yet (= it may
change). 0 o
Please say definitely whether you will be coming or
not.
ilHfcitai, o'
def in ition On- /.defi'nifn/ noun 1 [C, U] an
explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase, especially in a dictionary; the
act of stating the meanings of words and phrases ( io 63 ) M X, H M: clear
simple definitions 7
63
# A o Neighbours by
definition live close by (= this is what being a neighbour
means). sfc
2 [C] what an idea, etc. means ^ X: What’s
your definition of happiness? %^$g 63 A lift* 'A
? 3 [U] the quality of
being clear and easy to see if Bft J$: The definition of the digital TV
pictures is excellent.
definitive /di'fmatrv/
adj. 1 final; not able
to be changed ft/g'63; <&ae1463; a definitive
agreement/answer/statement
o The definitive
version of the text is ready to be published. IE5S63 2 [usually before
noun] considered to be
the best of its kind and almost impossible to improve fHi 63
; ft % Ul nf H 63 : the definitive biography of
Einstein ftAS^TIt 63:§0$t±B# id ► de-fini-tive-ly adv.
de flate verb 1 /difleit; ,di:-/ [VN, V] to let air or gas out of a
tyre, balloon, etc.; to become
smaller because of air or gas coming out $ ^ #
63 ) ;
( ) M T ^ 2 /di’fleit/ [VN] [often passive] to make
sb
feel less confident;
to make sb/sth feel or seem less important it H; ^ ® •
• • 63 $£H: All the criticism had left her feeling totally
deflated. IjfrWi&lSfttif iTI'to 3 /.dii'fleit/ [VN] (economics
%k) to reduce the amount of money being used in a country
so that prices fall or stay steady ( 11^ ) — compare inflate(3),
REFLATE
defla tion
/.dii'fleijn/ noun [U] 1 (economics fg) a reduction
in the amount of money in a country’s economy so that prices fall or remain the
same 2 the
action of air
being removed from sth WiH', WiH
FI5I3 inflation ►
de-fla-tion-ary /.dii'fleijanri; NAmE -neri/ adj.: deflationary policies
de-flect /di'flekt/
verb 1 to change direction or make sth change
direction, especially after hitting sth ( AJb
] o o [VN] He raised his arm to try to deflect the
blow. o 2 [VN] to succeed in
preventing sth
from being directed towards you 31 ft EY371 divert: All attempts to deflect
attention from his private life have failed. Aitilt^AClM'ft
63&^, ffi—W&jjfflXWtTo 0 She sought to deflect criticism by
blaming her family.
#^$#^23^63}tfcifo 3 [VN] ~ sb (from sth) to
prevent sb from doing sth that they are determined to do IS it The
government will not be deflected from its commitments. il&Jjf MISfilM
I*#**.
