desert

Plural: deserts

Noun

• arid land with little or no vegetation
• A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
• A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
• In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
• Any barren place or situation.
• That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward.
• Obsolete form of dessert.

Verb

Verb Forms: deserted, deserting, deserts

• To abandon a person, cause, or place without permission.
• leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
  • "The mother deserted her children"
• desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army
  • "If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot"
• leave behind
  • "the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period"
• 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.
• To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.

Adj

• Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.

Examples

• Anyone found deserting will be punished.
• He would never DESERT a high-scoring ’Q’ on his rack, even if it was difficult to play.
• just deserts
• They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.
• You can't just drive off and desert me here, in the middle of nowhere.

Synonyms

abandon, defect, desolate, forsake, abandoned, beingless, derelict, desert, deserted, discarded, disinhabited, dropped, forlorn, forsaken, high and dry, inhabitantless, inhabited, left behind, lifeless, orphaned, peopleless, solitary, tenantless, unhabited, uninhabited, unoccupied, unpeopled, unpopulated, untenanted, vacant, wasteful

Anagrams of desert