desolate
['desəlit]
a. 荒凉

1. The rocky, desolate surface of the moon.
   月球石、荒凉
2. Bands of outlaws lived in the desolate mountains after breaking the laws.
   群歹徒犯栖身荒山。
3. Land that is desolate, barren, or ravaged.
   荒荒凉、贫瘠遭坏土

desolate
[ verb ]

1. leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

<verb.cognition> abandon desert forsake
The mother deserted her children

2. reduce in population

<verb.change> depopulate
The epidemic depopulated the countryside

3. cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

<verb.change> devastate lay waste to ravage scourge waste
The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion

[ adj ]

1. providing no shelter or sustenance

<adj.all>
bare rocky hills
barren lands
the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes
the desolate surface of the moon
a stark landscape

2. crushed by grief

<adj.all>
depressed and desolate of soul
a low desolate wail

Desolate \Des"o*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Desolated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Desolating}.]
1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of
inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the
flood.

2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a
city.

Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war.
--Sparks.


Desolate \Des"o*late\, a. [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to
leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus
alone. See {Sole}, a.]
1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted;
uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a
desolate wilderness; a desolate house.

I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I
will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an
inhabitant. --Jer. ix. 11.

And the silvery marish flowers that throng
The desolate creeks and pools among. --Tennyson.

2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed;
as, desolate altars.

3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.

Have mercy upon, for I am desolate. --Ps. xxv. 16.

Voice of the poor and desolate. --Keble.

4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.]

I were right now of tales desolate. --Chaucer.

Syn: Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste.