defrication 
I .-07 
priv. 
degenerate 
1/llllllHllH + -till-.] 
To deprive 
defrutK 
ii, perhaps 
must), neut. of -ilifi-rritiix. \<\ 
boil down, < dr, down, + firnn. boil: see/er- 
rrnt.] Must or now wine boiled down, making 
a sweetmeat. 
Defntt, carene, A sai in oon nianere 
of must is made. 
rallniliiiit. Husliondric(E. E. T. S.), p. 204. 
deft (deft) 
[< de- 
of L 
The ile.janr/lionated tissue under the, influence of mini- 
mal faradaic stimulation manifrKtcd a perfectly regular 
A ,l,f.n;r<; defunctivet (.Wvfuimk'tiv), a. [<l.. defunct^, *^'^' H gtf&SStfS^ tt ^ f . m 
pp.fs,, ,l,f H ,,,-n, + K. ..>r.] Of or pertaining degarnish (d e-gar'nish), ,-. <. [<QV.des { ,<,r,nr, 
to the dead; funereal. V,l,,,,,rmr (= Pr. dixgarnir, dcsguarnir = Sp. 
I., t the priest iii surplice white, p ^ t g uttrll t ccr - It. sgui-ruin ), unfurnish, un- 
^,e'S!,mS ,";.., garrison. < des- priv. + aarnir, furnish:, see^r- 
Lest the requiem lack his right i.s/i.] 1. To unfunnsh ; stnp of furniture, or- 
1 ':., Phwnlx and Turtle. namen t g) O r apparatus : as,torf<#nii*/iahouse. 
with dafeiilic, gc-flfifenlic, also simply ge-dafen 
becoming; gi'-defe (= Goth. fO-djM), becoming, 
Ki'rmlv, meek, etc.; < 'ge-dafau (in once-occur- 
ring pp. ge-tliifen before mentioned) = Goth. 
ga-dtmm, beflt, behoove. See daft, a var. of 
deft, in deflected sense.] If. Simple; meek; 
modest. 
That dtfte melden, Marie l>y name. 
Bestiary (Old Eng. Misc., eil. Morris), 1. 36. 
2. Apt or dexterous; neat in action or per- 
formance ; subtly clever or skilful. 
He was met of a deft yoimi! mini. 
Rubin Hood aiul the Stranger (Chilli's Ballads, V. 405). 
The limping god, so deft at his new ministry. Dryden. 
With so sure a hand and so deft a touch. 
D. G. Mitchell, Bound Together, i. 
Scattered through the two plays are some of the curious 
Latin, old French, and old English lyrics which the au- 
thor was so deft at turning. Stedman, Viet. Poets, p. 386. 
3f. Neat; spruce; trim. Bailey. 4t. Foolish; 
daft. See daft. 
deft. An abbreviation of defendant. 
defterdar (def 't6r-dar), n. [Pers., keeper of the 
register.] The chief treasurer of a Turkish 
province, sometimes acting as lieutenant of the 
governor-general ; also, anciently, the Turkish 
minister of finance, 
deftly (deft' 
ueously dejlt 
< AS. ge-dteftlice, fitly, 
daf tig-like ('= D. deftiglijk), extended from dafte- 
like; as deft + -ly*.] 1. Aptly; fitly; neatly; 
dexterously; in a skilful manner. 
The harp full deftly can he strike. 
Scull, Marmion, ill. 8. 
And all the rustic train are gathered round, 
Each deftly dlzen'd in his Sunday's best, 
Anil pleased to hail the day of piety and rest. 
Southey. 
Listen for a moment to the barbarous jangle which Lyd- 
gate and Occleve contrive to draw from the instrument 
their master had tuned so deftly. 
Lotaell, Study Windows, p. 258. 
2. Softly ; leisurely. Grose. [Prov. Eng.] 
deftness (deft'ues), n. 1. The quality of be- 
ing deft ; neat or subtle dexterity ; aptness. 
There conies by division of labor a concentration of all 
the powers of the Individual upon his vocation, and hence 
the development of deftness or skill. 
S. A. Rev, CXXVII. 283. 
2t. Elegance; beauty. 
deftster (deft'ster), n. One who is deft ; a pro- 
ficient in his art or craft; a dabster. [Prov.] 
defunct (de-fungkf), a. and n. [= F. defunt = 
Pr. defunct, drffu>it = Sp.defunto,difunto=Pg. 
defunto, defuncto = It. ttefunto, < L. defunctus (as 
adj. equiv. to mortnus, dead), pp. of defungi, 
discharge, perform, finish (an affair or an ob- 
ligation, esp. an unpleasant one ; definigi vita, 
or simply defungi, finish life, die), < de, off, + 
renounce faith, withdraw confidence, repudi- 
ate, defy, L. diffidere, distrust, < dis-, away, + 
fides, faith : see faith, fidelity. Cf. affy, and 
dijfide, diffident.] I. trans. If. To renounce; 
reject ; refuse ; repudiate ; cast off. 
