- My father had two horses that looked so much alike that he measured them so he could tell them apart.
- Did that help?
- It sure did. He found that the white one was 6 inches shorter than the black one.
—v. (-ring; 3rd sing. Present usu. Dare before an expressed or implied infinitive without to) 1 (foll. By infin. With or without to) have the courage or impudence (to) (dare he do it?; if they dare to come; how dare you?).
- (usu. Foll. By to + infin.) Defy or challenge (i dare you to own up). —n. - act of daring.
- challenge, esp. To prove courage. i dare say 1 (often foll. By that) it is probable.
- probably; i grant that much. [old english]
DARK
glasses n.pl. Spectacles with dark-tinted lenses.
- horse n. Little-known person who is unexpectedly successful.
- —adj. - with little or no light.
- of deep or sombre colour.
- (of a person) with dark colouring.
- gloomy, dismal.
- evil, sinister.
- sullen, angry.
- secret, mysterious.
- ignorant, unenlightened. —n. - absence of light.
- lack of knowledge.
- dark area or colour, esp. In painting. after dark after nightfall. The dark ages (or age) 1 period of european history from the 5th–10th c.
- period of supposed unenlightenment. In the dark 1 lacking information.
- with no light. darkish adj. Darkly adv. Darkness n. [old english]
DARN
—v. Mend (cloth etc.) By filling a hole with stitching. —n. Darned area. [origin uncertain]
- (in pl.; usu. Treated as sing.) Indoor game of throwing darts at a dartboard to score points.
- sudden rapid movement.
- dartlike structure, e.g. An insect's sting.
- tapering tuck in a garment. —v. (often foll. By out, in, past, etc.) Move, send, or go suddenly or rapidly. [french from germanic]
DASH
—v. - rush.
- strike or fling forcefully, esp. So as to shatter (dashed it to the ground).
- frustrate, dispirit (dashed their hopes).
- colloq. (esp. Dash it or dash it all) = *damn v. 1. —n. - rush or onset; sudden advance.
- horizontal stroke (–) in writing or printing to mark a pause etc.
- impetuous vigour; capacity for or appearance of this.
- us sprinting-race.
- longer signal of two in morse code (cf. *dot n. 2).
- slight admixture, esp. Of a liquid.
- = *dashboard. dash off write or draw hurriedly. [imitative]
DATA
bank n. Store or source of data.
- capture n. Entering of data into a computer.
- n.pl. (also treated as sing., although the singular form is strictly datum) 1 known facts used for inference or in reckoning.
- quantities or characters operated on by a computer etc. [latin data from do give]
- processing n. Series of operations on data, esp. By a computer. data processor n.
DATE
—n. - day of the month, esp. As a number.
- particular, esp. Historical, day or year.
- day, month, and year of writing etc., at the head of a document etc.
- period to which a work of art etc. Belongs.
- time when an event takes place.
- colloq. A appointment, esp. Social with a person of the opposite sex. B us person to be met at this. —v. (-ting) 1 mark with a date.
- a assign a date to (an object, event, etc.). B (foll. By to) assign to a particular time, period, etc.
- (often foll. By from, back to, etc.) Have its origins at a particular time.
- appear or expose as old-fashioned (design that does not date; that hat dates you).
- us colloq. A make a date with. B go out together as sexual partners. out of date (attrib. Out-of-date) old-fashioned, obsolete. To date until now. Up to date (attrib. Up-to-date) modern; fashionable; current. [french: related to *data]
- n. - dark oval single-stoned fruit.
- (in full date-palm) tree bearing it. [greek: related to *dactyl, from the shape of the leaf]
DAUB
—v. - spread (paint etc.) Crudely or roughly.
- coat or smear (a surface) with paint etc.
- paint crudely or unskilfully. —n. - paint etc. Daubed on a surface.
- plaster, clay, etc., esp. Coating laths or wattles to form a wall.
- crude painting. [latin: related to *de-, *alb]
DAVY
jones n. Slang (in full davy jones's locker) bottom of the sea, esp. As the sailors' graveyard. [origin unknown]
- n. (pl. -ies) (in full davy lamp) miner's safety lamp. [name of its inventor]
DAWN
chorus n. Bird-song at daybreak.
- —n. - daybreak.
- beginning or birth of something. —v. - (of a day) begin; grow light.
- (often foll. By on, upon) begin to become obvious (to). [old english]
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