D - Daff

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D.

D (dē) 1. The fourth letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. The English letter is from Latin, which is from Greek, which took it from Phœnician, the probable ultimate origin being Egyptian. It is related most nearly to t and th; as, Eng. deep, G. tief; Eng. daughter, G. tochter, Gr. qygathr, Skr. duhitr. See Guide to Pronunciation, √178, 179, 229.
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2. (Mus.) The nominal of the second tone in the model major scale (that in C), or of the fourth tone in the relative minor scale of C (that in A minor), or of the key tone in the relative minor of F.
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3. As a numeral D stands for 500. in this use it is not the initial of any word, or even strictly a letter, but one half of the sign � (or � ) the original Tuscan numeral for 1000.
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Dab (dăb), n. [Perh. corrupted fr. adept.] A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [Colloq.]
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One excels at a plan or the titlepage, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index. Goldsmith.
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Dab, n. [Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. .] (Zoöl.) A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes limanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides.
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Dab (dăb), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dabbed (dăbd); p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbing.] [OE. dabben to strice; akin to OD. dabben to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble, and perh. to G. tappen to grope.] 1. To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber.
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A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it over with fine lint. S. Sharp.
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2. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. “To dab him in the neck.” Sir T. More.
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Dab (?), n. 1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.
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A scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak. Hawthorne.
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2. A small mass of anything soft or moist.
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Dabb (dȧb), n. (Zoöl.) A large, spine-tailed lizard (Uromastix spinipes), found in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine; -- called also dhobb, and dhubb.
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Dabber (dăbbẽr), n. That with which one dabs; hence, a pad or other device used by printers, engravers, etc., as for dabbing type or engraved plates with ink.
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Dabble (dăbb'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dabbled (dăbb'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbling (dăbblĭng).] [Freq. of dab: cf. OD. dabbelen.] To wet by little dips or strokes; to spatter; to sprinkle; to moisten; to wet. “Bright hair dabbled in blood.” Shak.
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Dabble, v. i. 1. To play in water, as with the hands; to paddle or splash in mud or water.
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Where the duck dabbles 'mid the rustling sedge. Wordsworth.
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2. To work in slight or superficial manner; to do in a small way; to tamper; to meddle. “Dabbling here and there with the text.” Atterbury.
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During the first year at Dumfries, Burns for the first time began to dabble in politics. J. C. Shairp.
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Dabbler (dăbblẽr), n. 1. One who dabbles.
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2. One who dips slightly into anything; a superficial meddler. “our dabblers in politics.” Swift.
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Dabblingly (?), adv. In a dabbling manner.
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Dabchick (dăbchĭk), n. [For dabchick. See , , cf. .] (Zoöl.) A small water bird (Podilymbus podiceps), allied to the grebes, remarkable for its quickness in diving; -- called also dapchick, dobchick, dipchick, didapper, dobber, devil-diver, hell-diver, and pied-billed grebe.
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Daboia (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large and highly venomous Asiatic viper (Daboia xanthica).
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Dabster, n. [Cf. an expert.] One who is skilled; a master of his business; a proficient; an adept. [Colloq.]
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☞ Sometimes improperly used for dabbler; as, “I am but a dabster with gentle art”.
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Dacapo (?). [It., from [the] head or beginning.] (Mus.) From the beginning; a direction to return to, and end with, the first strain; -- indicated by the letters D. C. Also, the strain so repeated.
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Dace (dās), n. [Written also dare, dart, fr. F. dard dase, dart, of German origin. Dace is for an older darce, fr. an OF. nom. darz. See a javelin.] (Zoöl.) A small European cyprinoid fish (Leuciscus leuciscus, formerly Squalius leuciscus or Leuciscus vulgaris); -- called also dare.
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☞ In America the name is given to several related fishes of the genera Squalius, Minnilus, etc. The black-nosed dace is Rhinichthys atronasus the horned dace is Semotilus corporalis. For red dace, see .
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Dacelo n. a genus of Australasian kingfishers.
