Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter D - Page 12
Decayed (a.) Fallen, as to physical or social condition; affected with decay; rotten; as, decayed vegetation or vegetables; a decayed fortune or gentleman. -- De*cay"ed*ness, n.
Decayed (a.) Damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless; "rotten floor boards"; "rotted beams"; "a decayed foundation" [syn: decayed, rotten, rotted].
Decayer (n.) A causer of decay. [R.]
Decease (n.) 死亡 Departure, especially departure from this life; death.
His decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. -- Luke ix. 31.
And I, the whilst you mourn for his decease, Will with my mourning plaints your plaint increase. -- Spenser.
Syn: Death; departure; dissolution; demise; release. See Death.
Deceased (imp. & p. p.) of Decease.
Deceasing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Decease.
Decease (v. i.) 死亡 To depart from this life; to die; to pass away.
She's dead, deceased, she's dead. -- Shak.
When our summers have deceased. -- Tennyson.
Inasmuch as he carries the malignity and the lie with him, he so far deceases from nature. -- Emerson.
Decease (n.) The event of dying or departure from life; "her death came as a terrible shock"; "upon your decease the capital will pass to your grandchildren" [syn: {death}, {decease}, {expiry}] [ant: {birth}, {nascence}, {nascency}, {nativity}].
Decease (v.) Pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102" [syn: {die}, {decease}, {perish}, {go}, {exit}, {pass away}, {expire}, {pass}, {kick the bucket}, {cash in one's chips}, {buy the farm}, {conk}, {give-up the ghost}, {drop dead}, {pop off}, {choke}, {croak}, {snuff it}] [ant: {be born}].
Deceased (a.) 已故的 Passed away; dead; gone.
The deceased, the dead person.
Deceased (a.) Dead; "he is deceased"; "our dear departed friend" [syn: {asleep(p)}, {at peace(p)}, {at rest(p)}, {deceased}, {departed}, {gone}].
Deceased (n.) Someone who is no longer alive; "I wonder what the dead person would have done" [syn: {dead person}, {dead soul}, {deceased person}, {deceased}, {decedent}, {departed}].
Decede (n.) To withdraw. [Obs.] -- Fuller.
Decedent (a.) Removing; departing. -- Ash.
Decedent (n.) A deceased person. -- Bouvier.
Decedent (n.) Someone who is no longer alive; "I wonder what the dead person would have done" [syn: dead person, dead soul, deceased person, deceased, decedent, departed].
DECEDENT. In the acts of descent and distribution in Pennsylvania, this word is frequently used for a deceased person, testate or intestate.
Deceit (n.) 欺騙，欺詐；奸詐 [U]；騙局；欺詐手段；騙人的話 [C] An attempt or disposition to deceive or lead into error; any declaration, artifice, or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false; a contrivance to entrap; deception; a wily device; fraud.
Making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit. -- Amos viii. 5.
Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. -- Milton.
Yet still we hug the dear deceit. -- N. Cotton.
Deceit (n.) (Law) Any trick, collusion, contrivance, false representation, or underhand practice, used to defraud another. When injury is thereby effected, an action of deceit, as it called, lies for compensation.
Syn: Deception; fraud; imposition; duplicity; trickery; guile; falsifying; double-dealing; stratagem. See Deception.
Deceit (n.) The quality of being fraudulent [syn: fraudulence, deceit].
Deceit (n.) A misleading falsehood [syn: misrepresentation, deceit, deception].
Deceit (n.) The act of deceiving [syn: deception, deceit, dissembling, dissimulation].
Deceit, tort. A fraudulent. misrepresentation or contrivance, by which one man deceives another, who has no means of detecting the fraud, to the injury and damage of the latter.
Deceit, Fraud, or the intention to deceive, is the very essence of this injury, for if the party misrepresenting was himself mistaken, no blame can attach to him. The representation must be made malo animo, but whether or not the party is himself to gain by it, is wholly immaterial.
