Desert \De*sert"\, n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense, fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See Deserve.]

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Desert \Des"ert\, n. [F. d['e]sert, L. desertum, from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series.]

1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation.

A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. --Pope.

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.

Note: Also figuratively.

Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life. --Longfellow.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Desert \De*sert"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deserted; p. pr. & vb. n. Deserting.]

[Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere to desert, F. d['e]serter. See 2d Desert.]

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. ``The deserted fortress.'' --Prescott.

2. (Mil.) 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Desert \De*sert"\, v. i. 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Desert \Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F. d['e]sert. See 2d Desert.]

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.

Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place.

Desert hare (Zo["o]l.), a small hare (Lepus sylvaticus, var. Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States.

Desert mouse (Zo["o]l.), an American mouse (Hesperomys eremicus), living in the Western deserts.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)