D
(diː)
the fourth letter of the Roman alphabet, corresponding in position and power to the Phœnician and Hebrew Daleth, and Greek Delta, Δ, whence also its form was derived by rounding one angle of the triangular form. It represents the sonant dental mute, or point-voice stop consonant, which in English is alveolar rather than dental. The plural has been written D's, Ds, de's.
The phonetic value of D in English is constant, except that in past participles the earlier full spelling -ed is retained where the pronunciation after a breath-consonant is now t, as in looked, dipped, fished, passed. The spelling -ed is now even extended to words in which OE. had t, as in wished, puffed, kissed, OE. wyscte, pyfte, cyste.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. iii. (Z.) 6 B, c, d, g, p, t, ᵹeendiað on e. 1673 Wycherley Gentl. Dancing-Master v. i, His desperate deadly daunting dagger:—there are your d's for you! 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 67 b, The Walls..of Memphis [were] built in the shape of a D. 1879 M. E. Braddon Vixen III. 168 This..must end in darkness, desolation, despair—everything dreadful beginning with d. |
2. a. Used in reference to the shape of the letter, as
D block,
D-front,
D link,
D trap,
D valve, etc.;
D-shaped,
D-fronted adjs. See also
dee.
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 156 D-Blocks are lumps of oak in the shape of a D..bolted to the ship's side, in the channels. 1827 Farey Steam Eng. 707 Sliding valves..called D valves. 1849 E. E. Napier Excurs. S. Africa I. 161 The saddle..should be abundantly studded..with iron loops: or as they are—from their shape—termed in Colonial phraseology, D's. [See dee n.] Ibid. 163 Append to one of the D's of the said saddle, a leathern bottle. 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 72 D link, a flat iron bar attached to chains, and suspended from a hemp rope to a windlass at surface. It is a loop in which one man is lowered and raised in an engine-pit. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 135 A closed crucible with a D-shaped opening in one of its sides. 1892 T. B. F. Emerson Epid. Pneumonia 11 The catch-pit was covered in by a D trap. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 22 Nov. 5/3 D-shaped and oval tubes. 1908 Ibid. 16 Nov. 4/2 A D-front limousine. Ibid. 19 Nov. 5/2 A ‘D’-fronted landaulette. |
b. Billiards, etc. A semi-circle marked on the baulk side of the baulk-line from within which a player must strike the cue-ball when in hand; the area bounded by this semi-circle.
| 1873 J. Bennett Billiards ii. 18 The diameter of the D varies from 21 in. on championship tables to 23 in. on ordinary tables. 1904 J. P. Mannock Billiards Expounded I. ii. 53 What I want you to do is, following your losing hazard in the corner pocket, to then take your ball to the D, and play in again off the red from there. 1954 Billiards & Snooker (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 10/1 A player, whenever ‘in hand’..must play out of the ‘D’ from some point within it. 1981 G. Brandreth Everyman's Indoor Games 240 On the baulk line there is a semi-circle known as the ‘D’. |
3. Used euphemistically for
damn (often printed d―), etc.
Cf. dee v.
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xi, He flung out in his violent way, and said, with a D, ‘Then do as you like’. 1877 Gilbert Com. Opera, H.M.S. Pinafore i, Though ‘bother it’ I may Occasionally say, I never use a big, big D―. |
II. 1. a. Used like the other letters of the alphabet to denote serial order, with the value of
fourth; applied,
e.g., to the fourth quire or sheet of a book, a group or section in classification, etc.
| 1886 Oxford Univ. Statutes (1890) 109 The examination in the above-mentioned Group D shall be under the direction of the Board of the Faculty of Theology. |
b. In typical or hypothetical examples of any argumentation, D is put for a fourth person or thing. (
Cf. A, II. 4.)
| 1858 Kingsley Let. to J. Ludlow in Life xvii. (1879) II. 78 How worthless opinions of the Press are. For if A, B, C, D, flatly contradict each other, one or more must be wrong, eh? 1864 Bowen Logic 208 If A is B, C is D. 1887 Times (Weekly Ed.) 21 Oct. 3/2 This or that understanding between Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. C, and Mr. D. |
c. D-layer,
D-region: the lowest stratum of the ionosphere, occurring between 25 and 50 miles above the earth's surface, below the Heaviside or E-layer.