The foweler we de/ye 
Anil al his crafte. Chaucer, Good Women, L 138. 
There was none of them that ever railed on him, and 
came so far forth to say, "He was a deceiver: . . . we 
iief a him and all his works, false wretch that he was. 
Ans.toSi,-T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., i860), p. 88. 
uiture, apparatus, or equipment. [Rare.] 
degendert (de-jen'der), p. [< OF. degenerer, F. 
dfijfucrer, degenerate (cf. engender, < OF. eti- 
i/i'nilrer): see degenerate, p.] I. intrant. To de- 
generate. 
And if then those may any worse lie red, 
They into that ere long will be degendered. 
Spcntcr, V. Q., V., Pro]. 
II. trans. To make degenerate ; cause to de- 
All studies here I solemnly defy 
Save how to gall and pinch this 
this Boliugbroke. 
Shalt., 1 Hen. IV., I. 3. 
(de-jen'e-ra-si), n. [< degenerate: 
see -cy.] "1. The tendency to degenerate or 
deteriorate ; decrease of excellence in essential 
._., . _ , .. _ 
2t To revolt at; reject from dislike; disap- qualities; a downward course, as from better 
ceased; extinct. 
The anatomy is of a defunct patient. 
/.'./... Advancement of Learning, 11. 196. 
No effort to raisead/iif( iwst has ever led to anything 
but just enough galvanic twitching of the limbs to remind 
us unpleasantly of life. Lomll, Study Windows, p. 226. 
prove. 
I would kiss as many of you as had . . . breath* that I 
defied not Shat., As you Like it, Epil. 
3. To challenge to contest or trial with arms; 
dare to meet in combat. 
Edmunde bi messengers the erle lie difflei. 
Rob. of Brunne, tr. of Langtof t'l Chron. (ed. Heanie), p. 46. 
I once again 
Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight 
Hilton, S. A., 1. 1174. 
4. To challenge to an action or procedure of 
any kind ; dare to do something (generally with 
an implication of belief that it cannot be done, 
or that the action will fail of its purpose). 
I defy the enemies of our constitution to show the con- 
trary. Burke. 
Since he has defied us to the proof, we will go fully into 
5. To dare; bravo; manifest a contempt of or 
indifference to (opposition, attack, or hostile 
force); set at naught; resist successfully: as, 
to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy 
the power of a magistrate. 
The soul, secured In her existence, smiles 
At the drawn dagger and defies its point 
Addison, Cato. 
The riches of scholarship, the benignities of literature, 
defy fortune and outlive calamity. 
Lowell, Books and Libraries. 
Under pressures great enough to reduce them almost to 
the density of liquids these elements have still defied all 
efforts to liquefy them. //. Sjienecr, Prin. of Biol., { 1. 
6f. To reject; eject; void: with OK f. 
The defied out [things defied out (Purv.), tr. L. egefta] 
thou shall cover with erthe. Wyclif, Deut xxiii. 13. 
7f. To digest. 
And more mete etc and dronke then kcnde [nature] mljt 
defie. 1'iert florrmait (B), xiii. 404. 
Wyne of Oreke, and muscadell, . . . 
The reed [red] your stomake to defye, 
Squyr of Lime, Deyre (Ritson's Met. Rom., IIL 176). 
II. t intrans. To digest ; be digested. 
Shal neuere fysshe on the Fryday dejfen in my wombe 
[stomach]. 
There had been In the morning a just and tournament 
of several! young gentlemen on a formal defy, to which 
we had been invited. Evelyn, Diary, April 11, 1645. 
At this the challenger, with fierce defy, 
His trumpet sounds. Dryden. 
7\\ defyert, . An obsolete form of defier. 
The nameless contributors to defunct periodicals have jT** Jj ' \ ., . __.,.. nn j ., arnneil nnr den 
eparted, body and soul, awl left not a wreck behind. deg ((leg), r. , pret. and pp. rtcggeri, ppr. aea- 
K. l\ Whipple, Ess. and Rev., I. 9. ginff. [K. dial. (North.), = dag 1 , bedew.J I. 
H. n. A dead person, or dead persons col- 
lectively; the dead: most commonly used of a 
recently deceased person. 
Nature doth abhor to make his bed 
With the di-fuaet, or sleep upon the dead. 
