Online dictionary — Definitions & meanings of English words

distractible

adj

Capable of being distracted

distracting

adjective

Pulling attention away from what matters, making it hard to concentrate.

distraction

noun

Something that pulls your attention away from what you should be doing.

distraint

noun

The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.

distraught

adjective

Extremely upset, worried, or overwhelmed with emotion.

distress

noun

Serious pain, suffering, or worry, especially of an urgent kind.

distressed

adjective

Very upset, anxious, or in pain.

distressing

adjective

Causing worry, sadness, or pain.

distressingly

adv

In a distressing manner; so as to cause distress.

distributary

noun

A stream of water (either natural or artificial) that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel.

distribute

verb

To divide something up and hand it out to a number of people or places.

distributed

adjective

Spread out across a wide area rather than concentrated in one place.

distributee

noun

One who receives a share of something that is distributed.

distribution

noun

The act of spreading or handing something out.

distributive

adj

Relating to distribution.

distributor

noun

A company or person that supplies goods from a manufacturer to shops or customers.

district

noun

An area defined for administrative, political, or geographic purposes.

districtual

adj

Of, belonging to, or pertaining to a district.

distrust

noun

A lack of trust or confidence in someone or something.

distrustful

adjective

Inclined to suspect or doubt others.

disturb

verb

To interrupt someone's peace, quiet, or concentration.

disturbance

noun

An interruption of calm or normal order, often noisy or unsettling.

disturbed

adjective

Showing signs of mental or emotional trouble.

disturbing

adjective

Causing worry, unease, or shock.

disulfoton

noun

A highly toxic organothiophosphate insecticide and acaricide, O,O-diethyl S-2-ethylthioethyl phosphorodithioate

disunification

noun

The act or result of disunifying; the breaking up of a union.

disunion

noun

Separation (disintegration) of a union; lack of union where union would be desirable.

disunite

verb

To cause disagreement or alienation among or within.

disunity

noun

The lack of unity or cohesion.

disuse

noun

The state of not being used; neglect.

disused

adjective

No longer used; abandoned.

disutility

noun

uselessness, a lack of utility

dit

noun

In Morse code, the short signal represented by a dot (as opposed to a "dah").

dita

name

A barangay of Cuenca, Batangas, Philippines.

ditch

noun

A long narrow trench dug in the ground, often for drainage.

ditched

adjective

Having a ditch alongside or around it.

ditching

noun

A deliberate emergency landing of an aircraft on water.

dither

verb

To tremble, shake, or shiver.

dithering

noun

The act of one who dithers.

ditto

adverb

Used to mean "the same as what was just said," avoiding repetition.

ditty

noun

A short, simple, and often catchy song.

diuretic

noun

A substance that makes the kidneys produce more urine, used medically to reduce fluid build-up and lower blood pressure.

diurnal

adj

Happening or occurring during daylight, or primarily active during that time.

div

noun

A function, implemented in many programming languages, that returns the result of a division of two integers.

diva

noun

A famous female singer or performer, especially in opera.

divagate

verb

To wander about.

divagation

noun

Straying off from a course or way.

divan

noun

A Muslim council of state, specifically that of viziers of the Ottoman Empire that discussed and recommended new laws and law changes to a higher authority (the sultan).

dive

verb

To plunge headfirst into water.

diver

noun

Someone who dives, especially underwater, whether for sport or work.

diverge

verb

To run apart; to separate; to tend into different directions.

divergence

noun

The state or degree of being divergent: of diverging.

divergent

adj

Growing further apart; diverging.

divers

adjective

Various; several — an old-fashioned way of saying "a number of different."

diverse

adjective

Made up of many different kinds of people or things.

diversification

noun

The practice of spreading money across a number of different investments, industries, asset types or countries, so that the fortunes of the whole holding depend less on any single one of them.

diversified

adjective

Made more varied, often to spread out risk.

diversify

verb

To add variety to something, making it cover a wider range of forms or types.

diversion

noun

Something done to distract attention from what is really happening.

diversionary

adj

Intended to draw attention or effort away from the main issue or target.

diversionist

noun

One engaged in diversionary, disruptive, or subversive activities.

diversity

noun

The quality of containing many different types or forms.

divert

verb

To change the direction or course of something.

diverted

adj

Redirected away from its original path or purpose.

divertimento

noun

composition that has several short movements, a style that composers started to use in the 18th century.

diverting

adj

Entertaining or amusing in a light, distracting way.

divertisement

noun

fun; amusement; recreation

Dives

verb

Third-person singular form of "dive" — plunges headfirst or drops sharply.

