Loading earlier words…
Drapery

The occupation of a draper; cloth-making, or dealing in cloth.

Drastic

Acting rapidly and violently; efficacious; powerful; -- opposed to bland; as, drastic purgatives. A violent purgative. See Cathartic.

Draught

To draw out; to call forth. See Draft.

Draughtboard

A checkered board on which draughts are played. See Checkerboard.

Draughthouse

A house for the reception of waste matter; a privy.

Draughts

A game, now more commonly called checkers. See Checkers.

Draughty

Pertaining to a draught, or current of air; as, a draughtly, comfortless room.

Dravida

A race of Hindustan, believed to be the original people who occupied the land before the Hindu or Aryan invasion.

Dravidic

one of the languages native to southern India; a Dravidian language.

draw

To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to cause to follow.

Draw

The act of drawing; draught.

Drawback

A loss of advantage, or deduction from profit, value, success, etc.; a discouragement or hindrance; objectionable feature.

Drawbar

An openmouthed bar at the end of a car, which receives a coupling link and pin by which the car is drawn. It is usually provided with a spring to give elasticity to the connection between the cars of a train. A bar of iron with an eye at each end, or a heavy link, for coupling a locomotive to a tender or car.

Drawbench

A machine in which strips of metal are drawn through a drawplate; especially, one in which wire is thus made; -- also called drawing bench.

Drawbolt

A coupling pin. See under Coupling.

Drawbore

To make a drawbore in; as, to drawbore a tenon.

Drawboy

A boy who operates the harness cords of a hand loom; also, a part of power loom that performs the same office.

Drawbridge

A bridge of which either the whole or a part is made to be raised up, let down, or drawn or turned aside, to admit or hinder communication at pleasure, as before the gate of a town or castle, or over a navigable river or canal.

Drawcansir

A blustering, bullying fellow; a pot-valiant braggart; a bully.

drawee

The person on whom an order or bill of exchange is drawn; -- the correlative of drawer.

drawer

One who, or that which, draws One who draws liquor for guests; a waiter in a taproom. One who delineates or depicts; a draughtsman; as, a good drawer. One who draws a bill of exchange or order for payment; -- the correlative of drawee.

Drawfiling

The process of smooth filing by working the file sidewise instead of lengthwise.

Drawgloves

An old game, played by holding up the fingers.

Drawhead

The flanged outer end of a drawbar; also, a name applied to the drawgear.

Drawing

The act of pulling, or attracting.

Drawing-room

A room appropriated for the reception of company; a room to which company withdraws from the dining room.

Drawknife Drawing knife

A woodworker`s and joiner's tool having a blade with a handle at each end, used to shave off surfaces, by drawing it toward one; a shave; -- called also drawshave, and drawing shave.

Drawl

A lengthened, slow monotonous utterance.

Drawling

The act of speaking with a drawl; a drawl.

Drawloom

A kind of loom used in weaving figured patterns; -- called also drawboy.

Drawnet

A net for catching the larger sorts of birds; also, a dragnet.

drawnwork

ornamental needlework done by drawing threads to form lacelike patterns.

Drawplate

A hardened steel plate having a hole, or a gradation of conical holes, through which wires are drawn to be reduced and elongated.

Drawrod

A rod which unites the drawgear at opposite ends of the car, and bears the pull required to draw the train.

Drawspring

The spring to which a drawbar is attached.

Dray

A strong low cart or carriage used for heavy burdens.

Drazel

A slut; a vagabond wench. Same as Drossel.

Dread

Exciting great fear or apprehension; causing terror; frightful; dreadful.

Dreader

One who fears, or lives in fear.

Dreadful

Full of dread or terror; fearful.

Dreadnought

A British battleship, completed in 1906 -- 1907, having an armament consisting of ten 12-inch guns mounted in turrets, and of twenty-four 12-pound quick-fire guns for protection against torpedo boats. This was the first battleship of the type characterized by a main armament of big guns all of the same caliber. She had a displacement of 17,900 tons at load draft, and a speed of 21 knots per hour.

Dream

To have a dream of; to see, or have a vision of, in sleep, or in idle fancy; -- often followed by an objective clause.

Dreamily

As if in a dream; softly; slowly; languidly.

Dreamland

An unreal, delightful country such as in sometimes pictured in dreams; region of fancies; fairyland.

dreamlike

resembling a dream; vague or fantastic; as, night invested the lake with a dreamlike quality.

dreamworld

A pleasing country existing only in dreams or imagination; a fantasy land.

dreamy

Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.

Drear

Sadness; dismalness.

Dredge

To sift or sprinkle flour, etc., on, as on roasting meat.

Dredger

A box with holes in its lid; -- used for sprinkling flour, as on meat or a breadboard; -- called also dredging box, drudger, and drudging box.

Dree

Wearisome; tedious.

Dreg

Corrupt or defiling matter contained in a liquid, or precipitated from it; refuse; feculence; lees; grounds; sediment; hence, the vilest and most worthless part of anything; as, the dregs of society.

Dregginess

Fullness of dregs or lees; foulness; feculence.

Dreggy

Containing dregs or lees; muddy; foul; feculent.

Dreibund

A triple alliance; specif., the alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, formed in 1882.

dreidl dreidel

a toy shaped somewhat like a top, but having four flat sides, each marked with one of the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he, or shin. It is spun like a top, and the letter showing when it stops spinning determines the outcome of a game of chance.

Dreissena

A genus of bivalve shells of which one species (Dreissena polymorpha) is often so abundant as to be very troublesome in the fresh waters of Europe.

Drench

A military vassal mentioned in Domesday Book.

Drencher

One who, or that which, west or steeps.

Drengage

The tenure by which a drench held land.

Dress

That which is used as the covering or ornament of the body; clothes; garments; habit; apparel.

dressage

maneuvers of a horse in response to body signals by the rider.

dressed to kill

attired in strikingly attractive clothing; -- usually of women.

dresser

One who dresses; one who put in order or makes ready for use; one who on clothes or ornaments.

Dresser

A piece of chamber furniture consisting of a chest of drawers, or bureau, with a mirror.

Dressing

Dress; raiment; especially, ornamental habiliment or attire.

Dressing table

a table, usually having a vertical back piece containing a mirror, at which a person may sit while dressing or applying makeup, and on which articles for the toilet stand. It often has drawers for toiletries, clothing, or accessories. It is also called a vanity or vanity table.

Dressmaker

A maker of gowns, or similar garments; a mantuamaker.

Dressmaking

The art, process, or occupation, of making dresses.

Dressy

Showy in dress; attentive to dress.

Drevil

A fool; a drudge. See Drivel.

Loading more words…