desert

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large dry area of land, often covered with sand, where little grows.

   Camels can travel for days across the hot desert.

2. 2
   verb

   To leave someone or something, especially when you should stay.

   You can't just drive off and desert me out here.

3. 3
   verb

   To leave the army or your duty without permission.

   Soldiers who deserted during the war were severely punished.

4. 4
   adj

   Empty of people; with no one living there.

   They were stranded on a desert island in the Pacific.

Common collocations

• desert island Adjective + noun

From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.

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