n.; pl. in 1 and (usually) in 2, Dice in 4 & 5, Dies [ OE. dee, die, F. dé, fr. L. datus given, thrown, p. p. of dare to give, throw. See Date a point of time. ] 1. A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box and thrown from it. See Dice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any small cubical or square body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Words . . . pasted upon little flat tablets or dies. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such is the die of war. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Arch.) That part of a pedestal included between base and cornice; the dado. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mach.) (a) A metal or plate (often one of a pair) so cut or shaped as to give a certain desired form to, or impress any desired device on, an object or surface, by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals, coining, striking up sheet metal, etc. (b) A perforated block, commonly of hardened steel used in connection with a punch, for punching holes, as through plates, or blanks from plates, or for forming cups or capsules, as from sheet metal, by drawing. (c) A hollow internally threaded screw-cutting tool, made in one piece or composed of several parts, for forming screw threads on bolts, etc.; one of the separate parts which make up such a tool. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cutting die (Mech.), a thin, deep steel frame, sharpened to a cutting edge, for cutting out articles from leather, cloth, paper, etc. --
The die is cast, the hazard must be run; the step is taken, and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Died p. pr. & vb. n. Dying. ] [ OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to Dan. döe, Sw. dö, Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd&unr_;jan to harass), OFries. d&unr_;ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen, OSlav. daviti to choke, Lith. dovyti to torment. Cf. Dead, Death. ] 1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish; -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of, by, with, from, and rarely for, before the cause or occasion of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought. [ 1913 Webster ]

To die by the roadside of grief and hunger. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

She will die from want of care. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To suffer death; to lose life. [ 1913 Webster ]

In due time Christ died for the ungodly. Rom. v. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished. [ 1913 Webster ]

Letting the secret die within his own breast. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

Great deeds can not die. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

His heart died within, and he became as a stone. 1 Sam. xxv. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca. Tatler. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die to pleasure or to sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Arch.) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor. [ 1913 Webster ]

To die in the last ditch, to fight till death; to die rather than surrender. [ 1913 Webster ] “There is one certain way, ” replied the Prince [ William of Orange ] “ by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch.” Hume (Hist. of Eng. ). --
To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

Syn. -- To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish. [ 1913 Webster ]

a., /mhw>, a. (Bot.) See Diœcian, and Diœcious. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. The same as Dihedral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of evergreen perennial herbs of tropical America with lush foliage and poisonous sap; often cultivated as houseplants.
Syn. -- genus Dieffenbachia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to narrate; dia` through + &unr_; to lead. ] A narrative or history; a recital or relation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. stubbornly and vigorously resisting in the face of seemingly hopeless odds; as, diehard opposition.
Syn. -- never-say-die. [ PJC ]

n. 1. one who stubbornly adheres to traditional and outdated views.
Syn. -- traditionalist. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. one who vigorously defends an apparently hopeless position, a lost cause, etc. [ PJC ]

n. [ Pref. dia- + electric. ] (Elec.) Any substance or medium that transmits the electric force by a process different from conduction, as in the phenomena of induction; a nonconductor, separating a body electrified by induction, from the electrifying body. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Bot.) See Dicentra. [ 1913 Webster ]