Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter D - Page 102
Drum (n.) A small cylindrical box in which figs, etc., are packed.
Drum (n.) The tympanum of the ear; -- often, but incorrectly, applied to the tympanic membrane.
Drum (n.) One of the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical, blocks, of which the shaft of a column is composed; also, a vertical wall, whether circular or polygonal in plan, carrying a cupola or dome.
Drum (n.) A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of belts or straps passing around its periphery; also, the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or chain is wound.
Drum (n.) See Drumfish.
Drum (n.) A noisy, tumultuous assembly of fashionable people at a private house; a rout.
Drum (n.) A tea party; a kettledrum.
Drummed (imp. & p. p.) of Drum
Drumming (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Drum
Drum (v. i.) To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a drum.
Drum (v. i.) To beat with the fingers, as with drumsticks; to beat with a rapid succession of strokes; to make a noise like that of a beaten drum; as, the ruffed grouse drums with his wings.
Drum (v. i.) To throb, as the heart.
Drum (v. i.) To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc,; -- with for.
Drum (v. t.) To execute on a drum, as a tune.
Drum (v. t.) (With out) To expel ignominiously, with beat of drum; as, to drum out a deserter or rogue from a camp, etc.
Drum (v. t.) (With up) To assemble by, or as by, beat of drum; to collect; to gather or draw by solicitation; as, to drum up recruits; to drum up customers.
Drumbeat (n.) The sound of a beaten drum; drum music.
Drumble (v. i.) To be sluggish or lazy; to be confused.
Drumble (v. i.) To mumble in speaking.
Drumfish (n.) Any fish of the family Sciaenidae, which makes a loud noise by means of its air bladder; -- called also drum.
Drumhead (n.) The parchment or skin stretched over one end of a drum.
Drumhead (n.) The top of a capstan which is pierced with sockets for levers used in turning it. See Illust. of Capstan.
Drumlin (n.) A hill of compact, unstratified, glacial drift or till, usually elongate or oval, with the larger axis parallel to the former local glacial motion.
Drumly (a.) Turbid; muddy.
Drum major (n.) The chief or first drummer of a regiment; an instructor of drummers.
Drum major (n.) The marching leader of a military band. [U. S.]
Drum major (n.) A noisy gathering. [R.] See under Drum, n., 4.
Drum major (n.) The leader of a marching band or drum corps.
Compare: Ruffed
Ruffed (a.) Furnished with a ruff.
Ruffed grouse (Zool.), A North American grouse ({Bonasa umbellus) common in the wooded districts of the Northern United States. The male has a ruff of brown or black feathers on each side of the neck, and is noted for the loud drumming sound he makes during the breeding season. Called also tippet grouse, partridge, birch partridge, pheasant, drummer, and white-flesher.
Ruffed+lemur+ (Zool.), +a+species+of+lemur+ ({lemur+varius">ruffed lemur (Zool.), a species of lemur ({lemur varius) having a conspicuous ruff on the sides of the head. Its color is varied with black and white. Called also ruffed maucaco.
Drummer (n.) One whose office is to best the drum, as in military exercises and marching.
Drummer (n.) One who solicits custom; a commercial traveler. [Colloq. U.S.] -- Bartlett.
Drummer (n.) (Zool.) A fish that makes a sound when caught; as:
Drummer (n.) The squeteague.
Drummer (n.) A
Drummer (n.) (Zool.) A large West Indian cockroach (Blatta gigantea) which drums on woodwork, as a sexual call.
Drummer (n.) Someone who plays a drum
Drumming (n.) The act of beating upon, or as if upon, a drum; also, the noise which the male of the ruffed grouse makes in spring, by beating his wings upon his sides.
Drummond light () A very intense light, produced by turning two streams of gas, one oxygen and the other hydrogen, or coal gas, in a state of ignition, upon a ball of lime; or a stream of oxygen gas through a flame of alcohol upon a ball or disk of lime; -- called also oxycalcium light, or lime light.
Drumstick (n.) A stick with which a drum is beaten.
Drumstick (n.) Anything resembling a drumstick in form, as the tibiotarsus, or second joint, of the leg of a fowl.
Drunk (a.) Intoxicated with, or as with, strong drink; inebriated; drunken; -- never used attributively, but always predicatively; as, the man is drunk (not, a drunk man).
Drunk (a.) Drenched or saturated with moisture or liquid.
Drunk (n.) A drunken condition; a spree.
Drunkard (n.) One who habitually drinks strong liquors immoderately; one whose habit it is to get drunk; a toper; a sot.
Drunken (v. i.) Overcome by strong drink; intoxicated by, or as by, spirituous liquor; inebriated.
Drunken (v. i.) Saturated with liquid or moisture; drenched.
Drunken (v. i.) Pertaining to, or proceeding from, intoxication.
Drunkenhead (n.) Drunkenness.
Drunkenly (adv.) In a drunken manner.
Drunkenness (n.) The state of being drunken with, or as with, alcoholic liquor; intoxication; inebriety; -- used of the casual state or the habit.
Drunkenness (n.) Disorder of the faculties, resembling intoxication by liquors; inflammation; frenzy; rage.
