desertn.1
/dᵻˈzəːt/, U.S. /dəˈzərt/, /diˈzərt/ 1.
a. Deserving; the becoming worthy of recompense, i.e. of reward or punishment, according to the good or ill of character or conduct; worthiness of recompense, merit or demerit.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > deserving (good or ill)
worthnesseOE
addlingc1175
ofservingc1225
desert1297
ofgoing1340
deserving1388
merita1393
worthiness1395
deservice1480
just desert1548
deservednessa1628
fitness1648
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 253 Vor þe soþuast God..Deþe after oure deserte.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 594 Þou quytez vchon as hys desserte.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lviii. 84 God rewarded eche of them after their deserte and meryte.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) ccliv. 10 Such sawce, as they haue serued To me without desart.
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) i. 75 Ægisthus past his fate, and had desert To warrant our infliction.
1633 G. Herbert Sighs & Grones in Temple i O do not use me After my sinnes! look not on my desert.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 193. ⁋1 Some will always mistake the degree of their own desert.
1861 J. S. Mill Utilitarianism v. 66 What constitutes desert?..a person is understood to deserve good if he does right, evil if he does wrong.
b. In a good sense: Meritoriousness, excellence, worth.
ΚΠ
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. pr. vi. 78 It semeþ þat gentilesse be a maner preysynge þat comeþ of decert of auncestres.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 473 For þe childes hye desert, God shewed meruaile in apert.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. K7 If you retaine desert of holinesse.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 74 The Crown..due to him, no less by desert then descent.
1704 J. Addison Campaign 3 On the firm Basis of Desert they rise.
1798 Trans. Soc. Arts 16 353 I visited him as a man of desert.
1840 T. B. Macaulay in Edinb. Rev. Jan. 357 Ordinary criminal justice knows nothing of set-off. The greatest desert cannot be pleaded in answer to a charge of the slightest transgression.
c. personified.
ΚΠ
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 38 To hinder Desert from any place of eminencie.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxvi. sig. E2v To behold desert a begger borne, And needie Nothing trimd in iollitie. View more context for this quotation
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xii. 234 Desert may not touch His shoe-tie.
2.
a. An action or quality that deserves its appropriate recompense; that in conduct or character which claims reward or deserves punishment. Usually in plural (often = 1).
ΚΠ
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 1218 (1267) If thi grace passe alle oure desertis.
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 154 He mote..Se the desertes of his men.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 2 Cor. v. f. li As euery mans deseartes haue been.., suche shall his rewarde be.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. v. 56 Punisshing thoffendour vnder his desertes.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 42 That neither himselfe nor the olde beaten soldiers might be rewarded according to their desarts.
1782 W. Cowper Let. 6 Mar. (1981) II. 30 The characters of great men, which are always mysterious while they live..sooner or later receive the wages of Fame or Infamy according to their true deserts.
1861 J. S. Mill Utilitarianism v. 92 To do to each according to his deserts.
b. A good deed or quality; a worthy or meritorious action; a merit. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > merit > [noun]
earningOE
meritc1230
meeda1387
ablenessa1425
meedfulness1530
meriting1549
desert1563
deservednessa1628
deservingness1631
meritoriousness1639
premiability1675
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > [noun] > right action or well-doing > the doing of good deeds > a good deed
goodeOE
gooddeedOE
goodnessOE
good workOE
almosec1330
benefit1377
goodshipa1393
alms-deed1425
alms?a1439
desert1563
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. ii. pr. vii. 56 Or doon goode decertes to profit of þe comune.]
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Rogation Week i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 472 Alwaies to render him thanks..for his deserts unto us.
1656 J. Smith Myst. Rhetorique Unvail'd 143 It..serves for Amplification, when, after a great crime, or desert, exclaimed upon or extolled, it gives a moral note.
