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Lavish – Leather-Mouthed
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Lavish
LAV'ISH, adjective [I know not from what source we have received this word. It coincides in elements with Latin liber, free, liberal, and lavo, to wash.]
1. Prodigal; expending or bestowing with profusion; profuse. He was lavish of expense; lavish of praise; lavish of encomiums; lavish of censure; lavish of blood and treasure.
2. Wasteful; expending without necessity; liberal to a fault.
3. Wild; unrestrained.
Curbing his lavish spirit.
LAV'ISH, verb transitive
1. To expend or bestow with profusion; as, to lavish praise or encomiums.
2. To waste; to expend without necessity or use; to squander; as, to lavish money on vices and amusements.
Lavished
LAV'ISHED, participle passive Expended profusely; wasted.
Lavisher
LAV'ISHER, noun A prodigal; a profuse person.
Lavishing
LAV'ISHING, participle present tense Expending or laying out with profusion; wasting.
Lavishly
LAV'ISHLY, adverb With profuse expense; prodigally; wastefully.
Lavishness
LAV'ISHNESS, noun Profusion; prodigality.
Lavolta
LAVOL'TA, An old dance in which was much turning and capering.
Law
LAW, noun [Latin lex; from the root of lay. See lay. A law is that which is laid, set or fixed, like statute, constitution, from Latin statuo.]
1. A rule, particularly an established or permanent rule, prescribed by the supreme power of a state to its subjects, for regulating their actions, particularly their social actions. Laws are imperative or mandatory, commanding what shall be done; prohibitory, restraining from what is to be forborn; or permissive, declaring what may be done without incurring a penalty. The laws which enjoin the duties of piety and morality, are prescribed by God and found in the Scriptures.
LAW is beneficence acting by rule.
2. Municipal law is a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power of a state, commanding what its subjects are to do, and prohibiting what they are to forbear; a statute.
Municipal or civil laws are established by the decrees, edicts or ordinances of absolute princes, as emperors and kings, or by the formal acts of the legislatures of free states. law therefore is sometimes equivalent to decree, edict, or ordinance.
3. law of nature, is a rule of conduct arising out of the natural relations of human beings established by the Creator, and existing prior to any positive precept. Thus it is a law of nature, that one man should not injure another, and murder and fraud would be crimes, independent of any prohibition from a supreme power.
4. Laws of animal nature, the inherent principles by which the economy and functions of animal bodies are performed, such as respiration, the circulation of the blood, digestion, nutrition, various secretions, etc.
5. Laws of vegetation, the principles by which plats are produced, and their growth carried on till they arrive to perfection.
6. Physical laws, or laws of nature. The invariable tendency or determination of any species of matter to a particular form with definite properties, and the determination of a body to certain motions, changes, and relations, which uniformly take place in the same circumstances, is called a physical law These tendencies or determinations, whether called laws or affections of matter, have been established by the Creator, and are, with a peculiar felicity of expression, denominated in Scripture, ordinances of heaven.
7. Laws of nations, the rules that regulate the mutual intercourse of nations or states. These rules depend on natural law or the principles of justice which spring from the social state; or they are founded on customs, compacts, treaties, leagues and agreements between independent communities.
By the law of nations, we are to understand that code of public instruction, which defines the rights and prescribes the duties of nations, in their intercourse with each other.
8. Moral law a law which prescribes to men their religious and social duties, in other words, their duties to God and to each other. The moral law is summarily contained in the decalogue or ten commandments, written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, and delivered to Moses on mount Sinai.
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9. Ecclesiastical law a rule of action prescribed for the government of a church; otherwise called canon law
10. Written law a law or rule of action prescribed or enacted by a sovereign, and promulgated and recorded in writing; a written statute, ordinance, edict or decree.
11. Unwritten or common law a rule of action which derives its authority from long usage, or established custom, which has been immemorially received and recognized by judicial tribunals. As this law can be traced to no positive statutes, its rules or principles are to be found only in the records of courts, and in the reports of judicial decisions.
12. By-law, a law of a city, town or private corporation. [See By.]
13. Mosaic law the institutions of Moses, or the code of laws prescribed to the Jews, as distinguished from the gospel.
14. Ceremonial law the Mosaic institutions which prescribe the external rites and ceremonies to be observed by the Jews, as distinct from the moral precepts, which are of perpetual obligation.
15. A rule of direction; a directory; as reason and natural conscience.
These, having not the law as a law to themselves. .
16. That which governs or has a tendency to rule; that which has the power of controlling.
But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. .
