Chapter CXXXIX: Conclusion: Con*clu"sion, n. Etym: F., fr. L. conclusio. See Conclude (48)

1. A falling in drops, or the sound so made.

2. That which falls in drops, as fat from meat in roasting. Dripping pan, a pan for receiving the fat which drips from meat in roasting.

DRIPPLE Drip"ple, a. Etym: [From Drip, cf. Dribble.]

Defn: Weak or rare. [Obs.]

DRIPSTONE Drip"stone`, n. (Arch.)

Defn: A drip, when made of stone. See Drip, 2.

DRIVE Drive, v. t. [imp. Drove, formerly Drave (p. p. Driven; p. pr. & vb. n. Driving.] Etym: [AS. drifan; akin to OS. driban, D. drijven, OHG. triban, G. treiben, Icel. drifa, Goth. dreiban. Cf. Drift, Drove.]

1. To impel or urge onward by force in a direction away from one, or along before one; to push forward; to compel to move on; to communicate motion to; as, to drive cattle; to drive a nail; smoke drives persons from a room. A storm came on and drove them into Pylos. Jowett (Thucyd. ). Shield pressed on shield, and man drove man along. Pope. Go drive the deer and drag the finny prey. Pope.

2. To urge on and direct the motions of, as the beasts which draw a vehicle, or the vehicle borne by them; hence, also, to take in a carriage; to convey in a vehicle drawn by beasts; as, to drive a pair of horses or a stage; to drive a person to his own door. How . . . proud he was to drive such a brother! Thackeray.

3. To urge, impel, or hurry forward; to force; to constrain; to urge, press, or bring to a point or state; as, to drive person by necessity, by persuasion, by force of circumstances, by argument, and the like. " Enough to drive one mad." Tennyson. He, driven to dismount, threatened, if I did not do the like, to do as much for my horse as fortune had done for his. Sir P. Sidney.

4. To carry or; to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute. [Now used only colloquially.] Bacon. The trade of life can not be driven without partners. Collier.

5. To clear, by forcing away what is contained. To drive the country, force the swains away. Dryden.

6. (Mining)

Defn: To dig Horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel. Tomlinson.

7. To pass away; -- said of time. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Note: Drive, in all its senses, implies forcible or violent action. It is the reverse of to lead. To drive a body is to move it by applying a force behind; to lead is to cause to move by applying the force before, or in front. It takes a variety of meanings, according to the objects by which it is followed; as, to drive an engine, to direct and regulate its motions; to drive logs, to keep them in the current of a river and direct them in their course; to drive feathers or down, to place them in a machine, which, by a current of air, drives off the lightest to one end, and collects them by themselves. "My thrice-driven bed of down." Shak.

DRIVE Drive, v. i.

1. To rush and press with violence; to move furiously. Fierce Boreas drove against his flying sails. Dryden. Under cover of the night and a driving tempest. Prescott. Time driveth onward fast, And in a little while our lips are dumb. Tennyson.

2. To be forced along; to be impelled; to be moved by any physical force or agent; to be driven. The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn. Byron. The chaise drives to Mr. Draper's chambers. Thackeray.

3. To go by carriage; to pass in a carriage; to proceed by directing or urging on a vehicle or the animals that draw it; as, the coachman drove to my door.

4. To press forward; to aim, or tend, to a point; to make an effort; to strive; -- usually with at. Let them therefore declare what carnal or secular interest he drove at. South.

5. To distrain for rent. [Obs.] To let drive, to aim a blow; to strike with force; to attack. "Four rogues in buckram let drive at me." Shak.

DRIVE Drive, p. p.

Defn: Driven. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DRIVE Drive, n.

1. The act of driving; a trip or an excursion in a carriage, as for exercise or pleasure; -- distinguished from a ride taken on horseback.

2. A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving.

3. Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; esp., a forced or hurried dispatch of business. The Murdstonian drive in business. M. Arnold.

4. In type founding and forging, an impression or matrix, formed by a punch drift.

5. A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river. [Colloq.]

Syn. -- See Ride.

DRIVEBOLT Drive"bolt`, n.

Defn: A drift; a tool for setting bolts home.

DRIVEL Driv"el, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Driveled or Drivelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Driveling or Drivelling.] Etym: [Cf. OE. dravelen, drabelen, drevelen, drivelen, to slaver, and E. drabble. Cf. Drool.]

1. To slaver; to let spittle drop or flow from the mouth, like a child, idiot, or dotard.

2. Etym: [Perh. a different word: cf. Icel. drafa to talk thick.]

Defn: To be weak or foolish; to dote; as, a driveling hero; driveling love. Shak. Dryden.

DRIVEL Driv"el, n.

1. Slaver; saliva flowing from the mouth.

2. Inarticulate or unmeaning utterance; foolish talk; babble.

3. A driveler; a fool; an idiot. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.

4. A servant; a drudge. [Obs.] Huloet.

DRIVELER Driv"el*er, n.

Defn: A slaverer; a slabberer; an idiot; a fool. [Written also driveller.]

DRIVEN Driv"en, p. p.

Defn: of Drive. Also adj. Driven well, a well made by driving a tube into the earth to an aqueous stratum; -- called also drive well.

DRIVEPIPE Drive"pipe`, n.

Defn: A pipe for forcing into the earth.

DRIVER Driv"er, n. Etym: [From Drive.]

1. One who, or that which, drives; the person or thing that urges or compels anything else to move onward.

2. The person who drives beasts or a carriage; a coachman; a charioteer, etc.; hence, also, one who controls the movements of a locomotive.

3. An overseer of a gang of slaves or gang of convicts at their work.

4. (Mach.)

Defn: A part that transmits motion to another part by contact with it, or through an intermediate relatively movable part, as a gear which drives another, or a lever which moves another through a link, etc. Specifically: (a) The driving wheel of a locomotive. (b) An attachment to a lathe, spindle, or face plate to turn a carrier. (c) A crossbar on a grinding mill spindle to drive the upper stone.

5. (Naut.)

Defn: The after sail in a ship or bark, being a fore-and-aft sail attached to a gaff; a spanker. Totten. Driver ant (Zoöl.), a species of African stinging ant; one of the visiting ants (Anomma arcens); -- so called because they move about in vast armies, and drive away or devour all insects and other small animals.

DRIVEWAY Drive"way` (, n.

Defn: A passage or way along or through which a carriage may be driven.

