Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DAIN'TY, n.

1. Something nice and delicate to the taste; that which is exquisitely delicious; a delicacy. Be not desirous of dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Prov. xxiii.
2. A term of fondness. [Not much used.] Why, that's my dainty. Shak.

DAI'RY, n. [This word I have not found in any other language. In Russ. doyu signifies to milk, and Junius mentions dey, an old word for milk, and Icelandic deggia, to milk. It may be, and probably is, a contracted word.]

1. Milk, and all that concerns it, on a farm; or the business of managing milk, and of making butter and cheese. The whole establishment respecting milk, in a family, or on a farm. Grounds were turned much in England either to feeding or dairy; and this advanced the trade of English butter. Temple.
2. The place, room or house, where milk is set for cream, managed, and converted into butter or cheese. Dryden.
3. Milk-farm. Bacon.

DAI'RY-HOUSE, or DAI'RY-ROOM, n.

A house or room appropriated to the management of milk.

DAI-RY-MAID, n.

A female servant whose business is to manage milk. Addison.

DAI'SI-ED, a. [See Daisy.]

Full of daisies; adorned with daisies. Shak.

DAI'SY, n. [s as z; Sax. dæges-ege, day's eye.]

A plant of the genus Bellis, of several varieties. The blue daisy belongs to the genus Globularia, as does the globe daisy; the greater or ox-eye daisy belongs to the genus Chrysanthemum; and the middle daisy, to the Doronicum. Fam. of Plants.

DA'KER, n.

A dicker; the number of ten.

DA'KER-HEN, n.

A foul of the gallinaceous kind, somewhat like a partridge or quail. Dict. of Nat. Hist. The corn-crake or land-rail, a bird of the grallic order of Linnæus. Ed. Encyc.

DA'KIR, n.

In English statutes, ten hides, or the twentieth part of a last of hides. Encyc.

DALE, n. [Goth. dalei; Dan. and Sw. dal; G. thal; D. dal; W. dôl; Russ. dol, udol, and doline; allied perhaps to dell. The Welsh dôl signifies a winding, bend or meander, and a dale through which a river runs; a band, a ring, &c. In D. daalen signifies to descend, to sink.]

A low place between hills; a vale or valley: a poetic word.

DAL'LI-ANCE, n. [See Dally.]

1. Literally, delay; a lingering; appropriately, acts of fondness; interchange of caresses; toying, as males and females; as, youthful dalliance. Milton.
2. Conjugal embraces; commerce of the sexes. Milton.
3. Delay. [Obs.] Shak.

DAL'LIED, pp.

Delayed; deferred.

DAL'LIER, n.

One who fondles; a trifler; as, a dallier with pleasant words. Ascham.

DAL'LY, v.i. [W. dàl or dala, to hold, bear, keep, stop; Arm. dalea, to stop or retard; Ir. dail, delay; Russ. dlyu. The sense of holding is often connected with that of extending, drawing out in time; Ar. طَالَ taula, to prolong, to delay. Class Dl, No. 20. See also No. 24, 29.]

1. Literally, to delay; to linger; to wait. Hence,
2. To trifle; to lose time in idleness and trifles; to amuse one's self with idle play. It is madness to dally any longer. Calamy.
3. To toy and wanton, as man and woman; to interchange caresses; to fondle. Shak.
4. To sport; to play. She dallies with the wind. Shak.

DAL'LY, v.t.

To delay; to defer; to put off; to amuse till a proper opportunity; as, to dally off the time. [Not much used.] Knolles.

DAL'LY-ING, ppr.

Delaying; procrastinating; trifling; wasting time in idle amusement; toying; fondling.

DAM, n.¹ [supposed to be from Dame, – which see.]

1. A female parent; used of beasts, particularly of quadrupeds.
2. A human mother, in contempt. Shak.
3. [Fr. dame, the queen; Sp. dama.] A crowned man in the game of draughts.

DAM, n.² [D. dam; G. damm; Sw. id.; Dan. dam, a pond. See the Verb.]

A mole, bank or mound of earth, or any wall, or a frame of wood, raised to obstruct a current of water, and to raise it, for the purpose of driving mill-wheels, or for other purposes. Any work that stops and confines water in a pond or basin, or causes it to rise.

DAM, v.t. [Sax. demman; G. dämmen; D. dammen; Dan. dæmmer; Ch. טום to stop, to shut; Heb. and Ch. אטם, Ar. أطَمَ atama, to stop or shut. Qu. Ch. סטם, Ar. سَطَمَ satama, id. This is the root of dumb. See Class Dm, No. 17, 18, 23, 39.]

1. To make a dam, or to stop a stream of water by a bank of earth, or by any other work; to confine or shut in water. It is common to use, after the verb, in, up, or out; as, to dam in, or to dam up, the water, and to dam out is to prevent water from entering.
2. To confine or restrain from escaping; to shut in; used by Shakespeare of fire, and by Milton of light.

DAM'AGE, n. [Fr. dommage; Arm. doumaich; Norm. domage; Sax. dem; L. damnum; Sp. daño; Port. dano; It. danno; Ir. damaiste. This word seems to be allied to the Greek ζημια, a fine or mulct, Ch. ומה or ומי, to impose a fine. But qu. See Damn.]

1. Any hurt, injury or harm to one's estate; any loss of property sustained; any hinderance to the increase of property; or any obstruction to the success of an enterprise. A man suffers damage by the destruction of his corn, by the burning of his house, by the detention of a ship which defeats a profitable voyage, or by the failure of a profitable undertaking. Damage then is any actual loss, or the prevention of profit. It is usually and properly applied to property, but sometimes to reputation and other things which are valuable. But in the latter case, injury is more correctly used.
2. The value of what is lost; the estimated equivalent for detriment or injury sustained; that which is given or adjudged to repair a loss. This is the legal signification of the word. It is the province of a jury to assess damages in trespass. In this sense, the word is generally used in the plural.

DAM'AGE, v.i.

To receive harm; to be injured or impaired in soundness, or value; as, green corn will damage in a mow or stack.

DAM'AGE, v.t. [It. danneggiare; but Norm. damager is to oppress.]

To hurt or harm; to injure; to impair; to lessen the soundness, goodness or value of. Rain may damage corn or hay; a storm may damage a ship; a house is often damaged by fire, when it is not destroyed; heavy rains damage roads.

DAM'AGE-A-BLE, a.

1. That may be injured or impaired; susceptible of damage; as, damageable goods.
2. Hurtful; pernicious. [Rare.]

DAM'AG-ED, pp.

Hurt; impaired; injured.

DAM'AGE-FEAS'ANT, a. [dam'age-fez'ant; Fr. faisant, from faire.]

Doing injury; trespassing, as cattle. Blackstone.