Deceit, Deceit may not only be by asserting a falsehood deliberately to the injury of another as, that Paul is in flourishing circumstances, whereas he is in truth insolvent; that Peter is an honest man, when he knew him to be a, rogue; that property, real or personal, possesses certain qualities, or belongs to the vendor, whereas he knew these things to be false; but by any act or demeanor which would naturally impress the mind of a careful man with a mistaken belief.
Deceit, Therefore, if one whose manufactures are of a superior quality, distinguishes them by a particular mark, which facts are known to Peter, and Paul counterfeits this work, and affixes them to articles of the same description, but not made by such person, and sells them to Peter as goods of such manufacture, this is a deceit.
Deceit, Again, the vendor having a knowledge of a defect in a commodity which cannot be obvious to the buyer, does not disclose it, or, if apparent, uses an artifice and conceals it, he has been guilty of a fraudulent misrepresentation for there is an implied condition in every contract that the parties to it act upon equal terms, and the seller is presumed to have assured or represented to the vendee that he is not aware of any secret deficiencies by which the commodity is impaired, and that he has no advantage which himself does not possess.
Deceit, But in all these cases the party injured must have no means of detecting the fraud, for if he has such means his ignorance will not avail him in that case he becomes the willing dupe of the other's artifice, and volenti non fit injuria. For example, if a horse is sold wanting an eye, and the defect is visible to a common observer, the purchaser cannot be said to be deceived, for by inspection he might discover it, but if the blindness is only discoverable by one experienced in such diseases, and the vendee is an inexperienced person, it is a deceit, provided the seller knew of the defect.
Deceit, The remedy for a deceit, unless the right of action has been suspended or discharged, is by an action of trespass on the case. The old writ of deceit was brought for acknowledging a fine, or the like, in another name, and this being a perversion of law to an evil purpose, and a high contempt, the act was laid contra pacem, and a fine imposed upon the offender. See Bro. Abr. Disceit; Vin Abr. Disceit.
Deceit, When two or more persons unite in a deceit upon another, they may be indicted for a conspiracy. (q.v.) Vide, generally, 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 2321-29; Skin. 119; Sid. 375; 3 T. R. 52-65; 1 Lev. 247; 1 Strange, 583; D Roll. Abr. 106; 7 Barr, Rep. 296; 11 Serg. & R. 309, 310; Com. Dig. Action upon the case for a deceit; Chancery, 3 F 1 and 2; 3 M 1; 3 N 1; 4 D 3; 4 H 4; 4 L 1; 4 O 2; Covin; Justices of the Peace, B 30; Pleader, 2 H; 1 Vin. Ab. 560; 8 Vin. Ab. 490; Doct. Pl. 51; Dane's Ab. Index, h.t.; 1 Chit. Pr. 832 Ham. N. P. c. 2, s. 4; Ayl. Pand. 99 2 Day, 531; 12 Mass. 20; 3 Johns. 269; 6 Johns. 181; 2 Day, 205, 381; 4 Yeates, 522; 18 John. 395: 8 John. 23; 4 Bibb, 91; 1 N. & M. 197. Vide, also, articles Equality; Fraud; Lie.
Deceitful (a.) 騙人的，欺詐的；虛假的；誤導的 Full of, or characterized by, deceit; serving to mislead or insnare; trickish; fraudulent; cheating; insincere.
Harboring foul deceitful thoughts. -- Shak.
Deceitful (a.) Intended to deceive; "deceitful advertising"; "fallacious testimony"; "smooth, shining, and deceitful as thin ice" -- S.T.Coleridge; "a fraudulent scheme to escape paying taxes" [syn: deceitful, fallacious, fraudulent].
Deceitful (a.) Marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another; "she was a deceitful scheming little thing"- Israel Zangwill; "a double-dealing double agent"; "a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer" -- W.M.Thackeray [syn: ambidextrous, deceitful, double-dealing, duplicitous, Janus-faced, two-faced, double-faced, double-tongued].
Deceitfully (adv.) 欺騙地；虛偽地 With intent to deceive.
Deceitfully (adv.) In a corrupt and deceitful manner; "he acted dishonestly when he gave the contract to his best friend" [syn: dishonestly, venally, deceitfully] [ant: aboveboard, honestly].
Deceitfulness (n.) 欺詐；不誠實 [U] The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.