Syn. -- genus Dacelo.
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dacha n. [Russian.] a Russian country house, especially a cottage used in the summer.
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Dachshund (däkshṳnt), n. [G., from dachs badger + hund dog.] (Zoöl.) One of a breed of small dogs with short crooked legs, and long body; -- called also badger dog. There are two kinds, the rough-haired and the smooth-haired.
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Dacian (?), a. Of or pertaining to Dacia or the Dacians. -- n. A native of ancient Dacia.
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Dacninae n. a natural family comprising the honeycreepers.
Syn. -- Coerebidae, family Coerebidae, family Dacninae.
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dacoit (dȧkoit), n. [Hind. ḍakait, ḍākāyat.] One of a class of robbers, in India and Burma (Myanmar), who act in gangs and are usually armed. [Also spelled dakoit.]
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dacoity (?), n. The practice of gang robbery in India; robbery committed by dacoits.
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Dacotahs (?), n. pl.; sing. Dacotan (�). (Ethnol.) Same as . Longfellow.
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Dacron n. [Trademark.] a brand of polyester textile fiber, or the wrinkle-resistant fabric prepared from it.
Syn. -- dacron, Terylene.
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Dacrycarpus n. a genus of evergreen coniferous shrubs or trees of New Zealand to Malaysia and Philippines.
Syn. -- genus Dacrycarpus.
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Dacrydium n. a genus of Australasian evergreen trees or shrubs.
Syn. -- genus Dacrydium.
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Dacrymyces n. the type genus of the Dacrymycetaceae, consisting of fungi with a bifurcate basidium that lacks septa.
Syn. -- genus Dacrymyces.
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dactyl (dăktĭl), n. [L. dactylus, Gr. daktylos a finger, a dactyl. Cf. .] 1. (Pros.) A poetical foot of three sylables (--- ˘ ˘), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgmĭnĕ, E. merciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. [Written also dactyle.]
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2. (Zoöl.) (a) A finger or toe; a digit. (b) The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.
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dactylar (dăktĭlẽr), a. 1. Pertaining to dactyl; dactylic.
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2. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to a finger or toe, or to the claw of an insect crustacean.
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Dactylet (dăktĭlĕt), n. [Dactyl + -et.] A dactyl. [Obs.]
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Dactylic (dăktĭlĭk), a. [L. dactylicus, Gr. daktylikos, fr. daktylos.] Pertaining to, consisting chiefly or wholly of, dactyls; as, dactylic verses.
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Dactylic, n. 1. A line consisting chiefly or wholly of dactyls; as, these lines are dactylics.
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2. pl. Dactylic meters.
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dactylioglyph (dăktĭlĭ�glĭf), n. [Gr. daktylioglyfos an engraver of gems; daktylios finger ring (fr. daktylos finger) + glyfein to engrave.] (Fine Arts) (a) An engraver of gems for rings and other ornaments. (b) The inscription of the engraver's name on a finger ring or gem.
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dactylioglyphy (?), n. The art or process of gem engraving.
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Dactyliography (?), n. [Gr. daktylios finger ring + -graphy.] (Fine Arts) (a) The art of writing or engraving upon gems. (b) In general, the literature or history of the art.
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Dactyliology (?), n. [Gr. daktylios finger ring + -logy.] (Fine Arts) (a) That branch of archæology which has to do with gem engraving. (b) That branch of archæology which has to do with finger rings.
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Dactyliomancy (?), n. [Gr. daktylios + -mancy.] Divination by means of finger rings.
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Dactylist (?), n. A writer of dactylic verse.
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Dactylitis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. daktylos finger + -itis.] (Med.) An inflammatory affection of the fingers. Gross.
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Dactylology (?), n. [Gr. daktylos finger + -logy.] The art of communicating ideas by certain movements and positions of the fingers; -- a method of conversing practiced by the deaf and dumb.
