desert

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.

   “And ye poore Pilgrimes, that vvith reſtleſſe toyle VVearie your ſelues in vvandring deſert vvayes […]”

   “Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.

   “It is wholly out of the power of language to convey any idea of the blissful enjoyment of obtaining water, after an almost total want of it, during eight and forty hours, in the scorching regions of an Arabian desert, in the month of July.”

   “The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.”

3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)Any barren place or situation.

   “He declared that the country was an intellectual desert; that he was famishing for spiritual aliment, and for discourse on matters beyond mere nuggets, prospectings, and the price of gold.”

   “By contrast, the WR route is an economic desert between Newbury and Taunton.”

   “So the question that is commonly asked is, why put a media incubator in a media desert and have it managed by a civil servant?”

4. (in-plural, often)That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward.

   “just deserts”

   “From the highest spire of contentment / my fortune is thrown; / and fear and grief and pain for my deserts / are my hopes, since hope is gone.”

   “Who will believe my verse in time to come, If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?”

   “July 4, 1789, Alexander Hamilton, Eulogium on Major-General Greene His reputation falls far below his desert.”

   “"Nonsense, Mina. It is a shame to me to hear such a word. I would not hear it of you. And I shall not hear it from you. May God judge me by my deserts, and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour, if by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!"”

5. (alt-of, countable, obsolete, uncountable)Obsolete form of dessert.

   “Francis, besides being an excellent Cook, knowing how to provide genteel Dinners, and giving aid in dressing them, prepared the Desert, made the Cake, and did every thing that Hyde & wife conjointly do;—[…]”

   “The deserts are far more superb; the painter, the florist, the decorator, and even the sculptor being engaged to complete them. Formerly a desert at a splendid fete in a private house has cost a thousand pounds, exclusive of plate and glass.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Usually of a place: abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited.

   “They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.”

   “And he said vnto them, Come yee your selues apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many comming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eate.”

   “He […] went aside privately into a desert place.”

   “See, from afar, yon Rock that mates the Sky, / About whoſe Feet ſuch Heaps of Rubbiſh lye: / Such indigeſted Ruin; bleak and bare, / How deſart now it ſtands, expos'd in Air!”

   “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

verb

1. 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.

   “You can't just drive off and desert me here, in the middle of nowhere.”

2. To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.

   “Anyone found deserting will be punished.”