Decorement to Decurt
Decorement
(De*core"ment) n. Ornament. [Obs.]
Decorous
(De*co"rous) a. [L. decorus, fr. decor comeliness, beauty; akin to decere. See Decent,
and cf. Decorum.] Suitable to a character, or to the time, place, and occasion; marked with decorum; becoming; proper; seemly; befitting; as,
a decorous speech; decorous behavior; a decorous dress for a judge.
A decorous pretext the war.
Motley. — De*co"rous*ly, adv. — De*co"rous*ness, n.
Decorticate
(De*cor"ti*cate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Decorticated; p. pr. & vb. n. Decorticating.] [L. decorticatus,
p. p. of decorticare to bark; de- + cortex bark.] To divest of the bark, husk, or exterior coating; to
husk; to peel; to hull. "Great barley dried and decorticated." Arbuthnot.
Decortication
(De*cor`ti*ca"tion) n. [L. decorticatio: cf. F. décortication.] The act of stripping off the
bark, rind, hull, or outer coat.
Decorticator
(De*cor"ti*ca`tor) n. A machine for decorticating wood, hulling grain, etc.; also, an instrument
for removing surplus bark or moss from fruit trees.
Decorum
(De*cor"um) n. [L. decorum, fr. decorus. See Decorous.] Propriety of manner or conduct; grace
arising from suitableness of speech and behavior to one's own character, or to the place and occasion; decency
of conduct; seemliness; that which is seemly or suitable.
Negligent of the duties and decorums of his station.
Hallam.
If your master
Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,
That majesty, to keep decorum, must
No
less beg than a kingdom.
Shak. Syn. — Decorum, Dignity. Decorum, in accordance with its etymology, is that which is becoming
in outward act or appearance; as, the decorum of a public assembly. Dignity springs from an inward
elevation of soul producing a corresponding effect on the manners; as, dignity of personal appearance.
Decoy
(De*coy") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Decoyed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Decoying.] [Pref. de- + coy; orig., to
quiet, soothe, caress, entice. See Coy.] To lead into danger by artifice; to lure into a net or snare; to
entrap; to insnare; to allure; to entice; as, to decoy troops into an ambush; to decoy ducks into a net.
Did to a lonely cot his steps decoy.
Thomson.
E'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy,
The heart, distrusting, asks if this be joy.
Goldsmith. Syn. — To entice; tempt; allure; lure. See Allure.
Decoy
(De*coy"), n.
1. Anything intended to lead into a snare; a lure that deceives and misleads into danger, or into the power
of an enemy; a bait.
2. A fowl, or the likeness of one, used by sportsmen to entice other fowl into a net or within shot.
3. A place into which wild fowl, esp. ducks, are enticed in order to take or shoot them.
4. A person employed by officers of justice, or parties exposed to injury, to induce a suspected person
to commit an offense under circumstances that will lead to his detection.
Decoy-duck
(De*coy"-duck`) n. A duck used to lure wild ducks into a decoy; hence, a person employed
to lure others into danger. Beau. & Fl.
