1. [n]  an arid region with little or no vegetation
2. [adj]  located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; "a desert island"; "a godforsaken wilderness crossroads"; "a wild stretch of land"; "waste places"
3. [v]  leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children"
4. [v]  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"

1. \De*sert"\, n. [OF. deserte, desserte, merit, recompense,
   fr. deservir, desservir, to merit. See {Deserve}.]
   That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly
   due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to
   reward; merit.
   
         According to their deserts will I judge them. --Ezek.
                                                  vii. 27.
   
         Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great
         deserts to Rome.                         --Shak.
   
         His reputation falls far below his desert. --A.
                                                  Hamilton.
   
   Syn: Merit; worth; excellence; due.
   
   

2. \Des"ert\, n. [F. d['e]sert, L. desertum, from desertus
   solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to
   join together. See {Series}.]
   1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of
      supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and
      Africa are destitute and vegetation.
   
            A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.   --Pope.
   
   2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population,
      but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a
      wilderness; a solitary place.
   
            He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her
            desert like the garden of the Lord.   --Is. li. 3.
   
   Note: Also figuratively.
   
               Before her extended Dreary and vast and silent,
               the desert of life.                --Longfellow.
   
   

3. \Des"ert\, a. [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere, and F.
   d['e]sert. See 2d {Desert}.]
   Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or
   cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate;
   solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.
   
         He . . . went aside privately into a desert place.
                                                  --Luke ix. 10.
   
         Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste
         its sweetness on the desert air.         --Gray.
   
   {Desert flora} (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing
      naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently
      unproductive place.
   
   {Desert hare} (Zo["o]l.), a small hare ({Lepus sylvaticus},
      var. Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western
      United States.
   
   {Desert mouse} (Zo["o]l.), an American mouse ({Hesperomys
      eremicus}), living in the Western deserts.
   
   

4. \De*sert"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deserted}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Deserting}.] [Cf. L. desertus, p. p. of deserere to
   desert, F. d['e]serter. See 2d {Desert}.]
   1. To leave (especially something which one should stay by
      and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to
      forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of
      localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause,
      one's country. ``The deserted fortress.'' --Prescott.
   
   2. (Mil.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake
      in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the
      army; to desert one's colors.
   
   

5. \De*sert"\, v. i.
   To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service
   without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to
   abscond.
   
         The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers.  --Bancroft.
   
   Syn: To abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit;
        depart from; abdicate. See {Abandon}.
   
   

(1.) Heb. midbar, "pasture-ground;" an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The "backside of the desert" (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered "wildernes," and is used of the country lying between Egypt and Palestine (Gen. 21:14, 21; Ex. 4:27; 19:2; Josh. 1:4), the wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the whole of their journey to the Promised Land.

The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings 9:18).

The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father's flocks (1 Sam. 17:28; 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a settled people (Isa. 35:1; 50:2; Jer. 4:11). Such, also, is the meaning of the word "wilderness" in Matt. 3:3; 15:33; Luke 15:4.

(2.) The translation of the Hebrew _Aribah'_, "an arid tract" (Isa. 35:1, 6; 40:3; 41:19; 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the Elanitic gulf. While _midbar_ denotes properly a pastoral region, _arabah_ denotes a wilderness. It is also translated "plains;" as "the plains of Jericho" (Josh. 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5), "the plains of Moab" (Num. 22:1; Deut. 34:1, 8), "the plains of the wilderness" (2 Sam. 17:16).

(3.) In the Revised Version of Num. 21:20 the Hebrew word _jeshimon_ is properly rendered "desert," meaning the waste tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also rendered "desert" in Ps. 78:40; 106:14; Isa. 43:19, 20. It denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the peninsula of Arabia (Num. 21:20; 23:28), the most terrible of all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called "the desert" in Ex. 23:31; Deut. 11:24. (See JESHIMON.)

(4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Ps. 9:6), desolate (Lev. 26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word _horbah'_. It is rendered "desert" only in Ps. 102:6, Isa. 48:21, and Ezek. 13:4, where it means the wilderness of Sinai.

(5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they had forsaken God (Isa. 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge of God are called a "wilderness" (32:15, _midbar_). It is a symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isa. 27:10, _midbar_; 33:9, _arabah_).