17. The word of God; the doctrines and precepts of God, or his revealed will.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. .
18. The Old Testament.
Is it not written in your law I said, ye are gods? .
19. The institutions of Moses, as distinct from the other parts of the Old Testament; as the law and the prophets.
20. A rule or axiom of science or art; settled principle; as the laws of versification or poetry.
21. law martial, or martial law the rules ordained for the government of an army or military force.
22. Marine laws, rules for the regulation of navigation, and the commercial intercourse of nations.
23. Commercial law law-merchant, the system of rules by which trade and commercial intercourse are regulated between merchants.
24. Judicial process; prosecution of right in courts of law
Tom Touchy is a fellow famous for taking the law of every body.
Hence the phrase, to go to law to prosecute; to seek redress in a legal tribunal.
25. Jurisprudence; as in the title, Doctor of Laws.
26. In general, law is a rule of action prescribed for the government of rational beings or moral agents, to which rule they are bound to yield obedience, in default of which they are exposed to punishment; or law is a settled mode or course of action or operation in irrational beings and in inanimate bodies.
Civil law criminal law [See Civil and Criminal.]
LAWs of honor. [See Honor.]
LAW language, the language used in legal writings and forms, particularly the Norman dialect or Old French, which was used in judicial proceedings from the days of William the conqueror to the 36th year of Edward III.
Wager of law a species of trial formerly used in England, in which the defendant gave security that he would, on a certain day, make his law that is, he would make oath that he owed nothing to the plaintiff, and would produce eleven of his neighbors as compurgators, who should swear that they believed in their consciences that he had sworn the truth.
LAW'-BREAKER, noun One who violates the law
Law-Day
LAW-DAY, n
1. A day of open court.
2. A leet or sheriff's tourn.
Lawful
LAW'FUL, adjective
1. Agreeable to law; conformable to law; allowed by law; legal; legitimate. That is deemed lawful which no law forbids, but many things are lawful which are not expedient.
2. Constituted by law; rightful; as the lawful owner of lands.
Lawfully
LAW'FULLY, adverb Legally; in accordance with law; without violating law. We may lawfully do what the laws do not forbid.
Lawfulness
LAW'FULNESS, noun The quality of being conformable to law; legality. The lawfulness of an action does not always prove its propriety or expedience.
Lawgiver
LAW'GIVER, noun [law and give.] One who makes or enacts a law; a legislator.
Lawgiving
LAW'GIVING, adjective Making or enacting laws; legislative.
Lawing
LAW'ING, noun Expeditation; the act of cutting off the claws and balls of the fore feet of mastiffs to prevent them from running after deer.
Lawless
LAW'LESS, adjective
1. Not subject to law; unrestrained by law; as a lawless tyrant; lawless men.
2. Contrary to law; illegal; unauthorized; as a lawless claim.
He needs no indirect nor lawless course.
3. Not subject to the ordinary laws of nature; uncontrolled.
He, meteor-like, flames lawless through the void.
Lawlessly
LAW'LESSLY, adverb In a manner contrary to law.
Lawlessness
LAW'LESSNESS, noun The quality or state of being unrestrained by law; disorder.
LAW'-MAKER, noun One who enacts or ordains laws; a legislator; a lawgiver.
Law-makers should not be law-breakers.
LAW'-MONGER, noun A low dealer in law; a pettifogger.
Lawn
LAWN, noun
An open space between woods, or a plain in a park or adjoining a noble seat.
Betwixt them lawns or level downs, and flocks grazing the tender herbs, were interspers'd.
LAWN, noun [Latin linum.]
A sort of fine linen. Its use in the sleeves of bishops, explains the following line.
A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn
LAWN, adjective Made of lawn
Lawny
LAWN'Y, adjective
1. Level, as a plain; like a lawn.
2. Made of lawn.
Lawsuit
LAW'SUIT, noun [See suit.] a suit in law for the recovery of a supposed right; a process in law instituted by a party to compel another to do him justice.
Lawyer
LAW'YER, noun [that is lawer, contracted from law-wer, law-man.]
One versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to institute suits in courts of law, and to prosecute or defend the cause of clients. this is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, serjeants and advocates.
Lawyer-Like
LAW'YER-LIKE, adjective Like a real lawyer.
Lawyerly
LAW'YERLY, adjective Judicial.
Lax
LAX, adjective [Latin laxus.]
