The Collaborative International Dictionary
Desert \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.