Damosel - Dangerous
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{ Damosel (dăm�zĕl), Damosella (-zĕllȧ), Damoiselle (dȧmwäzĕl) }, n. See . [Archaic]
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Damourite (dăm�īt), n. [Ater the French chemist Damour.] (Min.) A kind of Muscovite, or potash mica, containing water.
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Damp (dămp), n. [Akin to LG., D., & Dan. damp vapor, steam, fog, G. dampf, Icel. dampi, Sw. damb dust, and to MNG. dimpfen to smoke, imp. dampf.] 1. Moisture; humidity; fog; fogginess; vapor.
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Night . . . with black air
Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom.
Milton.
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2. Dejection; depression; cloud of the mind.
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Even now, while thus I stand blest in thy presence,
A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul.
Addison.
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It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion.
J. D. Forbes.
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3. (Mining) A gaseous product, formed in coal mines, old wells, pints, etc.
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Coloq. Choke damp , a damp consisting principally of carbonic acid gas; -- so called from its extinguishing flame and animal life. See Carbonic acid, under . -- Coloq. Damp sheet , a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas. -- Coloq. Fire damp , a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and brought into contact with flame.
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Damp (dămp), a. [Compar. Damper (?); superl. Dampest.] 1. Being in a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist; humid.
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O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear.
Dryden.
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2. Dejected; depressed; sunk. [R.]
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All these and more came flocking, but with looks
Downcast and damp.
Milton.
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Damp, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Damped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Damping.] [OE. dampen to choke, suffocate. See , n.] 1. To render damp; to moisten; to make humid, or moderately wet; to dampen; as, to damp cloth.
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2. To put out, as fire; to depress or deject; to deaden; to cloud; to check or restrain, as action or vigor; to make dull; to weaken; to discourage. “To damp your tender hopes.” Akenside.
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Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug.
Bacon.
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How many a day has been damped and darkened by an angry word!
Sir J. Lubbock.
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The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of the soldiers.
Macaulay.
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Dampen (dămp'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. dampened (dămp'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. dampening.] 1. To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet.
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2. To depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen.
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In a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm.
The Century.
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Dampen, v. i. To become damp; to deaden. Byron.
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dampening n. the act or process of making something slightly wet.
Syn. -- moistening.
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damper (dămpẽr), n. That which damps or checks; as: (a) A valve or movable plate in the flue or other part of a stove, furnace, etc., used to check or regulate the draught of air. (b) A contrivance, as in a pianoforte, to deaden vibrations; or, as in other pieces of mechanism, to check some action at a particular time.
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Nor did Sabrina's presence seem to act as any damper at the modest little festivities.
W. Black.
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Dampish (?), a. Moderately damp or moist.
-- Dampishly, adv. -- Dampishness, n.
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Dampne (?), v. t. To damn. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Dampness, n. Moderate humidity; moisture; fogginess; moistness.
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Damp off (?). To decay and perish through excessive moisture.
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Dampy (?), a. 1. Somewhat damp. [Obs.] Drayton.
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2. Dejected; gloomy; sorrowful. [Obs.] “Dispel dampy throughts.” Haywards.
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Damsel (dămzĕl), n. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL. domicella, dominicella, fem., domicellus, dominicellus, masc., dim. fr. L. domina, dominus. See , and cf. , .] 1. A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [Obs.]
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2. A young unmarried woman; a girl; a maiden.
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With her train of damsels she was gone,
In shady walks the scorching heat to shun.
Dryden.
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Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, . . .
Goes by to towered Camelot.
Tennyson.
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3. (Milling) An attachment to a millstone spindle for shaking the hopper.
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damselfish n. small brilliantly colored tropical marine fishes of coral reefs.
Syn. -- demoiselle.
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damselfly n. a slender nonstinging insect similar to but smaller than the dragonfly but having wings folded when at rest.
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Damson (dămz'n), n. [OE. damasin the Damascus plum, fr. L. Damascenus. See .] A small oval plum of a blue color, the fruit of a variety of the Prunus domestica; -- called also damask plum.
