Thomas Davidson

“ Drop out, to disappear from one's place; Drop serene, an old medical name for amaurosis, literally translated from L. gutta serena.—A dropping fire, a continuous irregular discharge of small-arms.—Prince Rupert's drops, drops of glass which have fallen in a melted state into cold water, and have assumed a tadpole-like shape, the whole falling to dust with a loud report if the point of the tail be nipped off. ”

“ Dust′y, covered or sprinkled with dust: like dust.—ns. Dust′y-foot (see Pie-powder) ; Dust′y-mill′er, the auricula, from the white dust upon its leaves.—Dust a person's jacket, to give him a drubbing.—Bite the dust (see Bite) ; Down with the dust, pay down the money, originally with reference to gold-dust; Kick up a dust, to make a stir or uproar; Raise a dust, to create a disturbance; Throw dust in a person's eyes, to delude or deceive a person. [A.S. dúst; cf. Ger. dunst, vapour, Dut. duist, meal-dust.]
Dutch, duch, adj. ”

“ Dredge, drej, n. an instrument for dragging: a drag-net for catching oysters, &c.: a machine for taking up mud or zoological specimens from the bottom of the sea: a floating machine for deepening a harbour or river by gathering up mud from the bottom by means of buckets on an endless chain—also Dredg′er, Dredg′ing-machine′.—v.t. Dredge, to gather with a dredge: to deepen with a dredge. [Conn. with drag.]
Dredge, drej, v.t. to sprinkle flour on meat while roasting.—ns. Dredg′er, Dredge′-box, Dredg′ing-box, a utensil for dredging. ”

“ Dutch drops, a balsam, or popular nostrum, of oil of turpentine, tincture of guaiacum, &c.; Dutch liquid, an oily substance obtained by mixing chlorine and olefiant gases—not miscible with water, readily dissolving in ether and alcohol, producing anæsthesia; Dutch metal, sometimes called Dutch gold or Dutch leaf, is an alloy of copper and zinc; Dutch oven (see Oven) ; Dutch pink (see Pink) ; Dutch rush, the scouring-rush; Dutch wife, an open frame of rattan or cane used in the Dutch Indies, to rest the limbs upon in bed.—Talk like a Dutch uncle, to rebuke with kindness. ”

“ Driv′er, one who or that which drives, in all senses: a club used in golf to propel the ball from the teeing-ground; Driv′ing-band, the band or strap which communicates motion from one machine, or part of a machine, to another; Driv′ing-shaft, a shaft from a driving-wheel communicating motion, to machinery; Driv′ing-wheel, a main wheel that communicates motion to other wheels: one of the main wheels in a locomotive.—Drive feathers, down, to separate the lighter from the heavier by exposing them to a current of air.—Drive to one's wits' end, to perplex utterly.—Let drive, to aim a blow. ”

“ Dul′citude, sweetness.—Dulcified spirit, a compound of alcohol with mineral acid. [O. Fr. doucet, dim. of dols (Fr. doux) —L. dulcis, sweet.]
Dulcimer, dul′si-mėr, n. a musical instrument resembling a flat box, with sounding-board and bridges, across which run wires tuned by pegs at the sides, and played on by striking the wires with a small piece of wood in each hand, or more usually with two cork-headed hammers: a Jewish musical instrument, according to Gesenius, a double pipe with a bag. ”

“ Drill′-har′row, a harrow for working between drills; Drill′-hus′bandry, the method of sowing seed in drills or rows; Drill′ing-machine′, Drill′ing-lathe, Drill′-press, machines for boring with a drill or drills; Drill′-mas′ter, one who teaches drill, one who trains in anything, esp. in a mechanical manner; Drill′-plough, a plough for sowing grain in drills; Drill′-ser′geant, a sergeant who drills soldiers. ”

“ Drain′age, the drawing off of water by rivers or other channels: the system of drains in a town; Drain′age-basin, the area of land which drains into one river; Drain′age-tube, a tube of silver, india-rubber, glass, &c., introduced by a surgeon into a wound or abscess to draw off pus, &c.; Drain′er, a utensil on which articles are placed to drain; Drain′ing-en′gine, a pumping-engine for mines, &c.; Drain′ing-plough, a form of plough used in making drains ”

“ Duck′ing; Duck′ing-pond; Duck′ing-stool, a stool or chair in which scolds were formerly tied and ducked in the water as a punishment. [A.S. dúcan, to duck, dive; Ger. tauchen, Dut. duiken.]
Duck, duk, n. name given to any member of the family Anatidæ, the prominent marks of which are short webbed feet, with a small hind-toe not reaching the ground, the netted scales in front of the lower leg, and the long bill: the female duck as distinguished from the male drake: in cricket (originally duck's egg) , the zero (0) , which records in a scoring-sheet that a player has made no runs: (coll.) ”

“ Bombay duck, bummals; Wild′-duck, the mallard.—Break one's duck (cricket) , to make one's first run (see above) ; Make, Play, ducks and drakes, to use recklessly: squander, waste (with with, of) —from the skipping of a flat stone across the surface of water. [A.S. duce, a duck, from, dúcan, to duck, dive.]
Duct, dukt, n. a tube conveying fluids in animal bodies or plants. [L. ductus—ducĕre, to lead.]
Ductile, duk′til, adj. easily led: yielding: capable of being drawn out into threads.—ns. Ductilim′eter, an instrument for measuring the ductility of metals ”

“ Dyne, dīn, n. the unit of force in the centimetre-gramme-second (C.G.S.) system.
Dyophysite, dī-of′i-zīt, n. a holder of the doctrine of the coexistence of two natures, the divine and the human, in Christ—also Diph′ysite.—adjs. Dyophysit′ic, -al.—n. Dyoph′ysitism. ”