| 1930 Appleton & Ratcliffe in Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXVIII. 155 We therefore attribute the result of the small variation of the reflection coefficient with distance, to the influence of an absorbing zone (D region) of ionisation situated below the region (E region) in which the main bending takes place. Ibid., Rays which travel to the more distant receiving stations have a longer path through the D region. 1935 Nature 8 June 953/2 Besides these two main regions [F and E], the existence of a so-called D or absorbing layer has been suggested. Ibid., The appearance of echoes from the D layer is closely connected with the weakening of echoes from the E layer. 1955 Sci. Amer. Sept. 128/2 The lowest stratum of the ionosphere is called the D layer. Its electron density has not been measured accurately but is known to be low, because the layer does not reflect radio waves of one megacycle per second or higher frequency. 1968 G. M. B. Dobson Explor. Atmos. (ed. 2) viii. 151 These radio waves will be absorbed as they come down through the D region. |
2. spec. in
Music. The name of the second note of the ‘natural’ major scale. (In Italy and France called
re.) Also, the scale or key which has that note for its tonic.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. i. 77 D sol re, one Cliffe, two notes haue I. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. II. 269/2 A Concerto of Bach in D minor. |
3. In
Algebra: see A, II. 5. In the higher mathematics,
d is the sign of differentiation, and
D of derivation;
D is also used to denote the deficiency of a curve.
| 1852 Salmon Higher Plane Curves ii. (1879) 30 We call the deficiency of a curve the number D, by which its number of double points is short of the maximum. 1873 B. Williamson Diff. Calc. (ed. 2) §5 When the increment is supposed infinitely small, it is called a differential, and represented by dx. |
4. D notice, short for
Defence notice (see
quot. 1967). Hence
D list, a list of D notices currently in force.
The Services, Press and Broadcasting Committee was set up in 1912 as the ‘Admiralty, War Office and Press Committee’. Its main function is to give guidance to the press, etc., about matters which, in the interests of national security, should not be publicly disclosed.
| 1940 Graves & Hodge Long Week-End xxvi. 450 The Prime Minister authorized a ‘D’ notice to be sent round to the newspapers, warning them not to print it. 1961 Times 12 May 20/4 Mr. Lipton..asked the Prime Minister which Minister was responsible for preparing the D-list... Mr. Macmillan—Ministerial responsibility for D-notices rests on the Minister responsible for the subject covered by the notice. 1964 ‘C. E. Maine’ Never let Up v. 41 No names were mentioned... The story had probably been put out with a ‘D’ notice, which meant that editors were asked to toe the security line. 1967 Rep. Comm. Privy Counsellors (Cmnd. 3309) 1, A ‘D’ notice is a formal letter of warning or request, signed by the Secretary of a Committee known as the Services, Press and Broadcasting Committee, and addressed to newspaper editors, to news editors in sound broadcasting and television, [etc.]... Their purpose is to request a ban on the publication of certain subjects, indicated in the notices, which bear upon defence or national security. |
III. Abbreviations, etc.
1. d stands for L.
denarius and so for ‘penny’, ‘pence’; as 1
d.
= one penny, {pstlg}.
s. d.
= pounds, shillings and pence.
† Formerly also,
d.
= one half (L.
dimidium, also contracted
di., dim.); D.
= dollar (in
U.S.; now $).
| 1387 E.E. Wills 2 Y be-quethe to the werkes of poulys vj s. viij d. 1488 Nottingham Rec. III. 269 For d. a quarter of pepur. c 1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Halliwell Nugae Poet. 15 Fore some dey he wyll vij.{supd} drynke. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 140 What's the price of this yncle? i.d. 1791 Jefferson in Harper's Mag. (1885) Mar. 535/1 A pound of tea..costs 2 D. 1866 Crump Banking 233 Pence or halfpence are not legal tender for more than 12d., or farthings for more than 6d. |
2. D, the sign for 500 in Roman numerals, as mdcccxciii
= 1893. [Understood to be the half of CIɔ, earlier form of M
= 1,000.]
(Formerly occasionally written D{supc}.)
| 1459 Inv. in Paston Lett. I 469 Summa, DCCCC lxv. unces. Ibid. 471 Summa, D{supc} unces. 1569 Grafton Chron. 16 This Thurston obteyned the rule of the Abbey againe for the price of D. pound. |
3. (Abbreviations cited here with full stops are frequently used without them.)
a. D. = various proper names, as Daniel, David;
D, ‘in the
Complete Book, means dead or deserted’ (
Adm. Smyth);
D., Deputy;
D., detective (
slang);
D., Dictionary;
D., dimensional, as
3-D,
3 D, three-dimensional;
D., Distinguished;
D., District;
D. = Doctor (in
academical degrees, as a
Lat. word following, and as English preceding, other initials), as
D.D. (
Divinitatis Doctor), Doctor of Divinity,
LL.D. (
Legum Doctor), Doctor of Laws,
M.D. Doctor of Medicine,
Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy,
D.C.L., Doctor of Civil Law,
D.Lit.,
Lit.D., Doctor of Literature,
D.Phil., Doctor of Philosophy,
D.Sc., Doctor of Science;
† D. = Duke;
d (in dental formulæ)
= deciduous, as
dc., deciduous canine,
di., deciduous incisor;
d., decent,
esp. in
jolly d.;
† d. = degree (of angular measure);
d.,
d. (usually before a date)
= died;
d or
D (
Anat.)
