- lyric
- lysis
- lythe
- lytta
- lanky
- lapel
- lapis
- lapps
- lapse
- larch
- lardy
- large
- larum
- larva
- larve
- lasso
- latch
- lated
- later
- latex
- laths
- lathy
- laugh
- laund
- laved
- lavic
- lanch
- lawny
- laxly
- layer
- lazed
- leady
- leafy
- leaky
- leant
- leany
- leapt
- learn
- lease
- leash
- least
- leave
- leche
- leden
- ledge
- ledgy
- leech
- legal
- lymph
- lying
- lyken
- lycea
- luted
- luter
- lurch
- lured
- lurid
- lurch
- lurid
- lurry
- lunch
- lunet
- lunge
- lumpy
- lunar
- lucre
- lowly
- loyal
- lucid
- lovee
- loved
- lowed
- lotto
- loups
- louse
- lousy
- lotos
- lorel
- losel
- loser
- loped
- loper
- loppy
- loord
- loose
- loony
- longe
- looed
- looby
- looch
- limsy
- lined
- limbo
- limed
- limer
- limit
- liked
- liken
- logic
- lofty
- locus
- loess
- leggy
- lemma
- lemur
- lends
- lento
- lepal
- leper
- lepid
- lepra
- lepre
- lepry
- lerot
- lethy
- leuc-
- linen
- liner
- linga
- levee
- lingo
- levee
- level
- levet
- levir
- levo-
- leges
- lipic
- lipse
- libel
- liter
- litre
- lithe
- litho
- lithy
- litre
- litui
- lived
- liver
- lichi
- licit
- lying
- lives
- livid
- lieve
- lives
- livor
- livre
- loach
- loamy
- loath
- lobar
- lobby
- lifen
- lobed
- local
- loche
- ligan
- ligge
- lames
- lamia
- laity
- lakke
- lamed
- lamel
- ladle
- lagan
- lagly
- laded
- labra
- laced
- lache
- label
- labia
- labor
(a.) Alt. of Lyrical
(n.) A lyric poem; a lyrical composition.
(n.) A composer of lyric poems.
(n.) A verse of the kind usually employed in lyric poetry; --
used chiefly in the plural.
(n.) The words of a song.
(n.) The resolution or favorable termination of a disease, coming
on gradually and not marked by abrupt change.
(n.) The European pollack; -- called also laith, and leet.
(a.) Soft; flexible.
(n.) A fibrous and muscular band lying within the longitudinal
axis of the tongue in many mammals, as the dog.
M () M, the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal
consonant, and from the manner of its formation, is called the
labio-nasal consonant. See Guide to Pronunciation, // 178-180, 242.
(a.) Somewhat lank.
(n.) That part of a garment which is turned back; specifically,
the lap, or fold, of the front of a coat in continuation of collar.
(n.) A stone.
(n. pl.) A branch of the Mongolian race, now living in the
northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and the adjacent parts of Russia.
(n.) A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or
imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to
immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
(n.) A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight
deviation from truth or rectitude.
(n.) The termination of a right or privilege through neglect to
exercise it within the limited time, or through failure of some
contingency; hence, the devolution of a right or privilege.
(n.) A fall or apostasy.
(v. i.) To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away;
to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to
figurative uses.
(v. i.) To slide or slip in moral conduct; to fail in duty; to
fall from virtue; to deviate from rectitude; to commit a fault by
inadvertence or mistake.
(v. i.) To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or from
the original destination, by the omission, negligence, or failure of
some one, as a patron, a legatee, etc.
(v. i.) To become ineffectual or void; to fall.
(v. t.) To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to
pass.
(v. t.) To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or
catch, as an offender.
(n.) A genus of coniferous trees, having deciduous leaves, in
fascicles (see Illust. of Fascicle).
(a.) Containing, or resembling, lard; of the character or
consistency of lard.
