ationary object leans;
_tendency_, the _direction_ toward which anything stretches or reaches
out; _tendency_ is stronger and more active than _inclination_. Compare
AIM; CARE; ORDER; OVERSIGHT.

* * * * *

DISCERN.

Synonyms:

behold, discriminate, observe, recognize,
descry, distinguish, perceive, see.

What we _discern_ we _see_ apart from all other objects; what we
_discriminate_ we judge apart; what we _distinguish_ we mark apart, or
recognize by some special mark or manifest difference. We _discriminate_
by real differences; we _distinguish_ by outward signs; an officer is
readily _distinguished_ from a common soldier by his uniform. Objects
may be dimly _discerned_ at twilight, when yet we can not clearly
_distinguish_ one from another. We _descry_ (originally _espy_) what is
difficult to discover. Compare DISCOVER; LOOK.

* * * * *

DISCOVER.

Synonyms:

ascertain, detect, disclose, ferret out, find out,
descry, discern, expose, find, invent.

Of human actions or character, _detect_ is used, almost without
exception, in a bad sense; _discover_ may be used in either the good or
the bad sense, oftener in the good; he was _detected_ in a fraud; real
merit is sure to be _discovered_. In scientific language, _detect_ is
used of delicate indications that appear in course of careful watching;
as, a slight fluttering of the pulse could be _detected_. We _discover_
what has existed but has not been known to us; we _invent_ combinations
or arrangements not before in use; Columbus _discovered_ America; Morse
_invented_ the electric telegraph. _Find_ is the most general word for
every means of coming to know what was not before certainly known. A man
_finds_ in the road some stranger's purse, or _finds_ his own which he
is searching for. The expert _discovers_ or _detects_ an error in an
account; the auditor _finds_ the account to be correct. Compare DISCERN.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for HIDE.

* * * * *

DISEASE.

Synonyms:

affection, disorder, indisposition, sickness,
ailment, distemper, infirmity, unhealthiness,
complaint, illness, malady, unsoundness.

_Disease_ is the general term for any deviation from health; in a more
limited sense it denotes some definite morbid condition; _disorder_ and
_affection_ are rather partial and limited;