| cut the cackle | v. | stop messing about (and move on to serious matters) | British | |
| cutler | n. | seller or repairer of knives | ||
| cwm | n. | steep narrow valley, cirque | ||
| cwt | n. | abbreviation for hundredweight | ||
| cyclamen | n. | perennial of the primrose family with white, red, or pink flowers | ||
| cyclostyle | n. | early duplicating device in which a toothed rowel is used to create holes in a stencil through which ink is forced | ||
| cynosure | n. | center of attention; guiding star | ||
| czardas | n. | Hungarian dance with slow start and frenetic finish | ||
| dace | n. | small freshwater fish similar to roach or chub | ||
| dacoit | n. | member of thieving class in India and Burma | ||
| dacron | n. | polyester material used for thread and cloth | ||
| dactyloscopic | adj. | of or related to fingerprints | ||
| dado | n. | lower part of interior wall when finished differently than upper portion; grooved slot in board into which another board is fixed | ||
| dally | v. | to loiter; to delay by trifling; to talk idly; to toy with, esp. in amorous pursuit | ||
| daltonism | n. | color-blindness, esp. between red and green | ||
| damselfly | n. | slender, winged insect of same order as dragonflies, from which it is distinguished by having its wings folded back along the body | ||
| damson | n. | small dark purple or black plum; dark to medium violet | ||
| dandiprat | n. | hateworthy person or person of no consequence | obsolete | |
| Dannert wire | n. | concertina wire, coiled barbed or razor wire | ||
| dapperling | n. | dwarf or child, esp. one neatly dressed; mushroom of the Agaricaceae family | ||
| darbies | n. | handcuffs | British | |
| dark lantern | n. | lantern with a shutter to hide the light | ||
| davenport | n. | large sofa, often a sofa bed | ||
| dawamesc | n. | greenish edible paste or marmalade consisting of hashish mixed with butter, sugar or honey, pistachios, cinnamon and other spices, musk, nutmeg, pine nuts, orange juice | ||
| deadworks | n. | those parts of a laden ship above the waterline | nautical | |
| deal | adj. | made of fir or pine, or from planks of such wood | ||
| debauch | v. | to seduce, to corrupt | ||
| debenture | n. | unsecured loan certificate; fixed-rate bond; drawback certificate against imported goods | ||
| debile | adj. | feeble | obsolete | |
| debouch | v. | to march out or come forth from a narrow or confined space into an open area | ||
| decalcomania | n. | transferring decals onto surfaces | ||
| decerebrate | v. | to remove the cerebrum | ||
| deciduous | adj. | shedding leaves annually; impermanent, transitory | ||
| deciduous tooth | n. | mammalian tooth later replaced by a permanent tooth, milk tooth | ||
| decimate | v. | to reduce by a tenth | ||
| declension | n. | inflection of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives through various cases and numbers | ||
| decollate | v. | to decapitate | ||
| decompensate | v. | to lose grip upon one’s own mental health, i.e., to go crazy | ||
| decrepitate | v. | (of minerals) to crackle when heated | ||
| decrescent | adj. | waning; decreasing | ||
| decussate | v. | to cross at right angles, to intersect | ||
| dedecorate | v. | to dishonor; to stain, to disfigure | ||
| defalcation | n. | misappropriation (as of funds), embezzlement; shortfall, loss | ||
| defecate | adj. | made pure, clarified; spiritually or morally purified | obsolete | |
| defervesce | v. | to experience abatement of fever | ||
| defilade | n. | protection in a military position from observation or direct gunfire | ||
| definiens | n. | words which define (a dictionary entry) | ||
| defray | v. | to pay costs or expenses | ||
| deglutition | n. | the act of swallowing | ||
| dehiscence | n. | bursting of a surgical closure; opening of seed-pod or fruits |