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Dan (dăn), n. [OE. dan, danz, OF. danz (prop. only nom.), dan, master, fr. L. dominus. See .] A title of honor equivalent to master, or sir. [Obs.]
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Old Dan Geoffry, in gently spright
The pure wellhead of poetry did dwell.
Spenser.
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What time Dan Abraham left the Chaldee land.
Thomson.
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Dan, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Mining) A small truck or sledge used in coal mines.
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Danaidae n. a small natural family of usually tropical butterflies, including the monarch butterflies.
Syn. -- family Danaidae.
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Danaide (dānȧīd), n. [From the mythical Danaides, who were condemned to fill with water a vessel full of holes.] (Mach.) A water wheel having a vertical axis, and an inner and outer tapering shell, between which are vanes or floats attached usually to both shells, but sometimes only to one.
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Danaite (dānȧīt), n. [Named after J. Freeman Dana.] (Min.) A cobaltiferous variety of arsenopyrite.
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Danalite (?), n. [Named after James Dwight Dana.] (Min.) A mineral occuring in octahedral crystals, also massive, of a reddish color. It is a silicate of iron, zinc manganese, and glucinum, containing sulphur.
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Danaus n. the type genus of the Danaidae, including the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus.
Syn. -- genus Danaus.
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Danburite (?), n. (Min.) A borosilicate of lime, first found at Danbury, Conn. It is near the topaz in form. Dana.
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Dance (dȧns), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Danced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dancing.] [F. danser, fr. OHG. dansōn to draw; akin to dinsan to draw, Goth. apinsan, and prob. from the same root (meaning to stretch) as E. thin. See .] 1. To move with measured steps, or to a musical accompaniment; to go through, either alone or in company with others, with a regulated succession of movements, (commonly) to the sound of music; to trip or leap rhythmically.
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Jack shall pipe and Gill shall dance.
Wither.
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Good shepherd, what fair swain is this
Which dances with your daughter?
Shak.
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2. To move nimbly or merrily; to express pleasure by motion; to caper; to frisk; to skip about.
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Then, 'tis time to dance off.
Thackeray.
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More dances my rapt heart
Than when I first my wedded mistress saw.
Shak.
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Shadows in the glassy waters dance.
Byron.
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Where rivulets dance their wayward round.
Wordsworth.
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Coloq. To dance on a rope , or Coloq. To dance on nothing , to be hanged.
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Dance (?), v. t. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and down; to dandle.
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To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind.
Shak.
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Thy grandsire loved thee well;
Many a time he danced thee on his knee.
Shak.
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Coloq. To dance attendance , to come and go obsequiously; to be or remain in waiting, at the beck and call of another, with a view to please or gain favor.
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A man of his place, and so near our favor,
To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasure.
Shak.
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Dance, n. [F. danse, of German origin. See , v. i.] 1. The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music.
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2. (Mus.) A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the minuet, the waltz, the cotillon, etc.
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☞ The word dance was used ironically, by the older writers, of many proceedings besides dancing.
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Of remedies of love she knew parchance
For of that art she couth the olde dance.
Chaucer.
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Coloq. Dance of Death (Art), an allegorical representation of the power of death over all, -- the old, the young, the high, and the low, being led by a dancing skeleton. -- Coloq. Morris dance . See . -- Coloq. To lead one a dance , to cause one to go through a series of movements or experiences as if guided by a partner in a dance not understood.
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Dancer (?), n. One who dances or who practices dancing.
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Coloq. The merry dancers , beams of the northern lights when they rise and fall alternately without any considerable change of length. See Aurora borealis, under .
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Danceress, n. A female dancer. [Obs.] Wyclif.
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Dancetté (?), a. [Cf. F. danché dancetté, dent tooth.] (Her.) Deeply indented; having large teeth; thus, a fess dancetté has only three teeth in the whole width of the escutcheon.
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Dancing (?), p. a. & vb. n. from .
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Coloq. Dancing girl , one of the women in the East Indies whose profession is to dance in the temples, or for the amusement of spectators. There are various classes of dancing girls. -- Coloq. Dancing master , a teacher of dancing. -- Coloq. Dancing school , a school or place where dancing is taught.
