English words starting with D

The act of cutting off the head of a person or animal.

an athlete who competes in a decathlon

an athletic event in which each competitor takes part in ten different track and field events.

To be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process; to rot.

Having rotted or decomposed; in a state of physical decay.

In the process of rotting or decomposing.

the death of a person.

No longer living; dead

A person who has died, especially in relation to the administration of their estate.

the act or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth

having a tendency or intention to deceive; not honest or sincere.

To make someone believe something that is not true, especially for a dishonest purpose.

(past tense and past participle of deceive) To make someone believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain a personal advantage.

a person who makes someone believe something that is not true; a person who deceives.

Giving a mistaken or false impression; misleading.

to reduce speed; to move or cause to move more slowly.

The act or process of moving slower or making something move slower; a reduction in speed.

The twelfth and last month of the year, in the Gregorian calendar

Behaviour that is good, moral, and acceptable in society

Happening every ten years or lasting for ten years.

acceptable and good enough

Of a fairly large or considerable size.

having moved away from a central or dominant position; marginalized or displaced from the mainstream.

the process or act of moving something away from a central or dominant position, focus, or authority.

in a way that is acceptable and appropriate

the process of redistributing functions, powers, or things away from a central authority or location.

to move parts of a government, organization, or business from a central place to several different smaller ones

(of an organization, system, or activity) having its functions, powers, or control transferred from a single central authority to several local or regional ones.

The act of deliberately making someone believe something that is not true.

Giving an appearance or impression different from the true one; misleading.

In a way that is likely to make someone believe something that is not true; misleadingly.

The act or process of withdrawing or revoking an official certification or authorization.

To withdraw or remove an official certification or authorization from someone or something.

A unit for measuring the loudness of sound.

to think about two or more possibilities and choose one of them

having clear opinions and firm intentions; not hesitating or uncertain

in a way that is definite and obvious

A person or thing that decides something, especially a contest or game.

Having the power or quality of settling an issue; conclusive.

(of a tree or shrub) shedding its leaves annually

Any one of the nine numbers that divide a set of data into ten equal parts.

A metric unit of capacity equal to one tenth of a liter.

Based on or counted in tens or tenths.

To kill or destroy a large proportion of a group.

To destroy or kill a large proportion of a group of people or things.

The act of killing or destroying a large proportion of a group.

To succeed in reading, understanding, or interpreting something that is difficult to understand or that is written in code.

able to be read or understood, especially something that is difficult to interpret or that is written in code.

To succeed in reading, understanding, or interpreting something that is difficult to read or understand, such as bad handwriting or a complex situation.

a choice or judgment that you make after thinking about various possibilities

A person who has the authority to make important choices, especially in a business, government, or organization.

The process of deciding about something important, especially in a group or organization.

Relating to or involving the process of making a decision or decisions.

having the power or quality of deciding; putting an end to controversy; crucial or most important

in a manner that settles an issue convincingly or produces a definite result

the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively

A flat surface for walking on, built across the space between the sides of a ship.

Dressed in very fancy or impressive clothes.

A person or thing that decks or decorates.

A sailor who does manual work on the deck of a ship.

Material, typically boards, used to make an outdoor floor or platform.

A frame or a removable wooden rim used in hand papermaking to produce a sheet of paper with a rough, irregular edge.

to speak or recite something in a dramatic, passionate, or rhetorical way, often as if giving a formal speech.

the act or art of speaking in a rhetorical or impassioned way, as in a public address.

relating to or characteristic of a speech that is loud, emotional, and often attacking

A formal or explicit statement or announcement.

having the function of making a statement

having the function of declaring or explaining something, rather than ordering or enforcing it.

to say something officially or publicly

Stated or announced officially and publicly.

The official act of removing the secret or classified status from a government document or piece of information, making it publicly available.

(of official information or documents) having had its security classification removed, making it available to the public.

to officially declare (information or documents) to be no longer secret.

(In the grammar of Latin, Greek, and other languages) the variation of the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, by which its grammatical case, number, and gender are identified.

A downward slope or bend.

to become smaller, fewer, or weaker; to decrease

Becoming smaller, fewer, or less; decreasing.

A downward slope.

a concentrated liquid produced by boiling a substance, especially a plant or herb, in water to extract its active ingredients.

To convert (a coded message) into intelligible language.

converted (a coded message) into an understandable form

A device or a person that converts coded data into a form that can be understood.

The process of converting a coded message into intelligible language.

a low neckline on a woman's dress or top.

The process by which a country that was previously a colony becomes politically independent and stops being controlled by another country.

To free (a country or region) from the political or cultural control of a colonial power.

to free a country or region from the political or cultural control of a colonial power.

the process of freeing an institution, sphere of activity, or mindset from the cultural or political effects of colonialism.

To officially take (a ship, weapon, or nuclear power station) out of use, often involving a formal process of removal or dismantling.

Taken out of active service or use, especially of a military installation, weapon, or piece of equipment.

The act of taking something (especially a piece of military equipment or a nuclear facility) out of active service or use.

To decay or to break down into simpler parts or substances.

Having undergone decomposition; broken down or rotted.

(present participle) The process of breaking down or separating something into its smaller constituent parts or elements.

The process of decaying or rotting, especially of organic matter.

to release from pressure or compression.

The process of reducing or releasing pressure, especially from a gas or liquid.

a medicine that relieves nasal congestion and helps someone to breathe more easily.

to analyze a text, idea, or system by examining its underlying assumptions and structures, often to reveal hidden meanings or contradictions.

Having been analyzed by breaking it down into its constituent parts or fundamental principles.

a method of analyzing texts, ideas, or systems which questions traditional assumptions about meaning, truth, and objectivity, often by exposing internal contradictions.

A method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary language which emphasizes the internal workings of language and conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in forms of expression.

relating to or using deconstruction; analyzing something (especially a text or belief) in order to reveal its internal assumptions and contradictions.

to remove dangerous substances, such as poison or bacteria, from something or someone

The process of removing dangerous substances, such as poison or radioactivity, from a person, place, or thing.

The act or process of removing something from its original context, especially so that it can be seen, analyzed, or understood in isolation.

(of information, a statement, or an object) removed from its original context, often so that its meaning or significance is altered or lost.

to remove government controls from (an industry, activity, or commodity)

The style in which the interior of a building or room is decorated, including things like paint, wallpaper, and furniture.

To make something look more attractive by putting nice things on it or in it.

having been awarded a medal or other honor as a sign of courage or achievement.

the act of making something look more attractive by adding extra items or putting things in special places

The process or art of making something look more attractive by adding extra items or images to it.

serving to make something look more attractive; ornamental.

In a way that is intended to make something look more attractive; ornamentally.

a person whose job is to paint the inside and outside of buildings, or to put wallpaper on the walls.

behaving in a way that is socially correct, calm, and polite

In a manner that is polite, restrained, and observes good taste or propriety.

Correct and socially acceptable behavior, manners, and appearance, especially in a formal situation.

The art or technique of decorating a surface by gluing down paper cut-outs and then coating them with varnish or lacquer.