%dile%

n. The office of an ædile. T. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. audire to hear. ] (Psychol.) One whose thoughts take the form of mental sounds or of internal discourse rather than of visual or motor images. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Having no body. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Without material form; incorporeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Phantoms bodiless and vain. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ar. qā&dsdot_;ī judge + al'sker the army, Per. leshker. ] A chief judge in the Turkish empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who are now tried only by their own officers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. crocodilus, Gr. kroko`deilos: cf. F. crocodile. Cf. Cookatrice. ] 1. (Zool.) A large reptile of the genus Crocodilus, of several species. They grow to the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and inhabit the large rivers of Africa, Asia, and America. The eggs, laid in the sand, are hatched by the sun's heat. The best known species is that of the Nile (Crocodilus vulgaris, or Crocodilus Niloticus). The Florida crocodile (Crocodilus Americanus) is much less common than the alligator and has longer jaws. The name is also sometimes applied to the species of other related genera, as the gavial and the alligator. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crocodile bird (Zool.), an African plover (Pluvianus ægypticus) which alights upon the crocodile and devours its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth (according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.; -- called also Nile bird. It is the trochilos of ancient writers. --
Crocodile tears, false or affected tears; hypocritical sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that crocodiles shed tears over their prey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. dilectio: dilection. See Diligent. ] Love; choice. [ Obs. ] T. Martin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. dilemma, Gr. &unr_;; di- = di`s- twice + &unr_; to take. See Lemma. ] 1. (Logic) An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The following are instances of the dilemma. A young rhetorician applied to an old sophist to be taught the art of pleading, and bargained for a certain reward to be paid when he should gain a cause. The master sued for his reward, and the scholar endeavored to elude his claim by a dilemma. “If I gain my cause, I shall withhold your pay, because the judge's award will be against you; if I lose it, I may withhold it, because I shall not yet have gained a cause.” “On the contrary, ” says the master, “if you gain your cause, you must pay me, because you are to pay me when you gain a cause; if you lose it, you must pay me, because the judge will award it.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A state of things in which evils or obstacles present themselves on every side, and it is difficult to determine what course to pursue; a vexatious alternative or predicament; a difficult choice or position. [ 1913 Webster ]

A strong dilemma in a desperate case!
To act with infamy, or quit the place. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Horns of a dilemma, alternatives, each of which is equally difficult of encountering. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dilettante. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though few art lovers can be connoisseurs, many are dilettants. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to dilettanteism; amateur; as, dilettant speculation. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Dilettanti [ It., prop. p. pr. of dillettare to take delight in, fr. L. delectare to delight. See Delight, v. t. ] An admirer or lover of the fine arts; popularly, an amateur; especially, one who follows an art or a branch of knowledge, desultorily, or for amusement only. [ 1913 Webster ]

The true poet is not an eccentric creature, not a mere artist living only for art, not a dreamer or a dilettante, sipping the nectar of existence, while he keeps aloof from its deeper interests. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Somewhat like a dilettante. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being a dilettante; the desultory pursuit of art, science, or literature. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dilettanteish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Dilettanteism. F. Harrison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; ill smell, from &unr_; ill-smelling; dys- ill, bad + &unr_; to smell. ] (Min.) An impure earthy or coaly bitumen, which emits a highly fetid odor when burning.

n. [ L. aedilis: cf. F. édile. Cf. ædile. ] (Rom. Antiq.) See ædile. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of ædile. T. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To elect or choose beforehand. [ R. ] Walter Harte. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. pre- + L. dilectus, p. p. diligere to prefer: cf. F. prédilection. See Diligent. ] A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something; predisposition to choose or like; partiality. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]