Part 209

Des"i*tive (?), a. Final; serving to complete; conclusive. [Obs.] "Desitive propositions." I. Watts.

Des"i*tive, n. (Logic) A proposition relating to or expressing an end or conclusion. [Obs.] I. Watts.

Desk (?), n. [OE. deske, the same word as dish, disk. See Dish, and cf. Disk.] 1. A table, frame, or case, usually with sloping top, but often with flat top, for the use writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.

2. A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (esp. in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for "the clerical profession."

Desk, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Desking.] To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.

Desk"work` (?), n. Work done at a desk, as by a clerk or writer. Tennyson.

Des"man (ds"man), n. [Cf. Sw. desman musk.] (Zoöl.) An amphibious, insectivorous mammal found in Russia (Myogale moschata). It is allied to the moles, but is called muskrat by some English writers. [Written also dæsman.]

{ Des"mid (?), Des*mid"i*an (?), } n. [Gr. desmo`s chain + e'i^dos form.] (Bot.) A microscopic plant of the family Desmidiæ, a group of unicellular algæ in which the species have a greenish color, and the cells generally appear as if they consisted of two coalescing halves.

Des"mine (?), n. [Gr. de`smh, desmo`s, bundle, fr. dei^n to bind.] (Min.) Same as Stilbite. It commonly occurs in bundles or tufts of crystals.

||Des`mo*bac*te"ri*a (ds`m*bk*t"r*), n. pl. [Gr. desmo`s bond + E. bacteria.] See Microbacteria.

Des"mo*dont (-dnt), n. [Gr. desmo`s bond + 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, tooth.] (Zoöl.) A member of a group of South American blood-sucking bats, of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. See Vampire.

Des*mog"na*thous (?), a. [Gr. desmo`s bond + gna`qos jaw.] (Zoöl.) Having the maxillo-palatine bones united; -- applied to a group of carinate birds (Desmognathæ), including various wading and swimming birds, as the ducks and herons, and also raptorial and other kinds.

Des"moid (?), a. [Gr. desmo`s ligament + -oid.] (Anat.) Resembling, or having the characteristics of, a ligament; ligamentous.

Des*mol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. desmo`s ligament + -logy.] The science which treats of the ligaments. [R.]

||Des`mo*my*a"ri*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; bond + &?; muscle.] (Zoöl.) The division of Tunicata which includes the Salpæ. See Salpa.

||Des"o*late (?), a. [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus alone. See Sole, a.] 1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house.

I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jer. ix. 11.

And the silvery marish flowers that throng The desolate creeks and pools among.

Tennyson.

2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.

3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.

Have mercy upon, for I am desolate.

Ps. xxv. 16.

Voice of the poor and desolate.

Keble.

4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] Chaucer.

5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.]