= dorsal;
d. (in a ship's log)
= drizzling;
D.A., Dictionary of Americanisms;
D.A., District Attorney (
U.S.);
D.A., duck's arse (style of haircut);
D.A.A.G., Deputy Assistant Adjutant General;
D.A.E., Dictionary of American English;
D.A.G., Deputy Adjutant General;
D. and C., dilatation and curettage;
D. and P.,
d and p, developing and printing;
D.A.Q.M.G., Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General;
db., decibel;
D.B.E., Dame Commander of the British Empire (established 1917);
DBMS, database management system;
DBS, direct-broadcast satellite; direct broadcasting by satellite;
D.B.S.T., Double British Summer Time;
dbx [
f. db = decibel +
x = expander], a proprietary designation for devices aimed at increasing the dynamic range of reproduced sound;
D.C. (
Music)
= da capo (
q.v.);
D.C.,
d.c., direct current;
D.C., District Commissioner;
D.C.M., Distinguished Conduct Medal (established 1862);
d.d.,
D.D. (L.,
dono dedit) gave as a gift;
d.d.d.,
D.D.D. (L.
dat,
dicat,
dedicat) gives, devotes, and dedicates;
D.E.W., distant early warning; so
Dew line (see
quot. 1956);
D.F., direction(al) finding;
D.F.C.,
D.F.M., Distinguished Flying Cross, Medal (established 1918);
D.G. = L.
Dei gratia, by the grace of God,
Deo gratias, thanks to God;
D.I., Defence Intelligence;
D.I.Y.: see
do-it-yourself;
D.J., dinner jacket;
D.J., disc jockey;
D.L., Deputy Lieutenant;
D.M.,
D-mark, Deutsche mark;
D.M.Z., demilitarized zone;
D.N.A., de(s)oxyribonucleic acid (
q.v.);
D.N.B., Dictionary of National Biography;
D.O., District Officer;
D.O.A., dead on arrival (at a hospital, etc.);
DOE, Department of the Environment;
DOM (
slang), dirty old man;
DOS (
Computing)
= disc operating system s.v. disc n. 8 f,
usu. with
pronunc. (
dɒs);
D.O.S.T., Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue;
D.P., displaced person;
D.P.P., Director of Public Prosecutions;
D.S.C., Distinguished Service Cross (established 1914);
D.S.I.R., Department of Scientific and Industrial Research;
D.S.M., Distinguished Service Medal (established 1914);
D.S.O., Distinguished Service Order (established 1886);
D.T., vulgar
abbrev. of
delirium tremens;
D.T.L. (
Shooting), down-the-line;
D.V. = L.
Deo volente, God willing;
D.Z., dropping zone. See also (as main entries)
D-Day, T.,
Dora,
| 1949 N. Spain Poison for Teacher i. i. 19 Jolly *d. of you to ask us. 1960 N. Fairbrother Cheerful Day ii. vi. 166, I say. Jolly d. It's exactly what I want. |
| 1635 J. Wells Sciogr. 4 Let 60 *d. of the chorde, be equal to 30 d. of the Sines. |
| 1869 R. P. Whitworth Comic Guide to Dunedin 27 These..are gentlemen who give their talents and time to the paternal government for a certain modicium [sic] of payment, and are known as *D.s. 1879 ‘T. Fredur’ Sk. Shady Places ii. 16, I have a few friends among the D's (detectives), who give me the job to watch a house occasionally. 1916 J. B. Cooper Coo-oo-ee vii. 84 ‘The {oqq}D{cqq} started askin' wot's wot didn't he?’ asked Sam. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xvi. 184 They [sc. crooks] very often know that a man is a ‘D’, as they call us, without being aware of his identity, because of the fact that he happens to be on the lookout. |
| 1953 A. Cooke in Manch. Guardian Weekly 27 Aug. 7/2 One big studio has done a Technicolor 3-*D movie of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ which..has the effect of whisking the audience into the most privileged seat in a live theatre. 1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 381 The true 3-D films, involving left and right-eyed vision and the use of polarizing spectacles. 1969 Listener 4 Sept. 310/1 Now imagine that instead of the 3-D flesh and blood we are all composed of, we were 2-D people entirely confined to this 2-D world, the surface of the Earth, rather like flatfish. |
| 1606 Coke in True & Perf. Relat. T j b, A Doctor of fiue *Dd, as Dissimulation, Deposing of Princes..Destruction. 1630 Wadsworth Pilgr. vii. 64 This North was created *D.D. in Paris. 1710 Sacheverell Sp. on Impeach. 51 This argues a scandalous Ignorance..in a D.D. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 62 His cousin, the *Ph.D. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. v. (1885) 119 The D.D.'s used to be the leaders. 1895 Edin. Univ. Cal. 1895–96 136 Degree of *D.Phil. Graduates who have taken the degree of Master of Arts in any Scottish University..in Mental Philosophy..may offer themselves for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in the same University after the expiry of five years. 1906 W. Johnston Graduates Univ. Aberdeen p. xii, D.Phil., Doctor of Philosophy. Ibid. p. xv, Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy. This form of contraction is used to distinguish the degree when obtained from a Continental University. Cf. D.Phil., which is the British form. 1938 Times 3 Feb. 14/2 A thesis on South African history, which brought him the degree of D.Phil. at Oxford. |
| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 75 Betwixt the Emp. then living and the last *D. [= Duke] great gelosies underhand. |
| 1934 Webster, *D.A., District Attorney. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Jan. 55/4 The author had worked at the House of Refuge (a very tough New York reformatory) and the New York Parental School (for truants) before he went to the D.A.'s office. |
| 1951 Sunday Pictorial 29 Oct. (caption) The *D.A. [haircut], so called because of its remarkable resemblance to a duck's rear. 1961 M. Dickens Heart of London iv. 381 His hair, which was swept back in the popular D.A. hair-cut into a little drake's tail at the back. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 8 Nov. 2/1 Calling into consultation..the *D.A.A.G. for Topography. |
| 1960 Blakiston's Illustr. Pocket Med. Dict. (ed. 2) 187 *D and C. Short for dilatation of the cervix and curettage of the uterus. 1968 J. Fleming Kill or Cure i. 17 You ask him to perform an instant D. and C. on a young girl. |
| 1924 Brit. Jrnl. Photographic Alm. 333 The appliances used in a..*D and P (developing and printing) establishment. |
| 1971 Interactive Bibliographic Search 204 *DBMS are often referred to as generalized data base management systems. 1983 [see database management system s.v. database 2]. 1983 Your Computer (Austral.) July 20/1 dBase ii..is the most popular micro DBMS. |
| 1981 Microwaves Feb. 15/1 A direct-broadcast satellite (*DBS) will be beaming three separate channels of national programming into American homes within five years. 1984 Listener 8 Mar. 5/2 Japan has already launched a DBS satellite. 1986 Stage & Television Today 7 Aug. 17/1 ITN has put together a schedule for DBS operators. |
| 1945 Daily Express 5 May 1/2 All enemy forces..have surrendered to the 21st Army Group, effective 08.00 hours *D.B.S.T. tomorrow. |
| 1975 Stereo Rev. (U.S.) June 93 (Advt.), The *dbx 117 Dynamic Range Enhancer Noise Reduction Unit restores up to 20 db of the dynamics missing from records, tapes, and FM broadcasts. 1975 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 11 Nov. tm178/2 DBX Inc., Waltham, Mass{ddd}dbx for companders and parts thereof for recording systems{ddd}First use as early as Apr. 9, 1971. 1977 Rolling Stone 24 Mar. 79/2 Basically, the dbx ‘compander’ compresses the wide dynamic range of live music to fit within the bounds of even moderately priced cassette tape decks. 1986 Making Music Apr. 34/4 Personal Multitrack Recorder..offers..switchable dbx over fixed Dolby B noise reduction. |
| 1898 E. J. Houston Electr. Words (ed. 4) 735/1 *D.C., a contraction for direct current. 1924 Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 29 Nov. 249/1 Recent developments at the Treforest power station included the installation of the Highfield transverter apparatus, enabling the transmission of d.c. at a high pressure over long distances. 1960 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 19 Feb 743/1 A variety of other samples, soils, British multiple coin-moulds, and Roman pewter, was also analysed by the d.c. arc method. |
| a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 53/1 *D.C., District Commissioner. 1950 ‘N. Shute’ Town like Alice ii. 39 The truck halted at the D.C.'s office and the subaltern went inside. |
| 1914 Daily Express 10 Nov. 6/3 Our fellows were extraordinarily brave, and I think several of them should get the *D.C.M. |
| 1955 *D.E.W. [see distant a. 8]. 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 165/1 Dew line, a line of radar stations at about the 70th parallel on the North American continent, financed by the American government but undertaken in cooperation with the Canadian government. 1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never ii. 53 The DEW line—the Distant Early Warning radar and interceptor net stretching from Alaska to Greenland. |
| 1920 Year Bk. Wireless Telegr. 946 If the ship is equipped with *D.F. apparatus every wireless station becomes a beacon on which a bearing can be taken. 1940 C. Gardner A.A.S.F. 66 They'd managed to get Fécamp radio station shut down, so that German aircraft could no longer take D.F. bearings from it. |
| 1919 London Gaz. 5 Dec. 15050/1 It is ordained that the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross shall entitle the recipient to have the initials *D.F.C. appended to his name. |
