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derris any of several leguminous plants of the East Indies, whose roots produce the insecticide rotenone.
dervish someone who belongs to any of several Muslim religious groups noted for their ascetic practices and for dancing and whirling in religious ecstasy.
DES abbreviation of "diethylstilbestrol," a synthetic estrogen formerly used to treat the symptoms of menopause and to supplement animal feed, but now banned in the United States as carcinogenic.
desalinate to remove salt from, esp. to make sea water drinkable.
desalination the process of removing salt from water, esp. for the purpose of making sea water drinkable; desalinization.
desalinization the process of removing salt from water; desalination.
descant a secondary, usu. higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. [4 definitions]
descend to move downward or to a lower position or state. [7 definitions]
descendant one regarded as the biological offspring of a given ancestor or ancestors. [3 definitions]
descendent proceeding in a downward direction; descending. [2 definitions]
descent the act or process of going downward. [4 definitions]
describe to tell about; give a verbal account of. [2 definitions]
description the act of describing. [3 definitions]
descriptive characterized by description. [2 definitions]
descry to see or make out, esp. something obscured or at a distance. [2 definitions]
Desdemona in the Shakespearean tragedy, Othello, Othello's wife, whom he murders out of unfounded jealousy.
desecrate to violate the sacredness of; treat sacrilegiously.
desecration the act of or an instance of violating the sacredness of something.
desegregate to eliminate the segregation of races in. [2 definitions]
desegregation the act, result, or policy of eliminating segregation, esp. of racial or ethnic groups.
desensitize to cause to react with less intensity, as to light or other stimuli. [2 definitions]