[ Aphis + L. vorare to devour. ] (Zool.) Devouring aphides; aphidophagous. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) a division of a land army which is equipped with armored vehicles such as tanks or armored personnel carriers. [ PJC. ]

v. i. & t. to descend steeply and rapidly; -- of aircraft. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. classification according to more than one attribute at the same time.
Syn. -- cross-classification. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

/mhw>, n.. (Zool.) A small water bird. See Dabchick. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; It. pl. Dive /plu>. [ It., prop. fem. of divo divine, L. divus. ] A prima donna. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. divagari to wander about; di- = dis- + vagari to stroll about: cf. F. divagation. See Vagary. ] A wandering about or going astray; digression. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us be set down at Queen's Crawley without further divagation. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. di- + L. valens, valentis, p. pr. See Valence. ] (Chem.) Having two units of combining power; bivalent. Cf. Valence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Per. dīwān a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwān, F. divan. ] 1. A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [ Persia ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In Turkey and other Oriental countries: A council of state; a royal court. Also used by the poets for a grand deliberative council or assembly. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A chief officer of state. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A saloon or hall where a council is held, in Oriental countries, the state reception room in places, and in the houses of the richer citizens. Cushions on the floor or on benches are ranged round the room. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A cushioned seat, or a large, low sofa or couch; especially, one fixed to its place, and not movable. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A coffee and smoking saloon. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Divaricated; p. pr. & vb. n. Divaricating. ] [ L. divaricatus, p. p. of divaricare to stretch apart; di- = dis- + varicare to straddle, fr. varicus straddling, fr. varus stretched outwards. ] 1. To part into two branches; to become bifid; to fork. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To diverge; to be divaricate. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To divide into two branches; to cause to branch apart. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. divaricatus, p. p. ] 1. Diverging; spreading asunder; widely diverging. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Forking and diverging; widely diverging; as the branches of a tree, or as lines of sculpture, or color markings on animals, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With divarication. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. divarication. ] 1. A separation into two parts or branches; a forking; a divergence. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An ambiguity of meaning; a disagreement of difference in opinion. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Biol.) A divergence of lines of color sculpture, or of fibers at different angles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the muscles which open the shell of brachiopods; a cardinal muscle. See Illust. of Brachiopoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Devastated; laid waste. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Dived colloq. Dove a relic of the AS. strong forms deáf, dofen; p. pr. & vb. n. Diving. ] [ OE. diven, duven, AS. d&unr_;fan to sink, v. t., fr. d&unr_;fan, v. i.; akin to Icel. d&unr_;fa, G. taufen, E. dip, deep, and perh. to dove, n. Cf. Dip. ] 1. To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The colloquial form dove is common in the United States as an imperfect tense form. [ 1913 Webster ]

All [ the walruses ] dove down with a tremendous splash. Dr. Hayes. [ 1913 Webster ]

When closely pressed it [ the loon ] dove . . . and left the young bird sitting in the water. J. Burroughs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To plunge (a person or thing) into water; to dip; to duck. [ Obs. ] Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To explore by diving; to plunge into. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

He dives the hollow, climbs the steeps. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A plunge headforemost into water, the act of one who dives, literally or figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A place of low resort. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The music halls and dives in the lower part of the city. J. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Dive, Didapper. ] (Zool.) A water fowl; the didapper. See Dabchick. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. divellere; dit- = dis- + vellere to pluck. ] To rend apart. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. divellens, p. pr. ] Drawing asunder. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. di- = vellicatus, p. p. of vellicare to pluck, fr. vellere to pull. ] To pull in pieces. [ Obs. or R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, dives. [ 1913 Webster ]

Divers and fishers for pearls. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: One who goes deeply into a subject, study, or business. “A diver into causes.” Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) Any bird of certain genera, as Urinator (formerly Colymbus), or the allied genus Colymbus, or Podiceps, remarkable for their agility in diving. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The northern diver (Urinator imber) is the loon; the black diver or velvet scoter (Oidemia fusca) is a sea duck. See Loon, and Scoter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. diverbium the colloquial part of a comedy, dialogue; di- = dis- + verbum word. ] A saying in which two members of the sentence are contrasted; an antithetical proverb. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Italy, a paradise for horses, a hell for women, as the diverb goes. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. diverberatus, p. p. of diverberare to strike asunder; di- = dis- + verberare. See Verberate. ] To strike or sound through. [ R. ] Davies (Holy Roode). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A sounding through. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Diverged p. pr. & vb. n. Diverging. ] [ L. di- = dis- + vergere to bend, incline. See Verge. ] 1. To extend from a common point in different directions; to tend from one point and recede from each other; to tend to spread apart; to turn aside or deviate (as from a given direction); -- opposed to converge; as, rays of light diverge as they proceed from the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To differ from a typical form; to vary from a normal condition; to dissent from a creed or position generally held or taken. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Divergence.

