Durio 
flour. They may !>< used as vegetable Ivory. It possesses 
very nmrknl aphniih^uir qii:ilil K- 
durityt (dii'ri-ti), . [= F. iliiri'ti' = It. duritft, 
durititdi; iliiri/nii; < I,. durita(t-)n, hardness, < 
ilnnis, liiii-il: SIT dun; a.] 1. HunlncHH; firm- 
ness. 
As for irradlancy or sparkling, which is found in many 
Hems, ii U iic. t cli...ivial.lc m this; for it cometh short of 
tlu-ir I'ulni.artni-ssi- ami <lu,-il<i. 
>'./ T. Browne, Vulg. Err., II. 1. 
Thr aiH'imts dill I. urn tlu-ir tlrinest stone, and even frag- 
ments of marble, which in ti Wcanii- almost inarlih: 
again, at least of indissolulile ilnriln, as ajipeari'th In the 
M an. lin;; theatres. Sir II. H'uttnu, Klein, of Arehitecture. 
2. Hardness of mind; harshness; cruelty. 
(_'ui-l;i ril in. 
durjee (<16r'je), . [Also written dirgee, durzee, 
etc., repr. Hind, darsi, vernacularly darji, < 
Peru, darzi, a tailor.] In the East Indies, a 
native domestic tailor or seamster. 
durmast (der' mast), . [Origin uncertain.] A 
species of oak ( Qiit-rc/is mvxilijltiru, or, according 
to some, Q. pubexcens) so closely allied to the 
common oak (Q. Itobur) as to be reckoned by 
gome botanists only a variety of it. its wood is, 
however, ilarke r, heavier, and more elastic, and less easy 
to split or to break ; but It is comparatively easy to bend, 
and is therefore highly valued by tne builder ana the cabi- 
net-maker. 
dura 1 , durns (dern, dernz), n. [E. dial. (Corn- 
wall) durn, a door-post, gate-post, < Corn, dorn, 
door-post; cf. W. dor, dries, door: see door.] 
In mining, a " sett " of timbers in a mine. Duna 
is sometimes made singular and sometimes plural. (Pryce.) 
The term chietly used at present, especially in the United 
States, is ten (which see). 
durn a , . t. See dent 3 . 
duro (do'ro), M. [Sp.] The Spanish silver dol- 
lar, the peso duro. See dollar. 
durometer (du-rom'e-ter), n. [< L. durus, hard, 
+ metrum, a measure.] An apparatus invent- 
ed by Behrens for testing the hardness of steel 
rails. It consists essentially of a small drill fitted with 
apparatus for measuring the amount of feed under a given 
pressure of the drill, and counting the turns of the drill. 
The feed and work are considered to give relatively the 
hardness of the steel. 
duroust (du'rus), a. [< L. durus, hard: see 
(lure, a.] Hard. 
They all of them vary much from their primitive ten- 
derness and bigness, and so become more durous. 
J. Smith, Solomon's Portraiture of Old Age, p. 186. 
duroyt (du-roi'), n. [See corduroy.] Same as 
corduroy. ' 
Western Goods had their share here also, and several 
booths were tilled with Serges, Duroyi, Druggets, Shal- 
loons, Cantaloous, Devonshire Kerstes, etc. 
Defoe, Tour through Great Britain, I. 94. 
durra (dur'ft), n. [Also written dura, doura, 
dourah, dora, dhura, dhourra, dhurra, etc., repr. 
Ar. dorra, durra, dora, Turk, dori, millet; cf. 
Ar. dorra, Turk. Pers. Hind, durr, a pearl.] 
The Indian millet or Guinea corn, Sorghum vul- 
gare. See sorghum. 
The always scanty crop of doura fails away from the 
Nile. The Century, XXIX. 651. 
durst (derst). A preterit of dare 1 . 
durukuli, n. See douroucouli. 
dusack (du'sak), n. [G. dusak, also duseck, tu- 
sack, disak, thicsak, tissek, < Bohem. tesak, a 
short, broad, curved sword.] A rough cutlas 
in use in Germany in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries. It is commonly represented as forged 
of a single piece, the fingers passing through an opening 
made at the end opposite the point, so that the grip con- 
sists of a rounded and perhaps leather-covered part of the 
blade itself. It is said to have originated In Bohemia. 
dliset, An obsolete spelling of deuce 1 . 
dush ((lush), c. [E. dial., < ME. dusshen, dusch- 
i a : appar. orig. a var. of dasxhen, daschen. dash : 
eeo dash.'] I. trans. To strike or push violently. 
[Now only prov. Eng.] 
Tlici dusshed hym, the! dasshed hym, 
Thel lussheil hym, the! lasshed hym, 
Thei pusshed hym, the! passhed hym, 
All sorowe thei saicle that it semed hym. 
1'ork Plays, p. 481. 
Mynours then mightely the moldes did serene, 
Ouertyrnet the toures, & the tore walles 
All dtushet into the diche, doll to be-holde. 
Destruction iif Troy (E. E. T. S.X L 4776. 
II. iiitraiin. To fall violently; dash down; 
move with violence. [Now only prov. Eng.] 
