die 
9. In theol., to be cut off from the presence or 
favor of God ; suffer eternal punishment in the 
world to come. 
So long as God shall live, so long shall the damned die. 
IlakewiU, Apology. 
To die away, (a) Sec def. 5. (d) To languish with plea- 
sure or tenderness. 
To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away, 
And melts in visions of eternal day. 
Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, I. 221. 
To die game, to maintain a bold, resolute, and defiant 
spirit to the last. 
Nor should we forget the game-cock, supplying as it 
does a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness 
the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his 
crime if he dies game. H. Spencer, Study of Sociol. , p. 186. 
Weeds have this virtue: they are not easily discou- 
raged ; they never lose heart entirely ; they die game. 
J. Burroughs, Notes of a Walker, iii. 
To die hard, (a) To suffer, struggle, or resist in dying ; 
be long in dying ; part reluctantly with life. (6t) To die 
in a hardened or impenitent state. 
That there are now and then instances of men who, 
. . . after leading very dissolute lives, have yet died hard, 
as the phrase is, without any seeming concern for what 
was past, or dread of what was to follow. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, II. xvi. 
To die In harness, to die while actively engaged in one's 
work. 
I recommend all in whom consumption is hereditary, 
whose occupation is in the open air, to take to heart the 
motto of this man, to make up their minds to die in har- 
ness. Dr. Richardson, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXX. 91. 
To die In the last ditch, to fight to the end, preferring 
death to defeat. 
"There is one certain means," replied the Prince [Wil- 
liam of Orange], " by which I can be sure never to see my 
country's ruin I will die in the last ditch." 
Hume, Hist. Eng., 1672. 
To die In the paint, to die in the attempt. 
Amongst whom were a v. M. women, wholy bent to re- 
venge the villanies done to theyr persons by the Remains, 
or to die in the peyne. Holinshed, Chron. (ed. 1577). 
To die Off, to die quickly, or in rapid succession or large 
numbers. 
It is usual with sick Men coming from the Sea, where 
they have nothing but the Sea-Air, to die of as soon as 
ever they come within the view of the Land. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 113. 
TO die Out. See def. 5. To die the death (an intensive 
form for die), to die without fail ; die in a predestined or 
threatened manner. 
Of ye tree of knowledge of good and bad se that thou eate 
not t for euen ye same day thou eatest of it thou shall dye 
ye deth. Gen. ii. 17 (1551). 
Either to die the death, or to abjure 
For ever the society of men. 
Shak., M. N. D., i. 1. 
=Syn. 1. Die, Expire, Decease, Perish. To die is to cease to 
live, part with life, or become dead from any cause, and un- 
der any circumstances ; it is the plainest and most direct of 
the words. Expire is often used as a softer word than die ; 
it means to breathe out the life or emit the last breath. 
Decease is a euphemism, like expire, but is often an affec- 
tation. Perish represents death as occurring under harsh 
circumstances of some sort, as violence or neglect ; it em- 
phasizes the idea of finality. 
There taught us how to live ; and (Oh ! too high 
The price for knowledge) taught us how to die. 
Tickell, Death of Addison, 1. 82. 
One kiss the maiden gives, one last, 
Long kiss, which she expires in giving. 
Moore, Paradise and the Peri. 
The thrice three Muses mourning for the death 
Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary. 
Shak., M. N. D., v. 1. 
Prostrate the beauteous ruin lies, and all 
That shared its shelter perish in its fall. 
W. Pitt, Poetry of Anti-Jacobin, No. 36. 
die 2 t, v. and n. An obsolete spelling of dyel. 
die 3 (di), n. ; pi., in the 1st sense, dice (dis) ; in 
the remaining senses, dies (diz). In def. 2 the 
word hardly admits of a plural. [The mod. 
sing, form die is due to the peculiar form of 
the pi., dice, ME. dys, etc. (see dice) ; the sing, 
would otherwise be "dee, < ME. dee, a die, < 
OF. de, earlier det, pi. dez, F. de = Pr. dat = 
Sp. Pg. It. dado, a die, cube, pedestal (whence 
E. dado, q. v.) (of. ML. dadiis, a die, after the 
Kom. forms), < L. datum, lit. what is given, 
but taken in the sense of 'what is cast or 
thrown,' neut. of datus, pp. of dare, give, in 
many phrases used as equiv. to 'cast 'or 'throw' 
(cf. G. wtirfel, a die, < werfen, throw). Thus 
die 3 is a doublet of date 1 , datum, and dado: see 
date 1 .] 1. A small cube marked 
on its faces with spots number- 
ing from one to six, used in gam- 
ing by being thrown from a box 
or the hand, the chance being de- 
cided by the highest number of 
spots turned up, and in several 
other ways. The numbers on opposite found in the 
faces of a die always add up to 7, but south of France, 
otherwise there is no uniformity in the 
arrangement of the numbers. The number of dice used 
is either one, two, three, or five, according to the game. 