Drunkenship (n.) Alt. of Drunkship
Drunkship (n.) The state of being drunk; drunkenness.
Drupaceous (a.) Producing, or pertaining to, drupes; having the form of drupes; as, drupaceous trees or fruits.
Drupal (a.) Drupaceous.
Drupe (n.) A fruit consisting of pulpy, coriaceous, or fibrous exocarp, without valves, containing a nut or stone with a kernel. The exocarp is succulent in the plum, cherry, apricot, peach, etc.; dry and subcoriaceous in the almond; and fibrous in the cocoanut.
Drupel (n.) Alt. of Drupelet
Drupelet (n.) A small drupe, as one of the pulpy grains of the blackberry.
Druse (n.) A cavity in a rock, having its interior surface studded with crystals and sometimes filled with water; a geode.
Druse (n.) One of a people and religious sect dwelling chiefly in the Lebanon mountains of Syria.
Drusy (a.) Alt. of Drused
Drused (a.) Covered with a large number of minute crystals.
Druxey (a.) Alt. of Druxy
Druxy (a.) Having decayed spots or streaks of a whitish color; -- said of timber.
Dry (a.) Free from moisture; having little humidity or none; arid; not wet or moist; deficient in the natural or normal supply of moisture, as rain or fluid of any kind; -- said especially: (a) Of the weather: Free from rain or mist.
The weather, we agreed, was too dry for the season. -- Addison.
Dry (a.) Of vegetable matter: Free from juices or sap; not succulent; not green; as, dry wood or hay.
Dry (a.) Of animals: Not giving milk; as, the cow is dry.
Dry (a.) Of persons: Thirsty; needing drink.
Give the dry fool drink. -- Shak
Dry (a.) Of the eyes: Not shedding tears.
Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly. -- Prescott.
Dry (a.) (Med.) Of certain morbid conditions, in which there is entire or comparative absence of moisture; as, dry gangrene; dry catarrh.
Dry (a.) Destitute of that which interests or amuses; barren; unembellished; jejune; plain.
These epistles will become less dry, more susceptible of ornament. -- Pope.
Dry (a.) Characterized by a quality somewhat severe, grave, or hard; hence, sharp; keen; shrewd; quaint; as, a dry tone or manner; dry wit.
He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body. -- W. Irving.
Dry (a.) (Fine Arts) Exhibiting a sharp, frigid preciseness of execution, or the want of a delicate contour in form, and of easy transition in coloring.
Dry area (Arch.), A small open space reserved outside the foundation of a building to guard it from damp.
Dry blow (a) (Med.) A blow which inflicts no wound, and causes no
effusion of blood.
Dry blow (b) A quick, sharp blow.
Dry bone (Min.), Smithsonite, or carbonate of zinc; -- a miner's term.
Dry castor (Zool.) A kind of beaver; -- called also parchment beaver.
Dry cupping. (Med.) See under Cupping.
Dry dock. See under Dock.
Dry fat. See Dry vat (below).
Dry light, Pure unobstructed light; hence, a clear, impartial view. -- Bacon.
The scientific man must keep his feelings under stern control, lest they obtrude into his researches, and color the dry light in which alone science desires to see its objects. -- J. C. Shairp.
Dry masonry. See Masonry.
Dry measure, A system of measures of volume for dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, etc.
Dry pile (Physics), A form of the Voltaic pile, constructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also Zamboni's, from the names of the two earliest constructors of it.
Dry pipe (Steam Engine), A pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler.
Dry plate (Photog.), A glass plate having a dry coating sensitive to light, upon which photographic negatives or pictures can be made, without moistening.
Dry-plate process, The process of photographing with dry plates.
Dry point. (Fine Arts) (a) An engraving made with the needle instead of the burin, in which the work is done nearly as in etching, but is finished without the use acid.
Dry point. (Fine Arts) (b) A print from such an engraving, usually upon paper.
Dry point. (Fine Arts) (c) Hence: The needle with which such an engraving is made.
Dry rent (Eng. Law), A rent reserved by deed, without a clause of distress. -- Bouvier.
Dry rot, A decay of timber, reducing its fibers to the condition of a dry powdery dust, often accompanied by the presence of a peculiar fungus ({Merulius lacrymans), which is sometimes considered the cause of the decay; but it is more probable that the real cause is the decomposition of the wood itself. --D. C. Eaton. Called also sap rot, and, in the United States, powder post. -- Hebert.
Dry stove, A hothouse adapted to preserving the plants of arid climates. -- Brande & C.
Dry vat, A vat, basket, or other receptacle for dry articles.
Dry wine, That in which the saccharine matter and fermentation were so exactly balanced, that they have wholly neutralized each other, and no sweetness is perceptible; -- opposed to sweet wine, in which the saccharine matter is in excess.
Dried (imp. & p. p.) of Dry
Drying (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Dry
Dry (v. t.) To make dry; to free from water, or from moisture of any kind, and by any means; to exsiccate; as, to dry the eyes; to dry one's tears; the wind dries the earth; to dry a wet cloth; to dry hay.
