Destituent - Deteriorate

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Destituent (?; 135), a. [L. destituens, p. pr. of destituere.] Deficient; wanting; as, a destituent condition. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.
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Destitute (?), a. [L. destitutus, p. p. of destituere to set away, leave alone, forsake; de + statuere to set. See .] 1. Forsaken; not having in possession (something necessary, or desirable); deficient; lacking; devoid; -- often followed by of.
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In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Ps. cxli. 8.
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Totally destitute of all shadow of influence. Burke.
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2. Not possessing the necessaries of life; in a condition of want; needy; without possessions or resources; very poor.
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They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Heb. xi. 37.
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Destitute, v. t. 1. To leave destitute; to forsake; to abandon. [Obs.]
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To forsake or destitute a plantation. Bacon.
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2. To make destitute; to cause to be in want; to deprive; -- followed by of. [Obs.]
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Destituted of all honor and livings. Holinshed.
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3. To disappoint. [Obs.]
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When his expectation is destituted. Fotherby.
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Destitutely, adv. In destitution.
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Destituteness, n. Destitution. [R.] Ash.
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Destitution (?), n. [L. destitutio a forsaking.] The state of being deprived of anything; the state or condition of being destitute, needy, or without resources; deficiency; lack; extreme poverty; utter want; as, the inundation caused general destitution.

{ Destrer (?), Dextrer (?) }, n. [OF. destrier, fr. L. dextra on the right side. The squire led his master's horse beside him, on his right hand. Skeat.] A war horse. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Destrie (?), v. t. To destroy. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Destroy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Destroyed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Destroying.] [OE. destroien, destruien, destrien, OF. destruire, F. détruire, fr. L. destruere, destructum; de + struere to pile up, build. See .] 1. To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish.
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But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. Ex. xxxiv. 13.
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2. To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume.
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I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation. Jer. xii. 17.
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3. To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill.
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If him by force he can destroy, or, worse,
By some false guile pervert. Milton.

Syn. -- To demolish; lay waste; consume; raze; dismantle; ruin; throw down; overthrow; subvert; desolate; devastate; deface; extirpate; extinguish; kill; slay. See .
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Destroyable (?), a. Destructible. [R.]
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Plants . . . scarcely destroyable by the weather. Derham.
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destroyed adj. 1. p. p. of . [Narrower terms: annihilated, exterminated, wiped out(predicate); blasted, desolate, desolated, devastated, ravaged, ruined, wasted; blighted, spoilt; blotted out, obliterate, obliterated; demolished, dismantled, razed; done for(predicate), kaput(predicate), gone(prenominal), lost, finished(predicate); extinguished; ruined, wiped out(predicate), impoverished; totaled, wrecked; war-torn, war-worn; despoiled, pillaged, raped, ravaged, sacked] Also See: . Antonym: preserved
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2. destroyed physically or morally.
Syn. -- ruined.
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Destroyer (?), n. [Cf. OF. destruior.] 1. One who destroys, ruins, kills, or desolates.
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2. (Nav.) a small fast warship used primarily as an escort to larger vessels and typically armed with a combination of 5-inch guns, torpedos, depth charges, and missiles; formerly identical to the .
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Destruct (?), v. t. [L. destructus, p. p. of destruere. See .] To destroy. [Obs.] Mede.
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Destructibility (?), n. [Cf. F. destructibilité.] The quality of being capable of destruction; destructibleness.
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Destructible (?), a. [L. destructibilis.] Liable to destruction; capable of being destroyed.
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Destructibleness, n. The quality of being destructible.
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Destruction (?), n. [L. destructio: cf. F. destruction. See .] 1. The act of destroying; a tearing down; a bringing to naught; subversion; demolition; ruin; slaying; devastation.
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The Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction. Esth. ix. 5.
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'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. Shak.
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Destruction of venerable establishment. Hallam.
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2. The state of being destroyed, demolished, ruined, slain, or devastated.
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This town came to destruction. Chaucer.
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Thou castedst them down into destruction. Ps. lxxiii. 18.
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2. A destroying agency; a cause of ruin or of devastation; a destroyer.
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The destruction that wasteth at noonday. Ps. xci. 6.

