375
determiner
Destiny's 'Child a former US POP group that sang SOUL
and R AND B music. There were four women in the group,
including Beyonce Knowles. Their songs included Independent
Women and Say My Name. Their albums include The
Writing's on the Wall.
des-ti-tute /'destɪtju:t||-tu:t/ adj 1 without food, clothing,
shelter etc, or the money to buy them; extremely
poor 2 [F+of] fml lacking in; completely without: She was
destitute of human feeling. —tution /,destɪ'tju:ʃən||-tu:-/
n [U]
de-stroy /dɪ'strɪ/ v [T] 1 to damage (something) so
severely that it cannot be repaired; put an end to the
existence of; ruin: The fire destroyed most of the building. |
All hopes of a peaceful settlement were destroyed by his
speech. 2 euph to kill (an animal), especially one that is sick
or badly hurt → see also DESTRUCTION
de-stroy-er /dɪ'strɔɪə/ n 1 a person who destroys 2 a
small fast warship
de-struc-tion /dɪ'strkʃən/ n [U] 1 the act of destroying or
state of being destroyed: the destruction of the South Ameri-
can rain forests | The enemy bombs caused widespread
destruction. 2 fml something that destroys: Drink was her
destruction.
de-struc-tive /dɪ'strʌktɪv/ adj 1 causing destruction: a
destructive storm | Small children can be very destruc-
tive. 2 tending to find fault and point out what is wrong
without suggesting improvements: destructive criticism →
compare CONSTRUCTIVE —ly adv —ness n [U]
des-ul-to-ry /'desəltəri, 'dez-||-tɔ:ri/ adj fml not having a
particular plan or purpose: a desultory conversation —rily
/'desəltərɪli, 'dez-||,desəl'tɔ:rɪli, ,dez-/ adv
Det written abbrev. for DETECTIVE
de-tach /dɪ'tæt/ v [T(from)] to separate from a larger mass or
group and usually without violence or damage: You can
detach the handle by undoing this screw. | The general
detached a small force to go and guard the palace. → compare
ATTACH —able adj: a detachable handle
de-tached /dɪ'tætʃt/ adj 1 [no comp.] especially BrE (of a house)
not connected on any side with any other building. Many
British people think that a detached house is the best type of
house to have. → compare SEMIDETACHED; see colour photo
on page A40 2 not showing much personal feeling: She has
a very detached attitude to her divorce. | a detached observer
de-tach-ment /dɪ'tætʃmənt/ n 1 [U] the act of detach-
ing 2 [U] the state of being DETACHED: to adopt an attitude of
complete detachment 3 [C+sing./pl. v] a group, especially of
soldiers, sent from the main group on special duty: A detach-
ment of troops was/were ordered to surround the airport.
de-tail¹ /'di:teɪl||dɪ'teɪl/ n 1 [C] a single point or fact about
something: Everything in her story is correct down to the
smallest detail. | The full details of the agreement have not yet
been made public. | If you're interested in the job, I'll send you
all the details. 2 [U] such single parts considered together:
He has a good eye for detail and notices almost everything. |
The colour in that picture is very good, but there's too much
detail. | She described the accident in (great) detail. (=giving
all the details) | Well, without going into detail (=I won't tell
you all the details) we've managed to find a suitable
house. 3 [C+sing./pl. v] a small working party of soldiers or
sailors —ed adj: a detailed account of his work
detail² v [T] 1 to appoint (especially soldiers) to do some
special duty: [+obj+to-v] He detailed three soldiers to look for
water. 2 to give a full list of: Could you detail all your
expenses on this form?
de-tain /dɪ'teɪn/ v [T] 1 to prevent (a person) from leaving
for a certain time: The police have detained two men for
questioning at the police station. → see also DETENTION 2 to
delay: This matter isn't very important, and shouldn't detain
us very long.
de-tain-ee /,di:teɪ'ni:/ n a person detained officially, espe-
cially for political reasons, often in a camp rather than a
prison
de-tect /dɪ'tekt/ v [T] to find out; notice or discover: Small
quantities of poison were detected in the dead man's stomach. |
I detected a note of annoyance in his voice. —able adj
de-tec-tion /dɪ'tekʃən/ n [U] the act or work of detecting:
His crime escaped detection (=was not found out) for many
years.
de-tec-tive /dɪ'tektv/ n 1 a policeman whose job is to find
out information that will lead to criminals being caught.
