Part 572

I must ever have some Dulcinea in my head.

Sterne.

Dul"ci*ness (?), n. See Dulceness. [Obs.]

||Dul*ci"no (?), n. (Mus.) See Dolcino.

Dul"cite (?), n. [Cf. F. dulcite, fr. L. dulcis sweet.] (Chem.) A white, sugarlike substance, C6H8.(OH)2, occurring naturally in a manna from Madagascar, and in certain plants, and produced artificially by the reduction of galactose and lactose or milk sugar.

Dul"ci*tude (?), n. [L. dulcitudo, fr. dulcis sweet. Sweetness. [R.] Cockeram.

Dul"co*rate (?), v. t. [L. dulcoratus, p. p. of dulcorare, fr. dulcor sweetness, fr. dulcis sweet.] To sweeten; to make less acrimonious. [R.] Bacon.

Dul`co*ra"tion (?), n. [LL. dulcoratio.] The act of sweetening. [R.] Bacon.

Du"ledge (?), n. (Mil.) One of the dowels joining the ends of the fellies which form the circle of the wheel of a gun carriage. Wilhelm.

||Du*li"a (?), n. [LL., fr. Gr. &?; servitude, fr. &?; slave.] (R. C. Ch.) An inferior kind of veneration or worship, given to the angels and saints as the servants of God.

Dull (?), a. [Compar. Duller (?); superl. Dullest.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. &?; turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. Dolt, Dwale, Dwell, Fraud.] 1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. "Dull at classical learning." Thackeray.

She is not bred so dull but she can learn.

Shak.

2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.

This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.

Matt. xiii. 15.

O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.

Spenser.

3. Insensible; unfeeling.

Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife.

Beau. & Fl.

4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. "Thy scythe is dull." Herbert.

5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror.

6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. "The dull earth." Shak.

As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.

Longfellow.

7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day.

Along life's dullest, dreariest walk.