deliveryman
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public: a good/fast/slow delivery 4 [C] (in cricket) an act or
style of throwing a ball: He was eventually bowled by an
excellent delivery from Frazer.
de-liv-er-y-man /dr'livərimən/ n pl. -men /-mən/ a man
who delivers goods to people who have bought or ordered
them, usually locally
de'livery note n tech a document sent with goods to show
that they have been delivered
de'livery room n a room in a hospital in which women
give birth
dell /del/ n lit a small valley with grass and trees
Del Mon·te /del 'mɒnti||-'mɑ:nte/ trademark a US food
company that produces vegetables preserved in cans and
fruit juices, which are sold in the US and the UK
De·lors, Jacques /də'lɔ:r, ʒæk||ʒa:k/ (1925–) a French
politician who was President of the European Commission
from 1985 to 1994. He helped to plan the Maastricht Treaty.
de-louse /ˌdi:'laus/ v [T] to remove LICE (pl. of LOUSE) or
similar creatures from (a person, clothes etc)
Del·phic or·a·cle, the /ˌdelfik 'ɒrəkəl||-'ɔ:-'a:-/ a TEM-
PLE (=a holy building) in the town of Delphi in Greece
where, in ancient times, a priestess gave answers from the
god APOLLO to questions people asked him. His answers
were often mysterious and difficult to understand, and were
often in the form of a RIDDLE (=a deliberately confusing
question that has a clever answer).
del·phin·i·um /del'finiəm/ also larkspur n an upright
branching plant with usually blue flowers growing all the
way up its long stems
del·ta /'deltə/ n 1 the fourth
letter (Δ, δ) of the Greek
alphabet 2 an area of low
land shaped like a Δ where a
river divides into branches
towards the sea: the Nile
Delta in Egypt
'Delta Force a military
force which is part of the US
Army, and is specially trained
to do secret and dangerous
work, especially fighting TER-
RORISTS → compare NAVY
SEAL, SAS, THE
de·lude /dr'lu:d/ v [T(into)] to mislead the mind or judgment
of; deceive: You're just deluding yourself if you think she still
loves you. | He deluded everyone into following him. → see
also DELUSION
del·uge¹ /'delju:dʒ/ n a great flood or a very heavy rain: (fig.)
a deluge of questions
deluge² v [T] 1.fml to cover with a great flood of
water 2 [(with) usually pass.] to cover or fill with a great flood of
things; INUNDATE: The minister was completely deluged with
questions/insults.
de·lu·sion /dr'lu:ʒən/ n 1 [U] the act of deluding or the
state of being deluded 2 [C] a false belief, especially if
strongly held: to suffer from delusions of grandure (=the
belief that one is extremely important, powerful etc) | [+that]
He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon. → see ILLU-
SION (USAGE)
de·lu·sive /dr'lu:siv/ also de·lu·so·ry /-səri/ adj likely to
delude; misleading: a delusive act/belief →ly adv
de luxe also deluxe /ˌdə 'lʌks||-'luks/ adj of especially high
quality: The car's price is very reasonable; of course, the de
luxe model costs a lot more.
delve /delv/ v [I] 1 [(into)] to search deeply: He delved into the
family archives looking for the facts. 2 poet or old use to dig
Dem /dem/ especially AmE abbrev. for DEMOCRAT or DEMOCRATIC
de·mag·ne·tize also -tise BrE /ˌdi:'mægnətaiz/ v [T] 1 to
take away the MAGNETIC qualities of 2 tech to remove sounds
from (a MAGNETIC TAPE) —tization /ˌdi:mægnətaɪ'zeɪʃən||
-nət-/ n [U]
dem·a·gogue also -gog AmE /'deməgɒg||-gɑ:g/ n derog a
leader who tries to gain, or has gained, power by exciting
people's feelings rather than by reasoned argument
—gogic /ˌdemə'gɒgɪk||-'gɑ:-/ adj —gogically /-kli/ adv
—goguery /'deməgɒgəri||-gɑ:-/ n [U]
de·mand¹ /dr'ma:nd||d'mænd/ n 1 [C(for)] an act of
demanding; claim: The management has refused to agree to
our demand for a 6% pay rise. | This work makes great
demands on my time. (=takes up a lot of my time) | Do you
think they will give in to the terrorists' demands? → see
REQUEST² (USAGE) 2 [S,U(for)] the desire of people for particu-
lar goods or services; the ability and willingness of people to
pay for them: There's not much demand for houses of this
sort. | These developments have created a great demand for
home computers. | Her books are in great demand at the
moment. → see also SUPPLY AND DEMAND
demand² v [T] 1 to ask for firmly and not be willing to
accept a refusal; claim as if by right: I demand an apology/an
explanation! | [+to-v] She demanded to speak to the manager. |
[+that] The opposition have demanded that all the facts
(should) be made public. 2 to need urgently: This work
demands your immediate attention. 3 [(of)] to need (effort,
hard work etc) in order to be successful; REQUIRE: Work of this
nature demands many personal sacrifices/demands a great
deal of those who embark on it.
