desecration (desekrashon)

[ treatment or use. Various profanations of the Sabbath have of late years been evidently gaining ground among us so as to threaten a gradual desecration of that holy day. Bp. Porteous , Profanation of the Lord's Day. =Syn. Sacrilege , etc. See profanation . desecrator (des'ē-krā-tor), n. Same as dese crater. habiting a desert: as, the desert folk.- Desert lands, in the land law of the United States, lands which in their existing condition are unfit for cultivation, and are sold on easy terms on condition of being made culti. vable within a certain period. II. n. A desert place or region; a waste; a wilderne ; specifically, in geog ., a region of considerable extent which is almost if not quite destitute of vegetation, and hence uninhab- ited, chiefly on account of an insufficient sup- ply of rain: as, the desert of Sahara; the Great American Desert . The presence of large quantities of movable sand on the surface adds to the desert character of a region. The word is chiefly and almost exclusively used with reference to certain regions in Arabia and northern Africa and others lying in central Asia. (See steppe .) The only region in North America to which the word is applied is the Great American Desert, a tract of country south and west of Great Salt Lake, once occupied by the waters of that lake when they extended over a much larger area than they now occupy. The name Great American Desert was ori. ginally given to the unexplored region lying beyond the [ The tide of emotion [in Burke's breast]. filled to the brim the cup of prophetic anger against the desecrators of the church and the monarchy of France. J. Morley, Burke, p. 129.