To dry up. (a) To scorch or parch with thirst; to deprive utterly of water; to consume.
Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. -- Is. v. 13.
The water of the sea, which formerly covered it, was in time exhaled and dried up by the sun. -- Woodward.
To dry up. (b) To make to cease, as a stream of talk.
Their sources of revenue were dried up. -- Jowett (Thucyd. )
To dry a cow, or To dry up a cow, To cause a cow to cease secreting milk. -- Tylor.
Dry (v. i.) To grow dry; to become free from wetness, moisture, or juice; as, the road dries rapidly.
Dry (v. i.) To evaporate wholly; to be exhaled; -- said of moisture, or a liquid; -- sometimes with up; as, the stream dries, or dries up.
Dry (v. i.) To shrivel or wither; to lose vitality.
And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. -- I Kings xiii. 4.
Dry (a.) Free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet; "dry land"; "dry clothes"; "a dry climate"; "dry splintery boards"; "a dry river bed"; "the paint is dry" [ant: wet].
Dry (a.) Humorously sarcastic or mocking; "dry humor"; "an ironic remark often conveys an intended meaning obliquely"; "an ironic novel"; "an ironical smile"; "with a wry Scottish wit" [syn: dry, ironic, ironical, wry].
Dry (a.) Lacking moisture or volatile components; "dry paint" [ant: wet].
Dry (a.) Opposed to or prohibiting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages; "the dry vote led by preachers and bootleggers"; "a dry state" [ant: wet].
Dry (a.) Not producing milk; "a dry cow" [ant: lactating, wet].
Dry (a.) (Of liquor) Having a low residual sugar content because of decomposition of sugar during fermentation; "a dry white burgundy"; "a dry Bordeaux" [ant: sweet].
Dry (a.) Without a mucous or watery discharge; "a dry cough"; "that rare thing in the wintertime; a small child with a dry nose" [ant: phlegmy].
Dry (a.) Not shedding tears; "dry sobs"; "with dry eyes".
Dry (a.) Lacking interest or stimulation; dull and lifeless; "a dry book"; "a dry lecture filled with trivial details"; "dull and juiceless as only book knowledge can be when it is unrelated to...life"- John Mason Brown [syn: dry, juiceless].
Dry (a.) Used of solid substances in contrast with liquid ones; "dry weight".
Dry (a.) Unproductive especially of the expected results; "a dry run"; "a mind dry of new ideas".
Dry (a.) Having no adornment or coloration; "dry facts"; "rattled off the facts in a dry mechanical manner".
Dry (a.) (Of food) Eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish; "dry toast"; "dry meat".
Dry (a.) Having a large proportion of strong liquor; "a very dry martini is almost straight gin".
Dry (a.) Lacking warmth or emotional involvement; "a dry greeting"; "a dry reading of the lines"; "a dry critique".
Dry (a.) Practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages; "he's been dry for ten years"; "no thank you; I happen to be teetotal" [syn: dry, teetotal].
Dry (n.) A reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages [syn: dry, prohibitionist].
Dry (v.) Remove the moisture from and make dry; "dry clothes"; "dry hair" [syn: dry, dry out] [ant: wet].
Dry (v.) Become dry or drier; "The laundry dries in the sun" [syn: dry, dry out].
Dry () Used figuratively, it signifies that which produces nothing; as, dry exchange; dry rent; rent seek.
Dryad (n.) A wood nymph; a nymph whose life was bound up with that of her tree.
Dryandra (n.) A genus of shrubs growing in Australia, having beautiful, hard, dry, evergreen leaves.
Dryades (n. pl. ) of Dryas
Dryas (n.) A dryad.
Dry-beat (v. t.) To beat severely.
Dry-boned (a.) Having dry bones, or bones without flesh.
Dry dock () See under Dock.
Dryer (n.) See Drier.
Dry-eyed (a.) Not having tears in the eyes.
Dry-fisted (a.) Niggardly.
Dryfoot (n.) The scent of the game, as far as it can be traced.
Dry goods () A commercial name for textile fabrics, cottons, woolens, linen, silks, laces, etc., -- in distinction from groceries.
Drying (a.) Adapted or tending to exhaust moisture; as, a drying wind or day; a drying room.
Drying (a.) Having the quality of rapidly becoming dry.
Dryly (adv.) In a dry manner; not succulently; without interest; without sympathy; coldly.
Dryness (n.) The state of being dry. See Dry.
Dry nurse () A nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand; -- in distinction from a wet nurse, who suckles it.
Drynurse (v. t.) To feed, attend, and bring up without the breast.
Dryobalanops (n.) The genus to which belongs the single species D. Camphora, a lofty resinous tree of Borneo and Sumatra, yielding Borneo camphor and camphor oil.
Dry-rubbed (imp. & p. p.) of Dry-rub
Dry-rubbing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Dry-rub
Dry-rub (v. t.) To rub and cleanse without wetting.
Drysalter (n.) A dealer in salted or dried meats, pickles, sauces, etc., and in the materials used in pickling, salting, and preserving various kinds of food Hence drysalters usually sell a number of saline substances and miscellaneous drugs.