dree 
Il.t i" trans- To endure; be able to do or 
continue. 
Neis wod of Ills wltt ho wax neijj, for dredo, 
& lied as fast homward us fet niljt JnV. 
\filliitiii wl ralrrne (K. E. T. S.), 1. 1772. 
Ride on, ride on, Lord William now, 
As fast as ye can <//>- .' 
Lord William (Child's Ballads, III. 19). 
dregginess (dreg'i-nes), . [< dreggy + -ness.] 
The state of being dreggy ; fullness of d 
dree 2 (dre), a. [E. dial., = Sc. dreigh, 
dreegh, < ME. dreg, dregli, drig, dr//j, long, ex- 
tended, great, < Icel. drjugr = Sw. dryg = Dan. 
droi, long, ample, substantial, solid, heavy; cf. 
Icel. draugr, a sluggard; dryyja, commit, also 
keep longer, lengthen ; Sw. tlrilja, stay, delay, 
= Dan. aroie, make a thing go far, go a long 
way; ult. connected with AS. dreogan, bear, 
suffer, endure, do, perform, E. dree: see dree 1 .] 
If. Long; large; ample; great. 
The kynge was lokyd in a felde 
By a ryver brede and dreiihe. 
MS. Marl, 2252. (tlaUiutU.) 
The durres to vndo of the dreah horse. 
Deitntction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 11890. 
2f. Great; of serious moment. 3. Tedious; 
wearisome; tiresome. [Prov. Eng.] 
"Thou'rt In great pain, my own dear Stephen?" "I 
ha' been dreadful, and dree, and long." 
Dickens, Hard Times, Hi. 6. 
dree 2 (dre), n. [E. dial., = Sc. dreigh, < ME. 
dreghc, dregh, < dregh, dreg, etc., dree: see 
dree 2 , a.] Length ; extension ; the longest part. 
Thus they drevene to the dede dukes and erleSj 
Alle the dreahe of the daye, with dredfulle werkes! 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2916. 
dreely (dre'li), adv. [E. dial., = Sc. dreighly, 
< ME. drely, dregly, dreghly, drygly, etc.; < dree 2 
+ -fy 2 .] If. Highly; largely; nobly; earnestly. 
I drow into a dreme, & dreghly me thought 
That Mercury the mykill God, in the mene tyme, 
Thre goddes hade gotten goyug hym bye, 
That come in his company clere to beholde. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2379. 
Drawene dreyhely the wyne, and drynkne thereaftyre. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2028. 
2. Slowly; tediously. [Prov. Eng.] 
dreen, <". and n. A dialectal form of drain. 
dreg 1 , n. An obsolete or colloquial singular of 
dregs. 
dreg-t, . An obsolete form of dredge^. 
dreg 3 t, r. t. An obsolete form of dredge 3 . 
[< dreggy + 
fullness of dregs or 
lees; foulness: feculence, 
dreggish (dreg'ish), a. [< dreg 1 (dregs) + -is* 1 .] 
Full of dregs ; foul with lees ; feculent. 
To give a strong taste to this dregyish liquor, they fling 
in an incredible deal of broom or hops. 
Harvey, Consumptions. 
dreggy (dreg'i), a. [< ME. dreggy (= Sw. drag- 
gig), < dreg>- (dregs) + -.i/ 1 .] Containing dregs 
or lees ; consisting of dregs ; foul ; muddy ; fec- 
ulent. 
No relations of theirs, after all, but a dreggy hybrid of 
the basest bloods of Europe. 
Lowell, Biglow Papers, 2d ser., p. 46. 
dregs (dregz), n.pl. [< ME. dregges, also dra<7- 
ges, rarely in sing, dreg, < Icel. dregg, pi. dreg- 
gjar = Svf.dragg, dregs, lees; prpb. < Icel. and 
Sw. draga = E. draw, the connection of thought 
being like that in drain as related to draw: 
see drain, draic.] 1. The sediment of liquors; 
lees ; grounds ; feculence ; any foreign matter of 
liquors that subsides to the bottom of a vessel 
containing them. [Formerly, and still some- 
times colloquially, used in the singular.] 
The dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring 
them out, and drink them. Ps. Ixxv. 8. 
What too curious dreg espies my sweet lady in the foun- 
tain of our love? Shalt., T. and C., iii. 2. 
KinK John, in the meanwhile, was draining the cup of 
bitterness to the dreys. Pregcott, Ferd. and Isa., 1. 2. 
You have stretched oat your hands to save the dregs of 
the sifted sediment of a residuum. 
W. K. Cli/ord, Lectures, I. 253. 
2. Waste or worthless matter; dross; sweep^ 
ings; refuse; hence, what is most vile and 
worthless : as, the dregs of society. 
From the dreg* of life think to receive 
What the first sprightly running could not give. 
Dryden, Aurengzebe, iv, 1. 
What wonder is it, if ever since, and especially now, in 
these -/re/;-.- of time, there be wilful men found, who will 
oppose their own vain fancies and novelties to the general 
sense of the whole body of Christians ? 
Up. Atterbtiry, Sermons, II. xi. 
They increased, by their numbers and their vices, the 
weight of that (/re;/ which, in great and prosperous cities, 
evei sinks . . . to the lowest condition. 
J. Adams, Works, IV. 538. 
1767 
3. Solid impurities found in raw fats. W. L. 
Carpenter, Soap and Candles, p. 83 TO drain 
the cup to the dregs, see nij,. 
dreher (dra't-r), . [G., a kind of dance, a 
turner, a winch, < drahi'ii, turn, = AS. tlirdwan, 
turn, throw, E. throic : HCO throw.'} 1. An Aus- 
trian dance similar to the landler. 2. Music 
written to accompany such a dance, 
dreier, dreyer (dri'er), H. [G. usually dreier, 
< (/;<; = E. three.] A Silesian money, 3 hellers, 
dreigh (drech), a. and n. A Scotch form of dree 2 . 
When thon an' I were young an' skeigh, 
An' stable mealK at fairs \v> iv </< ><:li. 
Burnt, The Auld Farmer's Salutation to his Auld Mare. 
dreintt. An obsolete preterit and past parti- 
ciple of drenc/i 1 . 
Dreissena (dri'se-na), n. [NL., after Dr. Dreys- 
sen of Belgium.] A genus of bivalve lamelli- 
branchs, of the family Mytilida; or mussels, or 
made type of the family Dreissenid<e. D. poly- 
morpha, originally an inhabitant of rivers and streams 
emptying into the Aral and Caspian seas, has extended iU 
range into many European localities. Also Dreyssena, 
Dreissensia. 
Dreissenacea (dri-se-na'se-a), n. pi. [NL., < 
Dreissena + -aeea.~] A group of acephalous 
mollusks: same as the family Dreissenidw. 
Preissenidae (dri-sen'i-de), n.pl. [NL., < Dreis- 
sena + -id<e.] A family of bi- 
valve mollusks, typified by the 
genus Dreissena. The mantle is 
open only for the foot in front of the 
umbones, and the siphons are situ- 
ated at the distal margin. The 
branchial siphon is tubular, the anal 
subsessile, the foot ligulate and bys- 
siferous, and the shell mytilifonn 
with terminal umbones. There is an 
internal ligament ; the pallial im- 
pressions are obscure ; and there are 
three muscular scars. 
Dreisseninae (dri-se-m'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Dreis- 
sena + -ince.] A subfamily referred to the fam- 
ily Mi/ti/itt<r: same as the family Dreissenidce. 
Also Dreissensince. 
Dreissensia (dri-sen'si-i), n. [NL.] Same as 
Dreissena. 
Dreissensinae (dri-sen-si'ne), n. pi. [NL.] 
