Chapter 5

7. (Punctuation) A mark or line [--], in writing or printing, denoting a sudden break, stop, or transition in a sentence, or an abrupt change in its construction, a long or significant pause, or an unexpected or epigrammatic turn of sentiment. Dashes are also sometimes used instead of marks or parenthesis. John Wilson.

8. (Mus.) (a) The sign of staccato, a small mark [&?;] denoting that the note over which it is placed is to be performed in a short, distinct manner. (b) The line drawn through a figure in the thorough bass, as a direction to raise the interval a semitone.

9. (Racing) A short, spirited effort or trial of speed upon a race course; -- used in horse racing, when a single trial constitutes the race.

Dash"board` (dsh"brd`), n. 1. A board placed on the fore part of a carriage, sleigh, or other vehicle, to intercept water, mud, or snow, thrown up by the heels of the horses; -- in England commonly called splashboard.

2. (Naut.) (a) The float of a paddle wheel. (b) A screen at the bow af a steam launch to keep off the spray; -- called also sprayboard.

Dash"er (dsh"r), n. 1. That which dashes or agitates; as, the dasher of a churn.

2. A dashboard or splashboard. [U. S.]

3. One who makes an ostentatious parade. [Low]

Dash"ing, a. Bold; spirited; showy.

The dashing and daring spirit is preferable to the listless.

T. Campbell.

Dash"ing*ly, adv. Conspicuously; showily. [Colloq.]

A dashingly dressed gentleman.

Hawthorne.

Dash"ism (-z'm), n. The character of making ostentatious or blustering parade or show. [R. & Colloq.]

He must fight a duel before his claim to . . . dashism can be universally allowed.

V. Knox.

Dash"pot` (?), n. (Mach.) A pneumatic or hydraulic cushion for a falling weight, as in the valve gear of a steam engine, to prevent shock.

It consists of a chamber, containing air or a liquid, in which a piston (a), attached to the weight, falls freely until it enters a space (as below the openings, b) from which the air or liquid can escape but slowly (as through cock c), when its fall is gradually checked.

A cataract of an engine is sometimes called a dashpot.

Dash"y (?), a. [From Dash.] Calculated to arrest attention; ostentatiously fashionable; showy. [Colloq.]

Das"tard (?), n. [Prob. from Icel. dæstr exhausted. breathless, p. p. of dæsa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze.] One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon.

You are all recreants and dashtards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility.

Shak.

Das"tard, a. Meanly shrinking from danger; cowardly; dastardly. "Their dastard souls." Addison.

Das"tard, v. t. To dastardize. [R.] Dryden.

Das"tard*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dastardized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dastardizing.] To make cowardly; to intimidate; to dispirit; as, to dastardize my courage. Dryden.

Das"tard*li*ness (?), n. The quality of being dastardly; cowardice; base fear.

Das"tard*ly, a. Meanly timid; cowardly; base; as, a dastardly outrage.

Das"tard*ness, n. Dastardliness.

Das"tard*y (?), n. Base timidity; cowardliness.

Das"we (?), v. i. See Dasewe [Obs.] Chaucer.

Da*sym"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. dasy`s rough, thick + -meter.] (Physics) An instrument for testing the density of gases, consisting of a thin glass globe, which is weighed in the gas or gases, and then in an atmosphere of known density.

Das`y*pæ"dal (?), a. (Zoöl.) Dasypædic.

||Das`y*pæ"des (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. dasy`s hairy, shaggy + &?;, &?;, a child.] (Zoöl.) Those birds whose young are covered with down when hatched.

Das`y*pæ"dic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to the Dasypædes; ptilopædic.

Das"y*ure (ds"*r), n. [Gr. dasy`s thick, shaggy + o'yra` tail: cf. F. dasyure.] (Zoöl.) A carnivorous marsupial quadruped of Australia, belonging to the genus Dasyurus. There are several species.

Das`y*u"rine (?), a. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to, or like, the dasyures.

||Da"ta (?), n. pl. [L. pl. of datum.] See Datum.

Dat"a*ble (?), a. That may be dated; having a known or ascertainable date. "Datable almost to a year." The Century.

||Da*ta"ri*a (?), n. [LL., fr. L. datum given.] (R. C. Ch.) Formerly, a part of the Roman chancery; now, a separate office from which are sent graces or favors, cognizable in foro externo, such as appointments to benefices. The name is derived from the word datum, given or dated (with the indications of the time and place of granting the gift or favor).

Da"ta*ry (?), n. [LL. datarius. See Dataria.] 1. (R. C. Ch.) An officer in the pope's court, having charge of the Dataria.

