desert
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.1des·ert
noun \ˈde-zərt\Definition of DESERT
1
2
archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract
3
: a desolate or forbidding area <lost in a desert of doubt>
— de·ser·tic \de-ˈzər-tik\ adjective
— des·ert·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective
Examples of DESERT
- Satellite images taken this year and 20 years ago show that the desert is in retreat thanks to a resurgence of trees. —Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, 14-20 Oct. 2006
- The coastal plain is a desert in terms of precipitation—less than six inches fall annually—but what falls as snow stays to be later distributed by the wind. —John Hildebrand, Harper's, November 2003
- The house finch, a songbird native to the Western desert, has proved to be highly adaptable, having rapidly colonized the Eastern states after its release on Long Island in the early 1940's. —Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2002
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Origin of DESERT
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin desertum, from Latin, neuter of desertus, past participle of deserere to desert, from de- + serere to join together — more at series
First Known Use: 13th century
Other Geology Terms
Rhymes with DESERT
advert, alert, assert, avert, bellwort, birthwort, Blackshirt, brownshirt, bush shirt, camp shirt, colewort, concert, convert, covert, dessert, dissert, divert, dress shirt, evert, exert, expert, exsert, figwort, fleawort, glasswort, hair shirt, Hastert, hornwort, inert, insert, invert, lousewort, lungwort, madwort, milkwort, mugwort, nightshirt, outskirt, overt, pay dirt, pervert, pilewort, ragwort, redshirt, revert, ribwort, saltwort, sandwort, Schubert, seagirt, sea squirt, soapwort, spearwort, spleenwort, stitchwort, stonewort, stuffed shirt, subvert, sweatshirt, toothwort, T-shirt, ungirt
2des·ert
adjective \ˈde-zərt\Definition of DESERT
2
: of or relating to a desert (see 1desert)
3
archaic : forsaken
Examples of DESERT
- While my very American mother swabbed the dishes, Dad lingered at the dinner table, recreating in visceral detail the taste of mint in a Bedouin teacup under a desert sky, or the golden plumage of his father's saluki dogs, or the filigreed robes of the young king at the camel races. —Diana Abu-Jaber, Vogue, May 2007
- … the place in the Texas Panhandle where Highway 66 rolled down off the land of farms and ranches into the beginnings of the desert grassland and red-rock country that dominated New Mexico. —Susan Croce Kelly, Route 66, 1988
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Origin of DESERT
(see 1desert)
First Known Use: 13th century
Other Ecology Terms
3de·sert
noun \di-ˈzərt\Definition of DESERT
1
: the quality or fact of meriting reward or punishment
2
: deserved reward or punishment —usually used in plural <got their just deserts>
3
: excellence, worth
Origin of DESERT
Middle English deserte, from Anglo-French, from feminine of desert, past participle of deservir to deserve
First Known Use: 13th century
4de·sert
verb \di-ˈzərt\Definition of DESERT
transitive verb
1
: to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return <desert a town>
2
a : to leave in the lurch <desert a friend in trouble> b : to abandon (military service) without leave
intransitive verb
: to quit one's post, allegiance, or service without leave or justification; especially : to abandon military duty without leave and without intent to return
— de·sert·er noun
See Examples of DESERT
- The inhabitants had deserted the town.
- She had been married for just over a year when her husband deserted her.
- He was deserted by his friends and family.
- Boulet saw his longtime partner desert him in the midst of the storm, then had his wife and daughter skip town in its aftermath. —Mike Flaherty, TV Guide, 10-16 Sept. 2007
- Left alone for a moment, he feels mournful, bereft—and then panicky, when he thinks he has been deserted again. —Richard Corliss, Time, 7 Mar. 2005
- But now the building seemed deserted at two in the afternoon, and I soon learned that the paper, incredibly, was forced to advertise for applicants to the staff. —Arthur Miller, Timebends,1987
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Origin of DESERT
French déserter, from Late Latin desertare, frequentative of Latin deserere
First Known Use: 1603
Related to DESERT
desert
noun (Concise Encyclopedia)
Agave shawii growing in a desert in North America.—© Robert and Linda Mitchell
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