3. That which is deserved; a due reward or recompense, whether good or evil. Often in to get, have, meet with one's deserts.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > deserving (good or ill) > that which is deserved
i-wurhtc888
addlingc1175
wrightc1175
meritc1230
desert1393
demerit1399
condignity1653
comeuppance1859
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > reward or a reward > [noun] > due reward
desert1393
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. iv. 293 Mede and mercede..boþe men demen A desert for som doynge.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxvii. 98 For god gyueth to euery one the deserte of his meryte.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lix. 204 I shall nother ete nor drynke tyll thou hast thy dysert.
1599 Warning for Faire Women ii. 1508 Upon a pillory..that al the world may see, A just desert for such impiety.
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. ii. 74 But give to each his due desert.
1756 E. Burke Vindic. Nat. Society 88 Whether the greatest Villain breathing shall meet his Deserts.
1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. i. 10 This is the proper desert of Sin.
1853 C. Brontë Villette III. xliii. 341 I think I deserved strong reproof; but when have we our deserts?
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 41 ‘He has got his deserts’, said Joconda.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
desertn.2
/ˈdɛzət/, U.S. /ˈdɛzərt/ 1. An uninhabited and uncultivated tract of country; a wilderness:† b. formerly applied more widely to any wild, uninhabited region, including forest-land. Obsolete.
a. now conceived as a desolate, barren region, waterless and treeless, and with but scanty growth of herbage;—e.g. the Desert of Sahara, Desert of the Wanderings, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > barren land or desert
desert?c1225
bare1683
slate-land1733
barren1784
mesquite1834
badlands1850
hardscrabble1859
pindan1888
in (also up) the blue1963
wasteland1966
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [noun] > emptiness > empty or desolate region
desert?c1225
wilderness1594
wasteland1966
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 162 In þe deseart..he lette ham þolien wa inoch.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2770 Moyses was..In ðe deserd depe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 6533 Quen he [sc. Moses] was comen into dissert.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 5840 Lat mi folk a-parte Pass, to worschip me in desarte [Vesp. desert, Fairf. dishert].
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope 2 He doubted to be robbed within the desertys of Arabe.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 65 Barren Mountaines, Sand and salty Desarts.
1701 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 3) i. 90 More parch'd than the Desarts of Lybia.
1768 J. Boswell Acct. Corsica (ed. 2) ii. 117 [tr. Tacitus] Where they make a desart, they call it peace.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 70 She..fluttered, and flattered—but all was preaching to the desart.
1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul Introd. 19 He could live in his desart and hunt his deer.
1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. viii. 27 (note) The ‘ship of the desart’ is the Oriental figure for the camel or dromedary.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) i. 64 The Desert..a wild waste of pebbly soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun]
westerneOE
weste landOE
wastinea1175
westec1175
wastec1200
wildernc1200
wildernessc1200
wildernessc1230
warlottc1290
forestc1320
wastyc1325
deserta1398
wastern?a1400
wildnessa1513
the wilds of1600
vastness1605
vastacy1607
roughet1616
wild1637
wildland1686
bush1780
wastage1823
mesquite1834
wasteland1887
mulga1896
virgin bush1905
boondock1944
boonies1954
virgin land1955
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xiv. li. 721 Places of wodes and of mounteyns þat ben nouȝt ysowe ben yclepid desertes.
?c1510 tr. Newe Landes & People founde by Kynge of Portyngale sig. Diiv In our lande is also a grete deserte or forest.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 110 In this desert inaccessible, Vnder the shade of melancholly boughes. View more context for this quotation
1642 J. Denham Cooper's Hill 12 Cities in Desarts, woods in Cities plants.
1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 69 Moors covered with whinberry bushes..A more uninteresting desert cannot be conceived.
2. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. iv. 748 To roam the howling desart of the main.
