from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
He . . . went aside privately into a desert place.
--Luke ix. 10.
[1913 Webster]
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray.
[1913 Webster]
{Desert flora} (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing
naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently
unproductive place.
{Desert hare} (Zool.), a small hare ({Lepus sylvaticus}, var.
Arizon[ae]) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United
States.
{Desert mouse} (Zool.), an American mouse ({Hesperomys
eremicus}), living in the Western deserts.
[1913 Webster]