efy 526 |
dally by making people
less angry or nervous tifQ; ft- M: Local police are trying to defuse
racial tension in the community.
M ffi o 2 to remove the fuse from a bomb so that it cannot explode (
ft# ) defy /di'fai/ verb (de-fies,
defy ing, defied, de-fied)
[VN] 1 to refuse to obey or show respect for sb in
authority, a law, a rule, etc. iitrt; igft; Mil: I wouldn’t have dared
to defy my teachers. O Hundreds of
people today
defied the ban on political gatherings. -ftX 2 ~ belief,
explanation, description, etc. to be impossible or almost impossible to
believe, explain, describe, etc. ft ft fg,
) : a political
move that defies explanation 0 The beauty
of
the scene defies
description. 3 to
successfully resist
sb/sth to a very unusual degree ft; Mft; tiift: The baby boy
defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain
that he would die). H I
defy
you/anyone to
do sth used to say that sb should try to do sth, as a way of
emphasizing that you think it is impossible to do it
1$ ¥ ) : J defy anyone not
to cry at the end of the film.
deg. abbr. degree(s): 26 deg. C* 26
HRjg de-gen-er-ate verb, adj., noun
u verb /di'd3enareit/
[V] ~ (into sth) to become worse, for example by becoming lower in
quality or weaker IB ft ; ft ^ M ii ECTn deteriorate : The march
degenerated into a riot, m o
0 Her
health
degenerated quickly. $&J|stt&ift'i£IBffco a adj. Idi'd3enar0t/
1 having moral standards that have fallen to a level that is very low and
unacceptable to most people M M W ; ffl
Jg 63: a degenerate popular culture ffl M X ft X it 2 (technical
A ig) having returned to a simple structure; lacking sth that is usually
present II it W ; M ft W ►
degeneracy /di'd3enarasi/ noun [U]
mnoun /di'd3enerat/
a person whose behaviour shows moral standards that have fallen to a very low
level M
SM9A
de gen er ation /di.dsena'reijn/
noun [U] the process of becoming worse or less acceptable in quality or
condition ^ it; tlil; social/moral
degeneration ftA
Mii ; it H '?£ ^ o Intensive
farming in the area has caused severe degeneration of the land.
de gen era tive /di'd3enarativ/
adj. (technical A
ill) (of an illness ft. ^) getting or likely to get
worse as time passes ( ) $ft$J,
iiffcW: degenera
tive diseases such as
arthritis if ® AA^ftJgift^ degrad able /di'greidabl/
adj. {especially NAmE, technical Ain) that can
be changed to a simpler form ftp$ %%.&); ft RMS W; — see also BIODEGRADABLE
deg-rad-ation /.degra'deijn/ noun [u]
1 a situation in which sb has lost all self-respect
and the respect of other people ) : the degradation of being sent to prison &
iiS ^ U
2 (technical A
in) the process of sth being damaged or made worse Wl , M it (
il fl ) : environmental degradation Ef i^IBffc
de-grade /di'greid/
verb 1 [VN] to show or treat sb in a way that makes them seem not worth
any respect or not worth taking seriously ■
• • #{#; $5 i A If;
ft3£® #: This poster is offensive and degrades
women.
W#£ft#fto 2 [V, VN] (technical
A if) to change or make sth change to a simpler chemical form ( ft ) iift, 3-[VN]
(technical Ai£) to
make sth become worse,
especially in quality , ftij
m (jtmmm)
de grad ing /di'greidirj/
adj. treating sb as if they have no value, so that they
lose their self-respect and the
respect of other people PfctodHWKl;
: the
inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners
de-grease /,dii'griis/ verb [VN] to remove grease or oil from sth[^A-^m(^?4) de
gree 0-w /di'gri:/ noun 1 [C] a unit for measuring angles g, jgffc ( ft )
: an angle of ninety degrees (90 °) * 90 jg $} 2 [C] {abbr. deg.) a unit
for measuring temperature Jg,
( jg ft ft ) : Water
freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (32 °F) or zero/nought degrees Celsius (0°C).
A ft 32 ft A g£f Ao 3 [C, U] the amount or level of
sth HJg: Her job demands a high degree of skill. ftfedtfjXft
3cAftiSili#jftfi3o o I agree with you to a certain degree. 0 To what degree
can parents be held
responsible for a child’s behaviour?
A3Slg±)ft^7Wft o Most pop
music is
influenced, to a greater or lesser degree, by the blues,
B|rJ o 4 [C] the qualification obtained by students who
successfully complete a university or college course ( A#
) # ft: My brother has a master’s degree from Harvard. X#lft®±^ft* 0 She has a
degree in
Biochemistry from
A Ofl four-year degree course 0 ft
$J ft ft # H 5 [C] (BrE)
a university or college course, normally lasting three years or more ( Aftil'^'HftlM ±#J ) ftfti^@: I’m hoping to do a
chemistry degree. $£ So 6 [C] a level in a scale of how serious
sth is ft® S® ( ) :
murder in the first
degree (= of the most
serious kind) ( gft
S ) 0 first-degree
murder H — 0 third-degree
(= very serious) burns ( Iffl ) ITSTOl by
de'grees slowly
and gradually MftfiMk ; : By
degrees their
friendship grew into love, ft fl] A it —more at nth
de-hu-man-ize (BrE also -ise) /,di:'hju:manaiz/
verb [VN] to make sb lose their human qualities such as kindness, pity,
etc. ft^AAtt; ft A A ft: the dehumanizing effects of poverty and squalor
AAft$)£n^ ►
dehu man ization, -isa-tion /,di:,hju:- manai'zeijn; NAmE -na'z-/ noun [U] de hu midi fier /,di:hju:'midifaia(r)/
noun an electrical
machine for removing water from the air ftMfJl; ftL; — see also humidifier
de-hy-drate /dir'haidreit; .diihai'dreit/ verb 1 [VN] [usually passive] to remove the water from
sth, especially food, in order to preserve it ft ( f£%!) ) flftX 2 to lose too much water from your body; to make a
person’s body lose too much water ( Jj-ft ) ftzK, $bJt; ft ( # ft ) J$,tK : [V] Runners can dehydrate
very quickly in this heat. 0 [VN] the
dehydrating effects
of alcohol M 31 ® itt 7jt ►de-
hy-dra-tion /.diihai'dreijn/ noun [U] : to suffer from dehydration 31:
7jc A # de-hy-drated /.diihai'dreitid/ adj.:
Drink lots of water to avoid becoming dehydrated.
de-ice /.di: ’ais/ verb [VN] to
remove the ice from sth —compare defrost(2),
melt(1), thaw,
unfreeze(I)
de-icer /,di: 'aisa(r)/ noun [C, U]
a substance that is put on a surface to remove ice or to stop it from forming
■mam; mmm
deictic /'daiktik;
‘deiktik/ adj. (linguistics iftg) relating to a word or expression whose meaning
depends on who says it, where they are, who they are talking to, etc., for
example ‘you’, ‘me’, ‘here’, ‘next week’. ( is] ) faftW ( in you, me, here, next week# ) deify /'denfai; ’dirifai/ verb (dei-fies,
dei fy ing, dei-fied, dei-fied) [VN] {formal) to treat or worship
sb as a god ft ( £A ) ft ( MX ) mn ►deifica
tion /.denfi'keijn;
.dinfi'keijn/ noun [U]: the
deification of medieval kings
deign /dein/ verb [V to inf] {disapproving) to do
sth in a way that shows you think you are too important to do
it®#, ) BOU CONDESCEND:
She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the
page.