Deceitfulness (n.) The quality of being deceitful; as, the deceitfulness of a man's practices.
Deceitfulness (n.) Tendency to mislead or deceive. "The deceitfulness of riches." -- Matt. xiii. 22.
Deceitfulness (n.) The quality of being crafty [syn: craftiness, deceitfulness, guile].
Deceitless (a.) Free from deceit. -- Bp. Hall.
Deceivable (a.) 可欺騙的，易受騙的 Fitted to deceive; deceitful. [Obs.]
The fraud of deceivable traditions. -- Milton.
Deceivable (a.) Subject to deceit; capable of being misled.
Blind, and thereby deceivable. -- Milton.
Deceivableness (n.) Capability of deceiving.
With all deceivableness of unrighteousness. -- 2 Thess. ii. 10.
Deceivableness (n.) Liability to be deceived or misled; as, the deceivableness of a child.
Deceivably (adv.) In a deceivable manner.
Deceived (imp. & p. p.) of Deceive.
Deceiving (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Deceive.
Deceive (v. t.) (v. t.) 欺騙，蒙蔽；哄騙（某人）做[（+into）] (v. i.) 欺詐，行騙 To lead into error; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose upon; to mislead; to cheat; to disappoint; to delude; to insnare.
Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. -- 2 Tim. iii. 13.
Nimble jugglers that deceive the eye. -- Shak.
What can 'scape the eye Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart? -- Milton.
Deceive (v. t.) To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception.
These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. -- Wordsworth.
Deceive
(v. t.) To
deprive by fraud or stealth; to defraud. [Obs.]
Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and
sparingly, lest they deceive the trees. -- Bacon.
Syn: Deceive, Delude, Mislead.
Usage: Deceive is a general word applicable to any kind of misrepresentation affecting faith or life. To delude, primarily, is to make sport of, by deceiving, and is accomplished by playing upon one's imagination or credulity, as by exciting false hopes, causing him to undertake or expect what is impracticable, and making his failure ridiculous. It implies some infirmity of judgment in the victim, and intention to deceive in the deluder. But it is often used reflexively, indicating that a person's own weakness has made him the sport of others or of fortune; as, he deluded himself with a belief that luck would always favor him. To mislead is to lead, guide, or direct in a wrong way, either willfully or ignorantly.
Deceive (v.) Be false to; be dishonest with [syn: deceive, lead on, delude, cozen].
Deceive (v.) Cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house" [syn: deceive, betray, lead astray] [ant: undeceive].
Deceiver (n.) 欺詐者，騙子 One who deceives; one who leads into error; a cheat; an impostor.
The deceived and the deceiver are his. -- Job xii. 16.
Syn: Deceiver, Impostor.
Usage: A deceiver operates by stealth and in private upon individuals; an impostor practices his arts on the community at large. The one succeeds by artful falsehoods, the other by bold assumption. The faithless friend and the fickle lover are deceivers; the false prophet and the pretended prince are impostors.
Deceiver (n.) Someone who leads you to believe something that is not true [syn: deceiver, cheat, cheater, trickster, beguiler, slicker].
December (n.) 十二月 The twelfth and last month of the year, containing thirty-one days. During this month occurs the winter solstice.
December (n.) Fig.: With reference to the end of the year and to the winter season; as, the December of his life.
December (n.) The last (12th) month of the year [syn: December, Dec].
Decemdentate (a.) Having ten points or teeth.
Decemfid (a.) (Bot.) Cleft into ten parts.
Decemlocular (a.) (Bot.) Having ten cells for seeds.
Decempedal (a.) Ten feet in length.
Decempedal (a.) (Zool.) Having ten feet; decapodal. [R.] -- Bailey.
Decemvirs (n. pl. ) of Decemvir.
Decemviri (n. pl. ) of Decemvir.
Decemvir (n.) （古羅馬）十大行政官之一 One of a body of ten magistrates in ancient Rome.
Note: The title of decemvirs was given to various bodies of Roman magistrates. The most celebrated decemvirs framed "the laws of the Twelve Tables," about 450 B. C., and had absolute authority for three years.
