desert

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: abandonforsakedesolatedefect

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. arid land with little or no vegetation

Verb (3)

  1. leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch“The mother deserted her children”Synonyms: abandonforsakedesolate
  2. desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army“If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot”Synonyms: defect
  3. leave behind“the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Desert \De*sert"\ (d[-e]*z[~e]rt"), n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See Deserve.] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. [1913 Webster]

According to their deserts will I judge them. --Ezek. vii. 27. [1913 Webster]

Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

His reputation falls far below his desert. --A. Hamilton.

Syn: Merit; worth; excellence; due. [1913 Webster]

Desert \Des"ert\ (d[e^]z"[~e]rt), n. [F. d['e]sert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series.]

1.A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa which are destitute of moisture and vegetation. [1913 Webster]

A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.— Pope.[1913 Webster]

2.A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place. [1913 Webster]

He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.— Is. li. 3.[1913 Webster]

Note: Also figuratively. [1913 Webster]

Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life.— Longfellow.[1913 Webster]
Desert \De*sert"\ (d[-e]*z[~e]rt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deserted; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserting.] [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere to desert, F. d['e]serter. See 2d Desert.]

1.To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country. "The deserted fortress." --Prescott. [1913 Webster]

2.(Mil.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. --Luke ix. 10. [1913 Webster]

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Desert \De*sert"\, v. i. To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond. [1913 Webster]

The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. --Bancroft.

Syn: To abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit; depart from; abdicate. See Abandon. [1913 Webster]

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