Chapter Direptitious to Disagreeable of D by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Dirt bed

(Geom.), a layer of clayey earth forming a stratum in a geological formation. Dirt beds are common among the coal measures. — Dirt eating. (a) The use of certain kinds of clay for food, existing among some tribes of Indians; geophagism. Humboldt. (b) (Med.) Same as Chthonophagia. — Dirt pie, clay or mud molded by children in imitation of pastry. Otway — To eat dirt, to submit in a meanly humble manner to insults; to eat humble pie.

Dirt
(Dirt), v. t. To make foul of filthy; to dirty. Swift.

Dirtily
(Dirt"i*ly) adv. In a dirty manner; foully; nastily; filthily; meanly; sordidly.

Dirtiness
(Dirt"i*ness), n. The state of being dirty; filthiness; foulness; nastiness; baseness; sordidness.

Dirty
(Dirt"y) a. [Compar. Dirtier ; superl. Dirtiest.]

1. Defiled with dirt; foul; nasty; filthy; not clean or pure; serving to defile; as, dirty hands; dirty water; a dirty white. Spenser.

2. Sullied; clouded; — applied to color. Locke.

3. Sordid; base; groveling; as, a dirty fellow.

The creature's at his dirty work again.

Pope.

4. Sleety; gusty; stormy; as, dirty weather.

Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea.

M. Arnold.

Syn. — Nasty; filthy; foul. See Nasty.

Dirty
(Dirt"y), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dirtied ; p. pr. & vb. n. Dirtying.]

1. To foul; to make filthy; to soil; as, to dirty the clothes or hands.

2. To tarnish; to sully; to scandalize; — said of reputation, character, etc.

Diruption
(Di*rup"tion) n. [L. diruptio, fr. dirumpere. See Disrupt, a.] Disruption.

Dis-
(Dis-) (?; 258).

1. A prefix from the Latin, whence F. dés, or sometimes dé-, dis-. The Latin dis-appears as di-before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v, becomes dif-before f, and either dis-or di- before j. It is from the same root as bis twice, and duo, E. two. See Two, and cf. Bi-, Di-, Dia-. Dis- denotes separation, a parting from, as in distribute, disconnect; hence it often has the force of a privative and negative, as in disarm, disoblige, disagree. Also intensive, as in dissever.

Walker's rule of pronouncing this prefix is, that the s ought always to be pronounced like z, when the next syllable is accented and begins with "a flat mute [b, d, v, g, z], a liquid [l, m, n, r], or a vowel; as, disable, disease, disorder, disuse, disband, disdain, disgrace, disvalue, disjoin, dislike, dislodge, dismay, dismember, dismiss, dismount, disnatured, disrank, disrelish, disrobe." Dr. Webster's example in disapproving of Walker's rule and pronouncing dis-as diz in only one (disease) of the above words, is followed by recent orthoëpists. See Disable, Disgrace, and the other words, beginning with dis-, in this Dictionary.

2. A prefix from Gr. di`s- twice. See Di-.

Dis
(||Dis) n. [L.] The god Pluto. Shak.