1. Loose; flabby; soft; not tense, firm or rigid; as lax flesh; a lax fiber.
2. Slack; not tight or tense; as a lax cord.
3. Not firly united; of loose texture; as gravel and the like laxer matter.
4. Not rigidly exact; as a lax moral discourse.
5. Not strict; as lax morals.
6. Loose in the bowels; having too frequent discharges.
LAX, noun
1. A looseness; diarrhea.
2. A species of fish or salmon. [Not in use.]
Laxation
LAXA'TION, noun [Latin laxatio.] The act of loosening or slackening; or the state of being loose or slackened.
Laxative
LAX'ATIVE, adjective [Latin laxo.] Having the power or quality of loosening or opening the bowels, and relieving from constipation.
LAX'ATIVE, noun A medicine that relaxes the bowels and relieves from costiveness; a gentle purgative.
Laxativeness
LAX'ATIVENESS, noun The quality of relaxing.
Laxity
LAX'ITY, noun [Latin laxitas.]
1. Looseness; slackness; the opposite of tenseness or tension.
2. Looseness of texture.
3. Want of exactness or precision; as laxity of expression.
4. Looseness; defect of exactness; as laxity of morals.
5. Looseness, as of the bowels; the opposite of costiveness.
6. Openness; not closeness.
Laxly
LAX'LY, adverb Loosely; without exactness.
Laxness
LAX'NESS, noun
1. Looseness; softness; flabbiness; as the laxness of flesh or of muscles.
2. Laxity; the opposite of tension.
3. Looseness, as of morals or discipline.
4. Looseness, as of the bowels.
5. Slackness, as of a cord.
Lay
LAY, preterit tense of lie. The estate lay in the county of Hartford.
When Ahab heard these words, he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his head, and fasted and lay in sackcloth.
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LAY, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive laid. [Latin loco, whence locus, Eng. ley or lea. The primary sense is to send or throw; hence this word is the Latin lego, legare, differently applied; Gr. to lie down.]
1. Literally, to throw down; hence, to put or place; applied to things broad or long, and in this respect differing from set. We lay a book on the table, when we place it on its side, but we set it on the end. We lay the foundation of a house, but we set a building on its foundation.
He laid his robe from him. .
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid.
A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den.
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2. To beat down; to prostrate. Violent winds with rain lay corn and grass.
3. To settle; to fix and keep from rising. A shower lays the dust.
4. To place in order; to dispose with regularity in building; as, to lay bricks or stones in constructing walls.
5. To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.
6. To spread or set; as, to lay snares.
7. To calm; to appease; to still; to allay.
After a tempest, when the winds are laid.
8. To quiet; to still; to restrain from walking; as, to lay the devil.
9. To spread and set in order; to prepare; as, to lay a table for dinner.
10. To place in the earth for growth.
The chief time of laying gilliflowers, is in July.
11. To place at hazard; to wage; to stake; as, to lay a crown or an eagle; to lay a wager.
12. To bring forth; to exclude; as, to lay eggs.
13. To add; to join.
Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field. .
14. To put; to apply.
She layeth her hand to the spindle. .
15. To asses; to charge; to impose; as, to lay a tax on land; to lay a duty on salt.
16. To charge; to impute; as, to lay blame on one; to lay want of prudence to one's charge.
17. To impose, as evil, burden, or punishment.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 5:63.
18. To enjoin as a duty; as, to lay commands on one.
19. To exhibit; to present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county.
20. To prostrate; to slay.
The leaders first he laid along.
21. To depress and lose sight of, by sailing or departing from; as, to lay the land; a seaman's phrase.
22. To station; to set; as, to lay an ambush.
23. To contrive; to scheme; to plan.
To lay a cable, to twist or unite the strands.
To lay apart, to put away; to reject.
LAY apart all filthiness. .
1. To lay aside, to put off or away; not to retain.
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us. .
2. To discontinue; as, to lay aside the use of any thing.
To lay away, to reposit in store; to put aside for preservation.
To lay before, to exhibit; to show; to present to view. The papers are laid before Congress.
1. To lay by, to reserve for future use.
Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him. .
2. To put away; to dismiss.
Let brave spirits not be laid by, as persons unnecessary for the time.
3. To put off.
And she arose and went away, and laid by her veil. .
1. To lay down, to deposit, as a pledge, equivalent or satisfaction; to resign.
I lay down my life for the sheep. .
2. To give up; to resign; to quit or relinquish; as, to lay down an office or commission.
3. To quit; to surrender the use of; as, to lay down one's arms.
4. To offer or advance; as, to lay down a proposition or principle.
To lay one's self down, to commit to repose.
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep - .
To lay hold of, to seize; to catch. To lay hold on, is used in a like sense.
To lay in, to store; to treasure; to provide previously.
