Loading earlier words…
Dimerous

Composed of, or having, two parts of each kind.

Dimeter

Having two poetical measures or meters. A verse of two meters.

Dimethyl

Ethane; -- sometimes so called because regarded as consisting of two methyl radicals. See Ethane.

Dimidiation

The act of dimidiating or halving; the state of being dimidiate.

Diminish

To become or appear less or smaller; to lessen; as, the apparent size of an object diminishes as we recede from it.

Diminisher

One who, or that which, diminishes anything.

Diminuendo

In a gradually diminishing manner; with abatement of tone; decrescendo; -- expressed on the staff by Dim., or Dimin., or the sign.

Diminution

The act of diminishing, or of making or becoming less; state of being diminished; reduction in size, quantity, or degree; -- opposed to augmentation or increase.

Diminutival

Indicating diminution; diminutive. A diminutive.

Diminutive

Something of very small size or value; an insignificant thing.

Diminutiveness

The quality of being diminutive; smallness; littleness; minuteness.

Dimissory

Sending away; dismissing to another jurisdiction; granting leave to depart.

Dimit

To dismiss, let go, or release.

Dimity

A cotton fabric employed for hangings and furniture coverings, and formerly used for women's under-garments. It is of many patterns, both plain and twilled, and occasionally is printed in colors.

Dimly

In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.

Dimorph

Either one of the two forms of a dimorphous substance; as, calcite and aragonite are dimorphs.

Dimorphic

Having the property of dimorphism; dimorphous.

Dimorphism

Difference of form between members of the same species, as when a plant has two kinds of flowers, both hermaphrodite (as in the partridge berry), or when there are two forms of one or both sexes of the same species of butterfly.

Dimorphous

Characterized by dimorphism; occurring under two distinct forms, not dependent on sex; dimorphic.

Dimple

To mark with dimples or dimplelike depressions.

Dimplement

The state of being dimpled, or marked with gentle depressions.

Dimply

Full of dimples, or small depressions; dimpled; as, the dimply pool.

Dimyaria Dimya

An order of lamellibranchiate mollusks having an anterior and posterior adductor muscle, as the common clam. See Bivalve.

Dimyarian

Like or pertaining to the Dimya. One of the Dimya.

Din

To sound with a din; a ding.

Dinaphthyl

A colorless, crystalline hydrocarbon, C20H14, obtained from naphthylene, and consisting of a doubled naphthylene radical.

Dinar

A petty money of accounts of Persia; 100 dinars consituted a rial.

Dine

To give a dinner to; to furnish with the chief meal; to feed; as, to dine a hundred men.

Diner-out

One who often takes his dinner away from home, or in company.

Ding

A thump or stroke, especially of a bell.

ding-dong dingdong

The sound of, or as of, repeated strokes on a metallic body, as a bell; a repeated and monotonous sound.

Dinghy Dingy Dingey

a small boat propelled by oars or sails, used in the East Indies, in sheltered waters.

Dinginess

Quality of being dingy; a dusky hue.

Dingle

A narrow dale; a small dell; a small, secluded, and embowered valley.

Dingo

A wild dog found in Australia, but supposed to have introduced at a very early period. It has a wolflike face, bushy tail, and a reddish brown color.

Dingy

Soiled; sullied; of a dark or dusky color; dark brown; dirty.

Dinichthys

A genus of large extinct Devonian ganoid fishes. In some parts of Ohio remains of the Dinichthys are abundant, indicating animals twenty feet in length.

dining room diningroom

a room used for dining. In a residence, it usually contains a dining table and some furniture, such as a buffet or sideboard, for storing tableware and dining utensils.

dink

an Asian person, especially a Vietnamese; -- used contemptuously, considered disparaging and offensive.

dinky

small and insignificant; shabby or unimpressive; as, he drove to work in a dinky old Volkswagen; we stayed in a dinky little hotel.

Dinmont

A wether sheep between one and two years old.

dinner

The principal meal of the day, eaten in some countries about midday, but in others (especially in the U. S. and in large cities) at a later hour.

Dinnerless

Having no dinner; as, the naughty child was sent to bed dinnerless.

dinnertime

the time when people eat dinner, usually the time for the evening meal.

Dinoceras

A genus of large extinct Eocene mammals from Wyoming; -- called also Uintatherium. See Illustration in Appendix.

Dinocerata

a small order of primitive ungulates of the Paleocene and Eocene.

Dinoflagellata

and order of plankton, in some classifications it is considered a phylum of the kingdom Protista; in others it is included in the plant phylum Pyrrophyta. Its members usually have two flagella, one of which extends from its center.

dinoflagellate

a member of the Dinoflagellata, chiefly marine protozoa having two flagella. The dinoflagellates form a chief constituent of plankton.