| Ibid., The award of the Distinguished Flying Medal shall entitle the recipient to have the initials *D.F.M. appended to his name. |
| a 1866 Keble Lett. Spir. Counsel (1870) 186 My dear wife (*D.G.) bore up well through the nursing. |
| 1964 Observer 12 July 36/6 According to the Security Gazette, the Secret Service, MI5, is now known as *DI5. 1966 J. Porter Sour Cream ii. 20 We had several lectures from a languid D.I.5 man. |
| 1967 J. Gardner Madrigal viii. 230 This Madrigal was young, slim and immaculate in a smoke-grey *DJ with black silk lapels. |
| 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 19 D.J.,..disk jockey. 1965 Daily Tel. 19 July 17/4 The BBC is plainly fascinated by the phenomenon of the disc jockey, now abbreviated to DJ. |
| 1960 Amer. Speech XXXV. 261 Some thousands of American troops defending the *DMZ or Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 4/3 The appearance of Communist tanks along the eastern end of the DMZ above Con Thien. |
| 1903 E. Gosse Let. 15 Jan. in E.E. Charteris Life & Lett. (1931) xix. 287 To see if anything has been overlooked by the *D.N.B. 1930 N. & Q. 11 Oct. 257/2 Corrigendum for the D.N.B. |
| 1954 G. Durrell Bafut Beagles iii. 60 Sometimes I get palaver with the *D.O., an' dat de tire me most of all. 1958 Times 6 Sept. 8/6 Even in these progressive times when authority is fast being transferred into African hands, the D.O., often under a new name and guise, and with new functions, may still be the administrative Jack-of-all-Trades, still tour his District, and still review cases in the Native Courts. |
| 1958 T. Flint Emergency Treatment (ed. 2) 9 Cases in which a spark of life is suspected..should not be classified as ‘*D.O.A.’. |
| 1972 Times 12 Apr. p. v, The *DOE—as it has come to be called—swallowed..three other independent and quite powerful ministries: Transport, Public Building and Works and Housing and Local Government. |
| 1959 W. Camp Ruling Passion xii. 85 Poor Shirley, she thought, Harry is going to become a prize *D.O.M. 1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 64 DOMs should know better than to come to the tubs and fuck it up for the rest of us. |
| 1967, etc. *DOS [see disc operating system s.v. disc n. 8 f]. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xii. 49/8 (Advt.), Our modest size EDP department presently working on IBM DOS system, is scheduled to grow substantially. 1984 Gore & Stubbe Computers & Information Syst. (ed. 2) viii. 173 An example of a widely used DOS is the CP/M operating system. 1986 M. L. Harris Introd. Data Processing (ed. 3) ix. 199 Placing DOS on a floppy disk rather than in ROM means that it can be updated quite easily without having to make physical changes to the computer. |
| 1945 Picture Post 15 Sept. 18, I saw an exercise in the registration of *D.P.s. |
| 1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 34/2 *D.P.P., Director of Public Prosecutions. 1958 Spectator 27 June 827/1 What instruction, if any, I would give to the DPP should Archbishop Makarios visit this country. 1970 It 12–25 Feb. 19/1 With the large increase in crimes of violence and offences against property the time of the police and the DPP would have been better employed, in my submission, in those directions. |
| 1917 Flying 19 Sept. 140/2 The first co-operative Research Association to be established under the auspices of the *D.S.I.R. will probably be for cotton. 1964 Guardian 29 July 14/1 (heading) Tories plan a science shake-up. DSIR to disappear. |
| 1887 Times 21 May 15/3 Brevet Major Archibald Hunter, *D.S.O., from Supernumerary Captain, to be Captain. 1901 ‘M. Gray’ Four-Leaved Clover i, He's got a D.S.O. You've got to deserve a D.S.O., mind you, before you get it. a 1917 E. A. Mackintosh War, the Liberator (1918) 100 If you want a D.S.O. Or a small M.C. or so Don't go crawling rashly out When there's nobody about. 1930 N. & Q. 4 Oct. 245/2 There was a good sprinkling of D.S.O.'s and O.B.E.'s. |
| 1954 Shooting Times 15 Jan. 41/3 Three Counties *D.T.L. Championship. 1972 Ibid. 27 May 9/1 Down-the-Line shooters take some stick, these days. But the average DTL competitor seems to take a greater pride in his appearance than do many sporting shooters. |
| 1843 C. Brontë Let. 1 Aug. in Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë (1857) I. xii. 296, I will continue to stay (*D.V.) some months longer. 1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. ii. 30 The ‘D.V.’ of a missionary-meeting placard. 1918 D.V. [see apotropaic a.]. |
| 1954 X. Fielding tr. Boulle's Bridge on River Kwai (1956) iv. viii. 181 A second team was dropped on to a *D.Z. some distance away. |
b. d or
D (
Physics,
Chem.)