Roman Die, 
1606 
I have set my life upon a cast, 
And I will stand the hazard of the die. 
SAot.,Rich. III., v. 4. 
'Tis a precious craft to play with a false die 
Before a cunning gamester. 
Middleton and Rowley, Changeling, iv. 1. 
Will ye gae to the cards or dice, 
Or to a tavern fine? 
Young Hunting (Child's Ballads, III. 296). 
Herodotus attributes both dice and chess to the Lydians, 
a people of Asia ; in which part of the world, it is most 
probable, they originated at some very remote but uncer- 
tain period. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 403. 
2f. Hazard; chance. 
Such is the die of war. Spenser, F. Q. 
3. Any small cube or square block. 
Young creatures have learned spelling of words by hav- 
ing them pasted upon little flat tablets or dies. Watts. 
4. In arch., the cubical part of a pedestal be- 
tween its base and cornice. See cut under 
dado. 
Thus Ranch's monument of Frederick the Great at Ber- 
lin is ... an equestrian colossus raised high upon two 
dies, of which, in each, the four faces are covered with 
paneled bas-reliefs ; and around the lower die, upon an 
elevated stylobate, are grouped four equestrian figures on 
the corners, and between them twenty figures on foot, all 
colossal. N. A. Rev., CXLI. 284. 
5. An engraved stamp used for stamping a de- 
sign, etc., in some softer material, as in coin- 
ing money. 
Such variety of dies, made use of by Wood in stamping 
his money, makes the discovery of counterfeits more dim- 
cult. Swift. 
Sighing that Nature formed but one such man, 
And broke the die in moulding Sheridan. 
Byron, Death of Sheridan, 1. 117. 
6. One of two or more pieces of hardened steel 
forming together a female screw for cutting the 
threads of screws. In use they are fitted into a 
groove in a contrivance called a die-stock, and are_ gener- 
ally adjustable, so that one die may cut screws of different 
diameters. 
7. In metal-working, a bed-plate or disk hav- 
ing an opening in the center, used in a punch- 
ing-machine to support the metal from which 
any piece is punched. 8. A knife by which 
blanks of any desired shape and size are cut 
put, as in the sole-shaped cutting-dies used 
in shoe-factories. Bit-brace die. See bit-brace. 
Counter die, an upper die or stamp. Loaded dice, dice 
made heavier on one side than the others by the fraudu- 
lent insertion of a bit of lead, so that the highest number 
of spots shall be turned up when the dice are thrown in 
playing. 
Professed gamblers . . . will not trust to the determi- 
nation of fortune, but have recourse to many nefarious 
arts to circumvent the unwary ; hence we hear of loaded 
dice, and dice of the high cut. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 404. 
Open-die machine, a screw-threading machine having 
movable cutting-dies fitting in blocks in the traveling 
die-head, thus saving time in fitting in different dies. An 
insertable steel block with a universal clinch to hold taps 
is provided for converting the machine quickly into a 
nut-tapper. The die Is cast, the affair is decided; the 
fate of the person or thing in question is settled ; there is 
no recalling the act. The whole box and dice, the 
whole number of persons or things. [Slang.] 
die 3 (di), v. t. ; pret. and pp. died, ppr. dying. 
[< die 9 , .] To mold or form with a die or with 
dies. 
Every machine-made shoe also has an " inner-sole " died 
out or moulded to correspond in shape with the "outer 
sole." Harper's Mag., LXX. 282. 
die-away (di'a-wa*'), a. [Adj. use of phrase 
die away. See die 1 , 5.] Languid; languish- 
ing; expiring. 
As a girl she had been ... so romantic, with such a 
soft, sweet, die-away voice. Miss Edgeworth, Helen, xix. 
Pray do not give us any more of those die-away Italian 
airs. Kingsley, Alton Locke, xiv. 
dieb (deb), M. A species of wild dog, Canis an- 
thus, found in northern Africa. 
die-back (di'bak), n. A disease affecting trees, 
particularly prevalent in the orange-plantations 
of Florida, causing the trees to die at the top. 
Fallows. 
diecian (di-e'shan), a. Same as dio3cious. 
diecious, dieciously, etc. See dioecious, etc. 
diedo (de-a'do), n. A Spanish long measure, 
the 16th part of the foot of Burgos, equal to 0.7 
of an English inch. 
diedral (di-e'dral), a. Same as dihedral. 