To lay on, to apply with force; to inflict; as, to lay on blows.
To lay open, to open; to make bare; to uncover; also, to show; to expose; to reveal; as, to lay open the designs of an enemy.
To lay over, to spread over; to incrust; to cover the surface; as, to lay over with gold or silver.
1. To lay out, to expend; as, to lay out money, or sums of money.
2. To display; to discover.
He takes occasion to lay out bigotry and false confidence in all its colors. obsolete
3. To plan; to dispose in order the several parts; as, to lay out a garden.
4. To dress in grave clothes and place in a decent posture; as, to lay out a corpse. Shakespeare uses to lay forth.
5. To exert; as, to lay out all one's strength. So with the reciprocal pronoun, to lay one's self out, is to exert strength.
1. To lay to, to charge upon; to impute.
2. To apply with vigor.
3. To attack or harass. obsolete
4. To check the motion of a ship, and cause her to be stationary.
To lay together, to collect; to bring to one place; also, to bring into one view.
To lay to heart, to permit to affect greatly.
To lay under, to subject to; as, to lay one under restraint or obligation.
1. To lay up, to store; to treasure; to reposit for future use.
LAY up for yourselves treasures in heaven. .
2. To confine to the bed or chamber. He is laid up with the gout.
To lay siege, to besiege; to encompass with an army.
To lay wait, to station for private attack; to lay in ambush for.
To lay the course, in sailing, is to sail towards the port intended, without gibing.
To lay waste, to destroy; to desolate; to deprive of inhabitants, improvements and productions.
To lay the land, in seamen's language, is to cause the land apparently to sink or appear lower, by sailing from it; the distance diminishing the elevation.
LAY, verb intransitive
1. To bring or produce eggs.
Hens will greedily eat the herb that will make them lay the better.
2. To contrive; to form a scheme. [Unusual.]
To lay about, to strike or throw the arms on all sides; to act with vigor.
To lay at, to strike or to endeavor to strike.
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold. .
1. To lay out, to purpose; to intend. he lays out to make a journey.
2. To take measures.
I made strict inquiry wherever I came, and laid out for intelligence of all places.
To lay upon, to importune. obsolete
LAY, noun
1. That which lies or is laid; a row; a stratum; a layer; one rank in a series reckoned upward; as a lay of wood.
A viol should have a lay of wire-strings below.
2. A bet; a wager. [Little used.]
3. Station; rank. [Not used.]
LAY, noun [Latin locus. See lay the verb. The words which signify place, are from verbs which express setting or laying. It is written also ley, and lea, but less properly.]
A meadow; a plain or plat of grass land.
A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.
LAY, noun [Gr. to sound. Latin laudo, plaudo.]
A song; as a loud or soft lay; immortal lays.
[It is used chiefly in poetry.]
LAY, adjective [Latin laicus, Gr. from people.]
Pertaining to the laity or people, as distinct from the clergy; not clerical; as a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.
Lay-Clerk
LAY-CLERK, noun A vocal officiate in a cathedral.
Layer
LA'YER, noun la'er. [from lay, the verb.]
1. A stratum; a bed; a body spread over another; as a layer of clay or of sand.
2. A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation.
3. A hen that lays eggs.
Laying
LA'YING, participle present tense Putting; placing; applying; imputing; wagering.
Layland
LA'YLAND, noun Land lying untilled; fallow ground. [Local.]
Layman
LA'YMAN, noun la'man. [lay and man.]
1. A man who is not a clergyman; one of the laity or people, distinct from the clergy.
2. An image used by painters in contriving attitudes.
3. A lay-clerk.
Laystall
LA'YSTALL, noun [lay and stall.] A heap of dung, or a place where dung is laid.
Lazar
LA'ZAR, noun [from Laxarus.] A person infected with nauseous and pestilential disease.
Lazar-House
LA'ZAR-HOUSE, noun A lazaretto; also, a hospital for quarantine.
Lazar-Like
LA'ZAR-LIKE,
LAZARET',
LAZARETTO, noun
A public building, hospital or pest-house for the reception of diseased persons, particularly for those affected with contagious distempers.
Lazaret
LAZARET',
Lazaretto
LAZARETTO, n. A public building, hospital or pest-house for the reception of diseased persons, particularly for those affected with contagious distempers.
Lazarly
LA'ZARLY, adjective Full of sores; leprous.
Lazarwort
LA'ZARWORT,
LAZE, verb intransitive To live in idleness. [Vulgar.]
LAZE, verb transitive To waste in sloth. [Vulgar.]
