Result from Foreign Dictionaries (6 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Desert \De*sert"\ (d[-e]*z[~e]rt"), n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See {Deserve}.] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. [1913 Webster] According to their deserts will I judge them. --Ezek. vii. 27. [1913 Webster] Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. --Shak. [1913 Webster] His reputation falls far below his desert. --A. Hamilton. Syn: Merit; worth; excellence; due. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Desert \Des"ert\ (d[e^]z"[~e]rt), n. [F. d['e]sert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See {Series}.] 1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa which are destitute of moisture and vegetation. [1913 Webster] A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. --Pope. [1913 Webster] 2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place. [1913 Webster] He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. --Is. li. 3. [1913 Webster] Note: Also figuratively. [1913 Webster] Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Desert \De*sert"\ (d[-e]*z[~e]rt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deserted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Deserting}.] [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere to desert, F. d['e]serter. See 2d {Desert}.] 1. 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. "The deserted fortress." --Prescott. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mil.) 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. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Desert \Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. d['e]sert. See 2d {Desert}.] Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island. [1913 Webster] He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. --Luke ix. 10. [1913 Webster] Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. [1913 Webster] {Desert flora} (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. {Desert hare} (Zool.), a small hare ({Lepus sylvaticus}, var. Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. {Desert mouse} (Zool.), an American mouse ({Hesperomys eremicus}), living in the Western deserts. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Desert \De*sert"\, v. i. To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond. [1913 Webster] The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. --Bancroft. Syn: To abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit; depart from; abdicate. See {Abandon}. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: desert n 1: arid land with little or no vegetation v 1: leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: {abandon}, {forsake}, {desolate}, {desert}] 2: desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army; "If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot" [syn: {defect}, {desert}] 3: leave behind; "the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period"