An uninhabited island, especially one in the tropics. / (attributive) Designating something that a person considers indispensable and would always want to have available.

A populated region where food, especially healthy food, is difficult to obtain.

A gerbil (subfamily Gerbillinae) of the deserts of Africa and Asia / A kangaroo rat (genus Dipodomys) from North America / A Natal multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis) from Africa

A soil variety typically found in arid climates, usually with little leaching and minimal humus content. Referred to as an "aridisol" in the nomenclature of the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

plural of desert soil

coccidioidomycosis

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see desert, rose. / A flowering plant of South Africa, of genus Adenium. / Rosa stellata, a species of rose native to North America.

(religion, historical) Any of the early Christian hermits, ascetics and monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD, and were a major influence on the development of Christianity.

plural of Desert Father

The blossoming of a wide variety of flowers in the Atacama Desert, Chile, between September and November in years of unusually high rainfall.