| derrick |
a machine for lifting and moving heavy loads. It has a center beam that does not move and a long arm that turns around the base. [2 definitions] |
| desalinate |
to remove salt from, esp. to make sea water drinkable. |
| desalination |
the process of removing salt from water, especially for the purpose of making sea water drinkable; desalinization. |
| desalinization |
the process of removing salt from water. Desalinization allows sea water to be used for drinking and for watering crops. |
| descend |
When something descends, it goes down. Before an airplane lands on the ground, it descends. [2 definitions] |
| descendant |
A descendant is a person who is related by birth to family members of the past. For example, you are a descendant of your grandparents, your great grandparents, your great great grandparents, and on and on. If your great grandmother was a famous ballet dancer, you are a descendant of a famous ballet dancer. |
| descent |
When an airplane makes a descent, it goes down toward the ground. If climbers at the top of a mountain begin their descent, they begin to go back down the mountain. A descent is the act or process of going downward. [2 definitions] |
| describe |
When you describe something, you tell about it in a way that gives someone else a picture of it or a feeling about it. When you describe a food, you might say if it's salty or sweet, hot or cold, or you might say what color or shape it is. You might also say if it's crunchy or crisp or smooth or hard. |
| description |
When you give a description, you tell what something looks, sounds, smells or feels like. [2 definitions] |
| descriptive |
using or full of description. |
| desegregate |
to stop the practice of having separate schools and other facilities for people of different races. |
| desert1 |
A desert is a very dry area of land with few or no plants growing in it. Deserts are dry because they get very little rain. Large areas of some deserts can be nothing but sand or rock. |
| desert2 |
If someone deserts another person, they leave them and stop taking care of them or supporting them. They leave and don't plan to ever come back. If a person deserts something like their ship or their army unit, they leave it when it is in trouble. [2 definitions] |
| deserve |
When you deserve something, it means that it is right that you should have this thing. If you deserve a good grade on your homework, it's because the work you have done is equal to that grade. If someone deserves a punishment, it means that the bad thing they have done is equal to that punishment. If someone doesn't deserve a punishment, it means that they didn't really do anything bad or what they did wasn't bad enough to be punished for. |
| design |
When you design something, you draw or make plans that show how it will look or how it will be made. [5 definitions] |
| designate |
to point out or name. [3 definitions] |
| designated hitter |
a member of an American League baseball team who is chosen at the beginning of a game to bat in place of the pitcher. |
| designer |
A designer is a person who makes up plans or decides in their mind how something should be created or arranged, and, especially, how it should look in the end. There are designers for clothes, for costumes, for furniture, for gardens, rooms in homes and offices, sets for movies and plays, and for many other things. |
| desirable |
When something is desirable it has good, valuable, or useful qualities that people want. [2 definitions] |
| desire |
When you desire something, you want it or wish for it. [3 definitions] |
| desk |
A desk is a piece of furniture with a flat surface that is used for reading, writing, or working on a computer. Desks usually have drawers where you keep paper, pens, and other supplies. [2 definitions] |