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour 29 The leafless desart of the mind.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 752 What in monastic language is called a desert; by which term an establishment is designated where those brethren whose piety flies the highest pitch may at once enjoy the advantages of the eremite and the discipline of the coenobite life.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire v. 230 The middle age between himself and the polytheism of the Empire was a parched desert to him.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [noun] > deserted condition
desertnessa1400
desolationc1460
deserta1500
vastity1545
desolatenessa1626
wastefulness1674
desertedness1818
desertion1876
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin iii. 59 He was in a waste contree full of diserte.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cclxxxiv. 424 The distructyon and conquest of the cytie of Lymoges, and how it was left clene voyde as a towne of desert.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > member of genus Vanellus > vanellus vanellus (lapwing) > group of
desert1486
1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj b A Desserte of Lapwyngs.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xiii. 311/1 A Desart of Lapwings and Plover.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
desert-air n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > [noun] > air in any specific place or at specific time
desert-air1751
atmosphere1766
airshed1921
1751 T. Gray Elegy xiv. 8 And waste its sweetness on the desart Air.
desert-belt n.
ΚΠ
1913 R. Kipling Songs from Bks. 142 For he knows which fountain dries, behind which desert-belt.
desert-bird n.
ΚΠ
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour 29 The desart-bird, Whose beak unlocks her bosom's stream; To still her famish'd nestlings' scream.
desert-cave n.
ΚΠ
1885 W. B. Yeats in Dublin Univ. Rev. Sept. In gloom Of desert-caves.
desert-circle n.
ΚΠ
1879 E. Dowden Southey vii. 193 The desert-circle girded by the sky.
desert-dweller n.
ΚΠ
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 102 The desert-dweller met his path.
desert-folk n.
ΚΠ
1916 R. Graves Over the Brazier 15 Soft words of grace He spoke Unto lost desert-folk.
desert-pelican n.
ΚΠ
1845 C. Norton Child of Islands 113 A desert-pelican whose heart's best blood Oozed in slow drops.
desert-ranger n.
ΚΠ
1822 J. Montgomery Songs of Zion 61 Arabia's desert-ranger To Him shall bow the knee.
desert-troop n.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iv. i. 140 The brackish cup Drained by a desart-troop.
b. Locative and instrumental.
desert-bred adj.
ΚΠ
1862 M. L. Whately Ragged Life Egypt (1863) x. 88 It [is] hard for any who are not desert-bred to find their way.
desert-frequenting adj.
ΚΠ
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It v. 52 The desert-frequenting tribes of Indians.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 10/2 This species (Varanus griseus) is a large, desert-frequenting lizard.
1906 West. Gaz. 1 Oct. 4/3 The kiang [sc. wild ass] is a desert-frequenting species.
desert-haunting adj.
ΚΠ
1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 112 From its pale coloration this Pipit might be considered a desert-haunting bird.
desert-locked adj.
ΚΠ
1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) xxii. 384 These desert-locked and remote countries.
desert-wearied adj.
ΚΠ
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xli. 163 The desert-wearied tribes.
desert-worn adj.
ΚΠ
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer I. ix. 124 Sun-burned and desert-worn passengers.
c. Similative.
(a)
desert-world n.
ΚΠ
1833 D. Rock Hierurgia I. ii. i. 191 Pilgrimage through this desert-world.
(b)
desert-brown adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > other browns
umberc1568
Spanish brown1660
earth colour1688
raw umber1702
iron brown1714
clove-brown1794
raw sienna1797
wood-brown1805
moorit1809
coffee1815
oak1815
burnt almond1850
Vandyke brown1850
Turk's head1853
catechu brown1860
oak brown1860
mummy brown1861
walnut-brown1865
Havana1873
havana brown1875
wax-brown1887
box1889
nutria1897
caramel1909
wallflower brown1913
cigar1923
desert-brown1923
sunburn1923
tobacco1923
maple1926
butterscotch1927
walnut1934
snuff1951
mink1955
toffee1960
sludge1962
earth-tone1973
1923 Daily Mail 5 Mar. 13 Nigger, Regal Blue, Grey, Desert Brown.
desert-grey adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] > other greys
pewtery1776
elephant1875
desert-grey1901
1901 Westm. Gaz. 2 Jan. 2/1 Two stalwart sportsmen with..their desert-grey hounds gliding near them.
desert-like adj.
