Desert

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: des=ert

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Desert, v.
1 tr. abandon, give up, leave (deserted the sinking ship).
2 tr. forsake or abandon (a cause or a person, people, etc., having claims on one) (deserted his wife and children).
3 tr. fail (his presence of mind deserted him).
4 intr. Mil. run away (esp. from military service).
5 tr. (as deserted adj.) empty, abandoned (a deserted house).

Derivative

deserter n. (in sense 4 of v.). desertion n.

Desert, n. & adj.
--n. a dry barren often sand-covered area of land, characteristically desolate, waterless, and without vegetation; an uninteresting or barren subject, period, etc. (a cultural desert).
--adj.
1 uninhabited, desolate.
2 uncultivated, barren.

Idiom

desert boot a suede etc. boot reaching to or extending just above the ankle. desert island a remote (usu. tropical) island presumed to be uninhabited. desert rat Brit. colloq. a soldier of the 7th British armoured division (with the jerboa as a badge) in the N. African desert campaign of 1941-2.

Desert, n.
1 (in pl.) a acts or qualities deserving reward or punishment. b such reward or punishment (has got his deserts).
2 the fact of being worthy of reward or punishment; deservingness.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. deservir DESERVE

THESAURUS

Desert

Arabia Deserta, Death Valley, Lebensraum, Sahara, Saharan, abandon, abscond, absquatulate, acarpous, advantageousness, agreeableness, air space, alkali flat, alluvial plain, anhydrous, apostacize, apostatize, arid, athirst, auspiciousness, back country, bare, barren, barren land, barrens, basin, be unfaithful, beat a retreat, beneficialness, benevolence, benignity, betray, bolt, bone-dry, bottomland, break away, break faith, brush, bush, bushveld, campo, celibate, champaign, champaign country, change sides, chastening, chastisement, childless, chuck, class, clear out, clear space, clearance, clearing, coastal plain, cogency, comeuppance, compensation, cut and run, decamp, defect, degenerate, delta, depart, deserted, deserts, deserving, desolate, desolation, discipline, distant prospect, down, downs, drained, dried-up, droughty, dry, dry as dust, due, dust bowl, dusty, elope, empty, empty view, escape, excellence, exhausted, expedience, fail, fairness, fall away, fall off, fallow, favorableness, fell, fineness, first-rateness, flat, flat country, flatland, flats, flee, fly, forsake, fruitless, fugitate, gaunt, gelded, glade, go, go AWOL, go back on, go over, goodliness, goodness, grace, grass veld, grassland, healthiness, heath, helpfulness, high and dry, howling wilderness, impotent, ineffectual, infecund, infertile, issueless, jejune, jilt, juiceless, jump, jump bail, just deserts, justice, karroo, kindness, lande, leached, leave, let down, levant, level, like parchment, living space, llano, lonely, lowland, lowlands, lunar landscape, lunar mare, lunar waste, make off, mare, maroon, menopausal, merit, mesa, mesilla, moor, moorland, niceness, nonfertile, nonproducing, nonproductive, nonprolific, open country, open space, outback, pampa, pampas, pass the buck, payment, peneplain, plain, plains, plateau, playa, pleasantness, prairie, profitableness, pull out, punishment, quality, quit, quittance, rat, recompense, renegade, renege, renounce, reprisal, repudiate, requital, retribution, revenge, reward, rewardingness, right, rights, run, run away, run away from, run away with, run for it, run off, run out on, salt flat, salt marsh, salt pan, sandy, sapless, savanna, sebkha, secede, sell out, shift the blame, shift the responsibility, show the heels, sine prole, skedaddle, skillfulness, skip, skip out, slip the cable, soundness, steppe, sterile, strand, sucked dry, superiority, switch, switch over, table, tableland, take French leave, take flight, take to flight, take wing, teemless, tergiversate, terrain, territory, thirsting, thirsty, throw over, tree veld, tundra, turn, turn against, turn cloak, turn tail, turn traitor, uncultivated, undamped, unfertile, unfruitful, uninhabited, unpeopled, unplowed, unproductive, unprolific, unsown, untilled, unwatered, upland, usefulness, vacant, validity, value, vega, veld, virgin, virtue, virtuousness, waste, wasted, wasteland, waterless, weald, weary waste, what is due, what is merited, wholeness, wide-open spaces, wild, wilderness, wildness, wilds, without issue, wold, worth

ROGET THESAURUS

Desert

Avoidance

VB abstain, refrain, spare, not attempt, not do, maintain the even tenor of one's way, eschew, keep from, let alone, have nothing to do with, keep aloof keep off, stand aloof, stand off, hold aloof, hold off, take no part in, have no hand in, avoid, shun, steer clear of, keep clear of, fight shy of, keep one's distance, keep at a respectful distance, keep out of the way, get out of the way, evade, elude, turn away from, set one's face against, deny oneself, shrink back, hang back, hold back, draw back, recoil, retire, flinch, blink, blench, shy, shirk, dodge, parry, make way for, give place to, beat a retreat, turn tail, turn one's back, take to one's heels, runaway, run for one's life, cut and run, be off like a shot, fly, flee, fly away, flee away, run away from, take flight, take to flight, desert, elope, make off, scamper off, sneak off, shuffle off, sheer off, break away, tear oneself away, slip away, slink away, steel away, make away from, scamper away from, sneak away from, shuffle away from, sheer away from, slip cable, part company, turn one's heel, sneak out of, play truant, give one the go by, give leg bail, take French leave, slope, decamp, flit, bolt, abscond, levant, skedaddle, absquatulat, cut one's stick, walk one's chalks, show a light pair of heels, make oneself scarce, escape, go away, abandon, reject, lead one a dance, lead one a pretty dance, throw off the scent, play at hide and seek, Adj, unsought, unattempted, avoiding, neutral, shy of, elusive, evasive, fugitive, runaway, shy, wild.