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Dancy (?), a. (Her.) Same as .
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Dandelion (?), n. [F. dent de lion lion's tooth, fr. L. dens tooth + leo lion. See , n., and .] (Bot.) A well-known plant of the genus Taraxacum (Taraxacum officinale, formerly called Taraxacum Dens-leonis and Leontodos Taraxacum) bearing large, yellow, compound flowers, and deeply notched leaves.
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Dander (?), n. [Corrupted from dandruff.] 1. Dandruff or scurf on the head.
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2. Anger or vexation; rage. [Low] Halliwell.
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Dander, v. i. [See .] To wander about; to saunter; to talk incoherently. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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Dandi (?), n. [Hind. ḍānḍi, fr. ḍānḍ an oar.] A boatman; an oarsman. [India]
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Dandie (?), n. (Zoöl.) One of a breed of small terriers; -- called also Dandie Dinmont.
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{ Dandie Dinmont (dăndĭ dĭnmŏnt), or Dandie Dinmont }, n. 1. In Scott's “Guy Mannering”, a Border farmer of eccentric but fine character, who owns two terriers claimed to be the progenitors of the Dandie Dinmont terriers.
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2. One of a breed of terriers with short legs, long body, and rough coat, originating in the country about the English and Scotch border.
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Dandified (?), a. Made up like a dandy; having the dress or manners of a dandy; buckish.
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Dandify (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dandified (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dandifying.] [Dandy + -fy.] To cause to resemble a dandy; to make dandyish.
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Dandiprat (?), n. [Dandy + brat child.] 1. A little fellow; -- in sport or contempt. “A dandiprat hop-thumb.” Stanyhurst.
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2. A small coin.
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Henry VII. stamped a small coin called dandiprats.
Camden.
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Dandle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dandled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dandling (?).] [Cf. G. dändeln to trifly, dandle, OD. & Prov. G. danten, G. tand trifly, prattle; Scot. dandill, dander, to go about idly, to trifly.] 1. To move up and down on one's knee or in one's arms, in affectionate play, as an infant.
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Ye shall be dandled . . . upon her knees.
Is.�
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2. To treat with fondness, as if a child; to fondle; to toy with; to pet.
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They have put me in a silk gown and gaudy fool's cap; I as ashamed to be dandled thus.
Addison.
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The book, thus dandled into popularity by bishops and good ladies, contained many pieces of nursery eloquence.
Jeffrey.
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3. To play with; to put off or delay by trifles; to wheedle. [Obs.]
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Captains do so dandle their doings, and dally in the service, as it they would not have the enemy subdued.
Spenser.
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Dandler (dăndlẽr), n. One who dandles or fondles.
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Dandriff (dăndrĭf), n. See . Swift.
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Dandruff (dăndrŭf), n. [Prob. from W. toncrust, peel, skin + AS. drōf dirty, draffy, or W. drwg bad: cf. AS. tan a letter, an eruption. √240.] A scurf which forms on the head, and comes off in small scales or particles. [Written also dandriff.]
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Dandy (dănd�), n.; pl. Dandies (dăndĭz). [Cf. F. dandin, ninny, silly fellow, dandiner to waddle, to play the fool; prob. allied to E. dandle. Senses 2 & 3 are of uncertain etymology.] 1. One who affects special finery or gives undue attention to dress; a fop; a coxcomb.
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2. (Naut.) (a) A sloop or cutter with a jigger on which a lugsail is set. (b) A small sail carried at or near the stern of small boats; -- called also jigger, and mizzen.
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3. A dandy roller. See below.
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Coloq. Dandy brush , a yard whalebone brush. -- Coloq. Dandy fever . See . -- Coloq. Dandy line , a kind of fishing line to which are attached several crosspieces of whalebone which carry a hook at each end. -- Coloq. Dandy roller , a roller sieve used in machines for making paper, to press out water from the pulp, and set the paper.
Dandy-cock (�), n. masc., Dandy-hen (�), n. fem. [See .] A bantam fowl.
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Dandyish, a. Like a dandy.