de·mand·ing /dr'ma:ndɪŋ||d'mæn-/ adj needing a lot of
attention and effort: A new baby and a new job can be equally
demanding.
de'mand-side adj [A] of or being an economic POLICY that
places a lot of importance on DEMAND and using things up
→ compare SUPPLY-SIDE
de·mar·cate /'di:mɑ:keɪt||dɪ'mɑ:r-/ v [T] to mark the limits
of: to demarcate a frontier
de·mar·ca·tion /ˌdi:mɑ:'keɪʃən||-ɑ:r-/ n [U] limitation;
separation: a row of trees on the line of demarcation between
the two pieces of land
ˌdemar'cation dispute n a disagreement between differ-
ent trade unions about which jobs should be done by the
members of each union
de·mean /dr'mi:n/ v [T] fml to cause (oneself) to lose one's
sense of personal pride: Don't demean yourself by answering
him. | It was very demeaning to have to ask his permission for
everything I wanted to do.
de·mean·our BrE || -nor AmE /dr'mi:nər/ n fml behaviour
towards others; outward manner: She has a cheerful and
friendly demeanour.
de·men·ted /dr'mentɪd/ adj mad; of unbalanced mind
—ly adv
de·men·tia /dr'menʃə, -ʃiəl-tʃə/ n [U] tech decay of the
mind, especially leading to madness. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE is a
well-known cause of dementia.
dem·e·ra·ra sug·ar /ˌdemərəra 'ʃugər/ n [U] rough
brown sugar, usually from the West Indies
de·mer·it /ˌdi:'merɪt/ n fml 1 a fault; bad quality: We dis-
cussed the merits and demerits of her research proposal. →
compare MERIT¹ 2 AmE a mark against someone for some-
thing wrong they have done, especially at school: The
teacher gave him three demerits and extra homework for
coming in late.
de·mesne /dr'meɪn/ n fml or law the land round a great house;
land owned by and for the use of a lord or king
dem·i·god /'demigod||-gɑ:d/, dem·i·god·dess /-dɔs/ fem.
—n (in ancient stories) someone greater than a human but
less than a god
dem·i·john /'demidʒɒn||-dʒɑ:n/ n. a large narrow-necked
bottle, often with small handles, holding from about 5 to 45
litres
de·mil·i·ta·rize also -rise BrE /ˌdi:'mɪlɪtəraɪz/ v [T] to take
away the military character of; prevent (especially a border
area) from being used for military purposes: a demilitarized
zone —rization /ˌdi:mɪlɪtəraɪ'zeɪʃən||-tərə-/ n [U]
De Mille, Ag·nes /də 'mɪl, 'ægnəs/ (1909-93) a US dancer
and CHOREOGRAPHER who planned the dances for several
musical plays on Broadway, such as Oklahoma! and Carousel
DeMille, Cec·il B. /'sesəl bi:/ (1881-1959) a US film PRO-
DUCER and DIRECTOR who helped to establish the film
industry in Hollywood. He is famous for making EPICS,
(=very expensive films about people in the BIBLE and in
history, using hundreds of actors). He is thought of as a very