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desert

more about desert

desert


  7  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Desert  \De*sert"\,  n.  [OF.  deserte,  desserte,  merit,  recompense, 
  fr  deservir,  desservir  to  merit.  See  {Deserve}.] 
  That  which  is  deserved;  the  reward  or  the  punishment  justly 
  due;  claim  to  recompense,  usually  in  a  good  sense  right  to 
  reward;  merit. 
 
  According  to  their  deserts  will  I  judge  them  --Ezek. 
  vii.  27. 
 
  Andronicus,  surnamed  Pius  For  many  good  and  great 
  deserts  to  Rome.  --Shak. 
 
  His  reputation  falls  far  below  his  desert.  --A. 
  Hamilton. 
 
  Syn:  Merit;  worth;  excellence;  due. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Desert  \Des"ert\,  n.  [F.  d['e]sert,  L.  desertum  from  desertus 
  solitary,  desert,  pp  of  deserere  to  desert;  de-  +  serere  to 
  join  together.  See  {Series}.] 
  1.  A  deserted  or  forsaken  region;  a  barren  tract  incapable  of 
  supporting  population,  as  the  vast  sand  plains  of  Asia  and 
  Africa  are  destitute  and  vegetation. 
 
  A  dreary  desert  and  a  gloomy  waste.  --Pope. 
 
  2.  A  tract,  which  may  be  capable  of  sustaining  a  population, 
  but  has  been  left  unoccupied  and  uncultivated;  a 
  wilderness;  a  solitary  place 
 
  He  will  make  her  wilderness  like  Eden,  and  her 
  desert  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  --Is.  li  3. 
 
  Note:  Also  figuratively. 
 
  Before  her  extended  Dreary  and  vast  and  silent, 
  the  desert  of  life.  --Longfellow. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Desert  \De*sert"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Deserted};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Deserting}.]  [Cf.  L.  desertus  p.  p.  of  deserere  to 
  desert,  F.  d['e]serter.  See  2d  {Desert}.] 
  1.  To  leave  (especially  something  which  one  should  stay  by 
  and  support);  to  leave  in  the  lurch;  to  abandon;  to 
  forsake;  --  implying  blame,  except  sometimes  when  used  of 
  localities;  as  to  desert  a  friend,  a  principle,  a  cause 
  one's  country.  ``The  deserted  fortress.''  --Prescott. 
 
  2.  (Mil.)  To  abandon  (the  service)  without  leave  to  forsake 
  in  violation  of  duty;  to  abscond  from  as  to  desert  the 
  army;  to  desert  one's  colors. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Desert  \De*sert"\,  v.  i. 
  To  abandon  a  service  without  leave  to  quit  military  service 
  without  permission,  before  the  expiration  of  one's  term;  to 
  abscond. 
 
  The  soldiers  .  .  .  deserted  in  numbers.  --Bancroft. 
 
  Syn:  To  abandon;  forsake;  leave  relinquish;  renounce;  quit 
  depart  from  abdicate.  See  {Abandon}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Desert  \Des"ert\,  a.  [Cf.  L.  desertus  p.  p.  of  deserere  and  F. 
  d['e]sert.  See  2d  {Desert}.] 
  Of  or  pertaining  to  a  desert;  forsaken;  without  life  or 
  cultivation;  unproductive;  waste;  barren;  wild;  desolate; 
  solitary;  as  they  landed  on  a  desert  island. 
 
  He  .  .  .  went  aside  privately  into  a  desert  place 
  --Luke  ix  10. 
 
  Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen,  And  waste 
  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air.  --Gray. 
 
  {Desert  flora}  (Bot.),  the  assemblage  of  plants  growing 
  naturally  in  a  desert,  or  in  a  dry  and  apparently 
  unproductive  place 
 
  {Desert  hare}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  small  hare  ({Lepus  sylvaticus}, 
  var.  Arizon[ae])  inhabiting  the  deserts  of  the  Western 
  United  States. 
 
