Desert

/ˈdɛz.ət/ · noun

Meaning

A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland..

Definitions by Sense

1. A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
2. (figuratively) Any barren place or situation.
3. Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.
4. To leave (anything that depends on one's presence to survive, exist, or succeed), especially when contrary to a promise or obligation; to abandon; to forsake.
5. To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.
6. (often in the plural; now chiefly technical (in philosophy) or fossil) That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward.
7. Obsolete form of dessert.

Example Sentences

And ye poore Pilgrimes, that vvith reſtleſſe toyle VVearie your ſelues in vvandring deſert vvayes […]

Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.

He declared that the country was an intellectual desert; that he was famishing for spiritual aliment, and for discourse on matters beyond mere nuggets, prospectings, and the price of gold.

By contrast, the WR route is an economic desert between Newbury and Taunton.

So the question that is commonly asked is, why put a media incubator in a media desert and have it managed by a civil servant?

They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.

And he said vnto them, Come yee your selues apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many comming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eate.

He […] went aside privately into a desert place.

Synonyms for desert

Antonyms for desert

Related Words

Word Forms

• deserts
• deserting
• deserted

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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