Laze
LAZE, v.i. To live in idleness. [Vulgar.]
LAZE, v.t. To waste in sloth. [Vulgar.]
Lazily
LA'ZILY, adverb [from lazy.] In a heavy, sluggish manner; sluggishly.
Whether he lazily and listlessly dreams away his time.
Laziness
LA'ZINESS, noun [from lazy.]
1. The state or quality of being lazy; indisposition to action or exertion; indolence; sluggishness; heaviness in motion; habitual sloth. laziness differs from idleness; the latter being a mere defect or cessation of action, but laziness is sloth, with natural or habitual disinclination to action.
Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him.
2. Slowness; tardiness.
Lazing
LA'ZING, adjective Spending time in sluggish inaction.
[This is an ill-formed, inelegant word.]
Lazuli
LAZ'ULI. Lapis lazuli is a mineral of a fine, azure blue color, usually amorphous, or in rounded masses of a moderate size. It is often marked by yellow spots or veins of sulphuret of iron, and is much valued for ornamental work. It is distinguished from lazulite, by the intenseness of its color.
Lazulite
LAZ'ULITE, noun A mineral of a light, indigo blue color, occurring in small masses, or crystallized in oblique four-sided prisms.
Lazy
LA'ZY, adjective [Latin laxus, and it is doubtful whether this is of the same family.]
1. Disinclined to action or exertion; naturally or habitually slothful; sluggish; indolent; averse to labor; heavy in motion.
Wicked men will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy and spend victuals.
2. Slow; moving slowly or apparently with labor; as a lazy stream.
The night-owl's lazy flight.
Ld
LD, stands for lord.
Lea
LEA,
LEACH, verb transitive [See leak. Perhaps Latin lix may be from the same root.]
To wash, as ashes, by percolation, or causing water to pass through them, and thus to separate from them the alkali. The water thus charged with alkali, is called lye.
LEACH, noun A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
Leach
LEACH, v.t. [See leak. Perhaps L. lix may be from the same root.] To wash, as ashes, by percolation, or causing water to pass through them, and thus to separate from them the alkali. The water thus charged with alkali, is called lye. LEACH, n. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
Leach-Tub
LE'ACH-TUB, noun A wooden vessel or tub in which ashes are leached. It is sometimes written letch-tub.
Lead
LEAD, noun led.
1. A metal of a dull white color, with a cast of blue. It is the least elastic and sonorous of all the metals, and at the same time it is soft and easily fusible. It is found native in small masses, but generally mineralized by sulphur, and sometimes by other substances. lead fused in a strong heat, throws off vapors which are unwholesome.
2. A plummet or mass of lead used in sounding at sea.
3. Leads, a flat roof covered with lead
White lead the oxyd of lead ground with one third part of chalk.
LEAD, verb transitive led. To cover with lead; to fit with lead
LEAD, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive led.
1. To guide by the hand; as, to lead a child. It often includes the sense of drawing as well as of directing.
2. To guide or conduct by showing the way; to direct; as, the Israelites were led by a pillar of a cloud by day, and by a pillar of fire by night.
3. To conduct to any place.
He leadeth me beside the still waters. .
4. To conduct, as a chief or commander, implying authority; to direct and govern; as, a general leads his troops to battle and to victory.
Christ took not on him flesh and blood, that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies.
5. To precede; to introduce by going first.
As Hesperus that leads the sun his way.
6. To guide; to show the method of attaining an object. Self-examination may lead us to a knowledge of ourselves.
7. To draw; to entice; to allure. The love of pleasure leads men into vices which degrade and impoverish them.
8. To induce; to prevail on; to influence.
He was driven by the necessities of the times more than led by his own disposition to any rigor of actions.
9. To pass; to spend, that is, to draw out; as, to lead a life of gayety, or a solitary life.
That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. .
To lead astray, to guide in a wrong way or into error; to seduce from truth or rectitude.
To lead captive, to carry into captivity.
LEAD, verb intransitive
1. To go before and show the way.
I will lead on softly. .
2. To conduct, as a chief or commander. Let the troops follow, where their general leads.
3. To draw; to have a tendency to. Gaming leads to other vices.
4. To exercise dominion.
To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.
LEAD, noun Precedence; a going before; guidance. Let the general take the lead [A colloquial word in reputable use.]
Leaden
LEADEN, adjective led'n. [from lead.]
1. Made of lead; as a leaden ball.
2. Heavy; indisposed to action.
3. heavy; dull.
Leaden-Hearted
LEADEN-HE'ARTED, adjective Stupid; destitute of feeling.