deflec tion
/di'flekjn/ noun [U, C, usually sing.] a sudden
change in the direction that sth is moving in, usually after it has hit sth;
the act of causing sth to change direction ( ;fctt****Us ) &&$#fa,
fgft, 41$: the angle of deflection [J| M- S 0 the deflection
of the missile away from its target @ 0 The goal was
scored with a
deflection off the goalkeeper, A
AJ£Hi£
de-flower /,di:'flau8(r)/
verb [VN] (old-fashioned, literary) to have sex with
a woman who has not had sex before
( &£ ) ; ( Z? ) 63AH
defog /,dii'fbg;
NAmE -'foig; -'fa:g/ verb (-gg-) [VN, V] {NAmE) = demist
de-fo-liant /.dii'fauliant;
NAmE -'fou-/ noun [C,
U] a chemical that removes the leaves from plants, sometimes used as a weapon
in war jgn-HfiJ ( )
de foli ate /.dii'faulieit;
NAmE -'fou-/ verb [VN] (technical A ilf)
to destroy the leaves of trees or plants, especially with chemicals ( - ►
de-foli
ation /.dii.fauli'eijn; NAmE-fou-/ noun [U]
de-for-est /.dii'forist;
NAmE -'fair-; -'fair-/ (also dis-af-for-
est) verb [VN] [usually passive] to
cut down and destroy all the trees in a place )
63M#; §£*£ ( KJfe )
63 Two
thirds of the region has been deforested in
the past
decade. £
, deforestation /.dii.fDn'steiJ'n;
NAmE -,fo:r-; -.fair-/
noun [U] the act of cutting down or burning the trees in an area
jgl#; —compare afforest
ation, REFORESTATION
de-form /di'foim;
NAmE -'foirm/ verb [VN] to
change or spoil the usual or natural shape of sth $;$• • • 63 A
- 63)l£3£; The disease had deformed his
spine,
de form ation /.diifoi'meijn;
NAmE -foir'm-/ noun 1 [U] the process or
result of changing and spoiling the normal shape of sth 2 [C] a change in
the normal shape of
sth as a result of injury or illness +0; 3S 3L; a
deformation of the spine # 63
de formed /di'foimd;
NAmE -‘foirmd/ adj. (of a
person or a part of the body A^c^ffcnPfv) having a shape that is not normal
because it has grown wrongly 63: She was bom with deformed hands. A£
de-form-ity /di'foimati;
NAmE -'foirm-/ noun (pi -ies)
[C, U] a condition in which a part of the body is not the normal shape
because of injury, illness or because it has grown wrongly ( Jf#:63 ) EV771 malforma
tion : Drugs
taken during pregnancy may cause physical deformity in babies. I&ISUL
DEFRA /'defra/ abbr. (in
de-fraud /di'froid/
verb ~ sb (of sth) to get money illegally from a person or
an organization by tricking them IJS®., A®. ( 63^M ) : [VN] They were accused
of
defrauding the company of $14 000.
A ^] 14 000 A o o [V] All
three men were charged with conspiracy to defraud.
de-fray /di'frei/
verb [VN] ~ costs/expenses {formal) to give sb back the money that they have spent on
sth X
#, tm ()
de-frock /.dii'frnk;
NAmE -'fraik/ verb [VN]
[usually passive] to officially remove a priest from his or her job,
because he or she has done sth wrong ( fj
% 634&W ) A SIR: a defrocked priest M^IR63^^]
de-frost /.dii'frnst;
NAmE -'froist/ verb 1 to
become or make sth warmer, especially food, so that it is no longer frozen ) : [VN] Make
sure you
defrost the chicken completely before cooking.
—
^ iE^ ^ it
S /g.ff f io 0 [v] Jt will take about four hours to defrost, ft?
i fE ®yjvRtf ^ ^ „ 2 [VN, V] when you defrost a
fridge/refrigerator or freezer, or
when it defrosts, you remove the ice from it
H ; ^ IS — compare de-ice, melt(1), thaw, unfreeze(I) 3 [VN] (NAmE) to remove ice from the
surface of a car’s windows |^A(,^W± )
63 AII ► de-frost-er noun
deft /deft/ adj. 1 (of a person’s movements A 63 ^3 W) skilful
and quick B ^ 63 ; R *5 63 ; Sfc 63 : deft
hands/fingers/footwork M /S 63 A / ¥ tH / ^ 0 He
finished off
the painting with a few deft strokes of the brush.
2 skilful
^ 63; ^ & *5 63: her deft command of the language
M#j&#-igW633£A^ii ► deft-ly adv. :
I threw her a towel which she deftly caught.
—
, UtiiSftTo
o They deftly avoided answering my questions, ffeJF 7 !$ 63 i"l
®» deft-ness noun [U]
defunct /di'fAqkt/ adj. (formal) no longer
existing, operating or being used 63; 63; A
#M63
de-fuse /.dii'fjuiz/
verb [VN] 1 to stop a possibly dangerous
or difficult situation from developing, espe-