Such a dasande drede duschnl to his herte 
That ul faluwit [fallowed] his face. 
;tttmrt! Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 1538. 
dusk(dusk). . andn. [=E. dial, duel-lull (trans- 
posed from dusk) ; < early ME. dosk, dose, d< .sA -. 
deosc, dark ; not found in AS., but perhaps a sur- 
vival of the older form of AS. deorc, ME. deorc, 
ili'rl;, E. tlurk. which in its rhotacized form has 
no obvious connections, while dcime, dimk. <ln*k 
appears to be related to Norw. dunk, a drizzling 
1803 
rain, Sw. dial, dusk, a slight shower, Sw. dusk, 
chilliness, raw weather (> Norw. duxkit = Sw. 
duxka = Dan. duxkr, drizzle ; Sw. duskig, misty, 
etc.), appar. orig. applied to dark, threaten- 
ing weather. LG. dusken, slumber, is not re- 
lated.] I. a. Dark; tending to darkness ; dusky; 
shaded, either as to light or color ; shadowy ; 
swarthy. [Rare and poetical.] 
A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades. 
Milton, P. E., L 296. 
Dusk faces with white silken turbans wreathed. 
Milton, P. TIL, iv. 70. 
As rich as moths from duik cocoons. 
Tennyson, Princess, II. 
II. n. 1. Partial darkness; an obscuring of 
light, especially of the light of day; a state 
between light and darkness ; twilight : as, the 
diixk of the evening; the dusk of a dense forest. 
He quits 
His door lu darkness, nor till dusk returns. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, v. 
Prone to the lowest vale t h aerial tribes 
Descend : the tempest-loving raven scarce 
Dares wing the dubious dusk. Thomson, Summer. 
Fortunately the dusk had thrown a veil over us, and in 
the exquisite delicacy of the fading light we drifted slowly 
up the mysterious river. 
C. W. Stoddard, Mashallah, p. 161. 
2. Tendency to darkness of color; swarthiness. 
Some sprinkled freckles on his face were seen, 
Whose dusk set off the whiteness of the skin. 
Dryden, I'al. and Arc., 111. 77. 
dusk (dusk), r. [< ME. dusken, earlier dosken, 
make dark, become dark ; < dusk, a.] I. trans. 
1. To make dusky or dark ; obscure; make less 
luminous. 
After the sun is up, that shallow which dusketh the light 
of the moon must needs be under the earth. Hoiland. 
Essex, at all times his [Raleigh's] rival, and never his 
friend, saw his own lustre dutked by the eminence of his 
inferior. /. D' Israeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 266. 
2. To make dim. 
Which clothes a dlrkness of a forletyn and a despised 
elde hadde dunked and derked. 
Chaucer, Boethius, i. prose 1. 
The faithfulnes of a wife is not stained with decelpt, 
nor dusked with any dissembling. 
Sir T. Wilson, Art of Rhetoric, p. 55. 
H. intrans. 1. To grow dark; begin to lose 
light, brightness, or whiteness. 
Dusken his eygheu two, and faylleth breth. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1948. 
2. To cause a dusky appearance; produce a 
slightly ruffled or shadowed surface. 
Little breezes dunk and shiver 
Thro' the wave that runs for ever 
By the island in the river 
Flowing down to Camelot. 
Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, 1. 
[Rare in all uses.] 
dusken (dus'kn), . [< dusk + -enl.] I. in- 
trans. To grow dusk; dim; become darker. 
[Rare.] 
I have known the male to sing almost uninterruptedly 
during the evenings of early summer, till twilight dusk- 
ened into dark. Lowell. 
II. trans. To make dark or obscure. [Rare.] 
The sayd epigrame was not vtterly defaced, but onely 
duskened, or so rased that it myght be reddr, thoughe that 
with some difficulty. Xicoils, tr. of Thucydides, fol. 163. 
duskily (dus'ki-li), adr. With partial dark- 
ness ; with a tendency to darkness or somber- 
ness. 
The twilight deepened, the ragged battlements and the 
low broad oriels [of Haddon Hall] glanced duskily from 
the foliage, the rooks wheeled and clamored In the glow- 
ing sky. //. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 26. 
duskiness (dus'ki-nes), n. Incipient or partial 
darkness; a moderate degree of darkness or 
blackness ; shade. 
Time had somewhat sullied the colour of it with such a 
kind of duskiness, as we may observe in pictures that have 
hung iu some smoky room. 
Boetius (trans.), p. S(Oxf., 1674). 
duskish (dus'kish), a. f< dusk + -Jsfc 1 .] Mod- 
erately dusky ; partially obscure ; dark or 
blackish. 
Sight Is not well contented with sudden departments 
from one extream to another; therefore let them have 
rather a duskish tincture than an absolute black. 
NI';- //. Wotton, Elem. of Architecture. 
duskishly (dus'kish-li), adv. Cloudily; darkly; 
obscurely ; dimly. 
The Comet appeared again to-night, but duskishlu. 
Pepg*, Diary, II. 195. 
duskishness (dus'kish-nes), n. Duskiness; 
slight obscurity ; dimness. 
