dirt 
The common qualities [of copper) give off a great deal 
of foreign matter known us iliri. 
J. 1C. f.'n/uAnrt, Kh-ctrotyping, p. 130. 
Specifically 3. In phtccr-mining, the detrital 
material (usually sand and gravel) from which 
the gold is separated by washing. 
'Hi' iniiMTs tnlk f ilrli dirt and poor dirt, ami of strip- 
ping otf so many feet of topdiX brfun; n''ttinu t<> pay ''" '. 
tlir latter meaning <{/>' with <> much gold in it Unit it will 
pay to dig it uj) anil wash it. Hurtkwick, California, p. 120. 
4f. Meanness ; sordidness ; baseness. 
Honours which arc ... sometimes thrown away upon 
dirt ami infamy. If. Mtltnolh, ti . of Pliny, vil. a>. 
6. Abusive or scurrilous language Pay dirt, 
earth containing a remunerative quantity of p>l<l. See 
extract under ilef. 3. To eat dirt, to anbinit to some de- 
grading hnmillation : swallow one's own words. To fling 
dirt at, to attack with scurrilous utilise, as an opponent. 
II. a. Consisting or made of loose earth: as, 
a ilirt road (a road not paved or macadamized). 
[Colloq., U. 8.] 
We walked on dirt floors for carpets, sat on benches for 
1.:tn Peter Carturright, Autobiog., p. 486. 
dirt (dert), v. t. [< dirt, n, Cf. drit, drite, .] 
To make foul or filthy ; soil ; befoul ; dirty. 
[Rare, except in colloq. use.] 
Ill company Is like a dog, whodirt* most those whom he 
loves best. Sici/t. 
Mosques are also closed in rainy weather (excepting at 
the times of prayer), lest persons who have no shoes should 
enter and dirt the pavement and matting. 
K If'. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 96. 
dirt-bed (dert'bed), n. In f/eol., any stratum 
in which the remains of an ancient soil are con- 
spicuous. The most remarkable dirt-beds are In the Pur- 
beckian group, a fresh- and brackish-water formation at 
the summit of the Jurassic series. In this group, so named 
from the Isle of Purbeck in England, where the stratum is 
best developed, there are layers of ancient soil containing 
the stumps of trees which once grew In them. 
dirt-board (dert'bord), . In a vehicle, a board 
placed so as to keep the axle-arm free from dirt. 
dirt-cheap (dert'chep), a. As cheap as dirt; 
very cheap. [Colloq.] 
I weigh my words when I say that If the nation could 
purchase a potential Watt, or Davy, or Faraday, at the 
cost of a hundred thousand pounds down, he would be 
dirt-cheap at the money. Huxley, Tech. Education. 
dirt-eating (dert'e'ting), n. 1. The practice 
of some savage or barbarous tribes, as the Ot- 
tomacs of South America, of using certain kinds 
of clay for food: geophagism. 2. Cachexia 
Africana, a disorder of the nutritive functions 
among negroes, and in certain kinds of disturb- 
ances of health among women, in which there 
is a morbid craving to eat dirt. 
dirtily (der'ti-li), adv. [<-dirty, a.] 1. In a 
dirty manner; foully; nastily; filthily. 2. 
Meanly ; sordidly ; by low means. 
Dirtily and desperately gull'd. Donnr, Elegies, xil. 
dirtiness (der'ti-nes), n. 1. The state of being 
dirty; filthiuess; foulness; nastiness. 
Paris, which before that time was called Lutecla, because 
of the inudde and dirtiiume of the place wherein it stand- 
fth. Stow, The Romans, an. 386. 
If gentlemen would regard the virtues of their ances- 
tours, . . . this degenerate wantonness and dirtiness of 
speech would return to the dunghill. 
Barrow, Works, I. xlli. 
Bis [a collier's] high wages arise altogether from the 
hardship, disagreeableness, and dirtiness of his work. 
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, I. 10. 
