[dez-ert] 
| 1. | a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all: The Sahara is a vast sandy desert. |
| 2. | any area in which few forms of life can exist because of lack of water, permanent frost, or absence of soil. |
| 3. | an area of the ocean in which it is believed no marine life exists. |
| 4. | (formerly) any unsettled area between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains thought to be unsuitable for human habitation. |
| 5. | any place lacking in something: The town was a cultural desert. |
| 6. | of, pertaining to, or like a desert; desolate; barren. |
| 7. | occurring, living, or flourishing in the desert: a desert tribe; a desert palm. |
| 8. | designed or suitable for wear in the desert, as cool, protective clothing: a big, wide-brimmed desert hat. |
[di-zur-tik] , adjective [di-zurt] | 1. | to leave (a person, place, etc.) without intending to return, esp. in violation of a duty, promise, or the like: He deserted his wife. |
| 2. | (of military personnel) to leave or run away from (service, duty, etc.) with the intention of never returning. |
| 3. | to fail (someone) at a time of need: None of his friends had deserted him. |
| 4. | to forsake or leave one's duty, obligations, etc. (sometimes fol. by from, to, etc.): Many deserted during the food shortage. |
| 5. | (of military personnel) to leave service, duty, etc., with no intention of returning: Troops were deserting to the enemy. |
[di-zurt] | 1. | Often, deserts. reward or punishment that is deserved: to get one's just deserts. |
| 2. | the state or fact of deserving reward or punishment. |
| 3. | the fact of deserving well; merit; virtue. |
| des·ert 1 (děz'ərt) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin dēsertum, from neuter past participle of dēserere, to desert; see desert3.] |
| de·sert 2 (dĭ-zûrt') n.
[Middle English, from Old French deserte, from feminine past participle of deservir, to deserve; see deserve.] Word History: When Shakespeare says in Sonnet 72, "Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,/To do more for me than mine own desert," he is using the word desert in the sense of "worthiness; deserving," a word perhaps most familiar to us in the plural, meaning "something that is deserved," as in the phrase just deserts. This word goes back to the Latin word dēservīre, "to devote oneself to the service of," which in Vulgar Latin came to mean "to merit by service." Dēservīre is made up of dē-, meaning "thoroughly," and servīre, "to serve." Knowing this, we can distinguish this desert from desert, "a wasteland," and desert, "to abandon," both of which go back to Latin dēserere, "to forsake, leave uninhabited," which is made up of dē-, expressing the notion of undoing, and the verb serere, "to link together." We can also distinguish all three deserts from dessert, "a sweet course at the end of a meal," which is from the French word desservir, "to clear the table." Desservir is made up of des-, expressing the notion of reversal, and servir (from Latin servīre), "to serve," hence, "to unserve" or "to clear the table." |
| de·sert 3 (dĭ-zûrt') v. de·sert·ed, de·sert·ing, de·serts v. tr.
To forsake one's duty or post, especially to be absent without leave from the armed forces with no intention of returning. [French déserter, from Late Latin dēsertāre, frequentative of Latin dēserere, to abandon : dē-, de- + serere, to join; see ser-2 in Indo-European roots.] de·sert'er n. |
| desert (děz'ərt) Pronunciation Key
A large, dry, barren region, usually having sandy or rocky soil and little or no vegetation. Water lost to evaporation and transpiration in a desert exceeds the amount of precipitation; most deserts average less than 25 cm (9.75 inches) of precipitation each year, concentrated in short local bursts. Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's surface, with the principal warm deserts located mainly along the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, where warm, rising equatorial air masses that have already lost most of their moisture descend over the subtropical regions. Cool deserts are located at higher elevations in the temperate regions, often on the lee side of a barrier mountain range where the prevailing winds drop their moisture before crossing the range. Our Living Language : A desert is defined not by temperature but by the sparse amount of water found in a region. An area with an annual rainfall of fewer than 25 centimeters (9.75 inches) generally qualifies as a desert. In spite of the dryness, however, some animals and plants have adapted to desert life and thrive in these harsh environments. While different animals live in different types of deserts, the dominant animals of warm deserts are reptiles, including snakes and lizards, small mammals, such as ground squirrels and mice, and arthropods, such as scorpions and beetles. These animals are usually nocturnal, spending the day resting in the shade of plants or burrowed in the ground, and emerging in the evenings to hunt or eat. Warm-desert plants are mainly ground-hugging shrubs, small wooded trees, and cacti. Plant and animal life is scarcer in the cool desert, where the precipitation falls mainly as snow. Plants are generally scattered mosses and grasses that are able to survive the cold by remaining low to the ground, avoiding the wind, and animal life can include both large and small mammals, such as deer and jackrabbits, as well as a variety of raptors and other birds. |