(superl.) Exceeding most other things of like kind in bulk,
capacity, quantity, superficial dimensions, or number of constituent
units; big; great; capacious; extensive; -- opposed to small; as, a
large horse; a large house or room; a large lake or pool; a large jug
or spoon; a large vineyard; a large army; a large city.
(superl.) Abundant; ample; as, a large supply of provisions.
(superl.) Full in statement; diffuse; full; profuse.
(superl.) Having more than usual power or capacity; having broad
sympathies and generous impulses; comprehensive; -- said of the mind
and heart.
(superl.) Free; unembarrassed.
(superl.) Unrestrained by decorum; -- said of language.
(superl.) Prodigal in expending; lavish.
(superl.) Crossing the line of a ship's course in a favorable
direction; -- said of the wind when it is abeam, or between the beam
and the quarter.
(adv.) Freely; licentiously.
(n.) A musical note, formerly in use, equal to two longs, four
breves, or eight semibreves.
(n.) See Alarum, and Alarm.
(n.) Any young insect from the time that it hatches from the egg
until it becomes a pupa, or chrysalis. During this time it usually
molts several times, and may change its form or color each time. The
larvae of many insects are much like the adults in form and habits, but
have no trace of wings, the rudimentary wings appearing only in the
pupa stage. In other groups of insects the larvae are totally unlike
the parents in structure and habits, and are called caterpillars,
grubs, maggots, etc.
(n.) The early, immature form of any animal when more or less of
a metamorphosis takes place, before the assumption of the mature shape.
(n.) A larva.
(n.) A rope or long thong of leather with, a running noose, used
for catching horses, cattle, etc.
(v. t.) To catch with a lasso.
(v. t.) To smear; to anoint.
(n.) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
(n.) A movable piece which holds anything in place by entering a
notch or cavity; specifically, the catch which holds a door or gate
when closed, though it be not bolted.
(n.) A latching.
(n.) A crossbow.
(n.) To catch so as to hold.
(n.) To catch or fasten by means of a latch.
(a.) Belated; too late.
(n.) A brick or tile.
(a.) Compar. of Late, a. & adv.
(n.) A milky or colored juice in certain plants in cavities
(called latex cells or latex tubes). It contains the peculiar
principles of the plants, whether aromatic, bitter, or acid, and in
many instances yields caoutchouc upon coagulation.
(pl. ) of Lath
(a.) Like a lath; long and slender.
(v. i.) To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar
movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing
a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the
emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to
indulge in laughter.
(v. i.) Fig.: To be or appear gay, cheerful, pleasant, mirthful,
lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.
(v. t.) To affect or influence by means of laughter or ridicule.
(v. t.) To express by, or utter with, laughter; -- with out.
(n.) An expression of mirth peculiar to the human species; the
sound heard in laughing; laughter. See Laugh, v. i.
(n.) A plain sprinkled with trees or underbrush; a glade.
(imp. & p. p.) of Lave
(a.) See Lavatic.
(v. t.) To throw, as a lance; to let fly; to launch.
(a.) Having a lawn; characterized by a lawn or by lawns; like a
lawn.
(a.) Made of lawn or fine linen.
(adv.) In a lax manner.
(n.) One who, or that which, lays.
(n.) That which is laid; a stratum; a bed; one thickness, course,
or fold laid over another; as, a layer of clay or of sand in the earth;
a layer of bricks, or of plaster; the layers of an onion.
(n.) A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock,
laid under ground for growth or propagation.
(n.) An artificial oyster bed.
(imp. & p. p.) of Laze
(a.) Resembling lead.
(superl) Full of leaves; abounding in leaves; as, the leafy
forest.
(superl) Consisting of leaves.
(superl.) Permitting water or other fluid to leak in or out; as,
a leaky roof or cask.
(superl.) Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close.
() of Lean
(a.) Lean.