= diffuse: originally used to designate one of the four main series in atomic spectra, but now more frequently applied to electronic orbitals, states, etc., possessing two units of angular momentum.
| 1890 J. R. Rydberg in Phil. Mag. XXIX. 335 K (D1, 4) denotes the fourth line of the first diffuse series of the spectrum of potassium. 1922 A. Fowler Rep. Series in Line Spectra iii. 15 Three of the chief series were recognised..namely..Principal, Diffuse, Sharp... Rydberg's names..are conveniently abbreviated to P,D,S. 1955 Richtmyer & Kennard Introd. Mod. Physics (ed. 5) vii. 245 The use by spectroscopists of the mysterious letters S,P,D,F..to represent various values of L. Ibid., The lowest D level. 1965 Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. I. iv. 102 The withdrawal of the d electrons from the valence shell. |
c. Particle Physics. [See note
s.v. S 15.]
d is the symbol of the down quark (see
down a. 5).
| 1964, etc. [see S 15]. 1981 D. H. Perkins in J. H. Mulvey Nature of Matter iv. 77 The proton is (uud) and the neutron (ddu). 1983 Sci. Amer. July 106/1 An alternative is for the b to emit a Z0, transforming the b into an s or a d. |
______________________________
Add:
[III.] [3.] [a.] DRAM,
Dram (
ˈdiːræm) (
Computing), dynamic random-access memory, in which information is stored as charge on semiconductor capacitors and periodically refreshed in order to neutralize the effect of leakage.
| 1981 Computer Design Apr. 63/2 (Advt.), Processing advances in TI's TMS4164 mark major technology turns in high-performance *DRAM production. 1983 Fortune 16 May 152/2 A d-RAM chip can be visualized as an incredibly miniaturized telephone network. 1984 Science 11 May 590/1 The first DRAM to be competitive with magnetic core memory in computers was a 1K chip in the early 1970's. 1987 Times 27 Feb. 6 This dynamic random access memory (Dram) chip demonstrates Japanese mastery in a field abandoned by many western companies back in the 1970s. |
DTL (
Electronics), diode–transistor logic;
cf. TTL s.v. T II. 6 a.
| 1960 IRE Trans. Electronic Computers IX. 16/1 For maximum circuit economy at the moderate speeds contemplated in these equipments, two types of logic structure proved outstanding. These structures were the RTL and *DTL types. 1977 Sci. Amer. Sept. 79/1 In the late 1950's and early 1960's semiconductor diodes, also packaged as discrete components, became cheap enough to compete with resistors; the result was diode–transistor logic (DTL). |
d. Chem. (
i)
d = dextrorotatory.
| 1894 [see irigenin n.]. 1907 J. B. Cohen Org. Chem. Adv. Students I. ii. 94 There are in addition d- and l-inositol (α)d = {pm}65° obtained..from pinite..and quebrachite. 1967 I. L. Finar Org. Chem. (ed. 5) I. xvii. 433 Natural mannose is dextrorotatory. Hence natural mannose will be d-mannose, and all derivatives of d-mannose..will thus belong to the d-series. |
† (
ii)
d was formerly used to denote configuration (now superseded by d: see *(iii)).
Obs.| 1890, 1906 [see L III. 8 c (ii)]. |
(
iii) As a small capital d: applied to (a compound having) a configuration about an asymmetric atom which is the mirror image of that indicated by the symbol l (see
L III. 8 c (iii)).
| 1947 [see L III. 8 c (iii)]. 1948 [see gentianose n.]. 1988 L. Stryer Biochem. (ed. 3) xiv. 337 In cellulose, for example, d-glucose residues are joined by glycosidic linkages between C-1 of one sugar and the hydroxyl oxygen atom of C-4 of an adjacent sugar. |
______________________________
Add:
[III.] [3.] [a.] DCC = digital compact cassette s.v. *
digital a. 5 d.
| 1990 Sunday Times 11 Nov. iv. 11/3 The Philips system is called Digital Compact Cassette (*DCC). It will use the current cassette format, with a shield to protect the tape, as with videos and DAT cassettes. 1993 Q May 114/2 DAT is like a tiny videotape, DCC is the same size and shape as an ordinary music cassette—but the basic difference in the systems is in the recording and playback head. |
ddC,
DDC Pharm., dideoxycytidine.
