dia|man|te /da I əmæ nti, [AM ] diː əmɑːnte I / also diamanté N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Diamante jewellery is made from small pieces of cut glass which look like diamonds. □ …diamante earrings.
di|am|eter /da I æ m I tə r / (diameters ) N‑VAR [oft in N ] The diameter of a round object is the length of a straight line that can be drawn across it, passing through the middle of it. □ …a tube less than a fifth of the diameter of a human hair.
dia|met|ri|cal|ly /da I əme tr I kli/ ADV [ADV adj] If you say that two things are diametrically opposed, you are emphasizing that they are completely different from each other. [EMPHASIS ]
dia|mond /da I əmənd/ (diamonds )
1 N‑VAR A diamond is a hard, bright, precious stone which is clear and colourless. Diamonds are used in jewellery and for cutting very hard substances. □ …a pair of diamond earrings.
2 N‑COUNT A diamond is a shape with four straight sides of equal length where the opposite angles are the same, but none of the angles is equal to 90°: ♦. □ He formed his hands into the shape of a diamond.
3 N‑UNCOUNT [with sing or pl verb] Diamonds is one of the four suits of cards in a pack of playing cards. Each card in the suit is marked with one or more red symbols in the shape of a diamond. □ He drew the seven of diamonds. ● N‑COUNT A diamond is a playing card of this suit.
di a|mond ju |bi|lee (diamond jubilees ) N‑COUNT A diamond jubilee is the sixtieth anniversary of an important event.
dia|per /da I əpə r / (diapers ) N‑COUNT A diaper is a piece of soft towel or paper, which you fasten round a baby's bottom in order to soak up its urine and faeces. [AM ] □ He never changed her diapers, never bathed her. in BRIT, use nappy
di|apha|nous /da I æ fənəs/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Diaphanous cloth is very thin and almost transparent. [LITERARY ] □ …a diaphanous dress of pale gold.
dia|phragm /da I əfræm/ (diaphragms )
1 N‑COUNT Your diaphragm is a muscle between your lungs and your stomach. It is used when you breathe.
2 N‑COUNT A diaphragm is a circular rubber contraceptive device that a woman places inside her vagina.
dia|rist /da I ər I st/ (diarists ) N‑COUNT A diarist is a person who records things in a diary which is later published.
di|ar|rhoea /da I əriː ə/ in AM, use diarrhea N‑UNCOUNT If someone has diarrhoea , a lot of liquid faeces comes out of their body because they are ill.
dia|ry ◆◇◇ /da I əri/ (diaries ) N‑COUNT A diary is a book which has a separate space for each day of the year. You use a diary to write down things you plan to do, or to record what happens in your life day by day.
di|as|po|ra /da I æ spərə/ N‑SING People who come from a particular nation, or whose ancestors came from it, but who now live in many different parts of the world are sometimes referred to as the diaspora . [FORMAL ] □ …the history of peoples from the African diaspora.
dia|tribe /da I ətra I b/ (diatribes ) N‑COUNT A diatribe is an angry speech or article which is extremely critical of someone's ideas or activities. □ The book is a diatribe against the academic left.
dice /da I s/ (dices , dicing , diced )
1 N‑COUNT A dice is a small cube which has between one and six spots or numbers on its sides, and which is used in games to provide random numbers. In old-fashioned English, 'dice' was used only as a plural form, and the singular was die , but now 'dice' is used as both the singular and the plural form.
2 VERB If you dice food, you cut it into small cubes. □ [V n] Dice the onion.
dicey /da I si/ (dicier , diciest ) ADJ Something that is dicey is slightly dangerous or uncertain. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ There was a dicey moment as one of our party made a risky climb up the cliff wall.
di|choto|my /da I kɒ təmi/ (dichotomies ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] If there is a dichotomy between two things, there is a very great difference or opposition between them. [FORMAL ] □ [+ between ] There is a dichotomy between the academic world and the industrial world.
dick /d I k/ (dicks ) N‑COUNT A man's dick is his penis. [INFORMAL , VERY RUDE ]
dick|er /d I kə r / (dickers , dickering , dickered ) VERB If you say that people are dickering about something, you mean that they are arguing or disagreeing about it, often in a way that you think is foolish or unnecessary. [mainly AM , DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V + over/about ] Management and labor are dickering over pay, benefits and working conditions. □ [V ] He may be expecting us to dicker. Don't.
dick|head /d I khed/ (dickheads ) N‑COUNT If someone calls a man a dickhead , they are saying that they think he is very stupid. [INFORMAL , RUDE ]
dic|tate (dictates , dictating , dictated ) The verb is pronounced /d I kte I t, [AM ] d I kte I t/. The noun is pronounced /d I kte I t/. 1 VERB If you dictate something, you say or read it aloud for someone else to write down. □ [V n] Sheldon writes every day of the week, dictating his novels in the morning. [Also V ]
2 VERB If someone dictates to someone else, they tell them what they should do or can do. □ [V n] What right has one country to dictate the environmental standards of another? □ [V wh] He cannot be allowed to dictate what can and cannot be inspected. □ [V + to ] What gives them the right to dictate to us what we should eat? □ [V n + to ] The officers were more or less able to dictate terms to successive governments.
3 VERB If one thing dictates another, the first thing causes or influences the second thing. □ [V n] The film's budget dictated a tough schedule. □ [V wh] Of course, a number of factors will dictate how long an apple tree can survive. □ [V that] Circumstances dictated that they played a defensive rather than attacking game.