“ Draw′er, he or that which draws: one who draws beer or fetches liquor in a tavern: a thing drawn out, like the sliding box in a case: (pl.) a close under-garment for the lower limbs; Draw′-gear, the apparatus by which railway-cars are coupled; Draw′ing, the art of representing objects by lines drawn, shading, &c.: a picture: the distribution of prizes, as at a lottery; Draw′ing-board; Draw′ing-frame, a machine in which carded wool, cotton, or the like is drawn out fine; Draw′ing-knife, a knife with a handle at each end, used by coopers for shaving hoops by drawing it towards one ”

“ Dress′ing, dress or clothes: manure given to land: matter used to give stiffness and gloss to cloth: the sauce, &c., used in preparing a dish for the table, stuffing, &c.: the bandage, &c., applied to a sore: an ornamental moulding: a thrashing; Dress′ing-case, a case of toilet requisites used in dressing one's self: Dress′ing-gown, a loose garment used in dressing, or in deshabille; Dress′ing-jack′et, Dress′ing-sack, a jacket worn by women in dressing: Dress′ing-room; Dress′ing-tā′ble; Dress′maker, a person who makes gowns or dresses for women.—adj. ”

“ Dribble, drib′l, v.i. to fall in small drops: to drop quickly: to slaver, as a child or an idiot.—v.t. to let fall in drops: to give out in small portions: at football, &c., to keep the ball moving forward little by little.—v.t. Drib, to dribble, drivel.—n. a driblet.—ns. Drib′bler; Drib′let, Drib′blet, a small drop: a small quantity. [Dim. of Drip.]
Dricksie. See Droxy.
Drier, drī′ėr, n. that which dries: a machine for extracting moisture from wet cloths, grain, &c.: a substance causing paint to dry more rapidly. ”

“ Drosera, dros′er-a, n. a genus of small herbaceous plants of the order Droseraceæ, generally inhabiting marshy places. [Formed from Gr. droseros—drosos, dew.]
Droshky, drosh′ki, Drosky, dros′ki, n. a low four-wheeled open carriage much used in Russia. [Russ. drozhki.]
Drosometer, drō-som′e-ter, n. an instrument for measuring the quantity of dew condensed on the surface of a body left in the open air. [Gr. drosos, dew, metron, measure.]
Dross, dros, n. the scum which metals throw off when melting: waste matter: refuse: rust.—n. Dross′iness.—adj. Dross′y, like dross: impure: worthless. ”

“ Dying, dī′ing, pr.p. of Die.—adj. destined for death: mortal: declining: occurring immediately before death, as dying words: supporting a dying person, as a dying-bed: pertaining to death.—n. death.—adv. Dy′ingly.—n. Dy′ingness.—Dying declaration (law) , the declaration made by a person convinced of his impending death, and who does not expect to survive the trial of the accused. [See Die (1) .]
Dyke. Same as Dike.
Dynactinometer, din-ak-tin-om′e-tėr, n. an instrument for measuring the actinic force of light. ”

“ Drouk, Drook, drōōk, v.t. to drench: (Scot.) to duck.—p.adjs. Drouk′it, Drook′it. [Ice. drukna, to be drowned; cf. Dan. drukne.]
Drove, drōv, pa.t. of Drive.—n. a number of cattle, or other animals, driven.—n. Drov′er, one whose occupation is to drive cattle: (Spens.) a boat. [A.S. dráf—drífan, to drive.]
Drow, drow, n. a kind of elves supposed to belong to Shetland, inhabiting caves—also Trow, a variant of troll.
Drow, drow, n. (Scot.) a drizzling mist.
Drown, drown, v.t. to drench or sink in water: to kill by placing under water: to overpower: to extinguish.—v.t. to be suffocated in water. ”

“ Drunk′ard, one who frequently drinks to excess: a habitual drinker.—p.adj. Drunk′en, given to excessive drinking: worthless, besotted: resulting from intoxication.—adv. Drunk′enly.—n. Drunk′enness, excessive drinking: habitual intemperance.
Drupe, drōōp, n. a fleshy fruit containing a stone, as the plum, &c.—adj. Drupā′ceous, producing or pertaining to drupes or stone-fruits.—n. Drup′el, a little drupe. [L. drupa—Gr. dryppa, an over-ripe olive—drypepēs, ripened on the tree, from drys, a tree, and peptein, to cook; cf. drupetēs—drys, and piptein, to fall.] ”

“ Dwindle, dwin′dl, v.i. to grow less: to waste away: to grow feeble: to become degenerate.—v.t. to lessen.—n. decline.—n. Dwin′dlement. [Dim. of Dwine.]
Dwine, dwīn, v.i. to pine: (Scot.) to waste away. [A.S. dwínan, to fade; cf. Ice. dvína, Dan. tvine, to pine away.]
Dyad, dī′ad, n. a pair of units treated as one: (chem.) an atom, radical, or element having a combining power of two units: (biol.) ”

“ Duet′tist. [It. duetto, due, two—L. duo, two.]
Duff, duf, n. dough: a stiff flour pudding boiled in a bag; decaying vegetable matter, fallen leaves: coaldust. [From dough.]
Duff, duf, v.t. to manipulate an article so as to make it look like new: to alter the brands on stolen cattle.
Duffel, duf′l, n. a thick, coarse woollen cloth, with a thick nap—also Duff′le: (U.S.) change of flannels. [Dut., from Duffel, a town near Antwerp.]
Duffer, duf′ėr, n. a dull plodding person: a fogy, useless old fellow: a counterfeit coin: a claim or mine which proves unproductive.—ns. ”