downgrade.noun,.plural.downgrades
a descending.slope, as in a road; a turn or trend downward; a decline, as in fortune, status or condition (an older neighborhood on the downgrade)
downgrade, downgraded, downgrading, downgrades.transitive verbs
to lower the status or salary of (the status of the hurricane has been downgraded from five, the highest, to a one); to minimize the importance, value or reputation of; decry; demote

dervish.noun,.plural.dervishes

a dervish is the Moslem.equivalent of a monk or friar; the word is first recorded in English in 1585 A.D.; the dervishes were known as the whirling dervishes, as they performed a fast lively dance as part of their spiritual worship (he threw himself around the stage dancing like a whirling dervish:.Psalms 149:3); the word dervish came into use late in the great poet Rumi's life or possibly after his passing, when his followers organized a Sufi.sect called Mawlawiyah or Mevlevi, known in the West as the whirling or dancing dervishes; see also Sufism

drink, drank, drunk, drinking, drinks.verbs
transitive verb use.to take into the mouth and swallow a liquid; to swallow the liquid contents of a vessel (drank a cup of tea; spongy Earth that drank up the rain); to eagerly take in through the senses or intellect (drank in the beauty of the day)
intransitive verb use.to swallow liquid (drank noisily; drink from a goblet); to imbibe.alcoholic.liquors (they only have one drink when having others over for dinner)
drink.noun,.plural.drinks
a liquid that is fit for drinking; a beverage; an amount of liquid swallowed (took a long drink from the fountain); a body of water; the sea (the sea can be called 'the big drink'; the hatch cover slid off the boat and into the drink)

drunk.verb
past participle of drink
drunk.adjective
intoxicated with alcoholic.liquor to the point of impairment of physical and mental faculties; caused or influenced by intoxication of disorienting.substances (he appeared to be drunk on prescription medications)
drunk.noun,.plural.drunks
a drunkard
drunkard.noun,.plural.drunkards
a person who frequently is drunk

disseize.also spelt.disseise, disseizes, disseized, disseizing.transitive verbs
to dispossess unlawfully of real property; oust; from Middle English 'disseisen' from Anglo-Norman 'disseisir', a variant of Old French 'dessaisir' meaning 'to seize'

diphtheria.noun,.plural.diphtherias
an acute.infectious.disease caused by the bacillus Corynebacterium diphtheriae, characterized by the production of a systemic.toxin and the formation of a false.membrane on the lining of the mucous membrane of the throat and other respiratory passages, causing difficulty in breathing, high fever and weakness
diphtheritic.also spelt.diphtheric.and also called diphtherial.adjective

dunce.noun,.plural.dunces
a human being regarded as stupid, such as Benito Mussolini, stupid because they've sold their soul to the devil for a nickel; the word comes from John Duns Scotus, whose writings and philosophy were ridiculed in the 16th century

dope, dopes, doped, doping.transitive verbs
a thick liquid or pasty preparation; a preparation for giving a desired quality to a substance or surface; an absorbent or adsorbent material used in various manufacturing processes, such as the making of dynamite; if someone calls another a dope, they think that the individual is stupid; a dunce
doper.noun,.plural.dopers
dopant.noun,.plural.dopants
in electronics, a substance, such as boron, added in small amounts to a pure semiconductor material to alter its conductive properties for use in transistors and diodes

depone, deponed, deponing, depones.verbs
Law:.transitive verb use.in law, is to testify or declare under oath
intransitive verb use.to give testimony; from Medieval Latin 'deponere' meaning 'to put down' 
deponent.adjective
Grammar:.in grammar, being a verb of active meaning but passive or middle form, as certain Latin and Greek verbs
deponent.noun,.plural.deponents
Grammar:.a deponent verb
Law:.one who testifies under oath, especially in writing

draconian.adjective
exceedingly.harsh; very.severe

diapause.noun,.plural.diapauses
a period during which growth or development is suspended and physiological.activity.is.diminished, as in certain insects in response to adverse.environmental.conditions; from Greek 'diapausis' meaning 'pause' and from 'diapauein' meaning 'to pause' and from 'dia-' meaning 'between' and 'pauein' meaning 'to stop'

domino.noun,.plural.dominos
a small, rectangular, usually wood or plastic block, the face of which is divided into halves, each half being blank or marked by one to six dots resembling those on dice; a game played with a set of these small blocks, generally 28 in number

domino theory.noun,.plural.domino theories
a theory that one event will set off a train of similar events, such as a theory that if one nation comes under control, then neighboring nations will also come under the same controllers using the same methods, such as financial slavery; that's the theory, but in fact it's always a planned takeover by those of the cabal, such as in the case of the criminal Benjamin Franklin

drab, drabber, drabbest.adjectives
faded and dull in appearance; dull or commonplace in character; dreary (a drab set of old drapes covering the windows)
drab.noun,.plural.drabs
cloth of a light dull brown or grayish brown or unbleached natural color, especially a heavy woolen or cotton fabric (an old drab unattractive coat); from alteration of French 'drap' meaning 'cloth' and from Old French, see drape
drably.adverb
drab.noun,.plural.drabs
a negligible amount (finished the work in dribs and drabs)
drabness.noun.(words ending in 'ess' are usually without pluralization - adding an 'es' making '...esses' is clumsy)

drib.noun,.plural.dribs
in dribs and drabs means in small amounts or numbers over a period of time (she paid me in dribs and drabs, not all at once)

dither.noun,.plural.dithers
being in a state of mind of indecisive.agitation (she was all in a dither over choosing which house to purchase)
dither, dithered, dithering, dithers.intransitive verbs
to be nervously.irresolute in acting or doing

ding, dinged, dinging, dings.verbs
intransitive verb use.to ring; clang; to speak persistently and repetitiously
transitive verb use.to cause to clang, as by striking; to instill with constant repetition (dinged us by taxing everything so much we were like pinpricked to death)
ding.noun,.plural.dings
a ringing sound

ding.noun,.plural.dings
a small dent or nick, as in the body of a car
ding.verb

dingy, dingier, dingiest.adjectives
darkened with smoke and grime; dirty or discolored; shabby, drab, or squalid
dingily.adverb
dinginess.noun.(words ending in 'ess' are usually without pluralization - adding an 'es' making '...esses' is clumsy)

dangle, dangled, dangling, dangles.verbs
intransitive verb use.to hang loosely and swing or sway to and fro (ripe fruit dangling on the tree);
transitive verb use.to cause to hang loosely or swing (many criminals have dangled from the gallows because of their serious crimes); to cause one's expectations or hopes to hang uncertainly or remain unresolved
dangle.noun,.plural.dangles
the act or an instance of dangling; something dangled
dangly.adjective
dangler.noun,.plural.danglers