Shak., Cynibellne, Iv. 2. 
defunctiont (de-fungk'shpn), n. [< 
fitnctio(n-), performance, death, < dcfunctiis, pp. 
of defungi, perform, die: see defunct.'] Death; 
decease. 
Nor ilM the French possess the Salii|ile land 
I'ntil four hiiwlird mie-and-twenty \eai-x 
After ttfunatimt of King Phtrmmond. 
Shak., Hen. V 
g. [E 
tra'ns. To sprinkle; moisten. 
A dozen pounds of brown vitriol to the hundredweight 
is a good proj>ortion, mixed with about three gallons of 
water previously to dfi'iiii't tin- spvnt ni:ulder with it 
O'Xeill, 'Dyeing and Calico Printing, p. 237. 
II. intrans. To ooze out. [Prov. Eng.] 
d6gage (da-ga-zha' ), a. [F.. pp. of degager, dis- 
L.L. dc- en g a g 6j take out of pawn, release : see disgage."] 
Easy; unconstrtiini'd; indifferent to conven- 
tional rules. 
No dancing liear was so genteel, 
<lr half so.' (.-;./"' (lf Himself. 
deganglionate (de-gang'gli-on-at), *. t. ; pret 
i. >. and pp. deijanylioHttted, ppr. 
to worse, or from good to bad. 
The ruin of a state is generally preceded by a universal 
degeneracy of manners and contempt of religion. 
Stvift, Against Abolishing Christianity. 
2. The state of being or of haying become de- 
generate ; a deteriorated condition : as, the de- 
generacy of the age. 
There was plainly wanting a Divine Revelation to recover 
mankind out of their universal corruption awl degeneracy. 
Clarke, Nat and Rev. Religion, vll. 
There is a kind of sluggish resignation as well as poor- 
ness and degeneracy of spirit in a state of slavery. 
Addvfon. 
= Syn. Debasement, degenerateness. 
degenerant (de-jen'e-raut), a. [< L. degene- 
ran(t-)s, ppr. of degenerare: see degenerate, p.] 
Becoming reduced^ or degraded in type ; de- 
generating. [Rare.] 
degenerate (de-jen'e-rat), p. .; pret. and pp. 
degenerated, ppr. degenerating. [< L. degenera- 
tns, pp. of degenerare (> F. Aegenerer = 8p. Pg. 
degenerar = It. degenerare), degenerate, < degc- 
ner, ignoble, < de, from, down, + genus (gener-), 
race, Kind: see genus, general.'] 1. To lose, or 
become impaired with respect to, the qualities 
proper to the race or kind, or to a prototype; 
become of a lower type. 
You degenerate from your father, if you find not your- 
self most able in wit and body to do anything when you 
be most merry. Sir 11. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, 1. 42). 
Without art, the noblest seeds 
Of flowers degenerate into weeds. 
S. Butler, The Lady's Answer to the Knight. 
Specifically 2. To decay in quality; pass to 
an inferior or a worse state; suffer a decline 
in character or constitution ; deteriorate. 
When wit transgresseth decency, it deyrneratet Into In- 
solence and impiety. Tittottan. 
Without that activity which Its greater perfection im- 
plies and requires, the brain of the civilized man degener- 
ttten. Huxley and Youmatu, Physlol., i 508. 
= 8yn. To deteriorate, decline. 
degenerate (de-jen'e-rat), a. [< L. degeneratus, 
pp.: see the verb.] " l! Having lost, or become 
impaired with respect to, the qualities proper 
to the race or kind ; having been reduced to a 
lower type. 
The degenerate plant of a strange vine. Jer. 11. 21. 
Specifically 2. Having fallen into a less ex- 
cellent or a worse state ; havingdeclined in phys- 
ical or moral qualities; deteriorated; degraded. 
Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king, 
In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., I. 1. 
The Ottoman race has become too degenerate through in- 
dulgence to exhibit many striking specimens of physical 
U-auty. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 155. 
There is no doubt that many savage races as we at pres- 
ent see them are actually degenerate, and are descended 
from ancestors possessed of a relatively elaborate civilisa- 
tion. K. R. Lanketter, Degeneration, p. 59. 
3. Characterized by or associated with degen- 
eracy; unworthy; debased: applied to inani- 
mate objects. 
such men as live In these degenerate days. Pope. 
In comparison with the great orators and authors of 
the past, we have fallen on degenerate times. J. Caird. 
Degenerate form of an algebraic locus, a locus of any 
order ur class i on-,i>liu^ of an agKregstion of lower form*. 
Thus, two straight lines fonn a degenerate conic. 