ΚΠ
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 441 In the Desart-like wildernes.
desert-long adj.
ΚΠ
1932 W. H. Auden Orators iii Spare us the numbing zero-hour, The desert-long retreat.
desert looking adj.
ΚΠ
1844 tr. M. T. Asmar Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 121 A sandy desert-looking tract.
C2.
desert boot n. (see quot. 1948).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > low, short, or small > boots
skitty-bats1882
desert boot1948
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 54 Desert boots, brown boots reaching either halfway up the ankle or to just over it and tightly laced; they had crepe soles and, made of suede or of reversed calf, they did not need to be polished.
1964 Listener 12 Nov. 764/2 He was wearing suede desert boots.
desert-chough n. a bird of the genus Podoces, family Corvidæ, found in the desert regions of central Asia.
desert-falcon n. a species of falcon inhabiting deserts and prairies, a member of the sub-genus Gennæa, allied to the peregrines.
desert island n. an uninhabited, or seemingly uninhabited, and remote island; also attributive and figurative, esp. (of equipment, cultural objects, or behaviour) suited to the social isolation and limited baggage allowance of a castaway on a desert island.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > island > [noun] > other
desert island1607
holt1611
sister isle1612
atoll1625
floating island1638
sister island1659
tropical island1769
artificial island1775
home island1806
wooden island1808
fire-isle1817
coral-island1831
thrum cap1832
branch-island1834
island-continent1872
off-island1880
hover1892
phosphate island1909
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 13 They were driuen to a coast vnnauigable, where were many desart Islandes inhabited of wilde men.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. (Laslett ed.) II. §14 The Promises and Bargains for Truck, &c between the two Men in the Desert Island..are binding to them, though they are perfectly in a State of Nature.
1743 F. Sheridan Let. 16 Nov. in Private Corresp. D. Garrick (1831) I. 17 To something worse than the desert Island.
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. i. 337 It is like having all the Spaniards and savages spoiling Robinson Crusoe's desert island!
1922 C. E. Montague Disenchantment xiii. 175 All castaways together, all really marooned on the one desert island.
1930 F. B. Young Jim Redlake iii. v. 376 I always except the Meistersinger. I think I should choose it as my desert-island opera.
1939 Mind 48 156 I find that desert-island morality always rouses suspicion among ordinary men.
1942 Radio Times 23 Jan. 15/4 ‘Desert Island Discs’... Vic Oliver discusses with Roy Plomley the eight records he would choose if he were condemned to spend the rest of his life on a desert island with a gramophone for his entertainment.
desert-lark n.
ΚΠ
1883 C. F. Gordon Cumming in 19th Cent. Aug. 302 Desert-larks, wheat-ears, and other..birds do their best to diminish the locusts.
desert-lemon n. Australian a rutaceous tree, Eremocitrus glauca ( Atalantia glauca), bearing a small acid fruit.
ΚΠ
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 8 Atalantia glauca,..‘Native Kumquat’, ‘Desert Lemon’.
desert oak n. Australian (see oak n. 5b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > Australian or New Zealand oak
oak1789
she-oak1792
river oak1817
shingle-oak1818
New Zealand oak1835
swamp-oak1837
he-oak1844
river she-oak1872
forest-oak1882
bull oak1884
desert oak1896
1896 B. Spencer in Rep. Horn Exped. i. 49 We had now come into the region of the ‘Desert Oak’ (Casuarina Decaisneania).
desert-pea n. Clianthus dampieri, a native of the desert parts of Australia, with bright scarlet flowers (Miller Plant-n. 1884).
ΚΠ
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Desert-pea.
1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life 91 She had revelled in the audacious black-and-scarlet glory of the desert pea.
1929 K. S. Prichard Coonardoo 217 It was a good season, the desert pea scarlet under the mulga.
1967 A. M. Blombery Guide Native Austral. Plants 101 (caption) Clianthus formosus (Sturt's Desert Pea).
desert polish n. the polish imparted to rocks or other hard surfaces by the friction of the windblown sand of the desert.
