dimidius; half—dis, twice, medius, the middle.]
Diminish, di-min′ish, v.t. to make less: to take a part from: to degrade.—v.i. to grow or appear less: to subside.—adj. ”

“ Differen′tiāte, to make different: to create a difference between: to classify as different.—v.i. to become different by specialisation: (math.) to obtain the differential or differential coefficient of.—n. ”