2. Meanness; baseness; sordidness. 3. Slop- 
piuess; muddiness; uncomf ortableuess : as, 
the dirtiness of the weather. 
dirt-scraper (dert'skra'per), n. A road-scraper 
or a grading shovel, used in leveling or grading 
ground. 
dirty (di-r'ti), a. [Formerly also spelled durty, 
din-til-; < dirt + -y 1 .] 1. Consisting of or im- 
parting dirt or filth ; causing foulness ; soiling : 
as, a dirty mixture ; dirty work. 
And all his armour sprinckled was with blood, 
And soyld with ihirtte gore that no man can 
Discerne the hew thereof. Spenser, F. Q., II. rl. 41. 
And here the maiden, sleeping sound 
On the dank and dirty ground. 
N/infr., M. N. D.,11. 3. 
2. Characterized by dirt ; unclean ; not clean- 
ly; sullied: as, <lirty hands; dirty employment. 
In their dress, as well as in their persons, they are gen- 
erally slovenly and ilinn. 
K. 1C. Lane, Modern Egyptians, II. 343. 
3. Appearing as if soiled; dark-colored; im- 
pure ; dingy. 
Pound an almond, and the clew white colour will be al- 
tcrrd into a itirly one. Loekf. 
4. Morally unclean or impure; base; low; des- 
picable ; groveling : as, a dirty follow ; a dirty 
job or trick. 
1639 
Marriages would lie made up upon more natural motives 
than re dirty interests. >'>> 1C. Temple. 
5. Repulsive to sensitive feeling; disagree- 
able ; disgusting. 
I'd do the dirty work with pleasure, since dirty work hai 
to be done, provided that we believe in what we are work- 
ing for. New Princeton fiev., 11. 106. 
6. Foul; muddy; squally; rainy; sloppy; un- 
comfortable : said of the weather or or roads. 
=8yn. 1. filthy, Foul, etc. See natty. 2. Unclean, 
soiled, sullied, begrimed. 4 and 5. Vile, scurvy, shabby, 
sneaking, despicable, contemptible, gross, obscene. 
dirty (iliVti), v. t.; pret. and pp. dirtied, ppr. dir- 
tying. [< dirty, a.} 1. To defile; make filthy; 
soil ; befoul : as, to dirty the clothes or hands. 
For thine, my dear Dick, give me leave to speak plain, 
Like a very foul mop, dirty more than they clean. Swijt. 
2. To soil or tarnish morally ; sully. 
If our fortune ... be great, public experience hath made 
remonstrance, that it mingles with the world, and dirties 
those fingers which are instrumental in consecration. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835X I. 78. 
dirty-alien (der'ti-al'en), n. [E. dial., < dirty 
+ alien, var. of aulin. q. v.] A local English 
name of the dung-bird. 
diruptiont (di-rup'shon), n. [< L. diruptio(n-), 
< dirumpere or disrumpere, pp. diruptus, disrup- 
'".-. break apart : see disrupt.'] A bursting or 
rending asunder. See disruption. 
Dis (dis), n. [L., related, but prob. not directly, 
with dig (dit-), contr. of dives (divit-), rich (cf. 
I'luto, < Or. nAoivuv, as related to ir^oDrof, rich), 
both akin to <//-, ilti-ii*. divine, deus, a god: 
see deity.'} In Rom. myth., a name sometimes 
given to Pluto, and hence to the infernal 
world. 