Dieffenbachia (de-fen-bak'i-a), n. [NL., from 
the proper name Dieffenbaeh."] A genus of 
plants, of the natural order Aracece, natives of 
tropical America. There are half a dozen species, of 
which two, D. Seguine and D. picta, are well-known dec- 
orative plants in greenhouses, varying exceedingly in the 
color and form of the foliage. The roots, as in many other 
plants of the order, are very acrid and caustic, and the 
name dumb-cane has been given to D. Seguine. in the West 
Indies, from its effect upon the speech when its root is 
bitten. 
dieresis 
diegesis (di-e-je'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. Stf,_ 
narration, < iafyeuOai, set forth in detail, nar- 
rate, < Sid, through, + r/yeia6ai, lead.] In rliet., 
that part of an oration in which the speaker 
makes his statement of facts ; the narration 
(which see). 
die-holder (dl'hoFder), . A form of chuck, 
consisting of a head-clutch or clamp, for dies 
in a stock, brace, or machine. E. H. Knight. 
dielectric (dl-e-lek'trik), a. and . [< di- for 
Gr. did, through, + electric.'] I. a. Transmit- 
ting electric effects without conduction; non- 
conducting Dielectric after- working, a term used 
by Boltzmann for the phenomenon called by Faraday re- 
sidual charge or electric absorption. See residual. Di- 
electric capacity. Same as specific inductive capacity 
(which see, under capacity). 
II. n. A substance through or across which 
electric force is acting. The walls of a Leyden jar; 
the intervening medium, solid, liquid, or gaseous between 
the plates of a condenser ; and the insulating sheath around 
the conductor of a telegraph-cable, are examples of dielec- 
trics. Electric induction across a dielectric causes a stress 
in it which, if great enough, will produce rupture. The 
maximum intensity of this stress which the material can . 
bear is called its dielectric strength. When the dielectric 
strength of the air between two clouds, or between a cloud 
and the earth, is unable to withstand the electric forces, a 
flash of lightning takes place. The fracture of stones in 
buildings, of trees, etc., in a thunderstorm are illustrations 
of the effect of excessive dielectric stress. 
Until this subject [induction] was investigated by Fara- 
day, the intervening non-conducting body or dielectric 
was supposed to be purely negative, and the effect was 
attributed to the repulsion at a distance of the electrical 
fluid. Faraday showed that these effects differed greatly 
according to the dielectric that was interposed. 
W . R. drove, Corr. of Forces, p. 86. 
Dielytra (dl-el'i-tra), n. [NL., < Gr. St., two-, 
+ i/.vrpov, sheath, shard: see clytrum.~\ Same 
as Dicentra. 
Diemenia (de-me'ni-a), n. [NL., named from 
Van Diemen's Land.] A genus of venomous ser- 
pents, of the 
family Elapi- 
dce. D.reticu- 
laria is an ex- 
ample .mSBJSSSBS,. 
dien (di'en), 
n. An ab- 
breviation of 
diencephalon. 
diencephal 
(di - en - sef '- 
al), n. Same 
as diencepha- 
lon. See ex- 
tract under 
encephal. 
diencephala, 
n. Plural of 
diencephalon. 
diencephalic (di^en-se-fal'ik ordi-en-sef'a-lik), 
a. [< diencephalon + -ic.~\ Pertaining to the 
diencephalon. Also deutencephalic. 
diencephalon (di- en -sef 'a -Ion), . ; pi. dien- 
cephala (-la). [NL., < Gr. did, through, + iynfijta- 
/(oc, brain : see encephalon. ] In anat., the inter- 
brain or middle brain, otherwise known as the 
deutencephalon and thalamencephalon. it is that 
encephalic segment or division of the brain which lies be- 
tween the mesencephalon and the prosencephalon, and 
consists chiefly of the optic thalami ; its cavity is the third 
ventricle, or diaccelia. Also diencephal. 
dier 1 (di'er), n. One who dies, or is about to 
die. [Bare.] 
Aur. I should be dead 
Before you were laid out ! 
Lac. Now fle upon thee for a hasty dier! 
Middleton, More Dissemblers Besides Women, i. 1. 
"I suppose I'm a dier," she said to me ; " I used to think 
I never should die." nineteenth Century, XXII. 839. 
dier 2 , . See dyer. 
dieresis, diaeresis (di-er'e-sis), n. [= F. die- 
rese = Sp. dieresis = Pg. dieresis = It. dieresi, 
< LL. diairesis, < Gr. tiiaipeaif, a division, dis- 
tinction, separation, < duupeiv, divide, distin- 
guish, separate, < aid, apart, + alpeiv, take.] 
1 . The separate pronunciation of two vowels 
usually united as a diphthong; by extension of 
meaning, separate pronunciation of any two 
adjacent vowels, or the consequent division of 
one syllable into two. See dialysis and distrac- 
tion, 8. 2. The sign ( " ) regularly placed over 
the second of two contiguous vowels to indi- 
cate that they are pronounced separately ; the 
same sign used for other purposes. The dieresis 
is used most frequently over e preceded by a or o, in dis- 
tinction from the diphthongs or digraphs re and at. In 
Greek manuscripts these dots were frequently written 
over i and u beginning a word or a syllable, thus serving 
also to show that they did not form the close of a dip))- 
Diemtnia rtticularia. 