() of Leap
(v. t.) To gain knowledge or information of; to ascertain by
inquiry, study, or investigation; to receive instruction concerning; to
fix in the mind; to acquire understanding of, or skill; as, to learn
the way; to learn a lesson; to learn dancing; to learn to skate; to
learn the violin; to learn the truth about something.
(v. t.) To communicate knowledge to; to teach.
(v. i.) To acquire knowledge or skill; to make progress in
acquiring knowledge or skill; to receive information or instruction;
as, this child learns quickly.
(v. i.) To gather what harvesters have left behind; to glean.
(v. t.) To grant to another by lease the possession of, as of
lands, tenements, and hereditaments; to let; to demise; as, a landowner
leases a farm to a tenant; -- sometimes with out.
(v. t.) To hold under a lease; to take lease of; as, a tenant
leases his land from the owner.
(v. t.) A demise or letting of lands, tenements, or hereditaments
to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, or for any less
interest than that which the lessor has in the property, usually for a
specified rent or compensation.
(v. t.) The contract for such letting.
(v. t.) Any tenure by grant or permission; the time for which
such a tenure holds good; allotted time.
(n.) A thong of leather, or a long cord, by which a falconer
holds his hawk, or a courser his dog.
(n.) A brace and a half; a tierce; three; three creatures of any
kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks, and hares; hence, the number
three in general.
(n.) A string with a loop at the end for lifting warp threads, in
a loom.
(v. t.) To tie together, or hold, with a leash.
(a.) Smallest, either in size or degree; shortest; lowest; most
unimportant; as, the least insect; the least mercy; the least space.
(adv.) In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all
others; as, to reward those who least deserve it.
(conj.) See Lest, conj.
(v. i.) To send out leaves; to leaf; -- often with out.
(v. t.) To raise; to levy.
(n.) Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed;
permission; allowance; license.
(n.) The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a
leaving; farewell; adieu; -- used chiefly in the phrase, to take leave,
i. e., literally, to take permission to go.
(v.) To withdraw one's self from; to go away from; to depart
from; as, to leave the house.
(v.) To let remain unremoved or undone; to let stay or continue,
in distinction from what is removed or changed.
(v.) To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from.
(v.) To desert; to abandon; to forsake; hence, to give up; to
relinquish.
(v.) To let be or do without interference; as, I left him to his
reflections; I leave my hearers to judge.
(v.) To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver; to commit; to
submit -- with a sense of withdrawing one's self from; as, leave your
hat in the hall; we left our cards; to leave the matter to arbitrators.
(v.) To have remaining at death; hence, to bequeath; as, he left
a large estate; he left a good name; he left a legacy to his niece.
(v. i.) To depart; to set out.
(v. i.) To cease; to desist; to leave off.
(n.) See water buck, under 3d Buck.
(n.) Alt. of Ledden
(n.) A shelf on which articles may be laid; also, that which
resembles such a shelf in form or use, as a projecting ridge or part,
or a molding or edge in joinery.
(n.) A shelf, ridge, or reef, of rocks.
(n.) A layer or stratum.
(n.) A lode; a limited mass of rock bearing valuable mineral.
(n.) A piece of timber to support the deck, placed athwartship
between beams.
(a.) Abounding in ledges; consisting of a ledge or reef; as, a
ledgy island.
(n.) See 2d Leach.
(v. t.) See Leach, v. t.
(n.) The border or edge at the side of a sail.
(n.) A physician or surgeon; a professor of the art of healing.
(n.) Any one of numerous genera and species of annulose worms,
belonging to the order Hirudinea, or Bdelloidea, esp. those species
used in medicine, as Hirudo medicinalis of Europe, and allied species.
(n.) A glass tube of peculiar construction, adapted for drawing
blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum.
(v. t.) To treat as a surgeon; to doctor; as, to leech wounds.
(v. t.) To bleed by the use of leeches.
(a.) Created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating
to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test; a legal
procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything is legal which the
laws do not forbid.
(a.) According to the law of works, as distinguished from free
grace; or resting on works for salvation.