Leaden-Heeled
LEADEN-HEE'LED, adjective Moving slowly.
Leaden-Stepping
LEADEN-STEP'PING, adjective Moving slowly.
Leader
LE'ADER, noun
1. One that leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.
2. A chief; a commander; a captain.
3. One who goes first.
4. The chief of a party or faction; as the leader of the whigs or of the tories; a leader of the Jacobins.
5. a performer who leads a band or choir in music.
Leading
LE'ADING, participle present tense
1. Guiding; conducting; preceding; drawing; alluring; passing life.
2. adjective Chief; principal; capital; most influential; as a leading motive; a leading man in a party.
3. showing the way by going first.
He left his mother a countess by patent, which was a new leading example.
LE'ADING, noun Guidance; the act of conducting; direction.
Leading-Strings
LE'ADING-STRINGS, noun Strings by which children are supported when beginning to walk.
To be in leading strings, to be in a state of infancy or dependence, or in pupilage under the guidance of others.
Leadman
LE'ADMAN, noun One who begins or leads a dance. obsolete
Leadwort
LEADWORT, noun led'wort. Plumbago, a genus of plants.
Leady
LEADY, adjective led'dy. Of the color of lead.
Leaf
LEAF, noun plural leaves.
1. In botany, leaves are organs of perspiration and inhalation in plants. They usually shoot from the sides of the stems and branches, but sometimes from the root; sometimes they are sessile; more generally supported by petioles. They are of various forms, flat, extended, linear, cylindric, etc.
2. The thin, extended part of a flower; a petal.
3. A part of a book containing two pages.
4. The side of a double door. .
5. Something resembling a leaf in thinness and extension; a very thin plate; as gold leaf
6. The movable side of a table.
LEAF, verb intransitive To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves. The trees leaf in May.
Leaf-Stalk
LE'AF-STALK, noun The petiole or stalk which supports a leaf.
Leafage
LE'AFAGE, noun Abundance of leaves.
Leafed
LE'AFED, participle passive Having leaves.
Leafless
LE'AFLESS, adjective Destitute of leaves; as a leafless tree.
Leaflet
LE'AFLET, noun
1. A little leaf.
2. In botany, one of the divisions of a compound leaf; a foliole.
Leafy
LE'AFY, adjective Full of leaves; as the leafy forest.
League
LEAGUE, noun leeg. [Latin ligo, to bind.]
1. An alliance or confederacy between princes or states for their mutual aid or defense; a national contract or compact. A league may be offensive or defensive, or both. It is offensive, when the contracting parties agree to unite in attacking a common enemy; defensive, when the parties agree to act in concert in defending each other against an enemy.
2. A combination or union of two or more parties for the purpose of maintaining friendship and promoting their mutual interest, or for executing any design in concert.
And let there be 'twixt us and them no league nor amity.
LEAGUE, verb intransitive leeg.
1. To unite, as princes or states in a contract of amity for mutual aid or defense; to confederate. Russia and Austria leagued to oppose the ambition of Buonaparte.
2. To unite or confederate, as private persons for mutual aid.
LEAGUE, noun leeg. [Low Latin leuca.]
1. Originally, a stone erected on the public roads, at certain distances, in the manner of the modern mile-stones. Hence,
2. The distance between two stones. With the English and Americans, a league is the length of three miles; but this measure is chiefly at sea. The league on the continent of Europe, is very different among different nations. The Dutch and German league contains four geographical miles.
Leagued
LE'AGUED, participle passive lee'ged. United in mutual compact; confederated.
Leaguer
LE'AGUER, noun lee'ger. One who unites in a league; a confederate.
LE'AGUER, noun
Siege; investment of a town or fort by an army. [Little used.]
Leak
LEAK, noun [Gr. a fissure or crevice, Latin lacero and loquor, and perhaps Eng. clack. It seems that licerish is from the root of leak and signifies properly watery.]
1. A crack, crevice, fissure or hole in a vessel, that admits water, or permits a fluid to escape.
2. The oozing or passing of water or other fluid or liquor through a crack, fissure or aperture in a vessel, either into it, as into a ship, or out of it, as out of a cask.
To spring a leak is to open or crack so as to let in water; to being to let in water.
LEAK, adjective Leaky. [Not in use.]
LEAK, verb intransitive To let water or other liquor into or out of a vessel, through a hole or crevice in the vessel. A ship leaks, when she admits water through her seams or an aperture in her bottom or sides, into the hull. A pail or a cask leaks, when it admits liquor to pass out through a hole or crevice.