DRIVING Driv"ing, a.

1. Having great force of impulse; as, a driving wind or storm.

2. Communicating force; impelling; as, a driving shaft. Driving axle, the axle of a driving wheel, as in a locomotive. -- Driving box (Locomotive), the journal box of a driving axle. See Illust. of Locomotive. -- Driving note (Mus.), a syncopated note; a tone begun on a weak part of a measure and held through the next accented part, thus anticipating the accent and driving it through. -- Driving spring, a spring fixed upon the box of the driving axle of a locomotive engine to support the weight and deaden shocks. [Eng.] Weale. -- Driving wheel (Mach.), a wheel that communicates motion; one of the large wheels of a locomotive to which the connecting rods of the engine are attached; -- called also, simply, driver. See Illust. of Locomotive.

DRIVING Driv"ing, n.

1. The act of forcing or urging something along; the act of pressing or moving on furiously.

2. Tendency; drift. [R.]

DRIZZLE Driz"zle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drizzled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drizzling.] Etym: [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]

Defn: To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. "Drizzling tears." Spenser.

DRIZZLE Driz"zle, v. t.

Defn: To shed slowly in minute drops or particles. "The air doth drizzle dew." Shak.

DRIZZLE Driz"zle, n.

Defn: Fine rain or mist. Halliwell.

DRIZZLY Driz"zly, a.

Defn: Characterized by small rain, or snow; moist and disagreeable. "Winter's drizzly reign." Dryden.

DROCK Drock, n.

Defn: A water course. [Prov. Eng.]

DROFLAND; DRYFLAND Drof"land, Dryf"land, n. Etym: [See Drove.] (Law)

Defn: An ancient yearly payment made by some tenants to the king, or to their landlords, for the privilege of driving their cattle through a manor to fairs or markets. Cowell.

DROGHER Dro"gher, n. Etym: [Cf. Drag.]

Defn: A small craft used in the West India Islands to take off sugars, rum, etc., to the merchantmen; also, a vessel for transporting lumber, cotton, etc., coastwise; as, a lumber drogher. [Written also droger.] Ham. Nar. Encyc.

DROGMAN; DROGOMAN Drog"man, Drog"o*man, n.

Defn: See Dragoman.

DROGUE Drogue, n. (Naut.)

Defn: See Drag, n.,

6, and Drag sail, under Drag, n.

DROH Droh, imp.

Defn: of Draw. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DROIL Droil, v. i. Etym: [D. druilen to mope.]

Defn: To work sluggishly or slowly; to plod. [Obs.]

DROIL Droil, n. Etym: [D. druil sluggard. Cf. Droll.]

1. A drudge. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

2. Mean labor; toil.[Obs.]

DROIT Droit, n. Etym: [F. See Direct.]

Defn: A right; law in its aspect of the foundation of rights; also, in old law, the writ of right. Abbott. Droit d'aubaine. See under Aubaine. -- Droits of the Admiralty (Eng. Law), rights or perquisites of the Admiralty, arising from seizure of an enemy's ships in port on the breaking out of war, or those coming into port in ignorance of hostilities existing, or from such ships as are taken by noncommissioned captors; also, the proceeds of wrecks, and derelict property at sea. The droits of admiralty are now paid into the Exchequer for the public benefit.

DROITURAL Droi"tu*ral, a. (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: relating to the mere right of property, as distinguished from the right of possession; as, droitural actions. [Obs.] Burrill.

DROITZSCHKA Droitzsch"ka, n.

Defn: See Drosky.

DROLL Droll, a. [Compar. Droller; superl. Drollest.] Etym: [F. drôle; cf. G. & D. drollig, LG. drullig, D. drol a thick and short person, a droll, Sw. troll a magical appearance, demon, trolla to use magic arts, enchant, Dan. trold elf, imp, Icel. tröll giant, magician, evil spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. Trull.]

Defn: Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.

Syn. -- Comic; comical; farcical; diverting; humorous; ridiculous; queer; odd; waggish; facetious; merry; laughable; ludicrous. -- Droll, Laughable, Comical. Laughable is the generic term, denoting anything exciting laughter or worthy of laughter; comical denotes something of the kind exhibited in comedies, something humorous of the kind exhibited in comedies, something, as it were, dramatically humorous; droll stands lower on the scale, having reference to persons or things which excite laughter by their buffoonery or oddity. A laughable incident; a comical adventure; a droll story.

DROLL Droll, n.

1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. Prior.

2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.

DROLL Droll, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drolled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drolling.]

Defn: To jest; to play the buffoon. [R.]

DROLL Droll, v. t.

1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest; to cajole. Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them. L'Estrange.

2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. [R.] This drolling everything is rather fatiguing. W. D. Howells.

DROLLER Droll"er, n.

Defn: A jester; a droll. [Obs.] Glanvill.

DROLLERY Droll"er*y, n.; pl. Drolleries. Etym: [F. drôlerie. See Droll.]

1. The quality of being droll; sportive tricks; buffoonery; droll stories; comical gestures or manners. The rich drollery of "She Stoops to Conquer." Macaulay.

2. Something which serves to raise mirth; as: (a) A puppet show; also, a puppet. [Obs.] Shak. (b) A lively or comic picture. [Obs.] I bought an excellent drollery, which I afterward parted with to my brother George of Wotton. Evelyn.

DROLLINGLY Droll"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: In a jesting manner.

DROLLISH Droll"ish, a.

Defn: Somewhat droll. Sterne.

DROLLIST Droll"ist, n.

Defn: A droll. [R.] Glanvill.

DROMAEOGNATHOUS Dro`mæ*og"na*thous, a. Etym: [NL. dromaius emu + Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having the structure of the palate like that of the ostrich and emu.

DROMATHERIUM Drom`a*the"ri*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Dromedary.] (Paleon.)

Defn: A small extinct triassic mammal from North Carolina, the earliest yet found in America.

DROME Drome, n. Etym: [F., fr. Gr. Dromedary.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The crab plover (Dromas ardeola), a peculiar North African bird, allied to the oyster catcher.

DROMEDARY Drom"e*da*ry, n.; pl. Dromedaries. Etym: [F. dromadaire, LL. dromedarius, fr. L. dromas (sc. camelus), fr. Gr. dram to run.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius), having one hump or protuberance on the back, in distinction from the Bactrian camel, which has two humps.