Relinquishment

VB relinquish, give up, abandon, desert, forsake, leave in the lurch, go back on, depart from, secede from, withdraw from, back out of, leave, quit, take leave of, bid a long farewell, vacate, renounce, forego, have done with, drop, disuse, discard, wash one's hands of, drop all idea of, break off, leave off, desist, stop, hold one's hand, stay one's hand, quit one's hold, give over, shut up shop, throw up the game, throw up the cards, give up the point, give up the argument, pass to the order of the day, move to the previous question, relinquish, give up, surrender, yield, cede, let go, let slip, spare, drop, resign, forego, renounce, abandon, expropriate, give away, dispose of, part with, lay aside, lay apart, lay down, lay on the shelf, set aside, put aside, put away, make away with, cast behind, maroon, give notice to quit, give warning, supersede, be rid of, get rid of, be quit of, get quit of, eject, rid oneself of, disburden oneself of, divest oneself of, dispossess oneself of, wash one's hands of, discard, cast off, dismiss, cast away, throw away, pitch away, fling away, cast aside, cast overboard, cast to the dogs, throw aside, throw overboard, throw to the dogs, pitch aside, pitch overboard, pitch to the dogs, fling aside, fling overboard, fling to the dogs, cast to the winds, throw to the winds, sweep to the winds, put away, turn away, sweep away, jettison, reject, quit one's hold, quitclaim.

Resignation

VB resign, give up, throw up, lay down, throw up the cards, wash one's hands of, abjure, renounce, forego, disclaim, retract, deny, abrogate, desert, get rid of, abdicate, vacate, vacate one's seat, accept the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, retire, tender one's resignation.

Unproductiveness

N unproductiveness, infertility, sterility, infecundity, masturbation, impotence, unprofitableness, waste, desert, Sahara, wild, wilderness, howling wilderness, unproductive, acarpous, inoperative, barren, addled, infertile, unfertile, unprolific, arid, sterile, unfruitful, infecund, sine prole, fallow, teemless, issueless, fruitless, unprofitable, null and void, of no effect.

Absence

N absence, inexistence, nonresidence, absenteeism, nonattendance, alibi, emptiness, void, vacuum, vacuity, vacancy, tabula rasa, exemption, hiatus, lipotype, truant, absentee, nobody, nobody present, nobody on earth, not a soul, ame qui vive, absent, not present, away, nonresident, gone, from home, missing, lost, wanting, omitted, nowhere to be found, inexistence, empty, void, vacant, vacuous, untenanted, unoccupied, uninhabited, tenantless, barren, sterile, desert, deserted, devoid, uninhabitable, without, minus, nowhere, elsewhere, neither here nor there, in default of, sans, behind one's back, the bird has flown, non est inventus, absence makes the heart grow fonder, absent in body but present in spirit, absento nemo ne nocuisse velit, Achilles absent was Achilles still, aux absents les os, briller par son absence, conspicuous by his absence, in the hope to meet shortly again and make our abs.

Virtue

N virtue, virtuousness, morality, moral rectitude, integrity, nobleness, morals, ethics, cardinal virtues, merit, worth, desert, excellence, credit, self-control, self-denial, well-doing, good actions, good behavior, discharge of duty, fulfillment of duty, performance of duty, well-spent life, innocence, virtuous, good, innocent, meritorious, deserving, worthy, desertful, correct, dutiful, duteous, moral, right, righteous, right- minded, well-intentioned, creditable, laudable, commendable, praiseworthy, above all praise, beyond all praise, excellent, admirable, sterling, pure, noble, whole-souled, exemplary, matchless, peerless, saintly, saint-like, heaven-born, angelic, seraphic, godlike, virtuously, adj, e merito, esse quam videri bonus malebat, Schonheit vergeht Tugend besteht, virtue the greatest of all monarchies, virtus laudatur et alget, virtus vincit invidiam.

Plain

N plain, table-land, face of the country, open country, champaign country, basin, downs, waste, weary waste, desert, wild, steppe, pampas, savanna, prairie, heath, common, wold, veldt, moor, moorland, bush, plateau, campagna, alkali flat, llano, mesa, mesilla, playa, shaking prairie, trembling prairie, vega, meadow, mead, haugh, pasturage, park, field, lawn, green, plat, plot, grassplat, greensward, sward, turf, sod, heather, lea, ley, lay, grounds, maidan, agostadero, champaign, alluvial, campestral, campestrial, campestrian, campestrine.

Sweetness

N sweetness, dulcitude, sugar, syrup, treacle, molasses, honey, manna, confection, confectionary, sweets, grocery, conserve, preserve, confiture, jam, julep, sugar-candy, sugar-plum, licorice, marmalade, plum, lollipop, bonbon, jujube, comfit, sweetmeat, apple butter, caramel, damson, glucose, maple sirup, maple syrup, maple sugar, mithai, sorghum, taffy, nectar, hydromel, mead, meade, metheglin, honeysuckle, liqueur, sweet wine, aperitif, sugar cane, sugar beets, desert, pastry, pie, cake, candy, ice cream, tart, puff, pudding (food), dulcification, dulcoration, sweetener, corn syrup, cane sugar, refined sugar, beet sugar, dextrose, artificial sweetener, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, Sweet'N Low, sweet, saccharine, sacchariferous, dulcet, candied, honied, luscious, lush, nectarious, melliferous, sweetened, sweet as a nut, sweet as sugar, sweet as honey, sickly sweet, eau sucr_ee, sweets to the sweet.