Part 465

Dod"dered (?), a. Shattered; infirm. "A laurel grew, doddered with age." Dryden.

Do*dec"a*gon (?), n. [Gr. &?; twelve + &?; angle: cf. F. dodécagone.] (Geom.) A figure or polygon bounded by twelve sides and containing twelve angles.

||Do*dec`a*gyn"i*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; twelve + &?; woman, female.] (Bot.) A Linnæan order of plants having twelve styles.

{ Do*dec`a*gyn"i*an (?), Do`de*cag"y*nous (?), } a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to the Dodecagynia; having twelve styles.

Do*dec`a*he"dral (?), a. Pertaining to, or like, a dodecahedion; consisting of twelve equal sides.

Dodecahedral cleavage. See under Cleavage.

Do*dec`a*he"dron (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; twelve + &?; seat, bottom, base: cf. F. dodécaèdre.] (Geom. & Crystallog.) A solid having twelve faces.

The regular dodecahedron is bounded by twelve equal and regular pentagons; the pyritohedron (see Pyritohedron) is related to it; the rhombic dodecahedron is bounded by twelve equal rhombic faces.

||Do`de*can"dri*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; twelve + &?;, &?;, man, male.] (Bot.) A Linnæan class of plants including all that have any number of stamens between twelve and nineteen.

{ Do`de*can"dri*an (?), Do`de*can"drous (?), } a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to the Dodecandria; having twelve stamens, or from twelve to nineteen.

Do"de*cane (?), n. [Gr. &?; twelve.] (Chem.) Any one of a group of thick oily hydrocarbons, C12H26, of the paraffin series.

Do*dec"a*style (?), a. [Gr. &?; twelve + &?; column: cf. F. dodécastyle.] (Arch.) Having twelve columns in front. -- n. A dodecastyle portico, or building.

Do*dec`a*syl*lab"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; twelve + E. syllabic.] Having twelve syllables.

Do*dec"a*syl`la*ble (?), n. A word consisting of twelve syllables.

Do*dec`a*tem"o*ry (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; twelve + &?;, dim. of &?; part: cf. F. dodécatémorie.] (Astron.) A tern applied to the twelve houses, or parts, of the zodiac of the primum mobile, to distinguish them from the twelve signs; also, any one of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Dodge (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dodged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dodging.] [Of uncertain origin: cf. dodder, v., daddle, dade, or dog, v. t.] 1. To start suddenly aside, as to avoid a blow or a missile; to shift place by a sudden start. Milton.

2. To evade a duty by low craft; to practice mean shifts; to use tricky devices; to play fast and loose; to quibble.

Some dodging casuist with more craft than sincerity.

Milton.

Dodge, v. t. 1. To evade by a sudden shift of place; to escape by starting aside; as, to dodge a blow aimed or a ball thrown.

2. Fig.: To evade by craft; as, to dodge a question; to dodge responsibility. [Colloq.] S. G. Goodrich.

3. To follow by dodging, or suddenly shifting from place to place. Coleridge.

Dodge, n. The act of evading by some skillful movement; a sudden starting aside; hence, an artful device to evade, deceive, or cheat; a cunning trick; an artifice. [Colloq.]

Some, who have a taste for good living, have many harmless arts, by which they improve their banquet, and innocent dodges, if we may be permitted to use an excellent phrase that has become vernacular since the appearance of the last dictionaries.

Thackeray.

Dodg"er (?), n. 1. One who dodges or evades; one who plays fast and loose, or uses tricky devices. Smart.

2. A small handbill. [U. S.]

3. See Corndodger.