Note: In Arabia and Egypt the name is restricted to the better breeds of this species of camel. See Deloul.

DROMOND; DROMON Drom"ond, or Drom"on. Etym: [OF. dromont, L. dromo, fr. Gr.Dromedary.]

Defn: In the Middle Ages, a large, fast-sailing galley, or cutter; a large, swift war vessel. [Hist. or Archaic] Fuller. The great dromond swinging from the quay. W. Morris.

DRONE Drone, n. Etym: [OE. drane a dronebee, AS. dran; akin to OS. dran, OHG. treno, G. drohne, Dan. drone, cf. Gr. Drone, v. i.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It gathers no honey. See Honeybee. All with united force combine to drive The lazy drones from the laborious hive. Dryden.

2. One who lives on the labors of others; a lazy, idle fellow; a sluggard. By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and unworthy member of so noble and learned a society. Burton.

3. That which gives out a grave or monotonous tone or dull sound; as: (a) A drum. [Obs.] Halliwell. (b) The part of the bagpipe containing the two lowest tubes, which always sound the key note and the fifth.

4. A humming or deep murmuring sound. The monotonous drone of the wheel. Longfellow.

5. (Mus.)

Defn: A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition.

DRONE Drone, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Droned; p. pr. & vb. n. Droning.] Etym: [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G. dröhnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Sw. dröna to bellow, drone, Dan. dröne, Goth. drunjus sound, Gr. dhran to sound. Cf. Drone, n.]

1. To utter or make a low, dull, monotonous, humming or murmuring sound. Where the beetle wheels his droning flight. T. Gray.

2. To love in idleness; to do nothing. "Race of droning kings." Dryden.

DRONE BEE Drone" bee`. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The male of the honeybee; a drone.

DRONE FLY Drone" fly`. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A dipterous insect (Eristalis tenax), resembling the drone bee. See Eristalis.

DRONEPIPE Drone"pipe`, n.

Defn: One of the low-toned tubes of a bagpipe.

DRONGO Dron"go, n.; pl. Drongos (. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A passerine bird of the family Dicruridæ. They are usually black with a deeply forked tail. They are natives of Asia, Africa, and Australia; -- called also drongo shrikes.

DRONISH Dron"ish, a.

Defn: Like a drone; indolent; slow. Burke. -- Dron"ish*ly, adv. -- Dron"ish*ness, n.

DRONKELEWE Dron"ke*lewe, a. Etym: [See Drink.]

Defn: Given to drink; drunken. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DRONTE Dron"te, n. Etym: [F.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The dodo.

DRONY Dron"y, a.

Defn: Like a drone; sluggish; lazy.

DROOL Drool, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drooled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drooling.] Etym: [Contr. fr. drivel.]

Defn: To drivel, or drop saliva; as, the child drools. His mouth drooling with texts. T. Parker.

DROOP Droop, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drooped; p. pr. & vb. n. Drooping.] Etym: [Icel. dr; akin to E. drop. See Drop.]

1. To hang bending downward; to sink or hang down, as an animal, plant, etc., from physical inability or exhaustion, want of nourishment, or the like. "The purple flowers droop." "Above her drooped a lamp." Tennyson. I saw him ten days before he died, and observed he began very much to droop and languish. Swift.

2. To grow weak or faint with disappointment, grief, or like causes; to be dispirited or depressed; to languish; as, her spirits drooped. I'll animate the soldier's drooping courage. Addison.

3. To proceed downward, or toward a close; to decline. "Then day drooped." Tennyson.

DROOP Droop, v. t.

Defn: To let droop or sink. [R.] M. Arnold. Like to a withered vine That droops his sapless branches to the ground. Shak.

DROOP Droop, n.

Defn: A drooping; as, a droop of the eye.

DROOPER Droop"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, droops.

DROOPINGLY Droop"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: In a drooping manner.

DROP Drop, n. Etym: [OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS. dropo, D. drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw. droppe; and Fr. AS. dreópan to drip, drop; akin to OS. driopan, D. druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel. drj. Cf. Drip, Droop.]

1. The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity; as, a drop of water. With minute drops from off the eaves. Milton. As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. Shak. That drop of peace divine. Keble.

2. That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes medicated), or a kind of shot or slug.

3. (Arch.) (a) Same as Gutta. (b) Any small pendent ornament.

4. Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering something; as: (a) A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself. (b) A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages, coal wagons, etc., to a ship's deck. (c) A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet. (d) A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage of a theater, etc. (e) A drop press or drop hammer. (f) (Mach.) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.

5. pl.

Defn: Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops; as, lavender drops.

6. (Naut.)

Defn: The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied to the courses only. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

7. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent. Ague drop, Black drop. See under Ague, Black. -- Drop by drop, in small successive quantities; in repeated portions. "Made to taste drop by drop more than the bitterness of death." Burke. -- Drop curtain. See Drop, n.,

4. (d). -- Drop forging. (Mech.) (a) A forging made in dies by a drop hammer. (b) The process of making drop forgings. -- Drop hammer (Mech.), a hammer for forging, striking up metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on an anvil or die. -- Drop kick (Football), a kick given to the ball as it rebounds after having been dropped from the hands. -- Drop lake, a pigment obtained from Brazil wood. Mollett. -- Drop letter, a letter to be delivered from the same office where posted. -- Drop press (Mech.), a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke hammer; -- also called drop. -- Drop scene, a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See Drop, n., 4. (d). -- Drop seed. (Bot.) See the List under Glass. -- Drop serene. (Med.) See Amaurosis.

DROP Drop, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dropped or Dropt; p. pr. & vb. n. Dropping.] Etym: [OE. droppen, AS. dropan, v. i. See Drop, n.]

1. To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill. "The trees drop balsam." Creech. The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever. Sterne.

2. To cause to fall in one portion, or by one motion, like a drop; to let fall; as, to drop a line in fishing; to drop a courtesy.

3. To let go; to dismiss; to set aside; to have done with; to discontinue; to forsake; to give up; to omit. They suddenly drop't the pursuit. S. Sharp. That astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again. Thackeray. The connection had been dropped many years. Sir W. Scott. Dropping the too rough H in Hell and Heaven. Tennyson.

4. To bestow or communicate by a suggestion; to let fall in an indirect, cautious, or gentle manner; as, to drop hint, a word of counsel, etc.