2. The office or employment of a datary.

Date, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. &?;, prob. not the same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.

This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.

Date palm, or Date tree (Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Phœnix dactylifera. See Illust. -- Date plum (Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus (D. Lotus). -- Date shell, or Date fish (Zoöl.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied genera. See Pholas.

<! p. 370 !>

Date (?), n. [F. date, LL. data, fr. L. datus given, p. p. of dare to give; akin to Gr. &?;, OSlaw. dati, Skr. d. Cf. Datum, Dose, Dato, Die.] 1. That addition to a writing, inscription, coin, etc., which specifies the time (as day, month, and year) when the writing or inscription was given, or executed, or made; as, the date of a letter, of a will, of a deed, of a coin. etc.

And bonds without a date, they say, are void.

Dryden.

2. The point of time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time; epoch; as, the date of a battle.

He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest.

Akenside.

3. Assigned end; conclusion. [R.]

What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date.

Pope.

4. Given or assigned length of life; dyration. [Obs.]

Good luck prolonged hath thy date.

Spenser.

Through his life's whole date.

Chapman.

To bear date, to have the date named on the face of it; -- said of a writing.

Date, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dated; p. pr. & vb. n. Dating.] [Cf. F. dater. See 2d Date.] 1. To note the time of writing or executing; to express in an instrument the time of its execution; as, to date a letter, a bond, a deed, or a charter.

2. To note or fix the time of, as of an event; to give the date of; as, to date the building of the pyramids.

We may say dated at or from a place.

The letter is dated at Philadephia.

G. T. Curtis.

You will be suprised, I don't question, to find among your correspondencies in foreign parts, a letter dated from Blois.

Addison.

In the countries of his jornal seems to have been written; parts of it are dated from them.

M. Arnold.

Date, v. i. To have beginning; to begin; to be dated or reckoned; -- with from.

The Batavian republic dates from the successes of the French arms.

E. Everett.

Date"less, a. Without date; having no fixed time.

Dat"er (?), n. One who dates.

Da*tis"cin (?), n. (Chem.) A white crystalline glucoside extracted from the bastard hemp (Datisca cannabina).

Da"tive (?), a. [L. dativus appropriate to giving, fr. dare to give. See 2d Date.] 1. (Gram.) Noting the case of a noun which expresses the remoter object, and is generally indicated in English by to or for with the objective.

2. (Law) (a) In one's gift; capable of being disposed of at will and pleasure, as an office. (b) Removable, as distinguished from perpetual; -- said of an officer. (c) Given by a magistrate, as distinguished from being cast upon a party by the law. Burril. Bouvier.

Dative executor, one appointed by the judge of probate, his office answering to that of an administrator.

Da"tive, n. [L. dativus.] The dative case. See Dative, a., 1.

Da"tive*ly, adv. As a gift. [R.]

Dat"o*lite (?), n. [From. Gr. &?; to divide + -lite; in allusion to the granular structure of a massive variety.] (Min.) A borosilicate of lime commonly occuring in glassy,, greenish crystals. [Written also datholite.]

||Da"tum (?), n.; pl. Data (#). [L. See 2d Date.] 1. Something given or admitted; a fact or principle granted; that upon which an inference or an argument is based; -- used chiefly in the plural.

Any writer, therefore, who . . . furnishes us with data sufficient to determine the time in which he wrote.

Priestley.

2. pl. (Math.) The quantities or relations which are assumed to be given in any problem.

Datum line (Surv.), the horizontal or base line, from which the heights of points are reckoned or measured, as in the plan of a railway, etc.

||Da*tu"ra (?), n. [NL.; cf. Skr. dhattra, Per. & Ar. tatra, Tatla.] (Bot.) A genus of solanaceous plants, with large funnel-shaped flowers and a four-celled, capsular fruit.

The commonest species are the thorn apple (D. stramonium), with a prickly capsule (see Illust. of capsule), white flowers and green stem, and D. tatula, with a purplish tinge of the stem and flowers. Both are narcotic and dangerously poisonous.

Da*tu"rine (?), n. [From Datura.] (Chem.) Atropine; -- called also daturia and daturina.

Daub (db), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Daubed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Daubing.] [OE. dauben to smear, OF. dauber to plaster, fr. L. dealbare to whitewash, plaster; de- + albare to whiten, fr. albus white, perh. also confused with W. dwb plaster, dwbio to plaster, Ir. & OGael. dob plaster. See Alb, and cf. Dealbate.] 1. To smear with soft, adhesive matter, as pitch, slime, mud, etc.; to plaster; to bedaub; to besmear.

