Words - Letter D
 
 
 
 
American English Vocabulary - Letter D

The words on this page came from the VOA, Voice of America, Special English Word Book. Use the Fun Easy English dictionary for a more detailed explanation of each word.
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Words - Letter D
  • dam - n. a wall built across a river to hold back flowing water
  • damage - v. to cause injury or destruction; n. harm; hurt or injury, usually to things
  • dance - v. to move the body and feet to music; n. a series of steps, usually to music
  • danger - n. a strong chance of suffering injury, damage or loss
  • dark - ad. having little or no light ("The room was dark.")
  • date - n. an expression of time; a day, month and year
  • daughter - n. a person's female child
  • day - n. twenty-four hours; the hours of sunlight
  • dead - ad. not living
  • deaf - ad. not able to hear
  • deal - v. to have to do with ("The talks will deal with the problem of pollution."); to buy or sell ("Her company deals in plastic.")
  • debate - v. to argue for or against something; n. a public discussion or argument
  • debt - n. something that is owed; the condition of owing
  • decide - v. to choose; to settle; to judge
  • declare - v. to say; to make a statement
  • decrease - v. to make less in size or amount
  • deep - ad. going far down; a long way from top to bottom
  • defeat - v. to cause to lose in a battle or struggle; n. a loss; the condition of having lost
  • defend - v. to guard or fight against attack; to protect
  • deficit - n. a shortage that results when spending is greater than earnings, or imports are greater than exports
  • define - v. to give the meaning of; to explain
  • degree - n. a measure of temperature
  • delay - v. to decide to do something at a later time; to postpone; to cause to be late
  • delegate - n. one sent to act for another; one who represents another
  • demand - v. to ask by ordering; to ask with force
  • democracy - n. the system of government in which citizens vote to choose leaders or to make other important decisions
  • demonstrate - v. to make a public show of opinions or feelings ("The crowd demonstrated in support of human rights."); to explain by using examples ("The teacher demonstrated the idea with an experiment.")
  • denounce - v. to accuse of being wrong or evil; to criticize severely
  • deny - v. to declare that something is not true; to refuse a request
  • depend - v. to need help and support
  • deplore - v. to regret strongly; to express sadness
  • deploy - v. to move forces or weapons into positions for action
  • depression - n. severe unhappiness; a period of reduced business and economic activity during which many people lose their jobs
  • describe - v. to give a word picture of something; to give details of something
  • desert - n. a dry area of land
  • design - v. to plan or create plans for
  • desire - v. to want very much; to wish for
  • destroy - v. to break into pieces; to end the existence of
  • detail - n. a small part of something; a small piece of information
  • detain - v. to keep or hold ("The police detained several suspects for questioning.")
  • develop - v. to grow; to create; to experience progress
  • device - n. a piece of equipment made for a special purpose
  • dictator - n. a ruler with complete power
  • die - v. to become dead; to stop living; to end
  • diet - n. usual daily food and drink
  • different - ad. not the same
  • difficult - ad. not easy; hard to do, make or carry out
  • dig - v. to make a hole in the ground
  • dinner - n. the main amount of food eaten at a usual time ("The family had its dinner at noon."); a special event that includes food ("The official dinner took place at the White House.")
  • diplomat - n. a person who represents his or her government in dealing with another government
  • direct - v. to lead; to aim or show the way ("He directed me to the theater."); ad. straight to something; not through some other person or thing ("The path is direct.")
  • direction - n. the way (east, west, north, south); where someone or something came from or went to
  • dirt - n. earth or soil
  • disappear - v. to become unseen; to no longer exist
  • disarm - v. to take away weapons; to no longer keep weapons; to make a bomb harmless by removing its exploding device
  • disaster - n. an event causing widespread destruction or loss of life, such as an earthquake or plane crash
  • discover - v. to find or learn something
  • discrimination - n. unfair treatment or consideration based on opinions about a whole group instead of on the qualities of an individual. ("He was accused of discrimination against people from other countries.")
  • discuss - v. to talk about; to exchange ideas
  • disease - n. a sickness in living things, often caused by viruses, germs or bacteria
  • dismiss - v. to send away; to refuse to consider
  • dispute - v. to oppose strongly by argument; n. an angry debate
  • dissident - n. a person who strongly disagrees with his or her government
  • distance - n. the amount of space between two places or objects ("The distance from my house to your house is two kilometers.")
  • dive - v. to jump into water head first
  • divide - v. to separate into two or more parts
  • do - v. to act; to make an effort
  • doctor - n. a person trained in medicine to treat sick people
  • document - n. an official piece of paper with facts written on it, used as proof or support of something
  • dog - n. a small animal that often lives with humans
  • dollar - n. United States money, one hundred cents
  • donate - v. to present something as a gift to an organization, country or cause. ("She donated money to the Red Cross to help survivors of the earthquake.")
  • door - n. an opening for entering or leaving a building or room
  • double - v. to increase two times as much in size, strength or number
  • down - ad. from higher to lower; in a low place
  • dream - v. to have a picture or story in the mind during sleep; n. a picture or story in the mind during sleep; a happy idea about the future
  • drink - v. to take liquid into the body through the mouth
  • drive - v. to control a moving vehicle
  • drop - v. to fall or let fall; to go lower
  • drown - v. to die under water
  • drug - n. anything used as a medicine or in making medicine; a chemical substance used to ease pain or to affect the mind
  • dry - ad. not wet; without rain
  • during - ad. through the whole time; while (something is happening)
  • dust - n. pieces of matter so small that they can float in the air
  • duty - n. one's job or responsibility; what one must do because it is right and just
News Words - Letter D

The videos on this page came from the VOA, Voice of America, News Words program. Use the Fun Easy English dictionary for a detailed explanation of words you do not understand.
Debris
Decisive
Defiant
Deliberately
Delicate
Denuclearization
Desperate
Deteriorate
Dialogue
Dire
Disenchanted
Dissent
Dissident
Diverse
Doping
Draconian
Dramatic
Drone
Drought
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