D I S 
To be relaxed by pleafure.—Angels diffolv'd in hallelu¬ 
jahs lie. Dryden. 
To DISSOL'VE, v. n. To be melted ; to be liquefied. 
—All putrefaction, if it dijfolve not in rarefaction, will in 
the end ilfue into plants or living creatures bred of pu¬ 
trefaction. Bacon. 
As wax diffolves , as ice begins to run 
And trickle into drops before the fun, 
So melts the youth, and languilhes away. Addifon. 
To fink away; to fall to nothing: 
If there be more, more woeful, hold it in ; 
For I am alnroft ready to dijfolve, 
Hearing of this. Skakcfpeare. 
To melt away in pleafures. 
DISSOL'VENT, adj. Having the power of difiolving 
or melting.—In man and viviparous quadrupeds, the 
food, moiftened with the fpittle, is firft chewed, then 
fwallowed into the ftomach, where, being, mingled with 
diffolvcnt juices, it is concoCted, macerated, and reduced 
into a chyle. Ray. 
DISSOL'VENT, y. That which has the power of dif- 
uniting the parts of any thing.—Spittle is a great diffol- 
vent, and there, is a great quantity of it in the ftomach, 
being fwallowed conftantly. Arbuthnot .—For the mode of 
aCtion of the various diffolvents, fee the article Chemistry. 
DISSOL'VER, f, That which has the power of dif- 
folving_—Hot mineral waters are the belt diffolvers of 
phlegm. Arbuthnot. 
DISSOL'VI BI.E, adj. [It is commonly written diffolv- 
ablc, but lefs properly.] Liable to perilh by diftolution. 
—Man, that is even upon the intrinfic conftitution of his 
nature diffolvible , 1111,1ft, by being in an eternal duration, 
continue immortal. Hale. 
DIS'SOLUTE, adj. \_diffolutus, Lat.] Loofe; wan¬ 
ton; unreftrained ; diflolved in pleafures; luxurious; 
debauched.—The true fpirit of religion banifhes indeed 
all levity of behaviour, all vicious and diffolute mirth ; 
but, in exchange, fills the mind with a perpetual fere- 
nity. Addifon. 
DIS'SOLUTELY, adv. Loofely ; in debauchery ; 
without reftraint.—Whereas men have lived diffolutely 
and unrighteoufly, thou haft tormented them with their 
own abominations. Wifdom, 
DIS'SOLUTENESS,/. Loofenefs; laxity of manners; 
debauchery.—If we look into the common management, 
We (hall have reafon to wonder, in the great djfolutenefs 
of manners which the world complains of, that there are 
any footfteps at all left of virtue. Locke. 
DISSOLU'TION, f. \dijfolutio , Lat. to diffblve, or 
loofen.] The aCt of liquefying by heat or moifture. The 
ftate of being liquefied. The ftate of melting away ; 
liquefaction.—I am Its fubjeCt to heat as butter; a man 
of continual dijfolution and thaw. Shakefpeare. —Deftruc- 
tion of any thing by the reparation of its parts_The 
elements were at perfeCt union in his body ; ^nd their 
contrary qualities ferved not for the dijfolution of the com¬ 
pound, but the variety of the compofure. South .—The 
fubftance formed by difiolving any body.—Weigh iron 
and aqua-fortis feverally ; then difiolve the iron in the 
aqua-fortis, and weigh the dijfolution. Bacon .—Death ; 
the refolution of the body into its conftiluent elements. 
—The life of man is always either increafing towards 
ripenefs and perfection, or declining and decreafing to¬ 
wards rottennefs and dijfolution. Raleigh .—DeftruCtion_ 
He determined to make a prefent dijfolution of the world. 
Hooker. 
He thence fhali come, 
When this world’s dijfolution fluid be ripe. Milton. 