| 1987 Daily Tel. 17 Feb. 2/8 Animal trials indicate that dideoxycytidine (*DDC), is less toxic to man than Retrovir. 1990 AIDS Res. & Human Retroviruses VI. 695 ddC is one of the most potent anti-HIV agents. 1992 Sun (Baltimore) 23 June a3/6 The studies showed that ddC, used in combination with AZT, tended to cause an increase in the number of CD4 cells in the immune systems of HIV patients. |
ddI,
DDI Pharm. = *
dideoxyinosine.
| 1989 Science 28 July 412/3, 2{p},3{p}-Dideoxyinosine (*ddI)..is a purine dideoxynucleoside with potent activity against HIV in vitro. 1990 Lancet 10 Mar. 596/2 The UK trial of ddI will be accompanied by a similar trial in France. 1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Jan. 12/3 Now that drugs like AZT and DDI can slow the progress of the disease, I could be relatively healthy for years. |
DTP,
dtp = desk-top publishing s.v. desk-top n. 2.
| 1986 Nation's Business (U.S.) Mar. 57/1 Aldus created software that enables *DTP systems to combine text and graphics on the screen. 1991 Computing 10 Jan. 20/1 In the past, the first question the would-be desktop publishing user asked was: is my word processor compatible with the dtp package I want? |
______________________________
▸
Physics and
Chem. d-block n. attrib. designating the elements whose outermost electrons are in
d-orbitals,
i.e. the elements of columns 3–12 of the periodic table; the transition metals. Also: designating the orbitals themselves.
| 1961 W. E. Addison Struct. Princ. Inorg. Compounds i. 7 The d block elements, referred to as the Transition Elements since they are situated between the s and p blocks, are metals which usually form coloured ions. 1982 Inorg. Chem. 21 2395/2 (caption) Six lower d-block orbitals of an edge-sharing bioctahedral M2L10 complex. 1998 M. J. Winter d-Block Chem. i. 2 Since all the d-block elements are metallic, the term d-block metals is synonymous. |
______________________________
▸
DAB n. Broadcasting and
Telecomm. = digital audio broadcasting n. at
digital n. and
adj. Additions.
| 1987 Spectrum 20/20: Symp. Spectrum Usage Paper II.3 (Abstract), This has initiated a study of digital audio broadcasting (*DAB). 1998 Times (Nexis) 9 May Ofair will need to act swiftly against the sharp practices that will flow from the DAB age's Bunteresque appetite for programming. 2000 Sci. Amer. Dec. 28/2 DAB was capable of being broadcast by satellite as well as terrestrially. |
______________________________
▸
D and D n. (
usu. written
D & D)
= Dungeons and Dragons n.| 1975G. Gygax in Strategic Rev. Spring 3/2 Now break out your copy of *D & D, your dice, and plenty of graph paper and have fun. 1990 Dragon Mag. Mar. 75/1, I believe most parents would accept D&D, as mine did, if only their children were better at explaining the concept of role-playing games. 1999 Toronto Star (Electronic ed.) 15 Mar. Dungeons and Dragons was an unassuming collection of booklets and sheets of paper... All the same, D & D (as it came to be called) was a full-blast cultural phenomenon by the mid-'80s. |
______________________________
▸
DHEA n. the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone, which is produced in the gonads and adrenals as an intermediate in the synthesis of oestrogen and androgen.
| 1969 Jrnl. Pediatrics 74 932/2 The present study was undertaken in the belief that this change in adrenal function represents the onset of increased dehydroepiandrosterone (*DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) secretion by the gland. 1997 D. Singh Khalsa & C. Stauth Brain Longevity iv. 74 When DHEA is restored to this level, it commonly elicits a ‘re-youthing’ effect, characterized by enhanced memory, increased sex drive, [etc.]. 2004 Zest Dec. 67/1 New research indicates that decreased libido could be the result of low levels of the biochemical DHEA. |
______________________________
▸
DL n. slang (
orig. in African-American usage)
= down-low n.| 1992 ‘Pharcyde’ Bizarre Ride II Pharcyde (record) (title of song) On the *DL. 2004 K. P. Abrams Perils of Heart 117 Oops, I'd better keep it on the DL, huh? |
______________________________
▸
DNS n. Computing domain name server (also service, system).
| 1982 Z. Su Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 830. 2 This resolution is provided through the cooperation among a set of domain name servers (*DNSs). 1989 PC Week (Nexis) 24 Apr. 10 Support for Domain Name Service (DNS), a standard feature of most TCP/IP networks, lets network administrators more easily divide responsibility for the user-name database across multiple servers from a variety of vendors. 2000 ‘Dr. K.’ Compl. Hacker's Handbk. v. 59 The expansion into the present-day Internet, with millions of hosts, would have been impossible without the creation of the DNS to provide host address lookup. |
______________________________
▸
DSL n. Computing and
Telecomm. digital subscriber line, a technology for the high-speed transmission of digital information over standard copper telephone lines (of which there are several variants, identified by their initial letter, as
ADSL (see
A n.),
SDSL (symmetric DSL),
VDSL (very high bit-rate DSL)); (also, in
quot. 1981) digital subscriber loop.
