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D E S 
To DESE'RT, v. a. [ deferter , Fr. defero, Lat.] To 
forfake ; to fall away from ; to leave meanly or treache- 
roufly ; to abandon.—I do not remember one man, who 
lieartily wilhed the paffing of that bill, that ever dcfertcd 
them till the kingdom was in a flame. Drydcn .—To 
leave; to quit.—What is it that holds and keeps the 
orbs in fixed ftations and intervals, againft an inceffant 
and inherent tendency to dcfert them ? Bcnlley. 
To DESE'RT, v. n. To quit the army or regiment in 
which a foldier is enlifted. 
DESE'RT, f. [properly defert: the word is originally 
French .3 The laft courfe ; the fruit or fweetmeats with 
which a feaft is concluded. 
DESER'T,yi [from dcferve. ] Qualities or conduct con- 
fidered with refpeCt to rewards or punifhments ; degree of 
merit or demerit.'—Ufe every man after hisdefert, and who 
fnall ’fcape whipping ? Shakefpearc .—Proportional merit; 
claim to reward.—All dcfert imports an equality between 
the good conferred, and the good aeferved, or made due. 
South .—Excellence ; right to reward ; virtue : 
More to move you, 
Take my dejerts to his, and join them both. Skafirfp. 
“ Desert and reward feldom keep company.”—The 
Scots fay : He that's firjl up is not always firf Jerved. It is 
but too true, that reward does not always follow merit ; 
but this ought to be no difcouragement to any one in the 
purfuit ot it ; for, fooner or later, its recompenfe will be 
found, either in this world or the next, and confiantly 
in the fatisfaftion of a man’s own mind. 
DESE'RTER,/. He that has forfaken his caufe or 
his polt : commonly in an ill fenfe.—The members 
of both houfes, who at- firft withdrew, were counted 
deferters, and oufted of their places in parliament. King 
Charles. 
Hods of deferters, who your honour fold, 
And bafely broke your faith for bribes of gold. Dryden. 
He that leaves the army in which he is enlifted.—They 
are the fame deferters, whether they Hay in our owncamp, 
or run over to the enemy’s. Decay of Piety .—He that for- 
fakes another ; an abandoner.—The fair fex, if they had 
the deferter in their power, would certainly have ihewn 
him more mercy than the Bacchanals did Orpheus. Dryd. 
Thou, falfe guardian of a charge too good, 
Thou mean deferter of thy brother’s blood. Pope. 
DESERTI'NES, a town of France, in the department 
of the Mayenne : twelve miles weft of Mayenne. 
DESER'HON,/. [from dejert,v.a.~\ TheaCtofforfak- 
ing or abandoning a caufe or port.—Every compliance that 
v/e are perfuaded to by one, is a contradiction to the com¬ 
mands of the other ; and our adherence to one, will neceffa- 
rily involve us in a defertion of the other. Rogers .—[In 
theology.] Spiritual defpondency ; a fenfe of the dere¬ 
liction of God; an opinion that grace is withdrawn.— 
Chrift hears and fympathizes with the fpiritual agonies of 
a foul under defertion, or the preffures of fome (tinging 
affliction. South .—[From defert, v. n. ] Quitting the army 
or regiment in which one is enlifted .—Defertion from the 
king’s armies, in time of war, fs, by the ltanding laws of 
the land, made felony. Blackjlone. 
DESERT'LESS, adj. Without merit; without claim 
to favour or reward : 
She faid ftie lov’d. 
Lov’d me defertlefs ; who, with fhame confeft, 
Another flame had feiz’d upon my breaft. Dryden. 
DESERT'LESSLY, adv. Without defert.—Now peo¬ 
ple will call you valiant defertlejsly. Beaum. & Flctch. 
To DESER'VE, v. a. [ defervir, Fr,] To be worthy of 
either good or ill.—Tliofe they honoured, as having 
power to work or ceafe, as men defervedoi them. Hooker. 