To lead out, to find vent; to escape privately from confinement or secrecy; as a fact or report.
Leakage
LE'AKAGE, noun
1. A leaking; or the quantity of a liquor that enters or issues by leaking.
2. An allowance, in commerce, of a certain rate per cent, for the leaking of casks, or the waste of liquors by leaking.
Leaky
LE'AKY, adjective
1. That admits water or other liquor to pass in or out; as a leaky vessel; a leaky ship or barrel.
2. Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close.
Leamer
LE'AMER, noun A dog; a kind of hound.
Lean
LEAN, verb intransitive [Gr., Latin clino.]
1. To deviate or move from a straight or perpendicular line; or to be in a position thus deviating. We say, a column leans to the north or to the east; it leans to the right or left.
2. To incline or propend; to tend toward.
They delight rather to lean to their old customs -
3. To bend or incline so as to rest on something; as, to lean against a wall or a pillar; to lean on the arm of another.
4. To bend; to be in a bending posture.
LEAN, verb transitive
1. To incline; to cause to lean
2. To conceal. [Not in use.]
LEAN, adjective [Latin lenis, and Eng. slender.]
1. Wanting flesh; meager; not fat; as a lean body; a lean man or animal.
2. Not rich; destitute of good qualities; bare; barren; as lean earth.
3. Low; poor; in opposition to rich or great; as a lean action. [Unusual.]
4. Barren of thought; destitute of that which improves or entertains; jejune; as a lean discourse or dissertation.
LEAN, noun That part of flesh which consists of muscle without the fat.
Leanly
LE'ANLY, adverb Meagerly; without fat or plumpness.
Leanness
LE'ANNESS, noun
1. Destitution of fat; want of flesh; thinness of body; meagerness; applied to animals.
2. Want of matter; poverty; emptiness; as the leanness of a purse.
3. In Scripture, want of grace and spiritual comfort.
He sent leanness into their soul. .
Leany
LE'ANY, adjective Alert; brisk; active. [Not in use.]
Leap
LEAP, verb intransitive [Latin labor, perhaps. Heb.]
1. To spring or rise from the ground with both feet, as man, or with all the feet, as other animals; to jump; to vault; as, a man leaps over a fence, or leaps upon a horse.
A man leapeth better with weights in his hands than without.
2. To spring or move suddenly; as, to leap from a horse.
3. To rush with violence.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them - .
4. To spring; to bound; to skip; as, to leap for joy.
5. To fly; to start. .
He parted frowning from me, as if ruin leaped from his eyes.
[Our common people retain the Saxon aspirate of this word in the phrase, to clip it, to run fast.]
LEAP, verb transitive
1. To pass over by leaping; to spring or bound from one side to the other; as, to leap a wall, a gate or a gulf; to leap a stream. [But the phrase is elliptical, and over is understood.]
2. To compress; as the male of certain beasts.
LEAP, noun
1. A jump; a spring; a bound; act of leaping.
2. Space passed by leaping.
3. A sudden transition of passing.
4. The space that may be passed at a bound.
'Tis the convenient leap I mean to try.
5. Embrace of animals.
6. Hazard, or effect of leaping.
7. A basket; a weel for fish. [Not in use.]
Leap-Frog
LE'AP-FROG, noun A play of children in which they imitate the leap of frogs.
Leap-Year
LE'AP-YEAR, noun Blissextile, a year containing 366 days; every fourth year, which leaps over a day more than a common year. Thus in common years, if the first day of March is on Monday, the present year, it will, the next year, fall on Tuesday, but in leap-year it will leap to Wednesday; for leap-year contains a day more than a common year, a day being added to the month of February.
Leaper
LE'APER, noun One that leaps. A horse is called a good leaper
Leaping
LE'APING, participle present tense Jumping; springing; bounding; skipping.
Leapingly
LE'APINGLY, adverb By leaps.
Learn
LEARN, verb transitive lern.
1. To gain knowledge of; to acquire knowledge or ideas of something before unknown. We learn the use of letters, the meaning of words and the principles of science. We learn things by instruction, by study, and by experience and observation. It is much easier to learn what is right, than to unlearn what is wrong.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree. .
2. To acquire skill in any thing; to gain by practice a faculty of performing; as, to learn to play on a flute or an organ.
The chief art of learning is to attempt but little at a time.
3. To teach; to communicate the knowledge of something before unknown.
Hast thou not learned me how to make perfumes?
[This use of learn is found in respectable writers, but is now deemed inelegant as well as improper.
LEARN, verb intransitive lern.