5. To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc.

6. To send, as a letter; as, please drop me a line, a letter, word.

7. To give birth to; as, to drop a lamb.

8. To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop. Show to the sun their waved coats dropped with gold. Milton. To drop a vessel (Naut.), to leave it astern in a race or a chase; to outsail it.

DROP Drop, v. i.

1. To fall in drops. The kindly dew drops from the higher tree, And wets the little plants that lowly dwell. Spenser.

2. To fall, in general, literally or figuratively; as, ripe fruit drops from a tree; wise words drop from the lips. Mutilations of which the meaning has dropped out of memory. H. Spencer. When the sound of dropping nuts is heard. Bryant.

3. To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops. The heavens . . . dropped at the presence of God. Ps. lxviii. 8.

4. To fall dead, or to fall in death. Nothing, says Seneca, so soon reconciles us to the thoughts of our own death, as the prospect of one friend after another dropping round us. Digby.

5. To come to an end; to cease; to pass out of mind; as, the affair dropped. Pope.

6. To come unexpectedly; -- with in or into; as, my old friend dropped in a moment. Steele. Takes care to drop in when he thinks you are just seated. Spectator.

7. To fall or be depressed; to lower; as, the point of the spear dropped a little.

8. To fall short of a mark. [R.] Often it drops or overshoots by the disproportion of distance. Collier.

9. To be deep in extent; to descend perpendicularly; as, her main topsail drops seventeen yards. To drop astern (Naut.), to go astern of another vessel; to be left behind; to slacken the speed of a vessel so as to fall behind and to let another pass a head. -- To drop down (Naut.), to sail, row, or move down a river, or toward the sea. -- To drop off, to fall asleep gently; also, to die. [Colloq.]

DROPLET Drop"let, n.

Defn: A little drop; a tear. Shak.

DROPLIGHT Drop"light`, n.

Defn: An apparatus for bringing artificial light down from a chandelier nearer to a table or desk; a pendant.

DROPMEAL; DROPMELE Drop"meal`, Drop"mele`, adv. Etym: [AS. drop-m; dropa drop + m portion. Cf. Piecemeal.]

Defn: By drops or small portions. [Obs.] Distilling dropmeal, a little at once. Holland.

DROPPER Drop"per, n.

1. One who, or that which, drops. Specif.: (Fishing) A fly that drops from the leaden above the bob or end fly.

2. A dropping tube.

3. (Mining)

Defn: A branch vein which drops off from, or leaves, the main lode.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A dog which suddenly drops upon the ground when it sights game, -- formerly a common, and still an occasional, habit of the setter.

DROPPING Drop"ping, n.

1. The action of causing to drop or of letting drop; falling.

2. pl.

Defn: That which falls in drops; the excrement or dung of animals. Dropping bottle, an instrument used to supply small quantities of a fluid to a test tube or other vessel. -- Dropping fire, a continued irregular discharge of firearms. -- Dropping tube, a tube for ejecting any liquid in drops.

DROPPINGLY Drop"ping*ly, adv.

Defn: In drops.

DROPSICAL Drop"si*cal, a. Etym: [From Dropsy.]

1. Diseased with dropsy; hydropical; tending to dropsy; as, a dropsical patient.

2. Of or pertaining to dropsy.

DROPSICALNESS Drop"si*cal*ness, n.

Defn: State of being dropsical.

DROPSIED Drop"sied, a.

Defn: Diseased with drops. Shak.

DROPSY Drop"sy, n.; pl. Dropsies. Etym: [OE. dropsie, dropesie, OF. idropisie, F. hydropisie, L. hydropisis, fr. Gr. Water, and cf. Hydropsy.] (Med.)

Defn: An unnatural collection of serous fluid in any serous cavity of the body, or in the subcutaneous cellular tissue. Dunglison.

DROPT Dropt,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Drop, v. G. Eliot.

DROPWISE Drop"wise`, adv.

Defn: After the manner of a drop; in the form of drops. Trickling dropwise from the cleft. Tennyson.

DROPWORM Drop"worm`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The larva of any geometrid moth, which drops from trees by means of a thread of silk, as the cankerworm.

DROPWORT Drop"wort`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: An Old World species of Spiræa (S. filipendula), with finely cut leaves.

DROSERA Dros"e*ra, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of low perennial or biennial plants, the leaves of which are beset with gland-tipped bristles. See Sundew. Gray.

DROSKY Dros"ky, n.; pl. Droskies. Etym: [Russ. drojki, dim. of drogi a kind of carriage, prop. pl. of droga shaft or pole of a carriage.]

Defn: A low, four-wheeled, open carriage, used in Russia, consisting of a kind of long, narrow bench, on which the passengers ride as on a saddle, with their feet reaching nearly to the ground. Other kinds of vehicles are now so called, esp. a kind of victoria drawn by one or two horses, and used as a public carriage in German cities. [Written also droitzschka, and droschke.]

DROSOMETER Dro*som"e*ter, n. Etym: [Gr. -meter: cf. F. drosométre.] (Meteorol.)

Defn: An instrument for measuring the quantity of dew on the surface of a body in the open air. It consists of a balance, having a plate at one end to receive the dew, and at the other a weight protected from the deposit of dew.

DROSS Dross, n. Etym: [AS. dros, fr. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]

1. The scum or refuse matter which is thrown off, or falls from, metals in smelting the ore, or in the process of melting; recrement.

2. Rust of metals. [R.] Addison.

3. Waste matter; any worthless matter separated from the better part; leavings; dregs; refuse. All world's glory is but dross unclean. Spenser. At the devil's booth are all things sold, Each ounce of dross coats its ounce of gold. Lowell.

DROSSEL Dros"sel, n. Etym: [Cf. Drazel.]

Defn: A slut; a hussy; a drazel. [Obs.] Warner.

DROSSLESS Dross"less, a.

Defn: Free from dross. Stevens.

DROSSY Dross"y, a. [Compar. Drossier; superl. Drossiest.]

Defn: Of, pertaining to, resembling, dross; full of dross; impure; worthless. " Drossy gold." Dryden. "Drossy rhymes." Donne. -- Dross"i*ness, n.

DROTCHEL Drotch"el, n.

Defn: See Drossel. [Obs.]

DROUGH Drough, imp.

Defn: of Draw. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DROUGHT Drought, n. Etym: [OE. droght, drougth, dru, AS. druga, from drugian to dry. See Dry, and cf. Drouth, which shows the original final sound.]

