de-

(Latin: from, away from, off; down; wholly, entirely, utterly, complete; reverse the action of, undo; the negation or reversal of the notion expressed in the primary or root word)

defunction
Death: "The suddent defunction of her father came as a shock."
defunctive
1. Of or pertaining to defunction or dying.
2. Becoming defunct; dying.
3. A reference to the dead; a funeral.
defuse (verb), defuses; defused; defusing
1. To remove the fuse from; such as, an explosive device.
2. To make less dangerous, tense, or hostile: "There was a diplomatic move by the ambassador that helped to defuse the international crisis."
degeneracy
degenerate (verb), degenerates; degenerated; degenerating
To change into a worse condition or situation; to become worse, weaker, or more useless: The doctors indicated that as Fay's disease progresses, she will degenerate even faster.

The meeting of the political rivals on TV degenerated into a shouting match and so it was degenerating completely out of control.

To pass from a higher to a lower condition or situation.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

degeneration
degenerative
deglabrate (verb), deglabrates; deglabrated; deglabrating
deglabrated (adjective)
deglaciation (s) (noun), deglaciations (pl)
1. The gradual melting away of a glacier from the surface of a landmass.
2. The removal of land ice from an area; usually by melting.
deglutition (s) (noun), deglutitions (pl)
The process or act by which food or liquid goes from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus or the muscular tube which carries food from the throat to the stomach: The first phase of deglutition is voluntary or is done without any conscious thought because it is such a common activity that there is rarely any thinking about what is happening.
deglycerolize
To remove the glycerol cryopreservative medium from frozen red blood cells and replace it with an isotonic solution for transfusion.
degree
degression
degust
To taste with relish; to savor: "You really should degust this great sandwich."