She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch.

Ex. ii. 3.

2. To paint in a coarse or unskillful manner.

If a picture is daubed with many bright and glaring colors, the vulgar admire it is an excellent piece.

I. Watts.

A lame, imperfect piece, rudely daubed over.

Dryden.

3. To cover with a specious or deceitful exterior; to disguise; to conceal.

So smooth he daubed his vice with show of virtue.

Shak.

4. To flatter excessively or glossy. [R.]

I can safely say, however, that, without any daubing at all, I am very sincerely your very affectionate, humble servant.

Smollett.

5. To put on without taste; to deck gaudily. [R.]

Let him be daubed with lace.

Dryden.

Daub (?), v. i. To smear; to play the flatterer.

His conscience . . . will not daub nor flatter.

South.

Daub, n. 1. A viscous, sticky application; a spot smeared or daubed; a smear.

2. (Paint.) A picture coarsely executed.

Did you . . . take a look at the grand picture? . . . 'T is a melancholy daub, my lord.

Sterne.

Daub"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, daubs; especially, a coarse, unskillful painter.

2. (Copperplate Print.) A pad or ball of rags, covered over with canvas, for inking plates; a dabber.

3. A low and gross flatterer.

4. (Zoöl.) The mud wasp; the mud dauber.

{ Daub"er*y (?), or Daub"ry (?) }, n. A daubing; specious coloring; false pretenses.

She works by charms, by spells, by the figure, and such daubery as this is.

Shak.

Daub"ing, n. 1. The act of one who daubs; that which is daubed.

2. A rough coat of mortar put upon a wall to give it the appearance of stone; rough-cast.

3. In currying, a mixture of fish oil and tallow worked into leather; -- called also dubbing. Knight.

Dau"bree*lite (?), n. [From Daubrée, a French mineralogist.] (Min.) A sulphide of chromium observed in some meteoric irons.

Daub"y (?), a. Smeary; viscous; glutinous; adhesive. "Dauby wax."

Daugh"ter (?), n.; pl. Daughters (#); obs. pl. Daughtren (#). [OE. doughter, doghter, dohter, AS. dohtor, dohter; akin to OS. dohtar, D. dochter, G. tochter, Icel. dttir, Sw. dotter, Dan. dotter, datter, Goth. daúhtar,, OSlav. dshti, Russ. doche, Lith. dukt, Gr. qyga`thr, Zend. dughdhar, Skr. duhit; possibly originally, the milker, cf. Skr. duh to milk. &radic;68, 245.] 1. The female offspring of the human species; a female child of any age; -- applied also to the lower animals.

2. A female descendant; a woman.

This woman, being a daughter of Abraham.

Luke xiii. 16.

Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughter of the land.

Gen. xxxiv. 1.

3. A son's wife; a daughter-in-law.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters.

Ruth. i. 11.

4. A term of address indicating parental interest.

Daughter, be of good comfort.

Matt. ix. 22.

Daughter cell (Biol.), one of the cells formed by cell division. See Cell division, under Division.

Daugh"ter-in-law` (?), n.; pl. Daughters-in-law. The wife of one's son.

Daugh"ter*li*ness (?), n. The state of a daughter, or the conduct becoming a daughter.

Daugh"ter*ly, a. Becoming a daughter; filial.

Sir Thomas liked her natural and dear daughterly affection towards him.

Cavendish.

Dauk (?), v. t. See Dawk, v. t., to cut or gush.

Daun (?), n. A variant of Dan, a title of honor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Daunt (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Daunted; p. pr. & vb. n. Daunting.] [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.] 1. To overcome; to conquer. [Obs.]

2. To repress or subdue the courage of; to check by fear of danger; to cow; to intimidate; to dishearten.

Some presences daunt and discourage us.

Glanvill.

Syn. -- To dismay; appall. See Dismay.

Daunt"er (?), n. One who daunts.

Daunt"less, a. Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.

Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned.

Dryden.

-- Daunt"less*ly, adv. -- Daunt"less*ness, n.

Dau"phin (?), n. [F. dauphin, prop., a dolphin, from L. delphinus. See Dolphin. The name was given, for some reason unexplained, to Guigo, count of Vienne, in the 12th century, and was borne by succeeding counts of Vienne. In 1349, Dauphiny was bequeathed to Philippe de Valois, king of France, on condition that the heir of the crown should always hold the title of Dauphin de Viennois.] The title of the eldest son of the king of France, and heir to the crown. Since the revolution of 1830, the title has been discontinued.

