Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DAG, n.²

Dew. [Not in use.]

DAG, n.³ [Sax. dag.]

1. A loose end, as of locks of wool; called also dag-locks. Bailey.
2. A leathern latchet.

DAG, v.t.

1. To daggle. [Not in use.]
2. To cut into slips. [Obs.] Chaucer.

DAG'GER, n. [Fr. dague; D. dagge; Arm. dager; Sp. daga; Port. adaga; It. daga; Ir. daigear. In G. and D. degen is a sword.]

1. A short sword; a poniard. Sidney.
2. In fencing schools, a blunt blade of iron with a basket hilt, used for defense.
3. With printers, an obelisk, or obelus, a mark of reference in the form of a dagger; thus †.

DAG'GER, v.t.

To pierce with a dagger; to stab.

DAG'GERS-DRAW-ING, n.

The act of drawing daggers; approach to open attack or to violence; a quarrel. Swift.

DAG'GLE, v.i.

To run through mud and water.

DAG'GLE, v.t. [probably from dag, dew, or its root.]

To trail in mud or wet grass; to befoul; to dirty, as the lower end of a garment.

DAG'GLED, pp.

Dipped or trailed in mud or foul water; befouled.

DAG'GLE-TAIL, a.

Having the lower ends of garments defiled with mud.

DAG'GLING, ppr.

Drawing along in mud or foul water.

DAG'-LOCK, n. [dag, dew, and lock.]

A lock of wool on a sheep that hangs and drags in the wet. Grose.

DAG'-SWAIN, n. [dag, a shred.]

A kind of carpet. Harrison.

DAG'-TAIL-ED, a.

The same as daggle-tail; trailed in mud.

DA-GUERRE'O-LITE, n. [dager'rolite; Gr. λιθος, a stone.]

A steatitic calcarious stone or substance, consisting of steatite and carbonate of lime, which is used for polishing metals and giving them a beautiful luster.

DA-GUERRE'O-TYPE, n. [dager'rotype; from Daguerre, the discoverer.]

A method of fixing images of objects by the camera obscura. A copper sheet, plated with silver, well cleaned with diluted nitric acid, or polished, is exposed to the vapor of iodine, which forms a very thin coating. This sheet is placed in the camera obscura, in which it remains eight or ten minutes; it is then taken out and exposed to the vapor of mercury; then heated to 167° Fahrenheit, and the images appear as by enchantment.

DAH'LIA, n. [from Dahl, the name of a Swedish botanist.]

A shrub growing at the Cape of Good Hope, with inconspicuous flowers of no beauty. Willdenow. This name is commonly applied by gardeners to the Georgia variabilis, which bears a beautiful compound flower.

DAH'LINE, n.

Inulin, the fecula obtained from elecampane, resembling starch. Ure.

DAI'LI-NESS, n.

Daily occurrence. Taylor.

DAI'LY, a. [Sax. dæglic, from dag, day.]

Happening or being every day; done day by day; bestowed or enjoyed every day; as, daily labor; a daily allowance. Give us this day our daily bread. Lord's Prayer.

DAI'LY, adv.

Every day; day by day; as, a thing happens daily.

DAIN'TI-LY, adv. [from dainty.]

1. Nicely; elegantly; as, a hat daintily made. [Not legitimate, nor in use.] Bacon.
2. Nicely; fastidiously; with nice regard to what is well tasted; as, to eat daintily.
3. Deliciously; as, to fare daintily.
4. Ceremoniously; scrupulously.

DAIN'TI-NESS, n.

1. Delicacy; softness; elegance; nicety; as, the daintiness of the limbs. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
2. Delicacy; deliciousness; applied to food; as, the daintiness of provisions.
3. Nicety in taste; squeamishness; fastidiousness; as, the daintiness of the taste. Wotton.
4. Ceremoniousness; scrupulousness; nice attention to manners. [Obs.]

DAIN'TREL, n.

A delicacy. [Not in use.]

DAIN'TY, a. [W. deintiaiz; Scot. dainty; from dant, daint, the teeth, L. dens, Gr. οδους, Sans. danta.]

1. Nice; pleasing to the palate; of exquisite taste; delicious; as, dainty food. His soul abhorreth dainty meat. Job xxxiii.
2. Delicate; of acute sensibility; nice in selecting what is tender and good; squeamish; soft; luxurious; as, a dainty taste or palate; a dainty people.
3. Scrupulous in manners; ceremonious. Shak.
4. Elegant; tender; soft; pure; neat; effeminately beautiful; as, dainty hands or limbs. Milton. Shak.
5. Nice; affectedly fine; as, a dainty speaker. Prior.