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☞ There are two different manual alphabets, the one-hand alphabet (which was perfected by Abbé de l'Epée, who died in 1789), and the two-hand alphabet. The latter was probably based on the manual alphabet published by George Dalgarus of Aberdeen, in 1680. See Illustration in Appendix.
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Dactylomancy (?), n. Dactyliomancy. [R.] Am. Cyc.
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Dactylonomy (?), n. [Gr. daktylos finger + nomos law, distribution.] The art of numbering or counting by the fingers.
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Dactylopterous (?), a. [Gr. daktylos finger + � wing, fin.] (Zoöl.) Having the inferior rays of the pectoral fins partially or entirely free, as in the gurnards.
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Dactyloscopidae n. a natural family of Atlantic fishes comprising the .
Syn. -- family Dactyloscopidae.
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Dactylotheca (dăktĭl�thēkȧ), n. [NL., fr. Gr. daktylos finger, toe + qhkh case, box.] (Zoöl.) The scaly covering of the toes, as in birds.
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dactylozooid (dăktĭl�zōoid), n. [Gr. daktylos finger + E. zooid.] (Zoöl.) A kind of zooid of Siphonophora which has an elongated or even vermiform body, with one tentacle, but no mouth. See .
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Dad (dăd), n. [Prob. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. daid, Gael. daidein, W. tad, OL. tata, Gr. tata, tetta, Skr. tāta.] Father; -- a word sometimes used by children.
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I was never so bethumped with words,
Since I first called my brother's father dad. Shak.
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Daddle (dădd'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Daddled (?), p. pr. & vb. n. Daddling.] [Prob. freq. of dade.] To toddle; to walk unsteadily, like a child or an old man; hence, to do anything slowly or feebly.
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Daddock (?), n. [Cf. Prov. E. dad a large piece.] The rotten body of a tree. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.
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Daddy (?), n. Diminutive of . Dryden.
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Daddy longlegs (?). 1. (Zoöl.) An arachnidan of the genus Phalangium, and allied genera, having a small body and four pairs of long legs; -- called also harvestman, carter, and grandfather longlegs.
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2. (Zoöl.) A name applied to many species of dipterous insects of the genus Tipula, and allied genera, with slender bodies, and very long, slender legs; the crane fly; -- called also father longlegs.
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Dade (?), v. t. [Of. uncertain origin. Cf. , .] To hold up by leading strings or by the hand, as a child while he toddles. [Obs.]
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Little children when they learn to go
By painful mothers daded to and fro. Drayton.
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Dade, v. i. To walk unsteadily, as a child in leading strings, or just learning to walk; to move slowly. [Obs.]
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No sooner taught to dade, but from their mother trip. Drayton.
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Dado (?), n.; pl. Dadoes (#). [It. dado die, cube, pedestal; of the same origin as E. die, n. See , n.] (Arch.) (a) That part of a pedestal included between the base and the cornice (or surbase); the die. See Illust. of . Hence: (b) In any wall, that part of the basement included between the base and the base course. See Base course, under . (c) In interior decoration, the lower part of the wall of an apartment when adorned with moldings, or otherwise specially decorated.

{ Dædal (?), Dædalian (?) }, a. [L. daedalus cunningly wrought, fr. Gr. �; cf. � to work cunningly. The word also alludes to the mythical Dædalus (Gr. �, lit., the cunning worker).] 1. Cunningly or ingeniously formed or working; skillful; artistic; ingenious.
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Our bodies decked in our dædalian arms. Chapman.
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The dædal hand of Nature. J. Philips.
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The doth the dædal earth throw forth to thee,
Out of her fruitful, abundant flowers. Spenser.
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2. Crafty; deceitful. [R.] Keats.
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Dædalous (?), a. (Bot.) Having a variously cut or incised margin; -- said of leaves.

Dæmon (?), n., Dæmonic (�), a. See , .
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Daff (dȧf), v. t. [Cf. .] To cast aside; to put off; to doff. [Obs.]
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Canst thou so daff me? Thou hast killed my child. Shak.
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Daff, n. [See .] A stupid, blockish fellow; a numskull. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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