ΚΠ
1903 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) I. iii. ii. i. 436 On the sandy plains of Wyoming, Utah, and the adjacent territories, surfaces even of such hard materials as chalcedony are etched into furrows and wrinkles, acquiring at the same time a peculiar and characteristic glaze (‘desert-polish’).
1903 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) II. 1425/1 Desert-polish or varnish.
Desert Rat n. colloquial a soldier of the 7th (British) armoured division, whose divisional sign was the figure of a jerboa, and which took part in the desert campaign in North Africa (1941–2).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier of specific force or unit > [noun]
spahi1562
legionnaire1595
strelitz1603
Croat1623
deli1667
Croatian1700
lancer1712
highlander1725
lambs1744
royals1762
light-bob1778
fly-slicer1785
Life Guardsman1785
royals?1795
Hottentot1796
yeoman1798
pandour1800
Faugh-a-Ballaghsc1811
forty-two man1816
kilty1842
Zouave1848
bumblerc1850
Inniskilliner1853
blue cap1857
turco1860
Zou-Zou1860
mudlark1878
king's man1883
Johnny1888
Piffer1892
evzone1897
horse gunner1897
dink1906
army ranger1910
grognard1912
Jock1914
chocolate soldier1915
Cook's tourist1915
dinkum1916
Anzaca1918
choc1917
ranger1942
Chindit1943
Desert Rat1944
Green Beret1949
1944 in Shorter Oxf. Eng. Dict. Add. (1956) 2487/3 As we stewed our tea—desert-rat style.
1945 W. S. Churchill Victory (1946) 217 Dear Desert Rats, may your glory ever shine.
1958 Times 17 Apr. 11/4 The desert rat insignia will continue to be worn by all officers and men of the 7th Armoured Brigade Group.
desert-rod n. a genus of labiate plants ( Eremostachys) from the Caucasus ( Treasury Bot.).
desert-ship n. ‘ship of the desert’, the camel or dromedary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > family Camelidae (camel) > [noun]
olfendeOE
camelc950
oont1815
ship of the desert1823
desert-ship1824
cameloid1888
humpy1934
1824 Ld. Byron Deformed Transformed i. i. 116 The..patient swiftness of the desert ship, The helmless dromedary!
1840 T. Hood in New Monthly Mag. Aug. 530 That Desart-ship the Camel of the East.
desert-snake n. a serpent of the family Psammophidæ, a sand-snake.
desert varnish n. a dark-coloured film composed of iron and manganese oxides, usually with some silica, deposited on exposed rocks in the desert and becoming polished by wind abrasion.
ΚΠ
1904 C. R. Van Hise Treat. Metamorphism (U.S. Geol. Surv.) 547 In arid regions the hardened film has frequently been smoothed by the wind-blown sand, so as to present a polished surface. Such polished hardened films are known as ‘desert varnish’.
1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. xiii. 270 The loose salts are blown away, but oxides of iron, accompanied by traces of manganese and other similar oxides, form a red, brown, or black film which is firmly retained. The surfaces of long-exposed rocks and pebbles thus acquire a characteristic coat of ‘desert varnish’.
1970 R. J. Small Study of Landforms ix. 294 Capillary rise is associated with the chemical breakdown of the interior of large boulders and the deposition of a hard crust of ‘desert varnish’..on their surface.
Draft additions June 2001
Desert Storm syndrome n. [ < the name of Operation Desert Storm, the Allied forces' land campaign in the 1991 Gulf War + syndrome n.] = Gulf War Syndrome n. (b) at gulf n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1991 Washington Post (Nexis) 7 Apr. d3 ‘What's the point?’ the eyes of the Kurds seem to say. I leave alone, rolling through the mud and rain with my own unsettled thoughts... I call them the Desert Storm Syndrome.]
1991 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 1 Aug. b13 If the gulf war was our chance to throw off the ‘Vietnam War syndrome’, we are left to wonder how we should now regard the ‘Desert Storm syndrome’.