Syn. -- Demolition; subversion; overthrow; desolation; extirpation; extinction; devastation; downfall; extermination; havoc; ruin.
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Destructionist, n. 1. One who delights in destroying that which is valuable; one whose principles and influence tend to destroy existing institutions; a destructive.
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2. (Theol.) One who believes in the final destruction or complete annihilation of the wicked; -- called also annihilationist. Shipley.
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Destructive (?), a. [L. destructivus: cf. F. destructif.] Causing destruction; tending to bring about ruin, death, or devastation; ruinous; fatal; productive of serious evil; mischievous; pernicious; -- often with of or to; as, intemperance is destructive of health; evil examples are destructive to the morals of youth.
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Time's destructive power. Wordsworth.
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Coloq. Destructive distillation . See . -- Coloq. Destructive sorties (�) (Logic), a process of reasoning which involves the denial of the first of a series of dependent propositions as a consequence of the denial of the last; a species of reductio ad absurdum. Whately.

Syn. -- Mortal; deadly; poisonous; fatal; ruinous; malignant; baleful; pernicious; mischievous.
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Destructive, n. One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.
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Destructively, adv. In a destructive manner.
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destructive-metabolic adj. prenom. (Biochemistry & Physiology) energy-releasing (prenominal); same as .
Syn. -- .
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Destructiveness (?), n. 1. The quality of destroying or ruining. Prynne.
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2. (Phren.) The faculty supposed to impel to the commission of acts of destruction; propensity to destroy.
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Destructor (?), n. [L., from destruere. See , and cf. .] 1. A destroyer. [R.]
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Fire, the destructor and the artificial death of things. Boyle.
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2. A furnace or oven for the burning or carbonizing of refuse; specif. (Sewage Disposal), a furnace (called in full Coloq. refuse destructor ) in which the more solid constituents of sewage are burnt. Destructors are often so constructed as to utilize refuse as fuel.
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3. (Computers) in object-oriented programming, a function which destroys an object which was previously created by a different function.
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Destruie (?), v. t. To destroy. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Desudation (?), n. [L. desudatio, fr. desudare to sweat greatly; de + sudare to sweat.] (Med.) A sweating; a profuse or morbid sweating, often succeeded by an eruption of small pimples.
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Desuete (?), a. [L. desuetus, p. p. of desuescere to disuse.] Disused; out of use. [R.]
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Desuetude (?), n. [L. desuetudo, from desuescere, to grow out of use, disuse; de + suescere to become used or accustomed: cf. F. désuétude. See .] The cessation of use; disuse; discontinuance of practice, custom, or fashion.
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The desuetude abrogated the law, which, before, custom had established. Jer. Taylor.
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Desulphurate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desulphurated; p. pr. & vb. n. Desulphurating.] To deprive of sulphur.
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Desulphuration (?), n. [Cf. F. désulfuration.] The act or process of depriving of sulphur.
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Desulphurize (?), v. t. To desulphurate; to deprive of sulphur. -- Desulphurization (#), n.
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Desultorily (?), adv. In a desultory manner; without method; loosely; immethodically.
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Desultoriness, n. The quality of being desultory or without order or method; unconnectedness.
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The seeming desultoriness of my method. Boyle.
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Desultorious (?), a. Desultory. [R.]
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Desultory (?), a. [L. desultorius, fr. desultor a leaper, fr. desilire, desultum, to leap down; de + salire to leap. See .] 1. Leaping or skipping about. [Obs.]
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I shot at it [a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim. Gilbert White.
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2. Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless; as, desultory minds. Atterbury.
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He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory. Macaulay.
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3. Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.

Syn. -- Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.
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Desume (?), v. t. [L. desumere; de + sumere to take.] To select; to borrow. [Obs.] Sir. M. Hale.
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desynchronize, v. t. to cause a process to occur at times or in cycles independent of another process.
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desynchronization, desynchronizing n. a process causing an absence of synchronization; the relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times; as, the stimulus produced a desynchronizing of the brain waves.
Syn. -- asynchronism, asynchrony, desynchronization, desynchronisation.
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Desynonymization (?), n. The act of desynonymizing.
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Desynonymize (?), v. t. To deprive of synonymous character; to discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.
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Detach (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detached (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Detaching.] [F. détacher (cf. It. distaccare, staccare); pref. dé (L. dis) + the root found also in E. attach. See , and cf. .] 1. To part; to separate or disunite; to disengage; -- the opposite of attach; as, to detach the coats of a bulbous root from each other; to detach a man from a leader or from a party.
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2. To separate for a special object or use; -- used especially in military language; as, to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment.

