634 DEB 
DEB AU'CHER, f. Gne who deduces others to in¬ 
temperance or levvdnefs ; a corrupter. 
DEB AU'CHERY,/! The practice of excels : intem¬ 
perance levvdnefs.—Oppofe vices by their contrary vir¬ 
tues ; hypocrify by fober piety, and debauchery by tem¬ 
perance. Spratt. 
DEB AUCH'MENT,yi The act of debauching or vi¬ 
tiating ; corruption.—They told them ancient ftories of 
the ravilhment of chafte maidens, or the debouchment of na¬ 
tions, or the extreme poverty of learned perfons. Taylor. 
To DEBEI/, or to Debellate, v. a. \_debcllo, Lat. ] To 
conquer; to overcome in war: not nowin ufe. —It doth 
notably fet forth the content of all nations and ages, in 
the approbation of the extirpating and debellating of gi¬ 
ants, monflers, and foreign tyrants, not only as lawful, 
but as meritorious even of divine honour. Bacon. 
Him long of old 
Thou didft debel, and down from heaven call, 
With all his army. Milton. 
DEBELLA'TION,/! [from debellado, Lat.] The aft 
of conquering in war. 
DE'BEN, a river of England, in the county of Suf¬ 
folk, which rifes near Debenham, and runs into the lea 
at Harwich. 
DE BE'NE ES'SE, in law, to take or.do any thing 
ds bene ejfe, is to accept or allow it as well done for the 
prefent; but when it comes to be more fully examined 
or tried, to Hand or fall according to the merit of the 
thing in its own nature. As in chancery, upon motion 
to have one of the lefs principal defendants in a caufe 
examined as a witnefs, the court (not then thoroughly 
examining the jullice of it, or not hearing what may be 
objected on the other fide,) will often order fucli a de¬ 
fendant to be examined de bene ejfe, viz. that his depofi- 
tions fhall be taken, and allowed or fupprefled at the 
hearing of the caufe, upon the full debate of the matter, 
as the court fhall think fit; but in the interim they have 
a well-being, or conditional allowance. 3 Cro. 68. 
Where a complainant’s witneffes are aged, or lick, or 
going beyond fea, whereby the plaintiff thinks he is in 
danger of loling their teftimony, the court will order 
them to be examined de bene ejfe , fo as to be valid, if the 
plaintiff hath not an opportunity of examining them af¬ 
terwards ; as, if they die before anfwer, or do not return. 
In either of which cafes, the depofitions may be made 
life of in the court of chancery, or at law ; but if the par¬ 
ties are alive and well, or do return after anfwer, thefe 
depofitions are not to be of force, for the witneffes muft 
be re-examined. So alfo at common law, the judges 
frequently take bail de bene ejfe , that is, to be allowed or 
difallowed upon the exception or approbation of the 
plaintiff’s attorney ; however, in the interim, they are 
good, or have a conditional allowance. Declarations like- 
wife are fometimes delivered de bene ejfe. 
DE'BENHAM, [of the river Deben, and ham, a town.] 
A fmall town in the county of Suffolk, with a weekly 
market on Fridays, and a fair on Jone 24: fourteen miles 
and a half north of Ipfwich, and eighty-three and a half 
north-north-eafl of I.ondon. 
DEBEN'TURE,y.' [ debentur, Lat. from debeo.'] A writ 
or note, by which a debt is claimed : 
You modern wits, fhould each man bring his claim, 
Have defperate debentures on your fame ; 
And little would be left you, I’m afraid, 
If all your debts to Greece and Rome were paid. Swift. 
Among merchants, debenture is a term ufed at the cuf- 
tom-houfe for a kind of certificate figned by the officers 
of the cuftoms, which entitles a merchant exporting 
goods to the receipt of a bounty or drawback. A fol- 
dier’s debenture (JUpendia debita) is in the nature of a 
bond or bill, to charge the government to pay the foldier 
creditor, or his affigns, the firm due upon the auditing 
the account of his arrears: it was firff ordained by an 
DEB 
act made during the ufurpation, anno 1649, and is men¬ 
tioned in the a£t of oblivion, 12 Car. II. c. 8. They ufe 
debentures, likewife, in the exchequer; and debentures 
are given to the king’s fervants for the payment of their 
wages, board-wages, &c. 
