Barron's - Word List 13

Front 1

deciduous

Back 1

adj.

1. Falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth: deciduous antlers; deciduous leaves; deciduous teeth.
2. Shedding or losing foliage at the end of the growing season: deciduous trees.
3. Not lasting; ephemeral.

Front 2

decimate

Back 2

tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates

1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
2. Usage Problem
1. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
2. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.

Front 3

declivity

Back 3

n. pl. de·cliv·i·ties
A downward slope, as of a hill.

[Latin dēclīvitās, from dēclīvis, sloping down : dē-, de- + clīvus, slope; see klei- in Indo-European roots.]

Front 4

decrepitude

Back 4

n. The quality or condition of being weakened, worn out, impaired, or broken down by old age, illness, or hard use.

Front 5

default

Back 5

n.

1. Failure to perform a task or fulfill an obligation, especially failure to meet a financial obligation: in default on a loan.
2. Law Failure to make a required court appearance.
3. The failure of one or more competitors or teams to participate in a contest: won the championship by default.
4.
1. Computer Science A particular setting or value for a variable that is assigned automatically by an operating system and remains in effect unless canceled or overridden by the operator: changed the default for the font in the word processing program.
2. A situation or condition that obtains in the absence of active intervention.

v. de·fault·ed, de·fault·ing, de·faults

v. intr.

1.
1. To fail to do what is required.
2. To fail to pay money when it is due.
3. To fail to appear in court when summoned.
4. To lose a case by not appearing.
2. Law
1. To fail to appear in court when summoned.
2. To lose a case by not appearing.
3. To fail to take part in or complete a scheduled contest.

v. tr.

1. To fail to perform or pay.
2. Law To lose (a case) by failing to appear in court.
3. To fail to take part in or complete (a contest, for example).

Front 6

defer

Back 6

v. tr.

1. To put off; postpone.
2. To postpone the induction of (one eligible for the military draft).

v. intr.
To procrastinate.

Front 7

definitive

Back 7

adj.

1. Precisely defined or explicit.
2. Supplying or being a final settlement or decision; conclusive. See Synonyms at decisive.
3. Authoritative and complete: a definitive biography. See Usage Note at definite.
4. Biology Fully formed or developed, as an organ or structure.

n. Grammar
A word that defines or limits, such as the definite article or a demonstrative pronoun.

Front 8

defoliate

Back 8

v. tr.

1. To deprive (a plant, tree, or forest) of leaves.
2. To cause the leaves of (a plant, tree, or forest) to fall off, especially by the use of chemicals.

v. intr.
To lose foliage.

Front 9

defray

Back 9

tr.v. de·frayed, de·fray·ing, de·frays
To undertake the payment of (costs or expenses); pay.

Front 10

delineate

Back 10

tr.v. de·lin·e·at·ed, de·lin·e·at·ing, de·lin·e·ates

1. To draw or trace the outline of; sketch out.
2. To represent pictorially; depict.
3. To depict in words or gestures; describe.

Front 11

demagogue

Back 11

n.

1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.

tr.v. dem·a·gogued also dem·a·goged, dem·a·gogu·ing also dem·a·go·ging, dem·a·gogues also dem·a·gogs
Usage Problem To speak about (an issue, for example) in the manner of a demagogue.

Front 12

demotic

Back 12

adj.

1. Of or relating to the common people; popular: demotic speech; demotic entertainments.
2. Of, relating to, or written in the simplified form of ancient Egyptian hieratic writing.
3. Demotic Of or relating to a form of modern Greek based on colloquial use.

n. Demotic Greek.

Front 13

denigrate

Back 13

tr.v. den·i·grat·ed, den·i·grat·ing, den·i·grates

1. To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame.
2. To disparage; belittle: The critics have denigrated our efforts.


[Latin dēnigrāre, dēnigrāt-, to blacken, defame : dē-, de- + niger, nigr-, black; see nekw-t- in Indo-European roots.]

Front 14

deplore

Back 14

tr.v. de·plored, de·plor·ing, de·plores

1. To feel or express strong disapproval of; condemn: "Somehow we had to master events, not simply deplore them" (Henry A. Kissinger).
2. To express sorrow or grief over.
3. To regret; bemoan.

Front 15

deploy

Back 15

v. tr.

1.
1. To position (troops) in readiness for combat, as along a front or line.
2. To bring (forces or material) into action.
3. To base (a weapons system) in the field.
2. To distribute (persons or forces) systematically or strategically.
3. To put into use or action: "Samuel Beckett's friends suspected that he was a genius, yet no one knew . . . how his abilities would be deployed" (Richard Ellmann).

v. intr.
To be or become deployed.

Front 16

depose

Back 16

v. tr.

1.
1. To remove from office or power.
2. To dethrone.
3. To state or affirm in a deposition or by affidavit.
4. To take a deposition from: Investigators will depose the witness behind closed doors.
2. Law
1. To state or affirm in a deposition or by affidavit.
2. To take a deposition from: Investigators will depose the witness behind closed doors.
3. To put or lay down; deposit.

v. intr. Law
To give a deposition; testify.

Front 17

deprecate

Back 17

tr.v. de·pre·cat·ed, de·pre·cat·ing, de·pre·cates

1. To express disapproval of; deplore.
2. To belittle; depreciate.

Front 18

depredation

Back 18

n.

1. A predatory attack; a raid.
2. Damage or loss; ravage: "[Carnegie Hall has] withstood the wear and tear of enthusiastic music lovers and the normal depredations of time" (Mechanical Engineering).

Front 19

derivative

Back 19

adj.

1. Resulting from or employing derivation: a derivative word; a derivative process.
2. Copied or adapted from others: a highly derivative prose style.

n.

1. Something derived.
2. Linguistics A word formed from another by derivation, such as electricity from electric.
3. Mathematics
1. The limiting value of the ratio of the change in a function to the corresponding change in its independent variable.
2. The instantaneous rate of change of a function with respect to its variable.
3. The slope of the tangent line to the graph of a function at a given point. Also called differential coefficient, fluxion.
4. Chemistry A compound derived or obtained from another and containing essential elements of the parent substance.
5. Business An investment that derives its value from another more fundamental investment, as a commitment to buy a bond for a certain sum on a certain date.