  {Desert  mouse}  (Zo["o]l.),  an  American  mouse  ({Hesperomys 
  eremicus}),  living  in  the  Western  deserts. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  desert 
  adj  :  located  in  a  dismal  or  remote  area;  desolate;  "a  desert 
  island";  "a  godforsaken  wilderness  crossroads";  "a  wild 
  stretch  of  land";  "waste  places"  [syn:  {godforsaken},  {waste}, 
  {wild}] 
  n  :  an  arid  region  with  little  or  no  vegetation 
  v  1:  leave  someone  who  needs  or  counts  on  you  leave  in  the 
  lurch;  "The  mother  deserted  her  children"  [syn:  {abandon}, 
  {forsake},  {desolate},  {lurch}] 
  2:  as  of  an  organization,  a  country  or  an  army  [syn:  {defect}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Desert 
  (1.)  Heb.  midbar  "pasture-ground;"  an  open  tract  for  pasturage; 
  a  common  (Joel  2:22).  The  "backside  of  the  desert"  (Ex.  3:1)  is 
  the  west  of  the  desert,  the  region  behind  a  man,  as  the  east  is 
  the  region  in  front.  The  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered 
  "wildernes,"  and  is  used  of  the  country  lying  between  Egypt  and 
  Palestine  (Gen.  21:14,  21;  Ex  4:27;  19:2;  Josh.  1:4),  the 
  wilderness  of  the  wanderings.  It  was  a  grazing  tract,  where  the 
  flocks  and  herds  of  the  Israelites  found  pasturage  during  the 
  whole  of  their  journey  to  the  Promised  Land. 
 
  The  same  Hebrew  word  is  used  also  to  denote  the  wilderness  of 
  Arabia,  which  in  winter  and  early  spring  supplies  good  pasturage 
  to  the  flocks  of  the  nomad  tribes  than  roam  over  it  (1  Kings 
  9:18). 
 
  The  wilderness  of  Judah  is  the  mountainous  region  along  the 
  western  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  David  fed  his  father's 
  flocks  (1  Sam.  17:28;  26:2).  Thus  in  both  of  these  instances  the 
  word  denotes  a  country  without  settled  inhabitants  and  without 
  streams  of  water,  but  having  good  pasturage  for  cattle;  a 
  country  of  wandering  tribes,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  a 
  settled  people  (Isa.  35:1;  50:2;  Jer.  4:11).  Such  also  is  the 
  meaning  of  the  word  wilderness"  in  Matt.  3:3;  15:33;  Luke  15:4. 
 
  (2.)  The  translation  of  the  Hebrew  _Aribah'_,  "an  arid  tract" 
  (Isa.  35:1,  6;  40:3;  41:19;  51:3,  etc.).  The  name  Arabah  is 
  specially  applied  to  the  deep  valley  of  the  Jordan  (the  Ghor  of 
  the  Arabs),  which  extends  from  the  lake  of  Tiberias  to  the 
  Elanitic  gulf.  While  _midbar_  denotes  properly  a  pastoral 
  region,  _arabah_  denotes  a  wilderness.  It  is  also  translated 
  "plains;"  as  "the  plains  of  Jericho"  (Josh.  5:10;  2  Kings  25:5), 
  "the  plains  of  Moab"  (Num.  22:1;  Deut.  34:1,  8),  "the  plains  of 
  the  wilderness"  (2  Sam.  17:16). 
 
  (3.)  In  the  Revised  Version  of  Num.  21:20  the  Hebrew  word 
  _jeshimon_  is  properly  rendered  "desert,"  meaning  the  waste 
  tracts  on  both  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  This  word  is  also 
  rendered  desert"  in  Ps  78:40;  106:14;  Isa.  43:19,  20.  It 
  denotes  a  greater  extent  of  uncultivated  country  than  the  other 
  words  so  rendered.  It  is  especially  applied  to  the  desert  of  the 
  peninsula  of  Arabia  (Num.  21:20;  23:28),  the  most  terrible  of 
  all  the  deserts  with  which  the  Israelites  were  acquainted.  It  is 
  called  "the  desert"  in  Ex  23:31;  Deut.  11:24.  (See  {JESHIMON}.) 
 
  (4.)  A  dry  place  hence  a  desolation  (Ps.  9:6),  desolate  (Lev. 
  26:34);  the  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  word  _horbah'_.  It  is 
  rendered  desert"  only  in  Ps  102:6,  Isa.  48:21,  and  Ezek.  13:4, 
  where  it  means  the  wilderness  of  Sinai. 
 
  (5.)  This  word  is  the  symbol  of  the  Jewish  church  when  they 
  had  forsaken  God  (Isa.  40:3).  Nations  destitute  of  the  knowledge 
  of  God  are  called  a  wilderness"  (32:15,  _midbar_).  It  is  a 
  symbol  of  temptation,  solitude,  and  persecution  (Isa.  27:10, 
  _midbar_;  33:9,  _arabah_). 
 




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