Demography to Demure
Demography
(De*mog"ra*phy) n. [Gr. dh^mos the people + - graphy.] The study of races, as to births,
marriages, mortality, health, etc. — Dem`o*graph"ic, a.
Demoiselle
(||De`moi`selle") n. [F. See Damsel.]
1. A young lady; a damsel; a lady's maid.
2. (Zoöl.) The Numidian crane (Anthropoides virgo); — so called on account of the grace and symmetry
of its form and movements.
3. (Zoöl.) A beautiful, small dragon fly of the genus Agrion.
Demolish
(De*mol"ish) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Demolished ; p. pr. & vb. n. Demolishing.] [F. démolir,
fr. L. demoliri, p. p. demolitus; de- + moliri to set a thing in motion, to work, construct, from moles a
huge mass or structure. See Mole a mound, and Finish.] To throw or pull down; to raze; to destroy the
fabric of; to pull to pieces; to ruin; as, to demolish an edifice, or a wall.
I expected the fabric of my book would long since have been demolished, and laid even with the ground.
Tillotson. Syn. — To Demolish, Overturn, Destroy, Dismantle, Raze. That is overturned or overthrown which
had stood upright; that is destroyed whose component parts are scattered; that is demolished which had
formed a mass or structure; that is dismantled which is stripped of its covering, as a vessel of its sails,
or a fortress of its bastions, etc.; that is razed which is brought down smooth, and level to the ground.
An ancient pillar is overturned or overthrown as the result of decay; a city is destroyed by an invasion
of its enemies; a monument, the walls of a castle, a church, or any structure, real or imaginary, may be
demolished; a fortress may be dismantled from motives of prudence, in order to render it defenseless; a
city may be razed by way of punishment, and its ruins become a memorial of vengeance.
Demolisher
(De*mol"ish`er) n. One who, or that which, demolishes; as, a demolisher of towns.
Demolishment
(De*mol"ish*ment) n. Demolition.
Demolition
(Dem`o*li"tion) n. [L. demolitio, fr. demoliri: cf. F. démolition. See Demolish.] The act of
overthrowing, pulling down, or destroying a pile or structure; destruction by violence; utter overthrow; —
opposed to construction; as, the demolition of a house, of military works, of a town, or of hopes.
Demolitionist
(Dem`o*li"tion*ist), n. A demolisher. [R.] Carlyle.
Demon
(De"mon) n. [F. démon, L. daemon a spirit, an evil spirit, fr. Gr. a divinity; of uncertain origin.]
1. (Gr. Antiq.) A spirit, or immaterial being, holding a middle place between men and deities in pagan
mythology.
The demon kind is of an intermediate nature between the divine and the human.
Sydenham. 2. One's genius; a tutelary spirit or internal voice; as, the demon of Socrates. [Often written dæmon.]
3. An evil spirit; a devil.
That same demon that hath gulled thee thus.
Shak. Demoness
(De"mon*ess) n. A female demon.
Demonetization
(De*mon`e*ti*za"tion) n. The act of demonetizing, or the condition of being demonetized.