Same as Dreisseninai. 
dremH. dreme 1 1, . and r. Obsolete forms of 
dream*. 
drem'-t, dreme 2 t, n. See drea 2 . 
dremelst, . [ME., also dremeles, < dremen, 
dream, -r -els, a suffix seen also in ME. metels, 
a dream, and in the earlier forms of riddle, .] 
A dream. 
How that Ymagynatyf in dremeles me tolde, 
Of Kynde and of his counynge and how curteise he is to 
bestes. Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 14. 
Dremotherium (drem-o-the'ri-um), n. [NL., 
for (I) 'Droiitotherium, < Gr. 6/>6/iof, a running, 
course, + diipiov, a wild beast.] A genus of 
fossil ruminants from the Miocene of France, 
said to be related to the musk-deer. 
drench 1 (drench), v. [< ME. drenchen (pret. 
drenched and dreint, pp. drenched and dreint), 
drench, drown, < AS. drencan, give to drink, also 
drown (= OFries. dreaka, drinka = D. drenkcn 
= LG. drdnken, OHG. trenchan, MHG. trenken, 
G. tranken =Icel. drekkja =Sw. drdnka), caus. 
of tlrincan, drink: see drink. Cf. drown, of the 
same ult. origin.] I. trans. 1 . To wet thorough- 
ly; soak; steep; fill or cover with water or 
other liquid : as, garments drenched with rain 
or in the sea ; swords drenched in blood ; the 
flood has drenched the earth. 
Oute of the see gravel the salt to bringe, 
Let drenche it for a tyme in water swete. 
Palladiut, Husbondrie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 14. 
Some In the greedie flouds are sunke and drent. 
Spenser, tr. of Virgil's Gnat 
Order'd to drench his Knife in filial Blood ; 
Destroy his Heir, or disobey his God. 
Prior, Solomon, ill. 
For there, with broad wig drenched with rain, 
The parish priest he saw. Whittier, The Exiles. 
2. To gorge or satiate with a fluid: as, he 
ilrciiched himself with liquor. 3. Specifically, 
to administer liquid physic to abundantly, espe- 
cially in a forcible way. 
I continued extraordinary Weak for some days after his 
[a Malayan doctor's] Drenching me thus : But my Fever 
left me for above a Week. Dampier, Voyages, I. 503. 
If any of your cattle are infected, . . . drench them. 
Mortimer, Husbandry. 
They were rough, 
Dosed him with torture as you drench a horse. 
Bromiiuj, Ring and Book, II. 76. 
4f. To drown. 
Him tlienketh verrayly that he may se 
Noes flood come walking as the see 
To drenchen Alisoun, his honey deere. 
Chaucer. Millers Tale, I. 431. 
drepanidium 
8. To subject (hides) to the effect of soaking 
and stirring in a solution of animal excrements 
or an alkaline solution. Harper's May., LXX. 
276. = Syn. 1. To steep, souse, deluge (with). 
Il.t intrant. To drown. 
Thus shal niaukynde drenche and lese his lyf. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 335. 
drench 1 (drench), n. [< ME. drench, drenke, 
dra-nc, a drink. < AS. drenc, also drinc = OS. 
OFries. D. and LG. drank = OHG. tranch, G. 
trank, a drink, < AS. drincan, etc. (pret. dranc), 
drink: see drint, r., and cf. drink, i>., and 
drench*, v. In senses 2 and 3 rather from the 
verb drench.} If. A drink; a draught. 
'I her ne is neither king ne kuene thet ne SH! drinke of 
deathes drench. Ayenbite <tf Invryt, p. ISO. 
2. A large draught of fluid; an inordinate 
drink. 
A drench of sack 
At a good tavern, and a fine fresh pullet. 
Would cure him. B. Jonton, Staple of News, ii. 1. 
Dregs and lees of Spain, with Welsh metheglln 
A drench to kill a horse. 
Matsinger, Great Duke of Florence, II. 2. 
Hence 3. A draught of physic ; specifically, 
a dose of medicine for a beast, as a horse. 