| 1981 IEEE Trans. Communications 29 1554/1 This paper explores the constraints on the design of two-wire repeaterless digital subscriber loop (*DSL) systems. 1985 Telephone Engineer & Managem. (Nexis) 1 June 74 The ISDN DSLs will have distance limitations from the switch due to the physics of operating 144kbs on standard telephone loops. 1998 New Scientist 7 Nov. 63/3 No one seems ready to give up on DSL, but it's clear that installation will not be cheap or easy. 2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Oct. 25 (advt.) TI's software has emerged as the industry standard for both DSL and voiceband modems. |
______________________________
▸
DTD n. Computing document type definition, a file that specifies the tagging structure of a set of SGML or XML documents, to be used by a parsing program run on the documents.
| 1985 Formex (Comm. European Communities) (rev.ed.) 203 SGML provides a means of checking the mark-up of a document, in the form of what is called a document type definition (*DTD). 1987 Computers & Graphics 11 345/2 The purpose of the DTD is to state the rules for constructing a valid document of a particular type. 1998 R. Darnell et al. HTML 4 Unleashed i. iv. 46 The DTD includes the definitions for all legal HTML elements and their attributes, using a syntax that looks very much like HTML. |
______________________________
▸
DUI n. U.S. (the offence of) driving under the influence (of alcohol or drugs).
| 1969 N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Oct. 187/1 A black man from Sweetport, La...was even more surprised to find himself arrested on a *D.U.I. charge (driving under the influence) by a black officer in Mississippi and fined a crushing $113. 1983 Health (Nexis) Feb. 44 [Sober Aid] does not return the driver to an unimpaired state, and the findings should not be construed as suggesting DUI (driving under the influence) behavior to be either safe or acceptable. 2001 D. Lehane Mystic River 343 Predictable shit follows as the father is arrested on petty larceny... Bunch of DUIs and D and D's follow. |
______________________________
▸
DVT n. Med. = deep vein thrombosis n. at
deep adj. Additions.
| 1972 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 59 914 (title) Low doses of heparin in the prevention of postoperative *D.V.T.—a double-blind trial. 1980 Lancet 16 Feb. 331/2 Subjects consisted of 45 consecutive patients presenting..with unilateral pain or swelling of the calf and in whom the provisional clinical diagnosis was DVT. 2001 Quicksilver Mag. Spring 83/1 The term ‘economy class syndrome’ may be a misnomer..in that people have also suffered DVT after travelling longhaul in business or first class. |
______________________________
▸
DWAI n. U.S. (the offence of) driving while (one's) ability is impaired (by alcohol or drugs) (usually defined legally as a lower level of impairment than that of
DWI n. at Additions).
| 1973 Pacific Reporter (2nd Ser.) (Nexis) 510 316 The trial court found that the prosecution had established driving while ability impaired (*DWAI),..and ruled that DWAI was a lesser included offense of DUI. 2000 Denver Post (Electronic ed.) 24 Oct. Colorado already has a lower ‘driving while ability impaired’ standard of 0.05 percent [blood-alcohol content]. But those convicted of their first DWAI infraction do not lose their driver's license, as happens with DUI. |
______________________________
▸
DWB n. U.S. colloq. (
orig. in African-American usage)
= driving while black n. at
driving n. Additions.
| 1990 N.Y. Times 21 May b4/1 We get arrested for *D.W.B... You know, driving while black. 1997 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 16 Mar. d3/2 Police officials have denied charges of discrimination, but, for many blacks, this practice is so widespread it has its own street label: D.W.B.—‘Driving While Black’. 2001 Village Voice (N.Y.) 19 June 65/1 Since this is a paranoid function of law enforcement like arresting people for ‘DWB’, the police abuse the practice, and innocent people are frequently detained, falsely accused, and brutalized. |
______________________________
▸
DWI n. U.S. (the offence of) driving while intoxicated.
| 1950 N.Y. Times 21 June 16 (advt.) A charge of driving while intoxicated—or a *DWI charge, as the police call it—is often impossible to prove in court unless it's backed up by evidence from a chemical test. 1983 J. W. Dickey et al. Metropolitan Transportation Planning x. 364 To remove and treat problem drinkers, a system was developed to identify such among the DWI offenders and refer them to special treatment centers. 2001 Esquire Sept. 71/2 When it came out that George W. Bush had a DWI arrest, it was also mentioned in passing that Dick Cheney had two DWI arrests when he was a young man. |