Dinornis

A genus of extinct, ostrichlike birds of gigantic size, which formerly inhabited New Zealand. See Moa.

Dinosauria

An order of extinct mesozoic reptiles, mostly of large size (whence the name). Notwithstanding their size, they present birdlike characters in the skeleton, esp. in the pelvis and hind limbs. Some walked on their three-toed hind feet, thus producing the large /bird tracks,/ so-called, of mesozoic sandstones; others were five-toed and quadrupedal. See Illust. of Compsognathus, also Illustration of Dinosaur in Appendix.

Dinotherium Dinothere

A large extinct proboscidean mammal from the miocene beds of Europe and Asia. It is remarkable for a pair of tusks directed downward from the decurved apex of the lower jaw.

Dint

To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure; to dent.

Diocesan

A bishop, viewed in relation to his diocese; as, the diocesan of New York.

Diocese

The circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority.

Diodon

A genus of spinose, plectognath fishes, having the teeth of each jaw united into a single beaklike plate. They are able to inflate the body by taking in air or water, and, hence, are called globefishes, swellfishes, etc. Called also porcupine fishes, and sea hedgehogs.

Diodont

Like or pertaining to the genus Diodon. A fish of the genus Diodon, or an allied genus.

Dioecia

A Linn/an class of plants having the stamens and pistils on different plants.

Dioecious Dioecian

Having the sexes in two separate individuals; -- applied to plants in which the female flowers occur on one individual and the male flowers on another of the same species, and to animals in which the ovum is produced by one individual and the sperm cell by another; -- opposed to mon/cious.

Dioecism

The condition of being di/cious.

dioestrual dioestrous

in a period of sexual inactivity; -- of animals that have several estrous cycles in one breeding season.

Diogenes

A Greek Cynic philosopher (412?-323 B. C.) who lived much in Athens and was distinguished for contempt of the common aims and conditions of life, and for sharp, caustic sayings.

Diomedea

A genus of large sea birds, including the albatross. See Albatross.

Dionaea

An insectivorous plant. See Venus's flytrap.

Dionysia

Any of the festivals held in honor of the Olympian god Dionysus. They correspond to the Roman Bacchanalia; the greater Dionysia were held at Athens in March or April, and were celebrated with elaborate performances of both tragedies and comedies.

Dionysiac

Of or pertaining to Dionysus or to the Dionysia; Bacchic; as, a Dionysiac festival; the Dionysiac theater at Athens.

Dionysian

Relating to Dionysius, a monk of the 6th century; as, the Dionysian, or Christian, era.

Diophantine

Originated or taught by Diophantus, the Greek writer on algebra.

Diopside

A crystallized variety of pyroxene, of a clear, grayish green color; mussite.

Dioptase

A hydrous silicate of copper, occurring in emerald-green crystals.

Dioptra Diopter

An optical instrument, invented by Hipparchus, for taking altitudes, leveling, etc.

Dioptre

A unit employed by oculists in numbering glasses according to the metric system; a refractive power equal to that of a glass whose principal focal distance is one meter.

Dioptric

Of or pertaining to the dioptre, or to the metric system of numbering glasses. A dioptre. See Dioptre.

Dioptrical Dioptric

Of or pertaining to dioptrics; assisting vision by means of the refraction of light; refractive; as, the dioptric system; a dioptric glass or telescope.

Dioptrics

The science of the refraction of light; that part of geometrical optics which treats of the laws of the refraction of light in passing from one medium into another, or through different mediums, as air, water, or glass, and esp. through different lenses; -- distinguished from catoptrics, which refers to reflected light.

Diorama

A mode of scenic representation, invented by Daguerre and Bouton, in which a painting is seen from a distance through a large opening. By a combination of transparent and opaque painting, and of transmitted and reflected light, and by contrivances such as screens and shutters, much diversity of scenic effect is produced.

Diorism

Definition; logical direction.

Dioristic

Distinguishing; distinctive; defining.

Diorite

An igneous, crystalline in structure, consisting essentially of a triclinic feldspar and hornblende. It includes part of what was called greenstone.

Diorthotic

Relating to the correcting or straightening out of something; corrective.

Dioscorea

A genus of plants, the roots of which are eaten as yams. See Yam.

Dioscoreaceae

a natural family of tuberous plants including the yams.

Diota

A vase or drinking cup having two handles or ears.

Dioxide

An oxide containing two atoms of oxygen in each molecule; binoxide. An oxide containing but one atom or equivalent of oxygen to two of a metal; a suboxide.

Loading more words…