The sugar on the pill and the syrup around the oil left 
iiV. ,i,7i and purgative sufficiently heroic. 
5. W. Curtit, Harper's Mag., LXX VI. 80ft 
4. That with or in which something is drench- 
ed; a provision or preparation for drenching 
or steeping. 
They [skins] are put into a drench of bran and water, 
heated to about 186' Fahr. Kncyc. Brit., XIV. 388. 
drench 2 !, " -A. less correct form of dreng. 
drencher (dren'cher), n. 1. One who or that 
which drenches or wets. 2. One who adminis- 
ters a drench to a beast. 
drenching-horn (dren'ching-hdrn), n. A cow's 
horn with perforations at the pointed end, the 
other being closed, used in giving medicine to 
sick animals. 
drengt (dreng), n. [In historical books cited 
also as drenge and drench; in Law L. drengus, 
repr. ME. dreng, also dring, pi. drenges, dringes, 
rarely drenches, a vassal, < AS. dreng, a valiant 
man, < Icel. drengr, a valiant man, a youth, = 
Sw. drdug, a man, a servant, = Dan. dreng, a 
boy, an apprentice, obs. a footman (whence 
Sc. dring, a servant).] In old Eng. law, a ten- 
ant in capite. The term was usually or originally ap- 
plied to tenants holding directly of the king or of ecclesi- 
astics, but in virtue of a service less honorable than 
kirighthood, including commonly some agricultural work, 
and service as messenger and in the care of dogs and 
horses. Its application seems to have varied greatly in 
different places and times; but it implied generally a 
servile vassal who aspired to be a military vassal. 
Bothe of erl and of baroun, 
And of drena and of thayn, 
And of knith and of sweyu. llareluk, 1. 2182. 
It seems, then, that the drengi were tenants in pure vil- 
lenage, bound to the lord, and annexed to the manor, 
and that they were usually sold with the forest to which 
they belonged, as mere drudges, to perform the most ser- 
vile and laborious offices. 
Gentleman's May. Library, I. 188. 
Lanfranc, we are told, turned the drengg, the rent pay- 
ing tenants of his archiepiscopal estates, into knighU for 
the defence of the country. Stiibbs, Const. Hist. , 5 %. 
drengaget (dreng'aj), . [< dreng + -age.} 1. 
The tenure by which a dreng held land. 
There are also services connected with the bishop's 
hunting expeditions. Thus there are persons holding in 
drengage, who have to feed a horse and a dog, and to go 
In the great hunt (magna caza) with two harriers and 15 
"cordons," etc. Seebohm, Eng. Vil. Community, p. 71. 
2. The quantity of land, usually sixteen acres, 
to be plowed, sown, and harrowed by a dreng. 
drenket, An obsolete form of drench 1 . 
drenklet, r. See drinkle, dronkle. 
drentt (drent). An obsolete preterit and past 
participle of drench^. 
Drepane (drep'a-ne), n. [NL., < Gr. ipeiravti, 
also dpi iravov, a sickle, a pruning-hook, < dpiiretv, 
pluck.] A genus of fishes, typical of the family 
Drepanidce : so called from the elongated falci- 
form pectoral fins. 
drepania, . Plural of drepanium. 
drepanid (drep'a-nid), n. A fish of the family 
Drepaniila . 
Drepanidae (dre-pan'i-de), n.pl. [NL., < Dre- 
imiie + -ida 1 .] A family of scombroid acau- 
thopterygian fishes, represented by the genus 
Drepane. They have a compressed elevated body, with 
scalesencroachingonthedorsalfln: thedorsal flu is divided 
into a shorter anterior and a larger posterior portion, and 
the pectorals are falciform. The Drepane punctata is 
common in the Indian and Australian seas, 
drepanidium (drep-a-nid'i-um), n.; pi. drt/m- 
niaia (-a). [NL., < Gr. lipevdvy, a sickle (see 
