Dictionary: DE-FORM'ING – DE-FY'

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DE-FORM'ING, ppr.

Marring the natural form or figure; rendering ugly or displeasing; destroying beauty.

DE-FORM'I-TY, n. [L. deformitas.]

  1. Any unnatural state of the shape or form; want of that uniformity or symmetry which constitutes beauty; distortion; irregularity of shape or features; disproportion of limbs; defect; crookedness, &c. Hence, ugliness; as, bodily deformity.
  2. Any thing that destroys beauty, grace or propriety; irregularity; absurdity; gross deviation from order, or the established laws of propriety. Thus we speak of deformity in an edifice, or deformity of character.

DE-FORS'ER, n. [from force.]

One that casts out by force. – Blount. [Ill formed and not in use.]

DE-FOUL', v.t.

To defile.

DE-FOUL'ED, pp.

Defiled; made dirty.

DE-FOUL'ING, ppr.

Rendering vile.

DE-FRAUD', v.t. [L. defraudo; de and fraudo, to cheat, fraus, fraud; It. defraudare; Sp. defraudar.]

  1. To deprive of right, either by obtaining something by deception or artifice, or by taking something wrongfully without the knowledge or consent of the owner; to cheat; to cozen; followed by of before the thing taken; as, to defraud a man of his right. The agent who embezzles public property defrauds the state. The man who by deception obtains a price for a commodity above its value, defrauds the purchaser. We have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. – 2 Cor. vii.
  2. To withhold wrongfully from another what is due to him. Defraud not the hireling of his wages.
  3. To prevent one wrongfully from obtaining what he may justly claim. A man of fortune who permits his son to consume the season of education in hunting, shooting, or in frequenting horse-races, assemblies, &c., defrauds the community of a benefactor, and bequeaths them a nuisance. – Paley.
  4. To defeat or frustrate wrongfully. By the duties deserted … by the claims defrauded. – Paley.

DE-FRAUD-A'TION, n.

The act of defrauding.

DE-FRAUD'ED, pp.

Deprived of property or right by trick, artifice or deception; injured by the withholding of what is due.

DE-FRAUD'ER, a.

One who defrauds; one who takes from another his right by deception, or withholds what is his due; a cheat; a cozener; an embezzler; a peculator.

DE-FRAUD'ING, ppr.

Depriving another of his property or right by deception or artifice; injuring by withholding wrongfully what is due.

DE-FRAUD'MENT, n.

The act of defrauding. – Milton.

DE-FRAY', v.t. [Fr. defrayer; de and frais, fraix, expense; Arm. defraei.]

  1. To pay; to discharge, as cost or expense; to bear, as charge, cost or expense. It is followed chiefly by expense, charge or cost. The acquisitions of war seldom defray the expenses. The profits of a voyage will not always defray the charges, or even the cost of the first outfits.
  2. To satisfy; as, to defray anger. [Obs.] – Spenser.
  3. To fill; as, to defray a bottle. [Obs.] – Spenser.

DE-FRAY'ED, pp.

Paid; discharged; as expense, or cost.

DE-FRAY'ER, n.

One who pays or discharges expenses.

DE-FRAY'ING, ppr.

Paying; discharging.

DE-FRAY'MENT, n.

Payment. – Shelton.

DEFT, a. [Sax. dæft.]

Neat; handsome; spruce; ready; dextrous; fit; convenient. [Obs.] – Shak. Dryden.

DEFT'LY, adv.

Neatly; dextrously; in a skillful manner. [Obs.] – Shak. Gray.

DEFT'NESS, n.

Neatness; beauty. [Obs.] – Drayton.

DE-FUNCT', a. [L. defunctus, from defungor, to perform and discharge; de and fungor, id.]

Having finished the course of life; dead; deceased. – Shak.

DE-FUNCT', n.

A dead person; one deceased. – Shak.

DE-FUNC'TION, n.

Death. [Not used.] – Shak.

DE-FY', n.

A challenge. [Not used.] – Dryden.

DE-FY', v.t. [Fr. defier; de, des, from, and fier, to trust; It. sfidare; Sp. desafiar; des and fiar; Port. id.; Arm. difyal; Low L. diffidare, and diffiduciare, from fido, to trust. See Faith. The word diffidare seems originally to have signified, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the lord and his vassal; opposed to affidare. Spelman, ad voc. Hence it came to be used for the denunciation of enmity and of war. Hence, to challenge. If we understand defier to signify to distrust, then to defy is to call in question the courage of another, according to the popular phrase, “you dare not fight me.”]

  1. To dare; to provoke to combat or strife, by appealing to the courage of another; to invite one to contest; to challenge; as, Goliath defied the armies of Israel.
  2. To dare; to brave; to offer to hazard a conflict by manifesting a contempt of opposition, attack or hostile force; as, to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy the power of the magistrate. Were we to abolish the common law, it would rise triumphant above its own ruins, deriding and defying, its impotent enemies. – Duponceau.
  3. To challenge to say or do any thing.