Breach or ruin of any thing compacted or united.—Is a 
man confident of wealth and power ? Why let him read 
of thofe ltrange unexpected diffolutions of the great mo¬ 
narchies and governments of the world. South .—The 
aCt of breaking up an affembly. Loofenefs of manners; 
D I S S91 
laxity ; remifThefs; diflipation.*— A longing after fenftial 
pleafures is a dijfolution of the fpirit of a man, and makes 
it loofe, foft, and wandering, unapt for noble or fpiritual 
employments. Taylor. —Fame makes the mind loofe and 
gayifh, fcatters the fpirits, and leaves a kind of dJJolution 
upon all the faculties. South. —For the phyfical analylis 
of dijfolution, fee our article Chemistry. 
DIS'SONANCE,/. [ dijfonans , Lat. dijfonance, Fr.] A 
mixture of harfh, unpleafing, unharmonious founds; 
untuitablenefs of one found to another.—The Latin 
tongue is a dead language, and none can decide with con¬ 
fidence on the harmony or dijfonance of the numbers of 
thefe times. Garth's Ovid. 
Still govern thou my fong, 
But drive far off the barbarous dijfonance 
Of Bacchus and his revellers. Milton. 
DIS'SONANT, adj. \_diffonans, Lat.] Harfli; unhar¬ 
monious : 
Dire were the ftrain, and dijjonant, to ling 
The cruel raptures of the lavage kind. Thomfon. 
Incongruous ; difagreeing : with from.— What can be 
more diffonantfrom reafon and nature, than that a man 
naturally inclined to clemency, fliould (hew himfelf un¬ 
kind and inhuman r Hakevoill. —With to : lefs properly. 
—When confcience reports any thing dijfonatit to truth, 
it obliges no more than the falfehood reported by it. 
South. 
To DISSUA'DE, v. a. [diffuadeo, Lat.] To dehort; 
to divert by reafon or importunity from any thing : 
We fubmit to Casfar, promifing 
To pay our wonted tribute, from the which 
We were dijfuaded by our wicked queen. Shakefpeare. 
To reprefent any thing as unfit or dangerous : 
This would be worfe ; 
War therefore, open or conceal’d, alike 
My voice diffuades. Milton. 
DTSSUA'DER,/. He that diffuades. 
DISSUA'SION,/. \_dijfuaf10, Lat.] Urgency of reafon 
or importunity againft anything; dehortationn—Endea¬ 
vour to preferve yourfelf from relaple by fuch diffuafons 
from love, as its votaries call inveftives againft it. Boyle. 
DISSUA'SIVE, adj. Dehortatory ; tending to divert 
or deter from any purpofe. 
DISSUA'SIVE,/. Dehortation ; argument or impor¬ 
tunity employed to turn the mind off from any pur¬ 
pofe or purfuit.—The meannefs, or the fin, will fcarce 
be dijfuafves to thofe who have reconciled themfelves to 
both. Government of the Tongue. 
To DISSUN'DER, v. a. A barbarous word. See 
D isseve.r. -To funder ; to feparate : 
But when her draught the fea and earth diffunder'd. 
The troubled bottoms turn’d up, and (he thunder’d. 
Chapman. 
DISSYL'LABLE!,/ [ 3 WiAA«£o?.] A word of two 
fyllables.—No man is tied, in modern poetry, to obferve 
any farther rule in the feet of his verfe, but that they be 
dijfyllables ; whether fpondee, trochee, or iambique, it 
matters not. Dryden. 
DI'STAFF, /. [bij-trej:, Saxon.] The ftaff from 
which the flax is drawn in [pinning : 
Weave thou to end this web which I begin ; 
I will the difaff hold, come thou and fpin. Fairfax. 
It is ufed as an emblem of the female fex. So the 
French fay, The crown of France never falls to the dfaff. 
—In my civil government fome fay the crolier, fome fay 
the dfaff , was too bufy. fiovjel. 
See my royal mailer murder’d 
His crown ufurp’d, a dfaff in the throne. Dryden. 
ToDISTA'IN, v. a. To ftain; to tinge with an ad¬ 
ventitious colour: 
Place 