1. Dryness; want of rain or of water; especially, such dryness of the weather as affects the earth, and prevents the growth of plants; aridity. The drought of March hath pierced to the root. Chaucer. In a drought the thirsty creatures cry. Dryden.

2. Thirst; want of drink. Johnson.

3. Scarcity; lack. A drought of Christian writers caused a dearth of all history. Fuller.

DROUGHTINESS Drought"i*ness, n.

Defn: A state of dryness of the weather; want of rain.

DROUGHTY Drought"y, a.

1. Characterized by drought; wanting rain; arid; adust. Droughty and parched countries. Ray.

2. Dry; thirsty; wanting drink. Thy droughty throat. Philips.

DROUMY Drou"my, a. Etym: [Cf. Scot. drum, dram, melancholy, Icel prumr a moper, W. trwm heavy, sad.]

Defn: Troubled; muddy. [Obs.] Bacon.

DROUTH Drouth, n.

Defn: Same as Drought. Sandys. Another ill accident is drouth at the spindling of corn. Bacon. One whose drouth [thirst], Yet scarce allayed, still eyes the current stream. Milton. In the dust and drouth of London life. Tennyson.

DROUTHY Drouth"y, a.

Defn: Droughty.

DROVE Drove, imp.

Defn: of Drive.

DROVE Drove, n. Etym: [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]

1. A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body.

2. Any collection of irrational animals, moving or driving forward; as, a finny drove. Milton.

3. A crowd of people in motion. Where droves, as at a city gate, may pass. Dryden.

4. A road for driving cattle; a driftway. [Eng.]

5. (Agric.)

Defn: A narrow drain or channel used in the irrigation of land. Simmonds.

6. (Masonry) (a) A broad chisel used to bring stone to a nearly smooth surface; -- called also drove chisel. (b) The grooved surface of stone finished by the drove chisel; -- called also drove work.

DROVEN Dro"ven, p. p.

Defn: of Drive. [Obs.]

DROVER Dro"ver, n.

1. One who drives cattle or sheep to market; one who makes it his business to purchase cattle, and drive them to market. Why, that's spoken like an honest drover; so they sell bullocks. Shak.

2. A boat driven by the tide. [Obs.] Spenser.

DROVY Dro"vy, a. Etym: [AS. dr dirty; cf. D. droef, G. trübe, Goth. dr to trouble.]

Defn: Turbid; muddy; filthy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DROW Drow, imp.

Defn: of Draw. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DROWN Drown, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drowned; p. pr. & vb. n. Drowning.] Etym: [OE. drunen, drounen, earlier drunknen, druncnien, AS. druncnian to be drowned, sink, become drunk, fr. druncen drunken. See Drunken, Drink.]

Defn: To be suffocated in water or other fluid; to perish in water. Methought, what pain it was to drown. Shak.

DROWN Drown, v. t.

1. To overwhelm in water; to submerge; to inundate. "They drown the land." Dryden.

2. To deprive of life by immersion in water or other liquid.

3. To overpower; to overcome; to extinguish; -- said especially of sound. Most men being in sensual pleasures drowned. Sir J. Davies. My private voice is drowned amid the senate. Addison. To drown up, to swallow up. [Obs.] Holland.

DROWNAGE Drown"age, n.

Defn: The act of drowning. [R.]

DROWNER Drown"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, drowns.

DROWSE Drowse, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drowsed; p. pr. & vb. n. Drowsing.] Etym: [AS. dr, dr, to sink, become slow or inactive; cf. OD. droosen to be sleepy, fall asleep, LG. dr, druusken, to slumber, fall down with a noise; prob, akin to AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]

Defn: To sleep imperfectly or unsoundly; to slumber; to be heavy with sleepiness; to doze. "He drowsed upon his couch." South. In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees. Lowell.

DROWSE Drowse, v. t.

Defn: To make heavy with sleepiness or imperfect sleep; to make dull or stupid. Milton.

DROWSE Drowse, n.

Defn: A slight or imperfect sleep; a doze. But smiled on in a drowse of ecstasy. Mrs. Browning.

DROWSIHEAD Drow"si*head, n.

Defn: Drowsiness. Thomson.

DROWSIHED Drow"si*hed, n.

Defn: Drowsihead. [Obs.] Spenser.

DROWSILY Drow"si*ly, adv.

Defn: In a drowsy manner.

DROWSINESS Drow"si*ness, n.

Defn: State of being drowsy. Milton.

DROWSY Drow"sy, a. [Compar. Drowsier; superl. Drowsiest.]

1. Inclined to drowse; heavy with sleepiness; lethargic; dozy. "When I am drowsy." Shak. Dapples the drowsy east with spots of gray. Shak. To our age's drowsy blood Still shouts the inspiring sea. Lowell.

2. Disposing to sleep; lulling; soporific. The drowsy hours, dispensers of all good. Tennyson.

3. Dull; stupid. " Drowsy reasoning." Atterbury.

Syn. -- Sleepy; lethargic; dozy; somnolent; comatose; dull heavy; stupid.

DROWTH Drowth, n.

Defn: See Drought. Bacon.

DROYLE Droyle, v. i.

Defn: See Droil. [Obs.] Spenser.

DRUB Drub, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drubbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Drubbing.] Etym: [Cf. Prov. E. drab to beat, Icel. & Sw. drabba to hit, beat, Dan. dræbe to slay, and perh. OE. drepen to strike, kill, AS. drepan to strike, G. & D. freffen to hit, touch, Icel. drepa to strike, kill.]

Defn: To beat with a stick; to thrash; to cudgel. Soundly Drubbed with a good honest cudgel. L'Estrange.

DRUB Drub, n.

Defn: A blow with a cudgel; a thump. Addison.

DRUBBER Drub"ber, n.

Defn: One who drubs. Sir W. Scott.

DRUDGE Drudge, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drudged; p. pr. & vb. n. Drudging.] Etym: [OE. druggen; prob not akin to E. drag, v. t., but fr. Celtic; cf. Ir. drugaire a slave or drudge.]

Defn: To perform menial work; to labor in mean or unpleasant offices with toil and fatigue. He gradually rose in the estimation of the booksellers for whom he drudged. Macaulay.

DRUDGE Drudge, v. t.

Defn: To consume laboriously; -- with away. Rise to our toils and drudge away the day. Otway.

DRUDGE Drudge, n.

