Desert

De·sert′ (dē·zẽrt′), n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See Deserve.] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.

According to their deserts will I judge them. Ezek. vii. 27.

Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. Shak.

His reputation falls far below his desert. A. Hamilton.

Syn. — Merit; worth; excellence; due.

Des′ert (dĕz′ẽrt), n. [F. désert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series.] 1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa which are destitute of moisture and vegetation.

A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. Pope.

2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place.

He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Is. li. 3.

Also figuratively.

Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life. Longfellow.

Des′ert, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. désert. See 2d Desert.] Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.

He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. Luke ix. 10.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Gray.

Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. — Desert hare (Zoöl.), a small hare (Lepus sylvaticus, var. Arizonæ) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. — Desert mouse (Zoöl.), an American mouse (Hesperomys eremicus), living in the Western deserts.

De·sert′ (dē·zẽrt′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deserted; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserting.] [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere to desert, F. déserter. See 2d Desert.] 1. To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; — implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country. "The deserted fortress." Prescott.

2. (Mil.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors.

De·sert′, v. i. To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond.

The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. Bancroft.

Syn. — To abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit; depart from; abdicate. See Abandon.