The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Desert \Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F.
   d['e]sert. See 2d Desert.]
   Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or
   cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate;
   solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.
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         He . . . went aside privately into a desert place.
                                                  --Luke ix. 10.
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         Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
         And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray.
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   Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing
      naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently
      unproductive place.

   Desert hare (Zool.), a small hare (Lepus sylvaticus, var.
      Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United
      States.

   Desert mouse (Zool.), an American mouse (Hesperomys
      eremicus), living in the Western deserts.
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