Defn: One who drudges; one who works hard in servile employment; a mental servant. Milton.

DRUDGER Drudg"er, n.

1. One who drudges; a drudge.

2. A dredging box.

DRUDGERY Drudg"er*y, n.

Defn: The act of drudging; disagreeable and wearisome labor; ignoble or slavish toil. The drudgery of penning definitions. Macaulay. Paradise was a place of bliss . . . without drudgery and with out sorrow. Locke.

Syn. -- See Toll.

DRUDGING BOX Drudg"ing box`.

Defn: See Dredging box.

DRUDGINGLY Drudg"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: In a drudging manner; laboriously.

DRUERY Dru"er*y, n. Etym: [OF. druerie.]

Defn: Courtship; gallantry; love; an object of love. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DRUG Drug, v. i. Etym: [See 1st Drudge.]

Defn: To drudge; to toil laboriously. [Obs.] "To drugge and draw." Chaucer.

DRUG Drug, n.

Defn: A drudge. Shak. (Timon iv. 3, 253).

DRUG Drug, n. Etym: [F. drogue, prob. fr. D. droog; akin to E. dry; thus orig., dry substance, hers, plants, or wares. See Dry.]

1. Any animal, vegetable, or mineral substance used in the composition of medicines; any stuff used in dyeing or in chemical operations. Whence merchants bring Their spicy drugs. Milton.

2. Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand. "But sermons are mere drugs." Fielding. And virtue shall a drug become. Dryden.

DRUG Drug, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drugged; p. pr. & vb. n. Drugging.] Etym: [Cf. F. droguer.]

Defn: To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines. B. Jonson.

DRUG Drug, v. t.

1. To affect or season with drugs or ingredients; esp., to stupefy by a narcotic drug. Also Fig. The laboring masses . . . [were] drugged into brutish good humor by a vast system of public spectacles. C. Kingsley. Drug thy memories, lest thou learn it. Tennyson.

2. To tincture with something offensive or injurious. Drugged as oft, With hatefullest disrelish writhed their jaws. Milton.

3. To dose to excess with, or as with, drugs. With pleasure drugged, he almost longed for woe. Byron.

DRUGGER Drug"ger, n.

Defn: A druggist. [Obs.] Burton.

DRUGGET Drug"get, n. Etym: [F. droguet, prop. dim. of drogue trash, stuff, perh, the same word as drogue drug, but cf. also W. drwg evil, bad, Ir. & Gael. droch, Arm. droug, drouk. See 3d Drug.] (a) A coarse woolen cloth dyed of one color or printed on one side; generally used as a covering for carpets. (b) By extension, any material used for the same purpose.

DRUGGIST Drug"gist, n. Etym: [F. droguiste, fr. drogue. See 3d Drug.]

Defn: One who deals in drugs; especially, one who buys and sells drugs without compounding them; also, a pharmaceutist or apothecary.

Note: The same person often carries on the business of the druggist and the apothecary. See the Note under Apothecary.

DRUGSTER Drug"ster, n.

Defn: A druggist. [Obs.] Boule.

DRUID Dru"id, n. Etym: [L. Druides; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. draoi, druidh, magician, Druid, W. derwydd Druid.]

1. One of an order of priests which in ancient times existed among certain branches of the Celtic race, especially among the Gauls and Britons.

Note: The Druids superintended the affairs of religion and morality, and exercised judicial functions. They practiced divination and magic, and sacrificed human victims as a part of their worship. They consisted of three classes; the bards, the vates or prophets, and the Druids proper, or priests. Their most sacred rites were performed in the depths of oak forests or of caves.

2. A member of a social and benevolent order, founded in London in 1781, and professedly based on the traditions of the ancient Druids. Lodges or groves of the society are established in other countries. Druid stones, a name given, in the south of England, to weatherworn, rough pillars of gray sandstone scattered over the chalk downs, but in other countries generally in the form of circles, or in detached pillars.

DRUIDESS Dru"id*ess, n.

Defn: A female Druid; a prophetess.

DRUIDIC; DRUIDICAL Dru*id"ic, Dru*id"ic*al, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, or resembling, the Druids. Druidical circles. See under Circle.

DRUIDISH Dru"id*ish, a.

Defn: Druidic.

DRUIDISM Dru"id*ism, n.

Defn: The system of religion, philosophy, and instruction, received and taught by the Druids; the rites and ceremonies of the Druids.

DRUM Drum, n. Etym: [Cf. D. trom, trommel, LG. trumme, G. trommel, Dan. tromme, Sw. trumma, OHG. trumba a trumpet, Icel. pruma a clap of thunder, and as a verb, to thunder, Dan. drum a booming sound, drumme to boom; prob. partly at least of imitative origin; perh. akin to E. trum, or trumpet.]

1. (Mus.)

Defn: An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an orchestra, or cavalry band. The drums cry bud-a-dub. Gascoigne.

2. Anything resembling a drum in form; as: (a) A sheet iron radiator, often in the shape of a drum, for warming an apartment by means of heat received from a stovepipe, or a cylindrical receiver for steam, etc. (b) A small cylindrical box in which figs, etc., are packed. (c) (Anat.) The tympanum of the ear; -- often, but incorrectly, applied to the tympanic membrane. (d) (Arch.)

Defn: One of the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical, blocks, of which the shaft of a column is composed; also, a vertical wall, whether circular or polygonal in plan, carrying a cupola or dome. (e) (Mach.)

Defn: A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of belts or straps passing around its periphery; also, the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or chain is wound.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Drumfish.

4. A noisy, tumultuous assembly of fashionable people at a private house; a rout. [Archaic] Not unaptly styled a drum, from the noise and emptiness of the entertainment. Smollett.

Note: There were also drum major, rout, tempest, and hurricane, differing only in degrees of multitude and uproar, as the significant name of each declares.

5. A tea party; a kettledrum. G. Eliot. Bass drum. See in the Vocabulary. -- Double drum. See under Double.

DRUM Drum, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drummed; p. pr. & vb. n. Drumming.]

1. To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a drum.

2. To beat with the fingers, as with drumsticks; to beat with a rapid succession of strokes; to make a noise like that of a beaten drum; as, the ruffed grouse drums with his wings. Drumming with his fingers on the arm of his chair. W. Irving.

3. To throb, as the heart. [R.] Dryden.

4. To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc,; -- with for.

DRUM Drum, v. t.