{ } n. [ Cf. F. divergence. ] 1. A receding from each other in moving from a common center; the state of being divergent; as, an angle is made by the divergence of straight lines. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rays come to the eye in a state of divergency. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Disagreement; difference. [ 1913 Webster ]

Related with some divergence by other writers. Sir G. C. Lewis. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. divergent. See Diverge. ] 1. Receding farther and farther from each other, as lines radiating from one point; deviating gradually from a given direction; -- opposed to convergent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Optics) Causing divergence of rays; as, a divergent lens. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: Disagreeing from something given; differing; as, a divergent statement. [ 1913 Webster ]

Divergent series. (Math.) See Diverging series, under Diverging. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending in different directions from a common center; spreading apart; divergent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diverging series (Math.), a series whose terms are larger as the series is extended; a series the sum of whose terms does not approach a finite limit when the series is extended indefinitely; -- opposed to a converging series. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a diverging manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse. ] 1. Different in kind or species; diverse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Every sect of them hath a divers posture. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds. Deut. xxii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Several; sundry; various; more than one, but not a great number; as, divers philosophers. Also used substantively or pronominally. [ 1913 Webster ]

Divers of Antonio's creditors. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Divers is now limited to the plural; as, divers ways (not divers way). Besides plurality it ordinarily implies variety of kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ The same word as divers. See Divers. ] 1. Different; unlike; dissimilar; distinct; separate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The word . . . is used in a sense very diverse from its original import. J. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our roads are diverse: farewell, love! said she. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of various forms; multiform. [ 1913 Webster ]

Eloquence is a great and diverse thing. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In different directions; diversely. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To turn aside. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The redcross knight diverst, but forth rode Britomart. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In different ways; differently; variously. “Diversely interpreted.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

How diversely love doth his pageants play. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In different directions; to different points. [ 1913 Webster ]

On life's vast ocean diversely we sail. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being diverse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or capacity of being diversifiable. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being diversified or varied. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Diversify. ] 1. The act of making various, or of changing form or quality. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. State of diversity or variation; variegation; modification; change; alternation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Infinite diversifications of tints may be produced. Adventurer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Distinguished by various forms, or by a variety of aspects or objects; variegated; as, diversified scenery or landscape. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, diversifies. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. diversus diverse + -form. ] Of a different form; of varied forms. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Diversified p. pr. & vb. n. Diversifying. ] [ F. diversifier, LL. diversificare, fr. L. diversus diverse + ficare (in comp.), akin to facere to make. See Diverse. ] To make diverse or various in form or quality; to give variety to; to variegate; to distinguish by numerous differences or aspects. [ 1913 Webster ]

Separated and diversified on from another. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Its seven colors, that diversify all the face of nature. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. diversus diverse + loquens, p. pr. of loqui to speak. ] Speaking in different ways. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. diversion. See Divert. ] 1. The act of turning aside from any course, occupation, or object; as, the diversion of a stream from its channel; diversion of the mind from business. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which diverts; that which turns or draws the mind from care or study, and thus relaxes and amuses; sport; play; pastime; as, the diversions of youth. “Public diversions.” V. Knox. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such productions of wit and humor as expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversion to readers. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) The act of drawing the attention and force of an enemy from the point where the principal attack is to be made; the attack, alarm, or feint which diverts.

Syn. -- Amusement; entertainment; pastime; recreation; sport; game; play; solace; merriment. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. likely or designed to confuse or deceive; -- of tactics. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Diversities [ F. diversité, L. diversitas, fr. diversus. See Diverse. ] 1. A state of difference; dissimilitude; unlikeness. [ 1913 Webster ]

They will prove opposite; and not resting in a bare diversity, rise into a contrariety. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Multiplicity of difference; multiformity; variety. “Diversity of sounds.” Shak. “Diversities of opinion.” Secker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Variegation. “Bright diversities of day.” Pope.

Syn. -- See Variety. [ 1913 Webster ]