The harts use dictamus. The swallow the hearbe i-ele- 
ili.nia. The weasell fennell seede, for the duskishnew 
anil blearishnesse of her eyes. 
Jieitcenuiu, Passengers' Dialogues (1612), 
dust 
The divers colours and the tinctures fair, 
Whli-h in this various vesture changes write 
Of light, of duskishnesse. 
Dr. 11. More, Psychotola, L 22. 
dusky (dus'ki), a. [< dusk + -yi.] 1. Rather 
dark ; obscure; not luminous; dim: as, a dusky 
valley. 
Here dies the duiky torch of Mortimer, 
( 'link il with ambition of the meaner sort. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., 11. 5. 
He [Dante] Is the very man who has heard the torment- 
ed spirits crying out for the second death, who has read 
the dusky characters on the portal within which there Is 
no hope. Macaulay, Milton. 
Memorial shapes of saint and sage, 
That pave with splendor the Past's dusky aisles. 
Lowell, Under the Willows. 
2. Rather black; dark-colored; fuscous; not 
light or bright : as, a dusky brown ; the dusky 
wings of some insects. 
I will take some savage woman, she shall rear my dutkij 
race. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
A smile gleams o'er his dusky brow. 
Whittier, Mogg Megone, I. 
Here were the squalor and the glitter of the Orient 
the solemn dusky faces that look out on the reader from 
the pages of the Arabian Nights. 
T. II, Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 201. 
3. Hence, figuratively, gloomy ; sad. [Rare.] 
While he continues In life, this dusky scene of borrow, 
this melancholy prospect of final perdition will frequent- 
ly occur to his fancy. Bentley, Sermons. 
Dusky duck. See duck. 
Dussumiera (dus-u-me'rft), . [NL. (Cuvier 
and Valenciennes, 1847 ; also Lhtssumieria) ; 
named for the traveler Dussumier.] A genus of 
fishes, in some systems made type of a family 
Dussumierida. 
dussumierid (dus-u-me'rid), . A fish of the 
family Dussumieridte. 
Dussumieridje (dus-u-me'ri-de), . pi. [NL., 
< I>u.?sumiera + -idee.'] A family of malacop- 
terygian fishes, represented by the genus Dus- 
sumiera. It is closely related to the family Clupeida, 
but the abdomen Is rounded and the ribs are not connected 
with a median system of scales. The species are few in 
number; one {Dussumiera teres) is an inhabitant of the 
eastern coast of the United States. 
Dussumierina (dus ll 'u-me-ri'na), n. pi. [NL., 
< Dussumiera + -in2.] In Gunther's system, 
the fourth group of Clupeidtf, with the mouth 
anterior and lateral, the upper jaw not overlap- 
ping the lower, and the abdomen neither cari- 
uate nor serrate, and without an osseous gular 
plate. The group corresponds to the family 
Dussumierida;. 
dust 1 (dust), . [< ME. dust, doust, < AS. dust 
(orig. dust) = OFries. dust = MLG. LG. dust 
(> G. dust), dust, = D. duist. meal-dust, = Icel. 
dust, dust, = Norw. dust, dust, fine particles, 
= Dan. dyst, fine flour or meal ; allied prob. 
to OHG. tunist, dunist, dunst, breath, storm, 
MHG. G. dunst, vapor, fine dust, = Sw. and Dan. 
dunst, steam, vapor; and to Goth, dauns, odor; 
all prob. ult. from a root repr. by Skt. / dhvans 
or / dhvas, fall to dust, perish, vanish, in pp. 
dhvas-ta (= E. dus-t), bestrewn, covered over, 
esp. with dust.] 1. Earth or other matter in 
fine dry particles, so attenuated that they can 
be raised and carried by the wind ; finely com- 
minuted or powdered matter : as, clouds of dust 
obscure the sky. 
Than a-roos the duste and the powder so grete that vn- 
nethe oon myght kuowe a-nother, ne noon ne a-bode his 
felowe. Merlin (E. E. T. S.X 11. 201. 
The ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and 
warmeth them in dust. Job x\xix. 13, 14. 
2. A collection or cloud of powdered matter in 
the air; an assemblage or mass of fine particles 
carried by the wind : as, the trampling of the 
animals raised a great dust; to take the du.it 
of a carriage going in advance. 
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall 
cover thee. Ezek. xxvL 10. 
Hence 3. Confusion, obscurity, or entangle- 
ment of contrary opinions or desires ; embroil- 
ment ; discord : as, to raise a dust about an af- 
front ; to kick up a dust. See phrases below. 
Great contest follows, and much learned dust 
Involves the combatants ; each claiming truth, 
And truth disclaiming both. Cmrper, Task, ill. 161. 
4. A small quantity of any powdered substance 
sprinkled over something : used chiefly in cook- 
ery: as, give it a dust of ground spice. 5. 
Crude matter regarded as consisting of sepa- 
rate particles ; elementary substance. 
Many [a day] hade i be ded & to dust roted, 
Nadde it be Goddes grace * help of that liest. 
William uf Palerne (E. E. T. 8.), L 4124. 
