Glossary beginning with D
- Deforestation
-
The process of clearing forests, usually due to logging or to make way for farming. Deforestation leads to a range of environmental problems including the reduction of plant and animal biodiversity.
- Delegates
-
People chosen to represent and act on the behalf of others.
- Delegates
-
People chosen to represent and act on the behalf of others.
- Demoralising
-
Something that takes away ones morale or hope; something depressing.
- Deputations
-
People chosen to speak for, represent or act on behalf of others often in a legal or political environment.
- Derogatory
-
Abusive or unkind.
- Describe
-
Give a detailed account or description.
- Dictate
-
When someone speaks aloud and their words are written down by someone else.
Synonyms: dictates, dictated - Discuss
-
Look at the arguments for and against the topic or quote.
- dismantling
-
Taking apart, to disassemble an object or system.
- Dispossession
-
To take away someone's property or land. In the case of indigenous Australians, dispossession is used to describe how European settlment resulted in the loss of Aboriginal ancestral land.
- Dray
-
A heavy low cart without sides for the easy loading and unloading of goods.
- Drip rifle
-
An unmanned rifle with a water filled can dripping into another to delay the action of the trigger.
- Dual personalities
-
A psychological term for a person with one or more personalities, also known as multiple personality disorder.
- Dubious
-
Doubtful or possibly unreliable.
- Ductile
-
The ability to be stretched without snapping. From the Latin 'ductilis' which translates to 'easily led'. Ductile materials can be easily drawn into long wires.
- Dysentery
-
A water-borne disease that causes dehydration and diarrhoea - it can often be fatal.