Decemvir (n.) A member of any body of ten men in authority.
Decemviral (a.) Pertaining to the decemvirs in Rome.
Decemvirate (n.) 古羅馬之十大官之職位或任期；十人當政團體 The office or term of office of the decemvirs in Rome.
Decemvirate (n.) A body of ten men in authority.
Decemvirship (n.) The office of a decemvir. -- Holland.
Decence (n.) Decency. [Obs.] -- Dryden.
Decencies (n. pl. ) of Decency.
Decency (n.) 合宜，得體；懂得情理 [U]；寬容；正派；高雅；端莊；體面 [U] The quality or state of being decent, suitable, or becoming, in words or behavior; propriety of form in social intercourse, in actions, or in discourse; proper formality; becoming ceremony; seemliness; hence, freedom from obscenity or indecorum; modesty.
Observances of time, place, and of decency in general. -- Burke.
Immodest words admit of no defense, For want of decency is want of sense. -- Roscommon.
Decency (n.) That which is proper or becoming.
The external decencies of worship. -- Atterbury.
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow From all her words and actions. -- Milton.
Decency (n.) The quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality [ant: indecency].
Decency (n.) The quality of being polite and respectable.
Decene (n.) (Chem.) One of the higher hydrocarbons, C10H20, of the ethylene series.
Decennaries (n. pl. ) of Decennary
Decennary (n.) A period of ten years.
Decennary (n.) (O. Eng. Law) A tithing consisting of ten neighboring families. -- Burrill.
Decennary (n.) A period of 10 years [syn: decade, decennary, decennium].
Decennary, Eng. law. A town or tithing, consisting originally of ten families of freeholders. Ten tithings composed a hundred. 1 Bl. Com. 114.
Decennial (a.) Consisting of ten years; happening every ten years; as, a decennial period; decennial games. -- Hallam.
Decennial (n.) A tenth year or tenth anniversary.
Decenniums (n. pl. ) of Decennium.
Decennia (n. pl. ) of Decennium.
Decennium (n.) A period of ten years. "The present decennium." -- Hallam.
"The last decennium of Chaucer's life." -- A. W. Ward. Decennoval
Decennium (n.) A period of 10 years [syn: decade, decennary, decennium].
Decennoval (a.) Alt. of Decennovary
Decennovary (a.) Pertaining to the number nineteen; of nineteen years. [R.] -- Holder.
Decent (a.) 正派的；合乎禮儀的；體面的；像樣的；還不錯的 Suitable in words, behavior, dress, or ceremony; becoming; fit; decorous; proper; seemly; as, decent conduct; decent language. -- Shak.
Before his decent steps. -- Milton.
Decent (a.) Free from immodesty or obscenity; modest.
Decent (a.) Comely; shapely; well-formed. [Archaic]
A sable stole of cyprus lawn.
Over thy decent shoulders drawn. -- Milton.
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed. -- Pope.
Decent (a.) Moderate, but competent; sufficient; hence, respectable; fairly good; reasonably comfortable or satisfying; as, a decent fortune; a decent person.
A decent retreat in the mutability of human affairs. --Burke. -- De"cent*ly, adv. -- De"cent*ness, n.
Compare: Clothed
Clothed (a.) 穿……衣服的；覆蓋著……的，披上……的 Wearing clothing. [Narrower terms: adorned(predicate), bedecked(predicate), decked(predicate), decked out(predicate); appareled, attired, clad, dressed, garbed, garmented, habilimented, robed; arrayed, panoplied; breeched, pantalooned, trousered; bundled-up; caparisoned; cassocked: costumed: decent] [Narrower terms: dight] [Narrower terms: dressed-up, dressed to the nines(predicate), dressed to kill(predicate), dolled up, spruced up, spiffed up] [Narrower terms: gowned] [Narrower terms: habited] [Narrower terms: heavy-coated] [Narrower terms:
overdressed] [Narrower terms: petticoated] [Narrower terms: red-coated, lobster-backed] [Narrower terms: surpliced] [Narrower terms: togged dressed esp in smart clothes)] [Narrower terms: turned out] [Narrower terms: underdressed] [Narrower terms: uniformed] [Narrower terms: vestmented] Also See: adorned, decorated. Antonym: unclothed.