1993 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 17 July 3 A number of veterans who were involved in the ground offensive were now suffering Desert Storm Syndrome, with physical symptoms ranging from weight and hair loss to headaches and skin disorders.
1995 Independent on Sunday 12 Feb. (Review Suppl.) 4/2 In America, Desert Storm syndrome sufferers are so convinced that chemical weapons might have contributed to their illness that they are mounting a $1bn lawsuit against a consortium of chemical companies.
Draft additions September 2013
desert ironwood n. a shrub or small tree of the southwestern United States, Olneya tesota (family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae)); (also) the dense, durable wood of this shrub or tree, used for making knife and tool handles.
ΚΠ
1882 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 4 Feb. One of the hardest woods in existence is that of the desert ironwood tree, which grows in the dry washes along the line of the Southern Pacific Rail road.
1941 E. H. Graham Legumes for Erosion Control & Wildlife 83 Tesota..is also known as desert ironwood and occurs in desert drainageways from Arizona to southern California.
1994 Chile Pepper Dec. 8/3 Dr. Nabhan has discovered that the seeds of mesquite and desert ironwood are effective in controlling the blood sugar level of diabetics.
2009 S. Shackleford Blade's Guide to Knives & Their Values 555 Elk stag, white melamine or desert ironwood [handles] were also available.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
desertadj.
/ˈdɛzət/, U.S. /ˈdɛzərt/ 1. Deserted, forsaken, abandoned. archaic.Sometimes as past participle: cf. desert v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [adjective] > forsaken
forsakenc1305
abandoned1477
desert1480
forlorn1535
waived1577
forlorn1579
deserted1629
relinquished1635
derelict1649
desolated1803
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi. 233 Wyde clothes destytut and desert from al old honeste and good vsage.
?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. xvi. sig. S.iij Noemy had ben a wydowe and deserte in dede.
1633 P. Fletcher Elisa 118 in Purple Island Her desert self and now cold lord lamenting.
1774 S. Wesley in Westm. Mag. 2 654 When..lies desert the monumented clay.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. i. 69 As through the gardens desert paths I rove.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise i. 254 In that wan place desert of hope and fear.
2. Uninhabited, unpeopled, desolate, lonely.In modern usage this sense and 3 are frequently combined.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > [adjective] > not
unbiggedc1175
desert1297
void1338
desolatec1374
unhabited1490
inhabitable?1529
disinhabit1530
depopulate1531
uninhabita1540
unpeopled1547
undwelta1557
uninhabited1571
dishabited1577
dispeopled1577
unhabit1580
disinhabited1600
desertful1601
unmanned1609
inhabited1614
peopleless1621
deserted1629
depopulated1632
unhabitated1648
unseated1662
desolated1693
unpopulous1715
unsettled1724
unpopulated1776
bandless1862
populationless1885
unlived-in1927
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. 232 Þe decyples..Byleuede in a wyldernesse..Þat me clepuþ nou Glastynbury, þat desert was þo.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Cant. 514 He fand him in land deserte.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ii. f. vv This Ile wt Geauntes whylom inhabyt..Nowe beynge deserte.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 127 They seeke the secretest and desartest places that may be.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 52 When Deucalion hurl'd His Mother's Entrails on the desart World. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 85. ¶2 Fallen asleep in a Desart Wood.
1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 41 The desert and illimitable air.
3. Uncultivated and unproductive, barren, waste; of the nature of a desert.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > barren or desert
barren1377
desert1393
bleaka1552
blunt1553
foodless1581
bleach1598
landless1606
desertuous1632
bald1642
bleaky1687
parsimonious1713
Saharan1849
deserty1891
Saharic1892
Saharian1897
desertic1936
scalded1936
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 158 Prodegalite..is the moder of pouerte, Wherof the londes ben deserte.
c1460 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (1885) xiii The contre..was tho almost diserte ffor lakke off tillers.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 52 The Countrey..is desart, sterile and full of loose sand.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 126 A thirsty train That long have travel'd through a desart plain. View more context for this quotation
1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 17 Nov. (1965) I. 280 The Kingdom of Bohemia is the most desart of any I have seen in Germany.