(a.) According to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in accordance
with the law of Moses.
(a.) Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from the rules
of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets.
(n.) A spring of water; hence, water, or a pure, transparent
liquid like water.
(n.) An alkaline colorless fluid, contained in the lymphatic
vessels, coagulable like blood, but free from red blood corpuscles. It
is absorbed from the various tissues and organs of the body, and is
finally discharged by the thoracic and right lymphatic ducts into the
great veins near the heart.
(n.) A fibrinous material exuded from the blood vessels in
inflammation. In the process of healing it is either absorbed, or is
converted into connective tissue binding the inflamed surfaces
together.
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lie, to tell a falsehood.
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lie, to be supported horizontally.
(v. t.) To please; -- chiefly used impersonally.
(pl. ) of Lyceum
(imp. & p. p.) of Lute
(n.) One who plays on a lute.
(n.) One who applies lute.
(v. i.) To roll or sway suddenly to one side, as a ship or a
drunken man.
(v. i.) To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lurk.
(v. i.) To dodge; to shift; to play tricks.
(imp. & p. p.) of Lure
(a.) Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal.
(v. i.) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow
up.
(n.) An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the
game of tables.
(n.) A double score in cribbage for the winner when his adversary
has been left in the lurch.
(v. t.) To leave in the lurch; to cheat.
(v. t.) To steal; to rob.
(n.) A sudden roll of a ship to one side, as in heavy weather;
hence, a swaying or staggering movement to one side, as that by a
drunken man. Fig.: A sudden and capricious inclination of the mind.
(a.) Having a brown color tonged with red, as of flame seen
through smoke.
(a.) Of a color tinged with purple, yellow, and gray.
(n.) A confused heap; a throng, as of persons; a jumble, as of
sounds.
(n.) A luncheon; specifically, a light repast between breakfast
and dinner.
(v. i.) To take luncheon.
(n.) A little moon or satellite.
(n.) A sudden thrust or pass, as with a sword.
(v. i.) To make a lunge.
(v. t.) To cause to go round in a ring, as a horse, while holding
his halter.
(n.) Same as Namaycush.
(superl.) Full of lumps, or small compact masses.
(a.) Of or pertaining to the moon; as, lunar observations.
(a.) Resembling the moon; orbed.
(a.) Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as, a lunar month.
(a.) Influenced by the moon, as in growth, character, or
properties; as, lunar herbs.
(n.) A lunar distance.
(n.) The middle bone of the proximal series of the carpus; --
called also semilunar, and intermedium.
(n.) Gain in money or goods; profit; riches; -- often in an ill
sense.
(a.) Not high; not elevated in place; low.
(a.) Low in rank or social importance.
(a.) Not lofty or sublime; humble.
(a.) Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free
from pride.
(adv.) In a low manner; humbly; meekly; modestly.
(adv.) In a low condition; meanly.
(a.) Faithful to law; upholding the lawful authority; faithful
and true to the lawful government; faithful to the prince or sovereign
to whom one is subject; unswerving in allegiance.
(a.) True to any person or persons to whom one owes fidelity,
especially as a wife to her husband, lovers to each other, and friend
to friend; constant; faithful to a cause or a principle.
(n.) Shining; bright; resplendent; as, the lucid orbs of heaven.
(n.) Clear; transparent.
(n.) Presenting a clear view; easily understood; clear.
(n.) Bright with the radiance of intellect; not darkened or
confused by delirium or madness; marked by the regular operations of
reason; as, a lucid interval.
(n.) One who is loved.
(imp. & p. p.) of Love
(imp. & p. p.) of Low
(n.) A game of chance, played with cards, on which are inscribed
numbers, and any contrivance (as a wheel containing numbered balls) for
determining a set of numbers by chance. The player holding a card
having on it the set of numbers drawn from the wheel takes the stakes
after a certain percentage of them has been deducted for the dealer. A
variety of lotto is called keno.