Clothed (a.) Covered with or as if with clothes or a wrap or cloak. fog-cloaked meadows.
Syn: cloaked, draped, mantled, wrapped.
Decent (adv.) In the right manner; "please do your job properly!"; "can't you carry me decent?" [syn: properly, decently, decent, in good order, right, the right way] [ant: improperly].
Decent (a.) Socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous; "from a decent family"; "a nice girl" [syn: decent, nice].
Decent (a.) According with custom or propriety; "her becoming modesty"; "comely behavior"; "it is not comme il faut for a gentleman to be constantly asking for money"; "a decent burial"; "seemly behavior" [syn: becoming, comely, comme il faut, decent, decorous, seemly].
Decent (a.) Conforming to conventions of sexual behavior; "speech in this circle, if not always decent, never became lewd" -- George Santayana [ant: indecent].
Decent (a.) Sufficient for the purpose; "an adequate income"; "the food was adequate"; "a decent wage"; "enough food"; "food enough" [syn: adequate, decent, enough].
Decent (a.) Decently clothed; "are you decent?"
Decent (a.) Observing conventional sexual mores in speech or behavior or dress; "a modest neckline in her dress"; "though one of her shoulder straps had slipped down, she was perfectly decent by current standards".
Decent (a.) (B2) 正派的；體面的，正經的；像樣的，相當不錯的Socially acceptable or good.
// Everyone should be entitled to a decent wage/ standard of living.
// I thought he was a decent person.
// It was very decent (= kind) of you to help.
// It made quite a decent-sized (= large) hole.
// After the recent scandal, the priest is expected to do the decent thing and resign from his position.
Decent (a.) (Informal) 穿好衣服的 Dressed or wearing clothes.
// Are you decent yet?
// You can come in now, I'm decent.
Decently (adv.) 高雅地；端正地；親切地 In a decent manner; "they don't know how to dress decently" [ant: {indecently}].
Decently (adv.) In the right manner; "please do your job properly!"; "can't you carry me decent?" [syn: {properly}, {decently}, {decent}, {in good order}, {right}, {the right way}] [ant: {improperly}].
Decentralization (n.) 地方分權；疏散 The action of decentralizing, or the state of being decentralized. "The decentralization of France." -- J. P. Peters.
Decentralization (n.) the spread of power away from the center to local branches or governments.
Decentralization (n.) The social process in which population and industry moves from urban centers to outlying districts [syn: decentralization, decentalisation].
Decentralization (n.) The spread of power away from the center to local branches or governments [syn: decentralization, decentralisation] [ant: centralisation, centralization].
Decentralize (v. t.) 使分散，排除集中，使地方分權 To make less central; to prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.
Decentralize (v.) Make less central; "After the revolution, food distribution was decentralized" [syn: {decentralize}, {deconcentrate}, {decentralise}] [ant: {centralise}, {centralize}, {concentrate}].
Decentralize (v.) [ I or T ] (UK usually decentralize) 分散管理，分權管理；將（權力）下放 To move the control of an organization or government from a single place to several smaller ones.
// We decentralized our operations last year and opened several regional offices.
// Modern technology has made it easy for us to decentralize.
Deceptible (a.) 可騙的 Capable of being deceived; deceivable. -- Sir T. Browne. -- De*cep`ti*bil"i*ty, n.
Deception (n.) 欺騙，欺詐 [U]；受騙 [U] The act of deceiving or misleading. -- South.
Deception (n.) The state of being deceived or misled.
There is one thing relating either to the action or enjoyments of man in which he is not liable to deception. -- South.
Deception (n.) That which deceives or is intended to deceive; false representation; artifice; cheat; fraud.
There was of course room for vast deception. -- Motley.
Syn: Deception, Deceit, Fraud,
Imposition.
