desert

1.
v.
1 tr. abandon, give up, leave (deserted the sinking ship).
2 tr. forsake or abandon (a cause or a person, people, etc., having claims on one) (deserted his wife and children).
3 tr. fail (his presence of mind deserted him).
4 intr. Mil. run away (esp. from military service).
5 tr. (as deserted adj.) empty, abandoned (a deserted house).
Derivatives:
deserter n. (in sense 4 of v.). desertion n.
Etymology: F deacuteserter f. LL desertare f. L desertus (as DESERT(2))
2.
n. & adj.
—n. a dry barren often sand-covered area of land, characteristically desolate, waterless, and without vegetation; an uninteresting or barren subject, period, etc. (a cultural desert).
—adj.
1 uninhabited, desolate.
2 uncultivated, barren.
Phrases and idioms:
desert boot a suede etc. boot reaching to or extending just above the ankle. desert island a remote (usu. tropical) island presumed to be uninhabited. desert rat Brit. colloq. a soldier of the 7th British armoured division (with the jerboa as a badge) in the N. African desert campaign of 1941-2.
Etymology: ME f. OF f. L desertus, eccl.L desertum (n.), past part. of deserere leave, forsake
3.
n.
1 (in pl.) a acts or qualities deserving reward or punishment. b such reward or punishment (has got his deserts).
2 the fact of being worthy of reward or punishment; deservingness.
Etymology: ME f. OF f. deservir DESERVE