D
debilitating(di BIL i TAYT ing) adj. weakening; making weak and feeble;
ennervating
- Lou Gehrig was a great baseball player before developing the debilitating
disease, ALS, which carries his name. - When Dylan was 2 years old, he developed a debilitatingtemper that
caused him to bang his head on things.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. weakening]
decimate(DE sim ayt) vt. to kill or destroy a large part of the population - The city officials are hoping that by spraying in swamps they will be able
to decimatethe mosquito population. - Every seven years or so, locusts decimatethe crops in some farm areas.
[-d, decimating]
defamation(DEF im AY shin) n. an injuring of someone’s character by making
false statements about him or her; slandering; maligning - Defamationof character is an offense that one can sue for in a civil court.
- The judge ruled that the false statements Girard made about Ruth consti-
tuted defamation.
[Syn. slander]
deficiency(di FISH in see) n. the state of lacking in some essential quality or
element; incompleteness; shortage; deficit - Mark’s intellectual deficiencyleaves him two cans short of a six-pack.
- When Violet bought the car, she found there was a deficiencyin the rear
seat belt.
[Syn. shortage]
degenerate(di JEN er it for adj. and n.,di JEN er AYT for v.) adj. 1. sunken below a
former normalcy of condition or character; 2. morally corrupt —n. a degenerate person,
especially one who is sexually perverse —vi. to decline morally, culturally, and so on - Helen’s degeneratelifestyle was the result of a difficult childhood.
- Does reading degeneratemagazines corrupt one, or must one be degenerate
to buy such magazines? - Helen, mentioned above, is a degenerate.
- As one ages, one’s sense of humor tends to degenerate,and the jokes get racier.
[-ly adv.] [Syn. depraved]
demise(dim YZ) vt. 1. to transfer an estate by lease (especially for a fixed amount of
time); 2. to transfer sovereignty by abdication or death —n. 1. a transfer of an estate by
lease (for a fixed term); 2. the transfer of sovereignty by death or abdicating; 3. death
•“Demisingan apartment” is not a phrase you’ll see or hear every day.- The “demiseof a monarch” is a much more likely use of the word, even
though there are few monarchs left today. - “Death” is the most commonly used meaning of the term, so let this be
the demiseof this discussion.
[-d, demising] [Syn. death]
268