{ Dau"phin*ess (?), or Dau"phine (?) }, n. The title of the wife of the dauphin.

||Dauw (?), n. [D.] (Zoöl.) The striped quagga, or Burchell's zebra, of South Africa (Asinus Burchellii); -- called also peechi, or peetsi.

Dav"en*port (?), n. [From the name of the original maker. Encyc. Dict.] A kind of small writing table, generally somewhat ornamental, and forming a piece of furniture for the parlor or boudoir.

A much battered davenport in one of the windows, at which sat a lady writing.

A. B. Edwards.

Da*vid"ic (?), a. Of or pertaining to David, the king and psalmist of Israel, or to his family.

Dav"it (?), n. [Cf. F. davier forceps, davit, cooper's instrument, G. david davit; all probably from the proper name David.] (Naut.) (a) A spar formerly used on board of ships, as a crane to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the sides of the ship; -- called also the fish davit. (b) pl. Curved arms of timber or iron, projecting over a ship's side of stern, having tackle to raise or lower a boat, swing it in on deck, rig it out for lowering, etc.; -- called also boat davits. Totten.

Da"vy Jones" (?). The spirit of the sea; sea devil; -- a term used by sailors.

This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is seen in various shapes warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.

Smollett.

Davy Jones's Locker, the ocean, or bottom of the ocean. -- Gone to Davy Jones's Locker, dead, and buried in the sea; thrown overboard.

Da"vy lamp` (?). See Safety lamp, under Lamp.

Da"vyne (?), n. [See Davyum.] (Min.) A variety of nephelite from Vesuvius.

Da"vy*um (?), n. [Named after Sir Humphry Davy, the English chemist.] (Chem.) A rare metallic element found in platinum ore. It is a white malleable substance. Symbol Da. Atomic weight 154.

Daw (d), n. [OE. dawe; akin to OHG. tha, MHG. the, thele, G. dohle. Cf. Caddow.] (Zoöl.) A European bird of the Crow family (Corvus monedula), often nesting in church towers and ruins; a jackdaw.

The loud daw, his throat displaying, draws The whole assembly of his fellow daws.

Waller.

The daw was reckoned as a silly bird, and a daw meant a simpleton. See in Shakespeare: -- "Then thou dwellest with daws too." (Coriolanus iv. 5, 1. 47.) Skeat.

Daw, v. i. [OE. dawen. See Dawn.] To dawn. [Obs.] See Dawn. Drayton.

Daw, v. t. [Contr. fr. Adaw.] 1. To rouse. [Obs.]

2. To daunt; to terrify. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Daw"dle (d"d'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dawdled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dawdling (?).] [Cf. Daddle.] To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.

Come some evening and dawdle over a dish of tea with me.

Johnson.

We . . . dawdle up and down Pall Mall.

Thackeray.

Daw"dle, v. t. To waste by trifling; as, to dawdle away a whole morning.

Daw"dle, n. A dawdler. Colman & Carrick.

Daw"dler (?), n. One who wastes time in trifling employments; an idler; a trifler.

Dawe (?), n. [See Day.] Day. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Daw"ish (?), a. Like a daw.

||Dawk (?), n. See Dak.

Dawk, v. t. [Prov. E. dauk to cut or pierce with a jerk; cf. OE. dalk a dimple. Cf. Ir. tolch, tollachd, tolladh, a hole, crevice, toll to bore, pierce, W. tyllu.] To cut or mark with an incision; to gash. Moxon.

Dawk, n. A hollow, crack, or cut, in timber. Moxon.

Dawn (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dawned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dawning.] [OE. dawnen, dawen, dagen, daien, AS. dagian to become day, to dawn, fr. dæg day; akin to D. dagen, G. tagen, Icel. daga, Dan. dages, Sw. dagas. See Day. &radic;71.] 1. To begin to grow light in the morning; to grow light; to break, or begin to appear; as, the day dawns; the morning dawns.

In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene . . . to see the sepulcher.

Matt. xxviii. 1.

2. To began to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand. "In dawning youth." Dryden.

When life awakes, and dawns at every line.

Pope.

Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid.

Heber,

Dawn, n. 1. The break of day; the first appearance of light in the morning; show of approaching sunrise.

And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve.

Thomson.

No sun, no moon, no morn, no noon, No dawn, no dusk, no proper time of day.

Hood.

2. First opening or expansion; first appearance; beginning; rise. "The dawn of time." Thomson.

These tender circumstances diffuse a dawn of serenity over the soul.

Pope.

Daw"son*ite (?), n. [Named after J. W. Dawson of Montreal.] (Min.) A hydrous carbonate of alumina and soda, occuring in white, bladed crustals.

