Desert
['dezət;dɪ'zɜːt] or ['dɛzɚt]
Definition
(noun.) arid land with little or no vegetation.
(verb.) leave behind; 'the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period'.
Typed by Carolyn--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.
(n.) A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation.
(n.) A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place.
(a.) Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.
(v. t.) To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country.
(v. t.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors.
(v. i.) To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond.
Inputed by Erma
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Uninhabited, desolate, forsaken, wild, waste, barren, untilled.
n. Wilderness, waste, solitude, deserted region.
v. a. Forsake, leave, quit, abandon, renounce, leave in the lurch, turn one's back upon.
n. Deserving, due, merit or demerit.
Edited by Denny
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See ABANDON]
SYN:Wild, waste, wilderness, solitude, void
ANT:Inclosure, field, pasture, garden, oasis
Inputed by Carlo
Definition
adj. deserted: desolate: uninhabited: uncultivated: a desolate or barren place: a wilderness: a solitude.
n. the reward or punishment deserved: claim to reward: merit—adj. Desert′less without merit.
v.t. to leave: to forsake.—v.i. to run away: to quit a service as the army without permission.—ns. Desert′er one who deserts or quits a service without permission; Deser′tion act of deserting: state of being deserted: wilful abandonment of a legal or moral duty or obligation.
Checked by Carlton
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of wandering through a gloomy and barren desert, denotes famine and uprisal of races and great loss of life and property. For a young woman to find herself alone in a desert, her health and reputation is being jeopardized by her indiscretion. She should be more cautious.
Checker: Sigmund
Examples
- There is something terribly appalling in our situation, yet my courage and hopes do not desert me. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Why were we ever told to bring navy revolvers with us if we had to be protected at last by this infamous star-spangled scum of the desert? Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- After the destruction of Palmyra, the desert Arabs began to be spoken of in the Roman and Persian records as Saracens. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The centre of gravity of Islam shifted across the desert from Damascus to Mesopotamia. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Or perhaps this IS the Desert of Sahara! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- In my youth young men didn't desert pretty women unless they were made to! Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- I suppose the Academy was bacon and beans in the Forty-Mile Desert, and a European gallery is a state dinner of thirteen courses. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The wanderings led to the old ore-milling plant at Edison, now practically a mass of deserted buildings all going to decay. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The only person I know who exactly answers your description, and for whom as a poor deserted orphan it would be a charity to provide, is in Paris. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- A wild, long laugh rang through the deserted room, and ended in a hysteric sob; she threw herself on the floor, in convulsive sobbing and struggles. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- But no, sir, no; I doen't mean as it should be deserted. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I, who never have deserted you; who never WILL desert you, Micawber! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The house seems deserted. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- They went out by another staircase, avoiding the lodge; and coming into the front court-yard, now all quiet and deserted, gained the street. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Cakes of dates pounded and kneaded together are the food of the Arabs who traverse the deserts. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The higher his deserts, the more improper for me ever to have thought of him. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Thus vanquished and restricted, she pined, like any other chained denizen of deserts. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Many great cities and plains and deserts have been provided with these wells owing to the ease with which they can now be sunk. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The lawless Bedouins in the Valley of the Jordan and the deserts down by the Dead Sea were up in arms, and were going to destroy all comers. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- He only laughed, and told me the boy had got his deserts. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- You have only got your deserts. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- But he'll cry himself sick, pleaded Meg, reproaching herself for deserting her boy. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- At first, such a baby could do little more than sit with him, deserting her livelier place by the high fender, and quietly watching him. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He knows not how to answer them, although he is afraid of deserting justice in the hour of need. Plato. The Republic.
- Return to the drawing-room: you are deserting too early. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss Sutherland? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- It's not deserting from the army. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Or is it entire in any one part without deserting the rest? David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
Inputed by Henrietta