Part 101

De Quincey.

Def"e*cate (?), a. [L. defaecatus, p. p. of defaecare to defecate; de- + faex, faecis, dregs, lees.] Freed from anything that can pollute, as dregs, lees, etc.; refined; purified.

Till the soul be defecate from the dregs of sense.

Bates.

Def"e*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Defecated; p. pr. & vb. n. Defecating.] 1. To clear from impurities, as lees, dregs, etc.; to clarify; to purify; to refine.

To defecate the dark and muddy oil of amber.

Boyle.

2. To free from extraneous or polluting matter; to clear; to purify, as from that which materializes.

We defecate the notion from materiality.

Glanvill.

Defecated from all the impurities of sense.

Bp. Warburton.

Def"e*cate (?), v. i. 1. To become clear, pure, or free. Goldsmith.

2. To void excrement.

Def`e*ca"tion (?), n. [L. defaecatio: cf. F. défécation.] 1. The act of separating from impurities, as lees or dregs; purification.

2. (Physiol.) The act or process of voiding excrement.

Def"e*ca`tor (?), n. That which cleanses or purifies; esp., an apparatus for removing the feculencies of juices and sirups. Knight.

De*fect" (?), n. [L. defectus, fr. deficere, defectum, to desert, fail, be wanting; de- + facere to make, do. See Fact, Feat, and cf. Deficit.] 1. Want or absence of something necessary for completeness or perfection; deficiency; -- opposed to superfluity.

Errors have been corrected, and defects supplied.

Davies.

2. Failing; fault; imperfection, whether physical or moral; blemish; as, a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment.

Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know, Make use of every friend -- and every foe.

Pope.

Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal defects.

Macaulay.

Syn. -- Deficiency; imperfection; blemish. See Fault.

De*fect", v. i. To fail; to become deficient. [Obs.] "Defected honor." Warner.

De*fect", v. t. To injure; to damage. "None can my life defect." [R.] Troubles of Q. Elizabeth (1639).