DE'BE r et DETINET, \_He oweth and detaineth.J 
In law, an aftion fhall be always in the debet et deduct, 
when he who makes a bargain or contradt, or lends money 
to another, or he to whom a bond is made, bringeth the 
adtion againft him who is bounden, or party to the con¬ 
tradt and bargain, or unto the lending of the money, &c. 
New. Nat. Br. 119. See Debt. 
DE'BET et SOLET, in law. If a perfon fues to re¬ 
cover any right, whereof his anceffor was diffeifed by the 
tenant of his anceffor, then he ufeth the word debet alone 
in his writ, becaufe his anceffor only was diffeifed, and 
the eftate difeontinued ; but, if he fue for any thing that 
is now firff of all denied him, then lie ufeth debet et folct , 
by reafon his anceffor before him, and he himfelf, ufually 
enjoyed the thing fued for, until the prefent refufal of the 
tenant. Reg. Orig. 140. The writ of fella admolendinum is 
a writ of right, in the debet etfolet, &c. F. N. B. 98 . 
DE'BILE, adj. \_debilis, Lat.] Weak; feeble; lan¬ 
guid; faint; without ftrength; imbecile; impotent: 
I have not waffl’d my nofe that-bled, 
Or foil’d fome debile wretch, which without note 
There’s many elfe have done. Shakefpeare. 
To DEBI'LITATE, v. a. [debilito, Lat.] To weaken; 
to make faint; to enfeeble ; to emafculate.—In the luff 
of the eye, the luff of the fleffi, and the pride of life, they 
feemed as weakly to fail as their debilitated pofterity ever 
after. Brown. 
DEBILITA'TION,yi [from de.bilitatio, I.at.] The adt 
of weakening.—The weaknefs cannot return any thing of 
ftrength, honour, or fafety, to the head, but a debilitation 
and ruin. King Charles. 
DEBI'LITY, f. \_debilitas, Lat.] Weaknefs; feeble- 
nefs ; languor; faintnefs ; imbecility.—Aliment too va¬ 
porous or perfpirable will fubjedt it to the inconvenien- 
cies ot too ftrong a perfpiration, which are debility , faint* 
nefs, and fometimes fudden death. Arbuthnot. 
Methinks I am partaker of thy paffion, 
And in thy cafe do glafs mine own debility. Sidney. 
DEBI'LITIESjyi in aftrology, are certain affedtions of 
the planets, by which they are weakened, and their influ¬ 
ences become lefs vigorous. 
DE'BIN, a town of Arabia, in the country of Yemen: 
thirty-eight miles eaft of Chamir. 
DE'BIR, or Kirjath-sann’ah, or Kirjath-sepheu, 
a city of Paleftine, in the tribe of Judah. It was fitu- 
ated in the mountains of that province. The conquering 
of it was regarded as fo'great an acquifition, that Caleb 
pro mi fed to beftow his daughter in marriage on the man 
that overcame it. It was afterwards a city of the Levites, 
of the family of Kohath. Jofi.xv. 15,49. There was 
another Debir, in the tribe of Gad, beyond Jordan. 
DE B'LOW, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Chru- 
dim : four miles fouth-fouth-weft of Chrudim. 
DEBONA'IR, adj. \_debonnaire, Fr.] Elegant; civil; 
well-bred ; gentle ; complaifant: an olfolete word .—The 
nature of the one is debonair and accoftable ; of the other, 
retired and fupercilious ; the one quick and lprightful, 
the other flow and faturnine. Howel. 
Zephyr met her once a-maying ; 
Fill’d her with thee, a daughter fair. 
So buxom, blithe, and debonair. Milton. 
DEBONAIR'LY, adv. Elegantly; with a genteel air. 
DE'BORAH,yi [mai, Heb. a bee.] A prophetefs, a 
woman’s name. 
DE'BORAH, a prophetefs, and judge of Ifrael, nearly 
1300 years before Chrift, redded between Ramali and 
Bethel, in the confines of the tribes of Benjamin and 
Ephraim, 
