Damnific

[Lat. damn i ficus.] Procuring or producing lo ; mischievous. Dam'nify, v. a. [L. Lat. damn if i care.] To damage; to injure; to induce or occasion lo ; to hurt; to impair. Dam'ocles, a sycophant at the court of Dionysius of Syracuse in the 4th century B. C. When he was one day extolling the happy condition of princes, the tyrant invited him to a sumptuous entertainment, but caused a naked sword to be suspended over his head by a single hair; a sufficiently significant symbol of the fear in which tyrants may live. from the sen-coast near Joppa. It bordered on the land of the Philistines, with whom the tribe of Dan had much to do. Their territory was fertile, but small, and the natives were powerful. A part of the tribe therefore sought and conquered another home. (Josh. xix.; Jud. xviii.) - II. A city, originally called Latish, (Jud. xvii. 29,) at the N. extremity of Israel, in the tribe of Naphtali. "From Dan to Beer-sheba," denotes the whole extent of the land of promise, Dan being the N. city, and Beer-sheba the S. one. Dan was seated at the foot of Mount Hermon, 4 m. W. of Paneas, near one source of the Jordan, on a hill now called Tell-el-Kady. Laish at one time belonged to Sidon, and received the name of Dan from a portion of that tribe who con quered and rebuilt it. It was an idolatrous city even then, and was afterwards the seat of one of the golden calves of Jeroboam. Only slight remains of it now exist. Dan, n. [From Lat. dominus .] An appellation of honor formerly used in a sense synonymous with the term master ; as, " Dan Cupid." ( Mining .) A small truck or sledge used in coal-mining friendship with Pythias, or Phintias. Dionysius of Syracuse having condemned Damon to death, he obtained leave of absence to go home and settle his affairs, Pythias pledging himself to endure the punishment in his stead if he did not return at the appointed time. Damon was punctual; and this instance of friendship so pleased the king, that he pardoned him, and begged, but in vain, to be admitted to their friendship. Damp, a . [Dan. and L. Ger. damp ; Ger. dampf , vapor; 0. Ger. damf ; Mid. High- Ger.tampf ; Icel. damp i ; Swed. and Goth, dimma ; Lith. dim . The Ger. is from dämpf en, to smoke; Sansk. tap , to make warm or hot, and hence, to cause to ascend in vapor.] Moist; humid; being in a state between dry and wet; as, damp weather. "O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear." -Dryden. -Dejected; depre ed; sunk in mind or spirits.