D E S 
A mother cannot give him death: though he 
DeferVes it, he dferves it not from me. Dryden. 
To DESER'VE, v. n. To be worthy of reward.—Ac¬ 
cording to the rule of natural juftice, one man may me¬ 
rit and deferve of another. South. 
Courts are the places where beft manners flourifti, 
Where the deferving ought to rife. Otway. 
“ Firft Deserve, and then defire.”—The Germans 
fay : Auf den verdienjl,folgt der gewinfl ; (After defert fol¬ 
lows the reward.) But though it does not always happen 
according to the German proverb, it is, neverthelefs, un- 
reafonable to defire a reward before it has been deferved. 
DESER'VEDLY, adv. Worthily ; according to de¬ 
fert, whether of good or evil.—A man defervedly cuts 
hiinfelf off from the affections of that community which 
he endeavours to fubvert. Addifon. 
For him I was not fent, nor yet to free 
That people victor once, now vile and bafe, 
Defervedly made vaflal. Milton. 
DESERV'ER,/. A man who merits rewards.—Emu¬ 
lation will never be wanting amongft poets, when parti¬ 
cular rewards and prizes are propofed to the beft de~ 
fervors. Dryden. 
Their love is never link’d to the deferver, 
Till his deferts are pafs’d. Skahefpeare. 
DESER'VING,/. Defert, in a good fenfe : 
This feems a fair deferving, and muft draw me 
That which my father loles. Shakefpearc. 
DESER'VINGLY, adv. In a manner deferving re¬ 
ward. Scott. 
DES'GODETS (Antony), a French architect:, bom 
at Paris in 1653. He was lent by Colbert to ftudy at 
Rome in 1674, but had the misfortune, in his paffage, to 
be taken by the Algerines, which fubjefted him to a 
rigorous llavery of fixteen months. He was at length 
exchanged, and reached the place of his firft deftination, 
where he puffed three years. During his abode at Rome, 
he compofed a work, entitled the ancient Edifices of 
Rome drawn and meafured with great ExaCtnefs, pub- 
lifhed at Paris in 1682, folio, and reprinted in 1779. Af¬ 
ter his return, he married, and was appointed controller 
of the royal buildings at Chambord. In 1694, he was 
removed to the department of Paris; and, in 1699, was 
created king’s architect. In 1719, he was made profeffor 
of architecture, and lectured in that art with applaufe 
till his death, in 1728. From his leCtures were publifh- 
ed, after his death, les Loix des Batimens, 1776, 8vo. and 
Traite du Toife, 8vo. He left other treatifes on architectu¬ 
ral fubjects, which remain in manufeript. 
DESHACHE'E, a term in blazonry. See Heraldry. 
DESHOULIE'RES, fee Houlieres. 
DESIC'CANTS, f. Applications that dry up the 
flow of fores ; driers.—This, in the beginning, may be 
prevented by defccants. Wifeman. 
To DE'SICCATE, v. a. [ deficco, Lat.] To dry up ; 
to exhauft of moifture.—In bodies defecated by heat or 
age, when the native fpirit goeth forth, and the moif¬ 
ture with it, the air, with time, getteth into the pores. 
Bacon. —To exhale moifture.—Where there is moifture 
enough or fuperfluous, there wine helpeth to digeft and 
defecate the moifture. Bacon. 
’ DESICCA'TION,/. The aft of making dry; the 
ftate of being dried.—If the fpirits iffue out of the body, 
there followeth defecation, induration, and confumption. 
Bacon. 
DESIC'CATIVE, adj. That which has the power of 
drying. 
To DESI'DERATE, v. a. [ dcfdero, Lat.] To want; 
to mifs ; to defire in abfence. A word now fcarcely tfed. —■ 
Eclipfes are of wonderful aftiftance toward the folution of 
this fo definable and fo much defderated problem. Chcyne. 
DESIDE- 
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