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Dandyism (?), n. The manners and dress of a dandy; foppishness. Byron.
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Dandyize (?), v. t. & i. To make, or to act, like a dandy; to dandify.
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Dandyling (?), n. [Dandy + -ling.] A little or insignificant dandy; a contemptible fop.
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Dane (?), n. [LL. Dani: cf. AS. Dene.] A native, or a naturalized inhabitant, of Denmark.
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Coloq. Great Dane . (Zoöl.) See Danish dog, under .
{ Danegeld (?), Danegelt (?) }, n. [AS. danegeld. See , and , n.] (Eng. Hist.) An annual tax formerly laid on the English nation to buy off the ravages of Danish invaders, or to maintain forces to oppose them. It afterward became a permanent tax, raised by an assessment, at first of one shilling, afterward of two shillings, upon every hide of land throughout the realm. Wharton's Law Dict. Tomlins.
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Danewort (?), n. (Bot.) A fetid European species of elder (Sambucus Ebulus); dwarf elder; wallwort; elderwort; -- called also Daneweed, Dane's weed, and Dane's-blood. [Said to grow on spots where battles were fought against the Danes.]
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Dang (?), imp. of . [Obs.]
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Dang, v. t. [Cf. .] To dash. [Obs.]
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Till she, o'ercome with anguish, shame, and rage,
Danged down to hell her loathsome carriage.
Marlowe.
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Danger (?), n. [OE. danger, daunger, power, arrogance, refusal, difficulty, fr. OF. dagier, dongier (with same meaning), F. danger danger, fr. an assumed LL. dominiarium power, authority, from L. dominium power, property. See , , .] 1. Authority; jurisdiction; control. [Obs.]
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In dangerhad he . . . the young girls.
Chaucer.
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2. Power to harm; subjection or liability to penalty. [Obs.] See In one's danger, below.
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You stand within his danger, do you not?
Shak.
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Covetousness of gains hath brought [them] in dangerof this statute.
Robynson (More's Utopia).
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3. Exposure to injury, loss, pain, or other evil; peril; risk; insecurity.
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4. Difficulty; sparingness. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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5. Coyness; disdainful behavior. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Coloq. In one's danger , in one's power; liable to a penalty to be inflicted by him. [Obs.] This sense is retained in the proverb, “Out of debt out of danger.”
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Those rich man in whose debt and danger they be not.
Robynson (More's Utopia).
-- Coloq. To do danger , to cause danger. [Obs.] Shak.
Syn. -- Peril; hazard; risk; jeopardy. -- , , , , . Danger is the generic term, and implies some contingent evil in prospect. Peril is instant or impending danger; as, in peril of one's life. Hazard arises from something fortuitous or beyond our control; as, the hazard of the seas. Risk is doubtful or uncertain danger, often incurred voluntarily; as, to risk an engagement. Jeopardy is extreme danger. Danger of a contagious disease; the perils of shipwreck; the hazards of speculation; the risk of daring enterprises; a life brought into jeopardy.
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Danger, v. t. To endanger. [Obs.] Shak.
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Dangerful (?), a. Full of danger; dangerous. [Obs.] -- Dangerfully, adv. [Obs.] Udall.
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Dangerless, a. Free from danger. [R.]
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Dangerous (?), a. [OE., haughty, difficult, dangerous, fr. OF. dangereus, F. dangereux. See .] 1. Attended or beset with danger; full of risk; perilous; hazardous; unsafe.
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Our troops set forth to-morrow; stay with us;
The ways are dangerous.
Shak.
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It is dangerous to assert a negative.
Macaulay.
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2. Causing danger; ready to do harm or injury.
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If they incline to think you dangerous
To less than gods.
Milton.
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3. In a condition of danger, as from illness; threatened with death. [Colloq.] Forby. Bartlett.
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4. Hard to suit; difficult to please. [Obs.]
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My wages ben full strait, and eke full small;
My lord to me is hard and dangerous.
Chaucer.
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5. Reserved; not affable. [Obs.] “Of his speech dangerous.” Chaucer.
-- Dangerously, adv. -- Dangerousness, n.
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