Since they did plot 
The means that dusky Dis my daughter got, 
Her and her blind boy's scandal'd company 
I have forsworn. ShaJc., Tempest, iv. 1. 
dis-. [ME. dis-, des-, OF. des-, dis-, de-, F. des-, 
dis-, de- = Sp. Pg. des-, dis- = It. dis-, des-, s- 
(the Rom. forms varying according to position, 
age, or other circumstances, and often coexist- 
ing), < L. dis-, an inseparable prefix, remaining 
unchanged before c, p, q, s, and t (and some- 
times .'/, h, j, and r, and in ML. at will, and 
hence in Rom., etc., in all positions), and 
usually before a vowel, regularly changed to d i- 
bef ore 6, d, g, j, I, m, n, r, and v, to dif- before 
/, to dir- before a vowel (as in diribere and 
dirimere: see dirempt), orig. 'in two,' hence 
'apart,' 'asunder,' etc. (connected with bis, 
ong. *dvis = Or. off, twice), < duo = Gr. ii-o = 
E. two : see dt- 1 , rfi- 2 , di-&, and two. In ML. 
and Rom. the prefixes dis- (OF. dts-, dis-) and 
de- (OF. de-, often written des-, def-, etc.) in the 
separative and privative senses were often used 
interchangeably; hence many words having 
original L. de- may appear in the modern lan- 
guages with dis- (dif-, etc.), while others hav- 
ing original L. dis- (dif-, etc.) may appear with 
de-; cf. defer 1 * = differ, defame, deform, defy, 
etc., in which de- and dif- are involved. The 
prefix dis-, in ME. almost indifferently dis- or 
des-, becomes in mod. E. exclusively dis- (when 
not reduced to or merged with de-), except in a 
few words in which the force of the prefix is less 
obvious, and the archaic form des- accordingly 
remains in use along with the regular modern 
form dis-, as in discant, descant, dispatch, des- 
patch.} A prefix of Latin origin (in other forms 
di-, dif-), in force (1) separative or disjunc- 
tive, ' apart,' ' asunder,' ' in different direc- 
tions,' etc., as in distend, dispart, dissident, etc., 
this force being often only indistinctly felt in the 
English word, as in dispose, dissent, distract, etc., 
and passing even in Latin into a merely inten- 
sive use, not felt at all in English, as in dispute; 
(2) privative or negative, like the English UM-, 
reversing or negativing the primitive, as in dis- 
similar, etc., haying come, in this use, from its 
frequency in Middle Latin and Old French, to 
be recognized as a regular English prefix, and 
as such usable with almost any verb and adjec- 
tive, as in disable, disesteem, disfavor, disoblige, 
disfellowship, etc., and in colloquial or dialectal 
use in such forms as disrentember, disrecollect, 
etc. In some words the prefix dit- was early reduced by 
apheresis to -, a form common in Italian, and seen in Eng- 
lish in spend, splay, sport, etc., as compared with dispend, 
display, disport, etc. 
dis. An abbreviation of discount. 
disability (dis-a-bil'i-ti), n.; pi. disabilities 
(-ti/). [= It. disubilita ; as dis- priv. + ability.} 
1 . Want of competent power, strength, or phys- 
ical or mental ability ; weakness ; incapacity ; 
impotence: as, disability arising from infirm- 
ity; a blind person labors under great ilisn- 
bi'lity. 
disaccord 
The debate ... In the House of Commons began at 
nine o'clock in the morning, and continued till after mid- 
niulit, without interruption. . . . " Many, "says Clarendon, 
' withdrew from pure faintness, and disability to attend 
the conclusion." Everett, Orations, II. 121. 
Chatham refused to see him, pleading his dim/"' 
Bancroft. 
Specifically 2. Want of competent means or 
instruments. 3. Want of legal capacity or 
qualification ; legal incapacity ; incapacity to 
do an act with legal effect. 
This disadvantage which the Dissenters at present lie 
under, of a disability to receive Church preferments, will 
be easily remedied by the repeal of the test. - <" 
The pagan laws during the empire had been continually 
repealing the old disabilitifH of women, and the legisla- 
tive movement In their favour continued with unabated 
force from Constantino to Justinian, and appeared also 
In some of the early laws of the barbarians. 
Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 358. 
