refy_ and the adjectives _putrid_ and _putrescent_, and the
nouns _putridity_ and _putrescence_, are used almost exclusively of
animal matter in a state of decomposition, the more general word _decay_
being used of either animal or vegetable substances.

* * * * *

DECEPTION.

Synonyms:

craft, dissimulation, finesse, lie,
cunning, double-dealing, fraud, lying,
deceit, duplicity, guile, prevarication,
deceitfulness, fabrication, hypocrisy, trickery,
delusion, falsehood, imposition, untruth.

_Deceit_ is the habit, _deception_ the act; _guile_ applies to the
disposition out of which _deceit_ and _deception_ grow, and also to
their actual practise. A _lie_, _lying_, or _falsehood_, is the uttering
of what one knows to be false with intent to deceive. The novel or drama
is not a _lie_, because not meant to deceive; the ancient teaching that
the earth was flat was not a _lie_, because not then known to be false.
_Untruth_ is more than lack of accuracy, implying always lack of
veracity; but it is a somewhat milder and more dignified word than
_lie_. _Falsehood_ and _lying_ are in utterance; _deceit_ and
_deception_ may be merely in act or implication. _Deception_ may be
innocent, and even unintentional, as in the case of an optical illusion;
_deceit_ always involves injurious intent. _Craft_ and _cunning_ have
not necessarily any moral quality; they are common traits of animals,
but stand rather low in the human scale. _Duplicity_ is the habitual
speaking or acting with intent to appear to mean what one does not.
_Dissimulation_ is rather a concealing of what is than a pretense of
what is not. _Finesse_ is simply an adroit and delicate management of a
matter for one's own side, not necessarily involving _deceit_. Compare
ARTIFICE; FICTION; FRAUD; HYPOCRISY.

Antonyms:

candor, frankness, honesty, simplicity, truth,
fair dealing, guilelessness, openness, sincerity, veracity.

* * * * *

DEFENSE.

Synonyms:

apology, guard, rampart, shelter,
bulwark, justification, resistance, shield,
fortress, protection, safeguard, vindication.

The weak may speak or act in _defense_ of the strong; none but the
powerful can assure others of _protection_. A _defense_ is ordinarily
against actual attack; _protection_ is against possible