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3 N‑UNCOUNT [with sing or pl verb] Diamonds is one of the four suits of cards in a pack of playing cards. Each card in the suit is marked with one or more red symbols in the shape of a diamond. □  He drew the seven of diamonds. ● N‑COUNT A diamond is a playing card of this suit.

di a|mond ju |bi|lee (diamond jubilees ) N‑COUNT A diamond jubilee is the sixtieth anniversary of an important event.

dia|per /da I əpə ^r / (diapers ) N‑COUNT A diaper is a piece of soft towel or paper, which you fasten round a baby's bottom in order to soak up its urine and faeces. [AM ] □  He never changed her diapers, never bathed her. in BRIT, use nappy

di|apha|nous /da I æ fənəs/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Diaphanous cloth is very thin and almost transparent. [LITERARY ] □  …a diaphanous dress of pale gold.

dia|phragm /da I əfræm/ (diaphragms )

1 N‑COUNT Your diaphragm is a muscle between your lungs and your stomach. It is used when you breathe.

2 N‑COUNT A diaphragm is a circular rubber contraceptive device that a woman places inside her vagina.

dia|rist /da I ər I st/ (diarists ) N‑COUNT A diarist is a person who records things in a diary which is later published.

di|ar|rhoea /da I əriː ə/ in AM, use diarrhea N‑UNCOUNT If someone has diarrhoea , a lot of liquid faeces comes out of their body because they are ill.

dia|ry ◆◇◇ /da I əri/ (diaries ) N‑COUNT A diary is a book which has a separate space for each day of the year. You use a diary to write down things you plan to do, or to record what happens in your life day by day.

di|as|po|ra /da I æ spərə/ N‑SING People who come from a particular nation, or whose ancestors came from it, but who now live in many different parts of the world are sometimes referred to as the diaspora . [FORMAL ] □  …the history of peoples from the African diaspora.

dia|tribe /da I ətra I b/ (diatribes ) N‑COUNT A diatribe is an angry speech or article which is extremely critical of someone's ideas or activities. □  The book is a diatribe against the academic left.

dice /da I s/ (dices , dicing , diced )

1 N‑COUNT A dice is a small cube which has between one and six spots or numbers on its sides, and which is used in games to provide random numbers. In old-fashioned English, 'dice' was used only as a plural form, and the singular was die , but now 'dice' is used as both the singular and the plural form.

2 VERB If you dice food, you cut it into small cubes. □ [V n] Dice the onion.

dicey /da I si/ (dicier , diciest ) ADJ Something that is dicey is slightly dangerous or uncertain. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □  There was a dicey moment as one of our party made a risky climb up the cliff wall.

di|choto|my /da I kɒ təmi/ (dichotomies ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] If there is a dichotomy between two things, there is a very great difference or opposition between them. [FORMAL ] □ [+ between ] There is a dichotomy between the academic world and the industrial world.

dick /d I k/ (dicks ) N‑COUNT A man's dick is his penis. [INFORMAL , VERY RUDE ]

dick|er /d I kə ^r / (dickers , dickering , dickered ) VERB If you say that people are dickering about something, you mean that they are arguing or disagreeing about it, often in a way that you think is foolish or unnecessary. [mainly AM , DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V + over/about ] Management and labor are dickering over pay, benefits and working conditions. □ [V ] He may be expecting us to dicker. Don't.

dick|head /d I khed/ (dickheads ) N‑COUNT If someone calls a man a dickhead , they are saying that they think he is very stupid. [INFORMAL , RUDE ]

dic|tate (dictates , dictating , dictated ) The verb is pronounced /d I kte I t, [AM ] d I kte I t/. The noun is pronounced /d I kte I t/. 1 VERB If you dictate something, you say or read it aloud for someone else to write down. □ [V n] Sheldon writes every day of the week, dictating his novels in the morning. [Also V ]