desert
deserted; deserts; deserting
A desert is a very dry area of land where few plants and animals can live. If you find yourself stranded in the middle of the desert, you'll have no company except for the occasional lizard or scorpion.
Desert comes from the Latin desertus, for abandoned or lying in waste. This can refer to a vast sandy area without vegetation, or any empty, lifeless expanse. As a verb, it means to leave someone or something. A soldier who runs away from the army is called a deserter. Occasionally you'll hear someone say, "He got his just deserts," which doesn't have anything to do with abandonment; it means he got what he deserved.
Definitions of desert
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leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch“The mother deserted her children”
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types:
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expose
abandon by leaving out in the open air
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walk out
leave suddenly, often as an expression of disapproval
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ditch
forsake
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maroon, strand
leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue
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type of:
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leave
go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness
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leave behind
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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”
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synonyms:
defect
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types:
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rat
desert one's party or group of friends, for example, for one's personal advantage
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type of:
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flee, fly, take flight
run away quickly
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rat
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arid land with little or no vegetation
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examples:
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Great Arabian Desert
a desert on the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia
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Arabian Desert
a desert in Egypt between the Nile River and the Red Sea
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Atacama Desert
a desert in northern Chile rich in nitrate and copper deposits
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Great Australian Desert
general name given to all desert areas in Australia
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Black Rock Desert
a desert in northwestern Nevada
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Chihuahuan Desert
a desert in western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico
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Colorado Desert
an arid region of southeastern California
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Great Salt Desert
a salt desert in north central Iran
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Dasht-e-Lut
a desert in eastern Iran
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Death Valley
a desert area that is part of the Mojave Desert in eastern California and southwestern Nevada; contains the lowest point in North America
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Gibson Desert
a desert area in western Australia
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Gila Desert
a desert area in southern Arizona
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Gobi Desert
a desert in central China
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Great Sandy Desert
a desert region in northwestern Australia to the north of the Gibson Desert
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Great Victoria Desert
a desert region in south central Australia to the north of the Nullarbor Plain
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Kalahari Desert
a desert in southwestern Africa - largely Botswana
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Turkestan Desert
a desert in Turkmenistan to the south of the Aral Sea
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Kizil Kum
a desert in Uzbekistan to the southeast of the Aral Sea
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Libyan Desert
the northeastern part of the Sahara Desert in Libya and Egypt and Sudan
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Mohave Desert
a desert area in southern California and western Arizona
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Namib Desert
a desert in Namibia extending along the coast between the high plateau and the Atlantic Ocean
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An Nafud
a desert in northern Saudi Arabia that is noted for its red sand and violent winds
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Negev Desert
a desert in southern Israel
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Nubian Desert
an arid sandstone plateau in northeastern Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea
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Painted Desert
a desert on a high plateau in northeastern Arizona
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Patagonian Desert
a semiarid region in southern South America
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Great Sandy Desert
a desert in southern Saudi Arabia
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Sahara Desert
the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa
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Simpson Desert
a desert region of central Australia
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Sinai Desert
a desert on the Sinai Peninsula in northeastern Egypt
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Sonoran Desert
a desert in southwestern Arizona
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Syrian Desert
a desert of northern Arabia occupying western Iraq, southern Syria, eastern Jordan, and northern Saudi Arabia
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Taklamakan Desert
a desert in western China
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Great Indian Desert
a desert to the east of the Indus River in northwestern India and southeastern Pakistan
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type of:
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biome
a major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate
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parcel, parcel of land, piece of ground, piece of land, tract
an extended area of land
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘desert'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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Commonly confused words
desert / dessert
A desert is a hot and dry place like the Sahara, but add an s and some whipped cream and you have a dessert, a sweet treat to eat. Dessert has two s's because you always want two. (If you prefer two arid ecosystems, that's on you.)
Word Family
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