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Entry 7 senses · 5 variants Webster, 1913

Desert

/(dē̇*zẽrt")/ · De·sert · IPA /ˈdɛz.ɚt/
01 n. That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.
  1. 1.
    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.
02 n. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa which are dest…
  1. 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. 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.
    “Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life.” — Longfellow.
03 a. Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed…
  1. 1.
    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.
Phrases & compounds
Desert flora — the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place.
Desert hare — a small hare (Lepus sylvaticus, var. Arizonæ) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States.
Desert mouse — an American mouse (Hesperomys eremicus), living in the Western deserts.
04 v. t. To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, exc…
imp. & p. p. Deserted; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserting
  1. 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.
  2. 2.
    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.(Mil.)
05 v. i. To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond.
  1. 1.
    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.