Usage: Deception usually refers to the act, and deceit to the habit of
the mind; hence we speak of a person as skilled in deception and addicted
to deceit. The practice of deceit springs altogether from
design, and that of the worst kind; but a deception does not always
imply aim and intention. It may be undersigned or accidental. An imposition is
an act of deception practiced upon some one to his annoyance or
injury; a fraud implies the use of stratagem, with a view to some
unlawful gain or advantage.
Deception (n.) A misleading falsehood [syn: {misrepresentation}, {deceit}, {deception}].
Deception (n.) The act of deceiving [syn: {deception}, {deceit}, {dissembling}, {dissimulation}].
Deception (n.) An illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers [syn: {magic trick}, {conjuring trick}, {trick}, {magic}, {legerdemain}, {conjuration}, {thaumaturgy}, {illusion}, {deception}].
Deceptious (a.) 困惑的，迷惑的，欺瞞的 Tending deceive; delusive. [R.]
As if those organs had deceptious functions. -- Shak.
Deceptive (a.) 迷惑的，虛偽的，欺詐的 Tending to deceive; having power to mislead, or impress with false opinions; as, a deceptive countenance or appearance.
Language altogether deceptive, and hiding the deeper reality from our eyes. -- Trench.
Deceptive cadence (Mus.), A cadence on the subdominant, or in some foreign key, postponing the final close.
Deceptive (a.) Causing one to believe what is not true or fail to believe what is true; "deceptive calm"; "a delusory pleasure" [syn: deceptive, delusory].
Deceptive (a.) Designed to deceive or mislead either deliberately or inadvertently; "the deceptive calm in the eye of the storm"; "deliberately deceptive packaging"; "a misleading similarity"; "statistics can be presented in ways that are misleading"; "shoddy business practices" [syn: deceptive, misleading, shoddy].
Deceptively (adv.) 虛偽地；詐欺地 In a manner to deceive.
Deceptively (adv.) In a misleading way; "the exam looked deceptively easy" [syn: {deceptively}, {deceivingly}, {misleadingly}].
Deceptiveness (n.) 迷惑騙人；虛偽；欺詐 The power or habit of deceiving; tendency or aptness to deceive.
Deceptiveness (n.) The quality of being deceptive [syn: deceptiveness, obliquity].
Deceptivity (n.) Deceptiveness; a deception; a sham. [R.] -- Carlyle.
Deceptory (a.) Deceptive. [R.]
Decern (v. t.) To perceive, discern, or decide. [Obs.] -- Granmer.
Decern (v. t.) (Scots Law) To decree; to adjudge.
Decerniture (n.) (Scots Law) A decree or sentence of a court.
Decerp (v. t.) To pluck off; to crop; to gather. [Obs.]
Decerpt (a.) Plucked off or away. [Obs.]
Decerptible (a.) That may be plucked off, cropped, or torn away. [Obs.] -- Bailey.
Decerption (n.) The act of plucking off; a cropping.
Decerption (n.) That which is plucked off or rent away; a fragment; a piece. -- Glanvill.
Decertation (n.) Contest for mastery; contention; strife. [R.] -- Arnway.
Decession (n.) Departure; decrease; -- opposed to accesion. [Obs.] -- Jer. Taylor.
Decharm (v. t.) To free from a charm; to disenchant.
Dechristianized (imp. & p. p.) of Dechristianize.
Dechristianizing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Dechristianize.
Dechristianize (v. t.) 使失去基督教的特質 To turn from, or divest of, Christianity.
Decidable (a.) 可決定的 Capable of being decided; determinable.
Decidability
Decidable A property of sets for which one can determine whether something is a member or not in a finite number of computational steps.
Decidability is an important concept in computability theory. A set (e.g. "all numbers with a 5 in them") is said to be "decidable" if I can write a program (usually for a Turing Machine) to determine whether a number is in the set and the program will always terminate with an answer YES or NO after a finite number of steps.
Most sets you can describe easily are decidable, but there are infinitely many sets so most sets are undecidable, assuming any finite limit on the size (number of instructions or number of states) of our programs. I.e. how ever big you allow your program to be there will always be sets which need a bigger program to decide membership.
One example of an undecidable set comes from the halting problem. It turns out that you can encode every program as a number: encode every symbol in the program as a number (001, 002, ...) and then string all the symbol codes together. Then you can create an undecidable set by defining it as the set of all numbers that represent a program that terminates in a finite number of steps.