1. To gain or receive knowledge; to receive instruction; to take pattern; with of.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly - .
2. To receive information or intelligence.
Learned
LEARNT, lernt. participle passive Obtained as knowledge or information.
LEARNED, adjective lern'ed.
1. Versed in literature and science; as a learned man.
2. Skillful; well acquainted with arts; knowing; within; as learned in martial arts.
3. Containing learning; as a learned treatise or publication.
4. Versed in scholastic, as distinct from other knowledge.
Men of much reading are greatly learned, but may be little knowing.
The learned, learned men; men of erudition; literati.
Learnedly
LEARNEDLY, adverb lern'edly. With learning or erudition; with skill; as, to discuss a question learnedly
Every coxcomb swears as learnedly as they.
Learner
LEARNER, noun lern'er. A person who is gaining knowledge from instruction, from reading or study, or by other means; one who is in the rudiments of any science or art.
Learning
LEARNING, participle present tense lern'ing. Gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice.
LEARNING, noun lern'ing.
1. The knowledge of principles or facts received by instruction or study; acquired knowledge or ideas in any branch of science or literature; erudition; literature; science. The Scaligers were men of great learning
[This is the proper sense of the word.]
2. Knowledge acquired by experience, experiment or observation.
3. Skill in anything good or bad.
Learnt
LEARNT, lernt. participle passive Obtained as knowledge or information.
LEARNED, adjective lern'ed.
1. Versed in literature and science; as a learned man.
2. Skillful; well acquainted with arts; knowing; within; as learned in martial arts.
3. Containing learning; as a learned treatise or publication.
4. Versed in scholastic, as distinct from other knowledge.
Men of much reading are greatly learned, but may be little knowing.
The learned, learned men; men of erudition; literati.
Leasable
LE'ASABLE, adjective That may be leased.
Lease
LEASE, noun [See the Verb.]
1. A demise or letting of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, for a rent or compensation reserved; also, the contract for such letting.
2. Any tenure by grant or permission.
Our high placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature.
LEASE, verb transitive [Eng. let. See Let.]
To let; to demise; to grant the temporary possession of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for a rent reserved. A leased to B his land in Dale for the annual rent of a pepper corn.
LEASE, verb intransitive leez. [Latin lego.]
To glean; to gather what harvest men have left. obsolete
Leased
LE'ASED, participle passive Demised or let, as lands or tenements.
Leasehold
LE'ASEHOLD, adjective Held by lease; as a leasehold tenement.
Leaser
LE'ASER, noun A gleaner; a gatherer after reapers.
Leash
LEASH, noun [Latin laqueus.]
1. A thong of leather, or long line by which a falconer holds his hawk, or a courser his dog.
2. Among sportsmen, a brace and a half; tierce; three; three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks and hares.
3. A band wherewith to tie any thing.
LEASH, verb transitive To bind; to hold by a string.
Leasing
LE'ASING, noun s as z.
Falsehood; lies. [Obsolete or nearly so.]
Leasow
LE'ASOW, noun A pasture. obsolete
Least
LEAST, adjective
Smallest; little beyond others, either in size or degree; as the least insect; the least mercy.
LEAST is often used without the noun to which it refers. 'I am the least of the apostles, ' that is, the least apostle of all the apostles. .
LEAST, adverb
1. In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others; as, to reward those who least deserve it.
At least
At the least To say no more; not to demand or affirm more than is barely sufficient; at the lowest degree. If he has not incurred a penalty, he at least deserves censure.
He who tempts, though vain, at least asperses the tempted with dishonor.
2. To say no more. Let useful observations be at least a part of your conversation.
The least in the smallest degree. His faculties are not in the least impaired.
At leastwise, in the sense of at least is obsolete.
Leasy
LE'ASY, adjective s as z. Thin; flimsy. It is usually pronounced sleazy.
Leat
LEAT, noun A trench to conduct water to or from a mill.
Leather
LEATH'ER,
LEATH'ER-COAT, noun An apple with a tough coat or rind.
Leather-Coat
LEATH'ER-COAT, n. An apple with a tough coat or rind.
Leather-Dresser
LEATH'ER-DRESSER, noun One who dresses leather; one who prepares hides for use.
Leather-Jacket
LEATH'ER-JACKET, n A fish of the Pacific ocean.
Leather-Mouthed
LEATH'ER-MOUTHED, adjective
By leather-mouthed fish, I mean such as have their teeth in their throat, as the chub.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828); edition by akaitsurugi (github.com/akaitsurugi/webster1828). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.