(n. pl.) The Pawnees, a tribe of North American Indians whose
principal totem was the wolf.
(n.) Any one of numerous species of small, wingless, suctorial,
parasitic insects belonging to a tribe (Pediculina), now usually
regarded as degraded Hemiptera. To this group belong of the lice of man
and other mammals; as, the head louse of man (Pediculus capitis), the
body louse (P. vestimenti), and the crab louse (Phthirius pubis), and
many others. See Crab louse, Dog louse, Cattle louse, etc., under Crab,
Dog, etc.
(n.) Any one of numerous small mandibulate insects, mostly
parasitic on birds, and feeding on the feathers. They are known as
Mallophaga, or bird lice, though some occur on the hair of mammals.
They are usually regarded as degraded Pseudoneuroptera. See Mallophaga.
(n.) Any one of the numerous species of aphids, or plant lice.
See Aphid.
(n.) Any small crustacean parasitic on fishes. See Branchiura,
and Ichthvophthira.
(v. t.) To clean from lice.
(a.) Infested with lice.
(a.) Mean; contemptible; as, lousy knave.
(n.) See Lotus.
(n.) A good for nothing fellow; a vagabond.
(n.) One who loses by sloth or neglect; a worthless person; a
lorel.
(a.) Wasteful; slothful.
(n.) One who loses.
(imp. & p. p.) of Lope
(n.) One who, or that which, lopes; esp., a horse that lopes.
(n.) A swivel at one end of a ropewalk, used in laying the
strands.
(a.) Somewhat lop; inclined to lop.
(n.) A dull, stupid fellow; a drone.
(superl.) Unbound; untied; unsewed; not attached, fastened,
fixed, or confined; as, the loose sheets of a book.
(superl.) Free from constraint or obligation; not bound by duty,
habit, etc. ; -- with from or of.
(superl.) Not tight or close; as, a loose garment.
(superl.) Not dense, close, compact, or crowded; as, a cloth of
loose texture.
(superl.) Not precise or exact; vague; indeterminate; as, a loose
style, or way of reasoning.
(superl.) Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according
to some standard of right.
(superl.) Unconnected; rambling.
(superl.) Lax; not costive; having lax bowels.
(superl.) Dissolute; unchaste; as, a loose man or woman.
(superl.) Containing or consisting of obscene or unchaste
language; as, a loose epistle.
(n.) Freedom from restraint.
(n.) A letting go; discharge.
(a.) To untie or unbind; to free from any fastening; to remove
the shackles or fastenings of; to set free; to relieve.
(a.) To release from anything obligatory or burdensome; to
disengage; hence, to absolve; to remit.
(a.) To relax; to loosen; to make less strict.
(a.) To solve; to interpret.
(v. i.) To set sail.
(a.) See Luny.
(n.) A thrust. See Lunge.
(n.) The training ground for a horse.
(n.) Same as 4th Lunge.
(imp. & p. p.) of Loo
(n.) An awkward, clumsy fellow; a lubber.
(n.) See 2d Loch.
(a.) Limp; flexible; flimsy.
(imp. & p. p.) of Line
(n.) Alt. of Limbus
(imp. & p. p.) of Lime
(n.) A limehound; a limmer.
(v. t.) That which terminates, circumscribes, restrains, or
confines; the bound, border, or edge; the utmost extent; as, the limit
of a walk, of a town, of a country; the limits of human knowledge or
endeavor.
(v. t.) The space or thing defined by limits.
(v. t.) That which terminates a period of time; hence, the period
itself; the full time or extent.
(v. t.) A restriction; a check; a curb; a hindrance.
(v. t.) A determining feature; a distinguishing characteristic; a
differentia.
(v. t.) A determinate quantity, to which a variable one
continually approaches, and may differ from it by less than any given
difference, but to which, under the law of variation, the variable can
never become exactly equivalent.