1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VI. li. 243 A cross-road leading over a desert arid tract.
4. figurative. Dry, uninteresting. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > dull
tedious1412
weary1549
plumbeousa1586
ungayed1670
deserta1674
prosaic1692
pedestrian1716
languishing1741
unglittering1813
prosy1837
urned1849
monotone1862
bluebooky1872
stodgy1874
pedestrial1941
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) Pref. sig. A3v To save the Reader a far longer travaile of wandring through so many desert Authours.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
desertv.
/dᵻˈzəːt/, U.S. /dəˈzərt/, /diˈzərt/ 1. transitive. To abandon, forsake, relinquish, give up (a thing); to depart from (a place or position).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [verb (transitive)] > forsake
forlet971
beleavec1175
letc1175
forleavec1225
forsakea1300
waivec1330
forgoa1400
forhowa1400
sakea1400
forloinc1400
forlesec1460
abandonc1475
destitute1530
aband1587
bandon1587
leese1590
linquish1591
desert1603
derelicta1631
1603 in J. Grant Hist. Burgh Schools Scotl. (1876) ii. xiii. 365 He..was resoluit to obey God calling him thairto, and to leave and desert the said school.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 175 He that deserteth the Means, deserteth the Ends.
1718 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad IV. xiv. 488 His slacken'd Hand deserts the Lance it bore.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 392 The languid eye, the cheek Deserted of its bloom.
c1790 J. Willock Voy. diverse parts 250 We resolved to run every risk rather than desert her [a ship].
1798 H. Skrine Two Tours Wales 6 Here deserting its banks, we climbed the hills.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 8 Here..Plato seems prepared to desert his ancient ground.
1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. ii. 36 Such a plant would soon be deserted.
2. † d. To fall short of (a standard). Obsolete. rare.
a. To forsake (a person, institution, cause, etc. having moral or legal claims upon one); spec. of a soldier or sailor: To quit without permission, run away from (the service, his colours, ship, post of duty, commander, or comrades).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > undutifulness > [verb (transitive)] > person or duty
desert1654
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose or intention [verb (transitive)] > desert/renounce a cause, principle, or person
withsayc960
forsakec1175
renayc1300
waive1303
to waive from1303
allayc1330
to fall from ——c1350
relinquish1454
forlesec1460
to give over1477
missake1481
return1483
guerpe1484
abrenounce1537
to turn the back uponc1540
renege1548
forspeak1565
recant1567
reject1574
abnegate1616
abrenunciate1618
derelinque1623
ejurate1623
to give one the backa1624
derelinquisha1631
ejure1642
delinquish1645
desert1654
deviate1757
to give up1970
society > armed hostility > military service > make into soldier [verb (transitive)] > desert
desert1791
1654 tr. M. Martini Bellum Tartaricum 182 Kiangus seeing himself deserted of the Tartars..returned to the City.
1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 277 The Dutch that sometimes desert us, and go over to the King of Candi.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. ii. 87 His Affection to the Church so notorious, that he never deserted it.
c1790 J. Willock Voy. diverse parts 175 The christian merchants..totally deserted him.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. xii. 203 The offence you have committed by deserting your post.
1891 Sir H. C. Lopes in Law Times' Rep. 65 603/1 A husband deserts his wife if he wilfully absents himself from her society, in spite of her wish.
b. To abandon or give up to something. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [verb (transitive)] > leave (behind) > leave to something
desert1658
1658 J. Webb tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 8th Pt. ii. 53 The Princesse..deserted her soul to the most violent effects of Passion.
1673 J. Milton True Relig. in Wks. (1847) 563/2 It cannot be imagined that God would desert such painful and zealous labourers..to damnable errours.