Syn. -- To separate; disunite; disengage; sever; disjoin; withdraw; draw off. See .
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Detach, v. i. To push asunder; to come off or separate from anything; to disengage.
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[A vapor] detaching, fold by fold,
From those still heights. Tennyson.
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Detachable (?), a. That can be detached.
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Detached (?), a. Separate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. “Extensive and detached empire.” Burke.
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Coloq. Detached escapement . See .
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Detachment (?), n. [Cf. F. détachement.] 1. The act of detaching or separating, or the state of being detached.
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2. That which is detached; especially, a body of troops or part of a fleet sent from the main body on special service.
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Troops . . . widely scattered in little detachments. Bancroft.
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3. Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation.
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A trial which would have demanded of him a most heroic faith and the detachment of a saint. J. H. Newman.
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Detail (dētāl or d�tāl; 277), n. [F. détail, fr. détailler to cut in pieces, tell in detail; pref. dé- (L. de or dis-) + tailler to cut. See .] 1. A minute portion; one of the small parts; a particular; an item; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the details of a scheme or transaction.
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The details of the campaign in Italy. Motley.
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2. A narrative which relates minute points; an account which dwells on particulars.
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3. (Mil.) The selection for a particular service of a person or a body of men; hence, the person or the body of men so selected.
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4. (Arch. & Mach.) (a) A minor part, as, in a building, the cornice, caps of the buttresses, capitals of the columns, etc., or (called larger details) a porch, a gable with its windows, a pavilion, or an attached tower. (b) A detail drawing.

Coloq. Detail drawing , a drawing of the full size, or on a large scale, of some part of a building, machine, etc. -- Coloq. In detail , in subdivisions; part by part; item by item; circumstantially; with particularity.

Syn. -- Account; relation; narrative; recital; explanation; narration.
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Detail (d�tāl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detailed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Detailing.] [Cf. F. détailler to cut up in pieces, tell in detail. See , n.] 1. To relate in particulars; to particularize; to report minutely and distinctly; to enumerate; to specify; as, he detailed all the facts in due order.
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2. (Mil.) To tell off or appoint for a particular service, as an officer, a troop, or a squadron.
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3. To provide with fine or intricate added decoration.
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Syn. -- , . Detail respects the act of individualizing the person or body that is separated; detach, the removing for the given end or object.
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detailed (d�tāld), adj. 1. Developed or executed with care and in minute detail; as, a detailed plan.
Syn. -- elaborate, elaborated.
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2. Containing details; containing subordinate parts as well as more general discussion; -- of a discourse; as, a specific and detailed account of the accident. Opposite of sketchy, general, vague.
Syn. -- circumstantial, particularized, particularised.
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3. having fine or intricate added decoration.
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Detailer (d�tālẽr), n. One who details.
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detailing n. 1. description of something in detail.
Syn. -- particularization.
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2. Thorough cleaning, esp. of the interior of automobiles.
Syn. -- detailed cleaning.
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details n. confidential information.
Syn. -- dope, low-down, poop, inside information.
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Detain (d�tān), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detained (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Detaining.] [F. détenir, L. detinere, detentum; de + tenere to hold. See .] 1. To keep back or from; to withhold.
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Detain not the wages of the hireling. Jer. Taylor.
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2. To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident.
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Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. Judges xiii. 15.
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3. To hold or keep in custody.