(v. t.) To apply a limit to, or set a limit for; to terminate,
circumscribe, or restrict, by a limit or limits; as, to limit the
acreage of a crop; to limit the issue of paper money; to limit one's
ambitions or aspirations; to limit the meaning of a word.
(v. i.) To beg, or to exercise functions, within a certain
limited region; as, a limiting friar.
(imp. & p. p.) of Like
(a.) To allege, or think, to be like; to represent as like; to
compare; as, to liken life to a pilgrimage.
(a.) To make or cause to be like.
(n.) The science or art of exact reasoning, or of pure and formal
thought, or of the laws according to which the processes of pure
thinking should be conducted; the science of the formation and
application of general notions; the science of generalization,
judgment, classification, reasoning, and systematic arrangement;
correct reasoning.
(n.) A treatise on logic; as, Mill's Logic.
(superl.) Lifted high up; having great height; towering; high.
(superl.) Fig.: Elevated in character, rank, dignity, spirit,
bearing, language, etc.; exalted; noble; stately; characterized by
pride; haughty.
(n.) A place; a locality.
(n.) The line traced by a point which varies its position
according to some determinate law; the surface described by a point or
line that moves according to a given law.
(n.) A quaternary deposit, usually consisting of a fine yellowish
earth, on the banks of the Rhine and other large rivers.
(a.) Having long legs.
(n.) A preliminary or auxiliary proposition demonstrated or
accepted for immediate use in the demonstration of some other
proposition, as in mathematics or logic.
(n.) One of a family (Lemuridae) of nocturnal mammals allied to
the monkeys, but of small size, and having a sharp and foxlike muzzle,
and large eyes. They feed upon birds, insects, and fruit, and are
mostly natives of Madagascar and the neighboring islands, one genus
(Galago) occurring in Africa. The slow lemur or kukang of the East
Indies is Nycticebus tardigradus. See Galago, Indris, and Colugo.
(n. pl.) Loins.
(a. & adv.) Slow; in slow time; slowly; -- rarely written lente.
(n.) A sterile transformed stamen.
(n.) A person affected with leprosy.
(a.) Pleasant; jocose.
(n.) Leprosy.
(n.) Leprosy.
(n.) Leprosy.
(n.) A small European rodent (Eliomys nitela), allied to the
dormouse.
(a.) Lethean.
() Same as Leuco-.
() A combining form signifying white, colorless; specif. (Chem.),
denoting an extensive series of colorless organic compounds, obtained
by reduction from certain other colored compounds; as, leucaniline,
leucaurin, etc.
(n.) Made of linen; as, linen cloth; a linen stocking.
(n.) Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.
(n.) Thread or cloth made of flax or (rarely) of hemp; -- used in
a general sense to include cambric, shirting, sheeting, towels,
tablecloths, etc.
(n.) Underclothing, esp. the shirt, as being, in former times,
chiefly made of linen.
(n.) One who lines, as, a liner of shoes.
(n.) A vessel belonging to a regular line of packets; also, a
line-of-battle ship; a ship of the line.
(n.) A thin piece placed between two parts to hold or adjust
them, fill a space, etc.; a shim.
(n.) A lining within the cylinder, in which the piston works and
between which and the outer shell of the cylinder a space is left to
form a steam jacket.
(n.) A slab on which small pieces of marble, tile, etc., are
fastened for grinding.
(n.) A ball which, when struck, flies through the air in a nearly
straight line not far from the ground.
(n.) Alt. of Lingam
(n.) The act of rising.
(n.) A morning assembly or reception of visitors, -- in
distinction from a soiree, or evening assembly; a matinee; hence, also,
any general or somewhat miscellaneous gathering of guests, whether in
the daytime or evening; as, the president's levee.
(n.) Language; speech; dialect.
(v. t.) To attend the levee or levees of.
(n.) An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along
the Mississippi; sometimes, the steep bank of a river.
(v. t.) To keep within a channel by means of levees; as, to levee
a river.