= Syn. IH'iibility, Inability, Incompetence, Incapacity, 
disqualification, unfltness. Disability implies depriva- 
tion or loss of power ; inability indicates rather inherent 
want of power. One declines an office from inability to dis- 
charge its duties, but is not elected to it because of some 
external disability disqualifying him for being chosen, 
disable (dis-a'bl), v. t. ; pret. and pp. disabled, 
ppr. disabling. [< dis- priv. -I- able*, .] 1. To 
render unable; deprive of ability, physical, 
mental, or legal ; weaken or destroy tne capa- 
bility of; cripple or incapacitate: as, a ship is 
disabled by a storm or a battle ; a race-horse is 
disabled by lameness ; loss of memory disables 
a teacher. 
A Christian's life Is a perpetual exercise, a wrestling 
and warfare, for which sensual pleasure disables him. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Living. 
An attainder of the ancestor corrupts the blood, and 
disables his children to Inherit. Blackstone. 
A single State or a minority of States ought to be ills- 
aUed to resist the will of the majority. 
A". Webflrr, In Scudder, p. 123. 
2. To impair ; diminish ; impoverish. 
I have disabled mine estate 
By something showing a more swelling port 
Than my faint means would grant continuance. 
Shalt., M. of V., I L 
3t. To pronounce incapable ; hence, to detract 
from; disparage; undervalue. 
He disabled my Judgment. Shot., As you Like It, T. 4. 
This Year the King being at his Manor of Oklng, Wol- 
sey, Archbishop of York, came and shewed him Letters 
that he was elected Cardinal ; for which Dignity he itit- 
abled himself, till the King willed him to take It upon 
him, and from thenceforth called him Lord Cardinal. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 263. 
=Syn. 1. To cripple, paralyze, enfeeble, unfit, disqualify, 
disable! (dis-a'bl), a. [< dis- priv. + able 1 , a.} 
Wanting ability ; incompetent. 
Our disable and unactive force. Daniel, M usophllns. 
disablement (dis-a'bl-ment), n. [< disable + 
-ment.} Deprivation or want of power; legal 
impediment ; disability. 
The penalty of the refusal thereof was turned Into a 
diitaMement to take any promotion, or to exercise any 
charge. Bacon, Obs. on a LibeL 
But still this Is only an interruption of the acts, rather 
than any disablement of the faculty. 
South, Sermons, V. IT. 
dis-abridget, ' ' [< tlis- priv. -I- abridge.] To 
extend; lengthen. 
And hce, whose life the Lord did dis-abbridge. 
Syltxiter, tr. of Du Bartas's Triumph of Faith, III. 11. 
disabuse (dis-a-buz'), r. t. ; pret. and pp. dis- 
abused, ppr. disabusing. [< dis- priv. + abuse, r.] 
To free from mistake ; undeceive ; relieve from 
fallacy or deception; set right: as, it is our 
duty to disabuse ourselves of false notions and 
prejudices. 
Everybody says I am to marry the most brutal of men. 
I would disabuxe them. Goldsmith, Grumbler. 
The first step of worthiness will be to disabuse us of 
our superstitious associations with places and times, with 
number and size. Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 234. 
disaccommodate (dis-a-kom'o-dat), r. t. ; pret. 
and pp. disaccommodated, ppr. disaccommodat- 
ing. [< dis- priv. + accommodate, v.} To put 
to inconvenience ; discommode. 
I hope this will not disactommodate you. 
Warburton, To Hunt, Letters, cxcil. 
disacconunodation (dis-a-kom-o-da'shon), . 
[< dis- priv. + accommodation.} The state of 
being unfit, unstated, or unprepared. 
They were such as were great and notable devastations, 
sometimes in one part of the earth, sometimes In another : 
... In some places more than in other, according to the 
accommodation or dixaccotnmodation of them to such ca- 
lamities. Sir 11. Hale, Orig. of Mankind, p. 217. 
disaccord (dis-a-k6rd' ), v. i. [< OF. desacorder, 
desaccorder, P. desaccorder, < des- priv. + 
acorder, agree : see dis- and accord, v.} To dis- 
agree ; refuse assent. 