divest

verb

To strip, deprive, or dispossess (someone) of something (such as a right, passion, privilege, or prejudice).

divestiture

noun

The act of selling something off, especially an investment or a business.

divide

verb

To split something into two or more parts.

divided

adj

Split into separate parts or pieces.

dividend

noun

A payment made by a company to its shareholders out of its profits, usually on a regular schedule.

divider

noun

One who or that which divides or separates.

dividing

adj

Acting to separate one thing from another.

dividuality

noun

The state or quality of being dividual.

divination

noun

The practice of trying to foretell the future or uncover hidden knowledge, typically through supernatural or ritual means.

divinator

noun

One who practices or claims to practice divination; a diviner.

divinatory

adj

Pertaining to divination.

divine

adj

Relating to or coming from God or a god.

divinely

adv

In a godlike or wonderfully excellent manner.

diviner

noun

One who foretells the future.

diving

noun

The sport of jumping into water, often with acrobatic movements.

divinity

noun

The quality or state of being a god, or of being godlike.

divisible

adj

Capable of being divided or split.

divisio

noun

A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below regnum and above classis.

division

noun

The act of splitting something into separate parts, or one of those resulting parts.

divisional

adj

Relating to a division, whether military, corporate, or sporting.

divisions

noun

Plural of division — separate parts, groups, or units.

divisive

adj

Tending to cause disagreement or split opinion between people.

divisor

noun

In an expression involving division, the number by which another number is being divided.

divorce

noun

The legal ending of a marriage.

divorced

adj

No longer legally married, having ended a marriage through divorce.

divorcee

noun

A person who is divorced.

divulge

verb

To reveal information, especially something secret, so that it becomes known.

divulgence

noun

The act of divulging.

divvy

verb

To split something up into shares among a group, usually informally.

Divya

name

An Indian feminine given name of Sanskrit origin, meaning "divine" or "heavenly."

Diwali

noun

A major Hindu festival of lights celebrated over several days each autumn, marking the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

Dix

name

A surname of English or French origin, sometimes a shortened form of Dickson or Dixon.

Dixie

noun

An informal name for the southern United States, especially the states that once formed the Confederacy.

Dixieland

noun

An early style of jazz that developed in New Orleans, known for its lively collective improvisation.

Dixit

name

An Indian surname derived from the Sanskrit word for a learned scholar or teacher.

Dixon

name

A surname meaning "son of Dick," a diminutive of Richard.

DIY

adj

Made or done by yourself, without hiring a professional.

diya

noun

A small oil lamp, traditionally made of clay, with a cotton wick, used in South Asian homes and religious ceremonies.

dizz

verb

To make dizzy; to astonish; to puzzle.

dizziness

noun

A spinning or unsteady sensation, often accompanied by feeling faint or off-balance.

dizzy

adj

Feeling unsteady, faint, or as though the surroundings are spinning.

DJ

noun

A disc jockey — someone who plays, mixes, and introduces recorded music, especially at clubs, parties, or on the radio.

Django

noun

A male given name, notably associated with the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

DJs

name

The plural of DJ, referring to disc jockeys, and used as a stage-name element for many performers.

dl

noun

A downloaded file, or the act of downloading.

DLC

noun

Extra content for a video game that is released after the game itself and downloaded separately, such as new levels, characters, weapons or story chapters.

DM

verb

To send someone a private message on a social media or messaging platform.

DMG

noun

A macOS file that behaves like a disk: opening one makes its contents appear as a mounted drive on the desktop, from which software is usually installed by dragging the application into the Applications folder. Such files normally end in .dmg.

Dmitry

name

A Russian masculine given name derived from the Greek Demetrios, meaning "follower of Demeter."

DMV

name

An abbreviation for the Department of Motor Vehicles, the U.S. state agency that handles driver licensing and vehicle registration.

DNA

noun

The molecule inside almost every living cell that carries genetic instructions, arranged as a double helix of paired bases.

DND

abbreviation

Do not disturb: a setting on a phone, computer or messaging app that silences calls and notifications, or a sign asking people not to interrupt.

DNF

abbreviation

Did not finish: a result recorded for a competitor who starts a race or event but fails to complete it.

DNS

noun

The system that translates the web addresses people type, such as example.com, into the numeric addresses computers use to find each other on the internet.

do

verb

To perform or carry out an action or task.

DOA

abbreviation

Dead on arrival: describing a person who is already dead when brought to hospital or when emergency services reach them.

doable

adj

Able to be done; realistic and achievable.

dob

verb

To inform on someone; to report their wrongdoing to an authority (chiefly Australian/NZ).

dobb

name