1. To execute on a drum, as a tune.

2. (With out) To expel ignominiously, with beat of drum; as, to drum out a deserter or rogue from a camp, etc.

3. (With up) To assemble by, or as by, beat of drum; to collect; to gather or draw by solicitation; as, to drum up recruits; to drum up customers.

DRUMBEAT Drum"beat`, n.

Defn: The sound of a beaten drum; drum music. Whose morning drumbeat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England. D. Webster.

DRUMBLE Drum"ble, v. i. Etym: [See Drumly.]

1. To be sluggish or lazy; to be confused. [Obs.] Shak.

2. To mumble in speaking. [Obs.]

DRUMFISH Drum"fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: any fish of the family Sciænidæ, which makes a loud noise by means of its air bladder; -- called also drum.

Note: The common drumfish (Pogonias chromis) is a large species, common south of New Jersey. The southern red drum or red horse (Sciæna ocellata), and the fresh-water drum or croaker (Aplodionotus grunniens), are related species.

DRUMHEAD Drum"head`, n.

1. The parchment or skin stretched over one end of a drum.

2. The top of a capstan which is pierced with sockets for levers used in turning it. See Illust. of Capstan. Drumhead court-martial (Mil.), a summary court-martial called to try offenses on the battlefield or the line of march, when, sometimes, a drumhead has to do service as a writing table.

DRUMLIN Drum"lin, n. Etym: [Gael. druim the ridge of a hill.] (Geol.)

Defn: A hill of compact, unstratified, glacial drift or till, usually elongate or oval, with the larger axis parallel to the former local glacial motion.

DRUMLY Drum"ly, a. Etym: [Cf. Droumy.]

Defn: Turbid; muddy. [Scot. & Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Wodroephe (1623). Burns.

DRUM MAJOR Drum" ma"jor

Defn: .

1. The chief or first drummer of a regiment; an instructor of drummers.

2. The marching leader of a military band. [U.S.]

3. A noisy gathering. [R.] See under Drum, n.,

4.

DRUMMER Drum"mer, n.

1. One whose office is to best the drum, as in military exercises and marching.

2. One who solicits custom; a commercial traveler. [Colloq. U.S.] Bartlett.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A fish that makes a sound when caught; as: (a) The squeteague. (b) A California sculpin.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A large West Indian cockroach (Blatta gigantea) which drums on woodwork, as a sexual call.

DRUMMING Drum"ming, n.

Defn: The act of beating upon, or as if upon, a drum; also, the noise which the male of the ruffed grouse makes in spring, by beating his wings upon his sides.

DRUMMOND LIGHT Drum"mond light`. Etym: [From Thomas Drummond, a British naval officer.]

Defn: A very intense light, produced by turning two streams of gas, one oxygen and the other hydrogen, or coal gas, in a state of ignition, upon a ball of lime; or a stream of oxygen gas through a flame of alcohol upon a ball or disk of lime; -- called also oxycalcium light, or lime light.

Note: The name is also applied sometimes to a heliostat, invented by Drummond, for rendering visible a distant point, as in geodetic surveying, by reflecting upon it a beam of light from the sun.

DRUMSTICK Drum"stick`, n.

1. A stick with which a drum is beaten.

2. Anything resembling a drumstick in form, as the tibiotarsus, or second joint, of the leg of a fowl.

DRUM WINDING Drum winding. (Elec.)

Defn: A method of armature winding in which the wire is wound upon the outer surface of a cylinder or drum from end to end of the cylinder; -- distinguished from ring winding, etc.

DRUNK Drunk, a. Etym: [OE. dronke, drunke, dronken, drunken, AS. druncen. Orig. the same as drunken, p. p. of drink. See Drink.]

1. Intoxicated with, or as with, strong drink; inebriated; drunken; - - never used attributively, but always predicatively; as, the man is drunk (not, a drunk man). Be not drunk with wine, where in is excess. Eph. v. 18. Drunk with recent prosperity. Macaulay.

2. Drenched or saturated with moisture or liquid. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood. Deut. xxxii. 42.

DRUNK Drunk, n.

Defn: A drunken condition; a spree. [Slang]

DRUNKARD Drunk"ard, n. Etym: [Drunk + -ard.]

Defn: One who habitually drinks strong liquors immoderately; one whose habit it is to get drunk; a toper; a sot. The drunkard and glutton shall come to poverty. Prov. xxiii. 21.

DRUNKEN Drunk"en, a. Etym: [AS. druncen, prop., that has drunk, p. p. of drincan, taken as active. See Drink, v. i., and cf. Drunk.]

1. Overcome by strong drink; intoxicated by, or as by, spirituous liquor; inebriated. Drunken men imagine everything turneth round. Bacon.

2. Saturated with liquid or moisture; drenched. Let the earth be drunken with our blood. Shak.

3. Pertaining to, or proceeding from, intoxication. The drunken quarrels of a rake. Swift.

DRUNKENHEAD Drunk"en*head, n.

Defn: Drunkenness. [Obs.]

DRUNKENLY Drunk"en*ly, adv.

Defn: In a drunken manner. [R.] Shak.

DRUNKENNESS Drunk"en*ness, n.

1. The state of being drunken with, or as with, alcoholic liquor; intoxication; inebriety; -- used of the casual state or the habit. The Lacedemonians trained up their children to hate drunkenness by bringing a drunken man into their company. I. Watts.

2. Disorder of the faculties, resembling intoxication by liquors; inflammation; frenzy; rage. Passion is the drunkenness of the mind. South.

Syn. -- Intoxication; inebriation; inebriety. -- Drunkenness, Intoxication, Inebriation. Drunkenness refers more to the habit; intoxication and inebriation, to specific acts. The first two words are extensively used in a figurative sense; a person is intoxicated with success, and is drunk with joy. "This plan of empire was not taken up in the first intoxication of unexpected success." Burke.

DRUNKENSHIP; DRUNKSHIP Drunk"en*ship, Drunk"ship, n.

Defn: The state of being drunk; drunkenness. [Obs.] Gower.

DRUPACEOUS Dru*pa"ceous, a. Etym: [Cf. F. drupacé.] (Bot.)

Defn: Producing, or pertaining to, drupes; having the form of drupes; as, drupaceous trees or fruits.

DRUPAL Drup"al, a. (Bot.)

Defn: Drupaceous.

