Hypertext Webster Gateway: "desolate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Desolate \Des"o*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Desolated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Desolating}.]
1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of
inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the
flood.
2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a
city.
Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war.
--Sparks.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Desolate \Des"o*late\, a. [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to
leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus
alone. See {Sole}, a.]
1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted;
uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a
desolate wilderness; a desolate house.
I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I
will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an
inhabitant. --Jer. ix. 11.
And the silvery marish flowers that throng The
desolate creeks and pools among. --Tennyson.
2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed;
as, desolate altars.
3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.
Have mercy upon, for I am desolate. --Ps. xxv. 16.
Voice of the poor and desolate. --Keble.
4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.]
I were right now of tales desolate. --Chaucer.
Syn: Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
desolate
adj 1: providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills";
"barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the
high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a
stark landscape" [syn: {bare}, {barren}, {bleak}, {stark}]
2: pitiable in circumstances especially through abandonment;
"desolate and despairing"; "left forlorn" [syn: {forlorn},
{godforsaken}, {lorn}]
3: crushed by grief; "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low
desolate wail"
4: made uninhabitable; "upon this blasted heath"- Shakespeare;
"a wasted landscape" [syn: {blasted}, {desolated}, {devastated},
{ravaged}, {ruined}, {wasted}]
v 1: leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the
lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: {abandon},
{forsake}, {desert}]
2: reduce in population; "The epidemic depopulated the
countryside" [syn: {depopulate}]
3: devastate or ravage; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside
after the invasion" [syn: {lay waste to}, {waste}, {devastate},
{ravage}]
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