1812 W. S. Landor Count Julian in Wks. (1846) II. 508 Gracious God! Desert me to my sufferings, but sustain My faith in Thee!
c. Of powers or faculties: To fail so as to disappoint the needs or expectations of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail to [verb (transitive)] > be ineffective or fail to support (a person)
desert1667
rat1932
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 563 Wisdom..deserts thee not. View more context for this quotation
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. x. 233 The infallibility of the Holy Father had..deserted him.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 260 In the presence of Socrates, his thoughts seem to desert him.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail in [verb (transitive)] > fail to satisfy expectation, etc. > fall short of
to come short of1570
to fall short of1590
undershoota1661
desert1664
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 91 The Quicksilver..will not much desert nor surmount the determinate height..of 29 inches.
3. intransitive (or absol.) To forsake one's duty, one's post, or one's party; esp. of a soldier or sailor: To quit or run away from the service in violation of oath or allegiance.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military service > serve as a soldier [verb (intransitive)] > desert
desert1689
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > undutifulness > [verb (intransitive)] > by deserting
shrink1553
defect1596
desert1689
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > run away or flee > desert one's place or position
outrage1447
startc1540
desert1689
to take water1846
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose [verb (intransitive)] > desert one's party or principles
declinec1374
starta1450
revert?a1525
to fall away1535
to turn (one's) tippet1546
revolt1549
shrink1553
to turn one's coat1565
to come over1576
apostate1596
to change (one's) sides1596
defect1596
renegade1611
to change foot1618
to run over1643
to face about1645
apostatize1648
tergiverse1675
tergiversate1678
desert1689
apostasize1696
renegado1731
rat1810
to cross the floor1822
turncoat1892
to take (the) soup1907
turn1977
1689 Jrnl. Ho. Lords The Lords Spiritual..who Deserted (not Protested) against the Vote in the House of Peers.
1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. 247 Hannibal finding his Souldiers desert.
1792 Gentleman's Mag. 62 i. 561 The fourth regiment..deserted in a body with their Colonel at their head.
1803 F. W. Blagdon tr. P. S. Pallas Trav. Southern Provinces Russ. Empire II. 299 The Kozaks.. deserted to the Turks [Ger. zu den Türken übergegangenen].
1840 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lvii. 230 He deserted in the midst of the battle.
4. Scots Law.
a. transitive 1500s desert.) To relinquish altogether, or to put off for the time (a suit or ‘diet’); to prorogue (Parliament).
ΚΠ
1539 Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) 353 (Jam.) That this present parliament proceide..quhill it pleiss the kingis grace that the samin be desert.
1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 251 For deserting a Diet, or assoilizieing a Pannel.
1773 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. II. iv. (Jam.) If any of the executions appear informal, the court deserts the diet.
1861 G. Ross W. Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev. ed.) at Desertion To desert the diet simpliciter..will..put a stop to all further proceedings.
b. intransitive. To cease to have legal force, become inoperative.
ΚΠ
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 152 Thair foir that the saidis lettres sould desert in thameselff.
Derivatives
deˈserting n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military service > [adjective] > deserting
deserting1646
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > [noun] > deserting a person or thing
forsakingc1320
leaving1526
desertion1591
relinquishment1593
deserting1646
1646 J. Whitaker Danger of Greatnesse 23 His just deserting of them.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite iii, in Fables 64 Bought Senates, and deserting Troops are mine.
1883 Times 27 Aug. 3/6 Colonel Rubalcaba..almost single-handed, had pursued his deserting regiment.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11297
n.2?c1225
adj.1297v.1539- engine wiper
- engine work
- engine-kelson
- engine-lathe
- engine-like
- engine-out
- engine-room artificer
- engine-size
- engine-sized
- engine-stone
- engine-turned
- engine-wright
- engined
- engineer
- engineer of mines
- engineer's yeoman
- engineer-general
- engineerable
- engineered
- engineergeneral
- engineering
- engineering branch
- engineering brick
- engineering ceramics
- engineering geology