DRUPE Drupe, n. Etym: [F. drupe, L. drupa an overripe, wrinkled olive, fr. Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: A fruit consisting of pulpy, coriaceous, or fibrous exocarp, without valves, containing a nut or stone with a kernel. The exocarp is succulent in the plum, cherry, apricot, peach, etc.; dry and subcoriaceous in the almond; and fibrous in the cocoanut.

DRUPEL; DRUPELET Drup"el, Drupe"let, n. Etym: [Dim. of Drupe.] (Bot.)

Defn: A small drupe, as one of the pulpy grains of the blackberry.

DRUSE Druse, n. Etym: [Cf. G. druse bonny, crystallized piece of ore, Bohem. druza. Cf. Dross.] (Min.)

Defn: A cavity in a rock, having its interior surface studded with crystals and sometimes filled with water; a geode.

DRUSE Druse, n.

Defn: One of a people and religious sect dwelling chiefly in the Lebanon mountains of Syria. The Druses separated from the Mohammedan Arabs in the 9th century. Their characteristic dogma is the unity of God. Am. Cyc.

DRUSY; DRUSED Dru"sy, Drused, a. (Min.)

Defn: Covered with a large number of minute crystals.

DRUXEY; DRUXY Drux"ey, Drux"y, a. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Defn: Having decayed spots or streaks of a whitish color; -- said of timber. Weale.

DRY Dry, a. [Compar. Drier; superl. Driest.] Etym: [OE. dru, druye, drie, AS. dryge; akin to LG. dröge, D. droog, OHG. trucchan, G. trocken, Icel. draugr a dry log. Cf. Drought, Drouth, 3d Drug.]

1. Free from moisture; having little humidity or none; arid; not wet or moist; deficient in the natural or normal supply of moisture, as rain or fluid of any kind; -- said especially: (a) Of the weather: Free from rain or mist. The weather, we agreed, was too dry for the season. Addison.

(b) Of vegetable matter: Free from juices or sap; not succulent; not green; as, dry wood or hay. (c) Of animals: Not giving milk; as, the cow is dry. (d) Of persons: Thirsty; needing drink. Give the dry fool drink. Shak

(e) Of the eyes: Not shedding tears. Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly. Prescott. (f) (Med.)

Defn: Of certain morbid conditions, in which there is entire or comparative absence of moisture; as, dry gangrene; dry catarrh.

2. Destitute of that which interests or amuses; barren; unembellished; jejune; plain. These epistles will become less dry, more susceptible of ornament. Pope.

3. Characterized by a quality somewhat severe, grave, or hard; hence, sharp; keen; shrewd; quaint; as, a dry tone or manner; dry wit. He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body. W. Irving.

4. (Fine Arts)

Defn: Exhibiting a sharp, frigid preciseness of execution, or the want of a delicate contour in form, and of easy transition in coloring. Dry area (Arch.), a small open space reserved outside the foundation of a building to guard it from damp. -- Dry blow. (a) (Med.) A blow which inflicts no wound, and causes no effusion of blood. (b) A quick, sharp blow. -- Dry bone (Min.), Smithsonite, or carbonate of zinc; -- a miner's term. -- Dry castor (Zoöl.) a kind of beaver; -- called also parchment beaver. -- Dry cupping. (Med.) See under Cupping. -- Dry dock. See under Dock. -- Dry fat. See Dry vat (below). -- Dry light, pure unobstructed light; hence, a clear, impartial view. Bacon. The scientific man must keep his feelings under stern control, lest they obtrude into his researches, and color the dry light in which alone science desires to see its objects. J. C. Shairp. -- Dry masonry. See Masonry. -- Dry measure, a system of measures of volume for dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, etc. -- Dry pile (Physics), a form of the Voltaic pile, constructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also Zamboni's , from the names of the two earliest constructors of it. -- Dry pipe (Steam Engine), a pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler. -- Dry plate (Photog.), a glass plate having a dry coating sensitive to light, upon which photographic negatives or pictures can be made, without moistening. -- Dry-plate process, the process of photographing with dry plates. -- Dry point. (Fine Arts) (a) An engraving made with the needle instead of the burin, in which the work is done nearly as in etching, but is finished without the use acid. (b) A print from such an engraving, usually upon paper. (c) Hence: The needle with which such an engraving is made. -- Dry rent (Eng. Law), a rent reserved by deed, without a clause of distress. Bouvier. -- Dry rot, a decay of timber, reducing its fibers to the condition of a dry powdery dust, often accompanied by the presence of a peculiar fungus (Merulius lacrymans), which is sometimes considered the cause of the decay; but it is more probable that the real cause is the decomposition of the wood itself. D. C. Eaton. Called also sap rot, and, in the United States, powder post. Hebert. -- Dry stove, a hothouse adapted to preserving the plants of arid climates. Brande & C. -- Dry vat, a vat, basket, or other receptacle for dry articles. -- Dry wine, that in which the saccharine matter and fermentation were so exactly balanced, that they have wholly neutralized each other, and no sweetness is perceptible; -- opposed to sweet wine, in which the saccharine matter is in excess.

DRY Dry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dried; p. pr. & vb. n. Drying.] Etym: [AS. drygan; cf. drugian to grow dry. See Dry, a.]

Defn: To make dry; to free from water, or from moisture of any kind, and by any means; to exsiccate; as, to dry the eyes; to dry one's tears; the wind dries the earth; to dry a wet cloth; to dry hay. To dry up. (a) To scorch or parch with thirst; to deprive utterly of water; to consume. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Is. v. 13. The water of the sea, which formerly covered it, was in time exhaled and dried up by the sun. Woodward. (b) To make to cease, as a stream of talk. Their sources of revenue were dried up. Jowett (Thucyd. ) -- To dry, or dry up, a cow, to cause a cow to cease secreting milk. Tylor.

DRY Dry, v. i.

1. To grow dry; to become free from wetness, moisture, or juice; as, the road dries rapidly.

2. To evaporate wholly; to be exhaled; -- said of moisture, or a liquid; -- sometimes with up; as, the stream dries, or dries up.

3. To shrivel or wither; to lose vitality. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. I Kings xiii. 4.

DRYAD Dry"ad, n. Etym: [L. dryas, pl. dryades, Gr. Tree.] (Class. Myth.)

Defn: A wood nymph; a nymph whose life was bound up with that of her tree.

DRYANDRA Dry*an"dra, n. Etym: [NL. Named after J. Dryander.] (Bot.)