Syn. -- To withhold; retain; stop; stay; arrest; check; retard; delay; hinder.
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Detain, n. Detention. [Obs.] Spenser.
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Detainder (-dẽr), n. (Law) A writ. See .
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Detainer (-ẽr), n. 1. One who detains.
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2. (Law) (a) The keeping possession of what belongs to another; detention of what is another's, even though the original taking may have been lawful. Forcible detainer is indictable at common law. (b) A writ authorizing the keeper of a prison to continue to keep a person in custody.
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Detainment (?), n. [Cf. OF. detenement.] Detention. [R.] Blackstone.
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Detect (d�tĕkt), a. [L. detectus, p. p. of detegere to uncover, detect; de + tegere to cover. See .] Detected. [Obs.] Fabyan.
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Detect (d�tĕkt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detected; p. pr. & vb. n. Detecting.] 1. To uncover; to discover; to find out; to bring to light; as, to detect a crime or a criminal; to detect a mistake in an account.
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Plain good intention . . . is as easily discovered at the first view, as fraud is surely detected at last. Burke.
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Like following life through creatures you dissect,
You lose it in the moment you detect. Pope.
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2. To inform against; to accuse. [Obs.]
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He was untruly judged to have preached such articles as he was detected of. Sir T. More.

Syn. -- To discover; find out; lay bare; expose.

{ Detectable (-ȧb'l), Detectible (?), } a. Capable of being detected or found out; as, parties not detectable. “Errors detectible at a glance.” Latham.
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Detecter (?), n. One who, or that which, detects or brings to light; one who finds out what another attempts to conceal; a detector.
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Detection (?), n. [L. detectio an uncovering, revealing.] The act of detecting; the laying open what was concealed or hidden; discovery; as, the detection of a thief; the detection of fraud, forgery, or a plot.
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Such secrets of guilt are never from detection. D. Webster.
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Detective (?), a. Fitted for, or skilled in, detecting; employed in detecting crime or criminals; as, a detective officer.
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Detective, n. One who business it is so detect criminals or discover matters of secrecy.
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Detector (?), n. [L., a revealer.] One who, or that which, detects; a detecter. Shak.
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A deathbed's detector of the heart. Young.
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2. Specifically: (a) An indicator showing the depth of the water in a boiler. (b) (Elec.) A galvanometer, usually portable, for indicating the direction of a current. (c) (Elec.) Any of various devices for detecting the presence of electric waves.
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Coloq. Bank-note detector , a publication containing a description of genuine and counterfeit bank notes, designed to enable persons to discriminate between them. -- Coloq. Detector lock . See under .
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Detector bar. (Railroads) A bar, connected with a switch, longer than the distance between any two consecutive wheels of a train (45 to 50 feet), laid inside a rail and operated by the wheels so that the switch cannot be thrown until all the train is past the switch.
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Detenebrate (?), v. t. [L. de + tenebrare to make dark, fr. tenebrae darkness.] To remove darkness from. [Obs.] Ash.
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Detent (?), n. [F. détente, fr. détendre to unbend, relax; pref. dé- (L. dis- or de) + tendre to stretch. See .] (Mech.) That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch, pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
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detente (d�tänt), n. the easing of tensions or strained relations (especially between nations), as by agreement, negotiation, or tacit understandings.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

Detention (?), n. [L. detentio: cf. F. détention. See .] 1. The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding.
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2. The state of being detained (stopped or hindered); delay from necessity.
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3. Confinement; restraint; custody.
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The archduke Philip . . . found himself in a sort of honorable detention at Henry's court. Hallam.
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Deter (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deterred (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Deterring.] [L. deterrere; de + terrere to frighten, terrify. See .] To prevent by fear; hence, to hinder or prevent from action by fear of consequences, or difficulty, risk, etc. Addison.
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Potent enemies tempt and deter us from our duty. Tillotson.
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My own face deters me from my glass. Prior.
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Deterge (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deterged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Deterging.] [L. detergere, detersum; de + tergere to rub or wipe off: cf. F. déterger.] To cleanse; to purge away, as foul or offending matter from the body, or from an ulcer.
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Detergency (?), n. A cleansing quality or power. De Foe.
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Detergent (?), a. [L. detergens, -entis, p. pr. of detergere: cf. F. détergent.] Cleansing; purging. -- n. A substance which cleanses the skin, as water or soap; a medicine to cleanse wounds, ulcers, etc.
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Deteriorate (d�tērĭ�rāt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deteriorated (d�tērĭ�rātĕd); p. pr. & vb. n. Deteriorating (d�tērĭ�rātĭng).] [L. deterioratus, p. p. of deteriorare to deteriorate, fr. deterior worse, prob. a comparative fr. de down, away.] To make worse; to make inferior in quality or value; to impair; as, to deteriorate the mind. Whately.
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The art of war . . . was greatly deteriorated. Southey.
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