Detectives usually wear ordinary clothes, not uniforms:
Several plain-clothes detectives were also sent to the scene of
the crime. → see also CID, STORE DETECTIVE 2 a person who
tries to find out information about something, especially a
crime, for someone else, and who is usually paid by that
person. There are many famous detectives in FICTION among
them Sherlock HOLMES, Hercule POIROT, and Philip Marlowe.
→ see also PRIVATE DETECTIVE
de'tective ,novel n a DETECTIVE STORY in the form of a
book
de'tective ,story n a story in which there is usually a
murder and a detective trying to find out who the murderer
is and why it happened
de-tec-tor /dɪ'tektə/ n any instrument for finding out the
presence of something: a metal detector → see also LIE
DETECTOR
dé-tente /'deɪtɒnt, deɪ'tɒnt||-ɑ:nt/ n [C;U] (a state of)
calmer political relations between countries which are
unfriendly towards each other
de-ten-tion /dɪ'tenʃən/ n [C;U] 1 the act of detaining some-
one (DETAIN), especially someone who is believed to be guilty
of a crime, or the state of being detained: the detention of
terrorists without trial | They were released from detention
without being charged. 2 the state of being kept in school
after school hours as a punishment, usually for disobeying a
school rule: He was kept in detention for talking during
class. | I've had three detentions this semester.
de'tention ,centre BrE || de'tention home AmE — n a
place where young people who have committed crimes go
for short periods for training in obedience and self-control if
they are too young to go to prison
de-ter /dɪ'tɜ:r/ v -rr- [T(from)] to prevent from acting, espe-
cially by the threat of something unpleasant: We need severe
punishments to deter people from dealing in drugs. → see also
DETERRENT
de-ter-gent /dɪ'tɜ:dʒənt||-ɜ:r-/ n [C;U] something, espe-
cially a chemical product without soap in it, used for
cleaning clothing, dishes etc. Many detergents are now
considered bad for the environment.
de-te-ri-o-rate /dɪ'tɪəriəreɪt/ v [I] to become worse: his
deteriorating health | Relations between the superpowers have
deteriorated sharply in recent weeks. —ration
/dɪ,tɪəriə'reɪʃən/ n [U]
de-ter-mi-nant /dɪ'tɜ:mɪnənt||-ɜ:r-/ n fml something that
decides, fixes, settles, or limits: Is cost or reliability the main
determinant in choosing a new car?
de-ter-mi-na-tion /dɪ,tɜ:mɪ'neɪʃən||-ɜ:r-/ n [U] 1 the abil-
ity to make firm decisions and act in accordance with them;
strong will to succeed: a woman of great determination who
always gets what she wants 2 [+to-v] firm intention: The
police chief spoke of his determination to catch the kill-
ers. 3 the finding of the exact position or nature of some-
thing: the determination of the cause of his death → see also
SELF-DETERMINATION
de-ter-mine /dɪ'tɜ:mɪn||-ɜ:r-/ v [T] fml 1 to (cause to) form
a firm intention or decision: [+to-v/that] We determined to go
at once/that we would go at once. | [+obj+to-v] Her encourage-
ment determined me to carry on with the work. | [+that, obj]
The court determined that the man was guilty of assault. 2 to
fix or find out exactly, e.g. by making calculations, collect-
ing information etc: to determine the position of a star/the
cause of the accident | [+wh-] We should first try to determine
how much it is going to cost. 3 to have a controlling influ-
ence on; have a direct and important effect on: The amount
of rainfall determines the size of the crop. | The size of the
crop is determined by the amount of rainfall.
de-ter-mined /dɪ'tɜ:mɪnd||-ɜ:r-/ adj having a strong will;
RESOLUTE: a very determined woman who always gets what
she wants | [F+to-v] I am determined to go and nothing will
stop me.
de-ter-min-er /dɪ'tɜ:mɪnə||-ɜ:r-/ n tech a word that limits
the meaning of a noun and comes before adjectives that