Day (?), n. [OE. day, dai,, dei, AS. dæg; akin to OS., D., Dan., & Sw. dag, G, tag, Icel. dagr, Goth. dags; cf. Skr. dah (for dhagh ?) to burn. &radic;69. Cf. Dawn.] 1. The time of light, or interval between one night and the next; the time between sunrise and sunset, or from dawn to darkness; hence, the light; sunshine.

2. The period of the earth's revolution on its axis. -- ordinarily divided into twenty-four hours. It is measured by the interval between two successive transits of a celestial body over the same meridian, and takes a specific name from that of the body. Thus, if this is the sun, the day (the interval between two successive transits of the sun's center over the same meridian) is called a solar day; if it is a star, a sidereal day; if it is the moon, a lunar day. See Civil day, Sidereal day, below.

3. Those hours, or the daily recurring period, allotted by usage or law for work.

4. A specified time or period; time, considered with reference to the existence or prominence of a person or thing; age; time.

A man who was great among the Hellenes of his day.

Jowett (Thucyd. )

If my debtors do not keep their day, . . . I must with patience all the terms attend.

Dryden.

5. (Preceded by the) Some day in particular, as some day of contest, some anniversary, etc.

The field of Agincourt, Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.

Shak.

His name struck fear, his conduct won the day.

Roscommon.

Day is much used in self-explaining compounds; as, daybreak, daylight, workday, etc.

<! p. 371 !>

Anniversary day. See Anniversary, n. -- Astronomical day, a period equal to the mean solar day, but beginning at noon instead of at midnight, its twenty-four hours being numbered from 1 to 24; also, the sidereal day, as that most used by astronomers. -- Born days. See under Born. -- Canicular days. See Dog day. -- Civil day, the mean solar day, used in the ordinary reckoning of time, and among most modern nations beginning at mean midnight; its hours are usually numbered in two series, each from 1 to 12. This is the period recognized by courts as constituting a day. The Babylonians and Hindoos began their day at sunrise, the Athenians and Jews at sunset, the ancient Egyptians and Romans at midnight. -- Day blindness. (Med.) See Nyctalopia. -- Day by day, or Day after day, daily; every day; continually; without intermission of a day. See under By. "Day by day we magnify thee." Book of Common Prayer. -- Days in bank (Eng. Law), certain stated days for the return of writs and the appearance of parties; -- so called because originally peculiar to the Court of Common Bench, or Bench (bank) as it was formerly termed. Burrill. - - Day in court, a day for the appearance of parties in a suit. -- Days of devotion (R. C. Ch.), certain festivals on which devotion leads the faithful to attend mass. Shipley. -- Days of grace. See Grace. -- Days of obligation (R. C. Ch.), festival days when it is obligatory on the faithful to attend Mass. Shipley. -- Day owl, (Zoöl.), an owl that flies by day. See Hawk owl. -- Day rule (Eng. Law), an order of court (now abolished) allowing a prisoner, under certain circumstances, to go beyond the prison limits for a single day. -- Day school, one which the pupils attend only in daytime, in distinction from a boarding school. -- Day sight. (Med.) See Hemeralopia. -- Day's work (Naut.), the account or reckoning of a ship's course for twenty-four hours, from noon to noon. -- From day to day, as time passes; in the course of time; as, he improves from day to day. -- Jewish day, the time between sunset and sunset. -- Mean solar day (Astron.), the mean or average of all the apparent solar days of the year. -- One day, One of these days, at an uncertain time, usually of the future, rarely of the past; sooner or later. "Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband." Shak. -- Only from day to day, without certainty of continuance; temporarily. Bacon. -- Sidereal day, the interval between two successive transits of the first point of Aries over the same meridian. The Sidereal day is 23 h. 56 m. 4.09 s. of mean solar time. -- To win the day, to gain the victory, to be successful. S. Butler. -- Week day, any day of the week except Sunday; a working day. -- Working day. (a) A day when work may be legally done, in distinction from Sundays and legal holidays. (b) The number of hours, determined by law or custom, during which a workman, hired at a stated price per day, must work to be entitled to a day's pay.

Day"aks (d"ks), n. pl. (Ethnol.) See Dyaks.

Day"book` (d"bk`), n. A journal of accounts; a primary record book in which are recorded the debts and credits, or accounts of the day, in their order, and from which they are transferred to the journal.

Day"break` (d"brk`), n. The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.

Day"-coal` (d"kl`), n. (Mining) The upper stratum of coal, as nearest the light or surface.

Day"dream` (-drm`), n. A vain fancy speculation; a reverie; a castle in the air; unfounded hope.