a. Capable of being deluded; liable to be imposed on; gullible. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Deluded; p. pr. & vb. n. Deluding. ] [ L. deludere, delusum; de- + ludere to play, make sport of, mock. See Ludicrous. ] 1. To lead from truth or into error; to mislead the mind or judgment of; to beguile; to impose on; to dupe; to make a fool of. [ 1913 Webster ]

To delude the nation by an airy phantom. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To frustrate or disappoint. [ 1913 Webster ]

It deludes thy search. Dryden.

Syn. -- To mislead; deceive; beguile; cajole; cheat; dupe. See Deceive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who deludes; a deceiver; an impostor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. déluge, L. diluvium, fr. diluere wash away; di- = dis- + luere, equiv. to lavare to wash. See Lave, and cf. Diluvium. ] 1. A washing away; an overflowing of the land by water; an inundation; a flood; specifically, The Deluge, the great flood in the days of Noah (Gen. vii.). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Anything which overwhelms, or causes great destruction. “The deluge of summer.” Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fiery deluge fed
With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

As I grub up some quaint old fragment of a [ London ] street, or a house, or a shop, or tomb or burial ground, which has still survived in the deluge. F. Harrison. [ 1913 Webster ]

After me the deluge.
(Aprés moi le déluge.) Madame de Pompadour. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Deluged p. pr. & vb. n. Deluging. ] 1. To overflow with water; to inundate; to overwhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

The deluged earth would useless grow. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To overwhelm, as with a deluge; to cover; to overspread; to overpower; to submerge; to destroy; as, the northern nations deluged the Roman empire with their armies; the land is deluged with woe. [ 1913 Webster ]

At length corruption, like a general flood . . .
Shall deluge all. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) An East Indian carnivorous mammal (Prionodon gracilis), resembling the civets, but without scent pouches. It is handsomely spotted. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. [ L. delusio, fr. deludere. See Delude. ] 1. The act of deluding; deception; a misleading of the mind. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being deluded or misled. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is falsely or delusively believed or propagated; false belief; error in belief. [ 1913 Webster ]

And fondly mourned the dear delusion gone. Prior.

Syn. -- Delusion, Illusion. These words both imply some deception practiced upon the mind. Delusion is deception from want of knowledge; illusion is deception from morbid imagination. An illusion is a false show, a mere cheat on the fancy or senses. It is, in other words, some idea or image presented to the bodily or mental vision which does not exist in reality. A delusion is a false judgment, usually affecting the real concerns of life. Or, in other words, it is an erroneous view of something which exists indeed, but has by no means the qualities or attributes ascribed to it. Thus we speak of the illusions of fancy, the illusions of hope, illusive prospects, illusive appearances, etc. In like manner, we speak of the delusions of stockjobbing, the delusions of honorable men, delusive appearances in trade, of being deluded by a seeming excellence. “A fanatic, either religious or political, is the subject of strong delusions; while the term illusion is applied solely to the visions of an uncontrolled imagination, the chimerical ideas of one blinded by hope, passion, or credulity, or lastly, to spectral and other ocular deceptions, to which the word delusion is never applied.” Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to delusions; as, delusional monomania. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Delude. ] Apt or fitted to delude; tending to mislead the mind; deceptive; beguiling; delusory; as, delusive arts; a delusive dream. [ 1913 Webster ]

Delusive and unsubstantial ideas. Whewell.

-- De*lu"sive*ly, adv. -- De*lu"sive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>a. Delusive; fallacious. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]