A set can also be "semi-decidable" - there is an algorithm that is guaranteed to return YES if the number is in the set, but if the number is not in the set, it may either return NO or run for ever.
The halting problem's set described above is semi-decidable.
You decode the given number and run the resulting program. If it terminates the answer is YES. If it never terminates, then neither will the decision algorithm. (1995-01-13)
Decided (imp. & p. p.) of Decide.
Deciding (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Decide
Decide (v. t.) To cut off; to
separate. [Obs.]
Our seat denies us traffic here; The sea, too near, decides us
from the rest. -- Fuller.
Decide (v. t.) 決定；決意 [+wh-] [+to-v] [+（that）]；使下決心；使決斷 [O2] To bring to a termination, as a question, controversy, struggle, by giving the victory to one side or party; to render judgment concerning; to determine; to settle.
So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. -- 1 Kings xx. 4
The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then. -- Shak
Decide (v. i.) 決定 [（+on/ for/ against）] To determine; to form a definite opinion; to come to a conclusion; to give decision; as, the court decided in favor of the defendant.
Who shall decide, when doctors disagree? -- Pop
Decide (v.) Reach, make, or come to a decision about something; "We finally decided after lengthy deliberations" [syn: decide, make up one's mind, determine].
Decide (v.) Bring to an end; settle conclusively; "The case was decided"; "The judge decided the case in favor of the plaintiff"; "The father adjudicated when the sons were quarreling over their inheritance" [syn: decide, settle, resolve, adjudicate].
Decide (v.) Cause to decide; "This new development finally decided me!".
Decide (v.) Influence or determine; "The vote in New Hampshire often decides the outcome of the Presidential election".
Decide (v. i.) To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.
A leaf was riven from a tree, "I mean to fall to earth," said he. The west wind, rising, made him veer. "Eastward," said he, "I now shall steer."
The east wind rose with greater force. Said he: "'Twere wise to change my course."
With equal power they contend. He said: "My judgment I suspend." Down died the winds; the leaf, elate, Cried: "I've decided to fall straight." "First thoughts are best?" That's not the moral; Just choose your own and we'll not quarrel. Howe'er your choice may chance to fall, You'll have no hand in it at all. G.J.
Decided (a.) 無疑的，明確的；顯然的；決定了的；果斷的，堅決的 Free from ambiguity; unequivocal; unmistakable; unquestionable; clear; evident; as, a decided advantage. "A more decided taste for science." -- Prescott.
Decided (a.) Free from doubt or wavering; determined; of fixed purpose; fully settled; positive; resolute; as, a decided opinion or purpose.
Syn: Decided, Decisive.
Usage: We call a thing decisive when it has the power or quality of deciding; as, a decisive battle; we speak of it as decided when it is so fully settled as to leave no room for doubt; as, a decided preference, a decided aversion. Hence, a decided victory is one about which there is no question; a decisive victory is one which ends the contest. Decisive is applied only to things; as, a decisive sentence, a decisive decree, a decisive judgment. Decided is applied equally to persons and things. Thus we speak of a man as decided in his whole of conduct; and as having a decided disgust, or a decided reluctance, to certain measures. "A politic caution, a guarded circumspection, were among the ruling principles of our forefathers in their most decided conduct." -- Burke. "The sentences of superior judges are final, decisive, and irrevocable." -- Blackstone.
Decided (a.) Recognizable; marked; "noticed a distinct improvement"; "At a distinct (or decided) disadvantage" [syn: distinct, decided].
Decidedly (adv.) 確定地；斷然地；明確地 In a decided manner; indisputably; clearly; thoroughly.
Decidedly (adv.) Without question and beyond doubt; "it was decidedly too expensive"; "she told him off in spades"; "by all odds they should win" [syn: decidedly, unquestionably, emphatically, definitely, in spades, by all odds].
Decidement (n.) Means of forming a decision. [Obs.] -- Beau. & Fl.
Decidence (n.) A falling off. [R.] -- Sir T. Browne.