(n.) A line or surface to which, at every point, a vertical or
plumb line is perpendicular; a line or surface which is everywhere
parallel to the surface of still water; -- this is the true level, and
is a curve or surface in which all points are equally distant from the
center of the earth, or rather would be so if the earth were an exact
sphere.
(n.) A horizontal line or plane; that is, a straight line or a
plane which is tangent to a true level at a given point and hence
parallel to the horizon at that point; -- this is the apparent level at
the given point.
(n.) An approximately horizontal line or surface at a certain
degree of altitude, or distance from the center of the earth; as, to
climb from the level of the coast to the level of the plateau and then
descend to the level of the valley or of the sea.
(n.) Hence, figuratively, a certain position, rank, standard,
degree, quality, character, etc., conceived of as in one of several
planes of different elevation.
(n.) A uniform or average height; a normal plane or altitude; a
condition conformable to natural law or which will secure a level
surface; as, moving fluids seek a level.
(n.) An instrument by which to find a horizontal line, or adjust
something with reference to a horizontal line.
(n.) A measurement of the difference of altitude of two points,
by means of a level; as, to take a level.
(n.) A horizontal passage, drift, or adit, in a mine.
(a.) Even; flat; having no part higher than another; having, or
conforming to, the curvature which belongs to the undisturbed liquid
parts of the earth's surface; as, a level field; level ground; the
level surface of a pond or lake.
(a.) Coinciding or parallel with the plane of the horizon;
horizontal; as, the telescope is now level.
(a.) Even with anything else; of the same height; on the same
line or plane; on the same footing; of equal importance; -- followed by
with, sometimes by to.
(a.) Straightforward; direct; clear; open.
(a.) Well balanced; even; just; steady; impartial; as, a level
head; a level understanding. [Colloq.]
(a.) Of even tone; without rising or falling inflection.
(v. t.) To make level; to make horizontal; to bring to the
condition of a level line or surface; hence, to make flat or even; as,
to level a road, a walk, or a garden.
(v. t.) To bring to a lower level; to overthrow; to topple down;
to reduce to a flat surface; to lower.
(v. t.) To bring to a horizontal position, as a gun; hence, to
point in taking aim; to aim; to direct.
(v. t.) Figuratively, to bring to a common level or plane, in
respect of rank, condition, character, privilege, etc.; as, to level
all the ranks and conditions of men.
(v. t.) To adjust or adapt to a certain level; as, to level
remarks to the capacity of children.
(v. i.) To be level; to be on a level with, or on an equality
with, something; hence, to accord; to agree; to suit.
(v. i.) To aim a gun, spear, etc., horizontally; hence, to aim or
point a weapon in direct line with the mark; fig., to direct the eye,
mind, or effort, directly to an object.
(n.) A trumpet call for rousing soldiers; a reveille.
(n.) A husband's brother; -- used in reference to levirate
marriages.
() A prefix from L. laevus
() Pertaining to, or toward, the left; as, levorotatory.
() Turning the plane of polarized light to the left; as,
levotartaric acid; levoracemic acid; levogyratory crystals, etc.
(pl. ) of Lex
(a.) Pertaining to, or derived from, fat. The word was formerly
used specifically to designate a supposed acid obtained by the
oxidation of oleic acid, tallow, wax, etc.
(v. i.) To lisp.
(n.) A brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill,
certificate, request, supplication, etc.
(n.) Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
(n.) A malicious publication expressed either in print or in
writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose
another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Such publication is
indictable at common law.
(n.) The crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.
(n.) A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his
cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.
(v. t.) To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or
ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon.
(v. t.) To proceed against by filing a libel, particularly
against a ship or goods.
(v. i.) To spread defamation, written or printed; -- with
against.
(n.) Alt. of Litre
(n.) A measure of capacity in the metric system, being a cubic
decimeter, equal to 61.022 cubic inches, or 2.113 American pints, or
1.76 English pints.
(v. i. & i.) To listen or listen to; to hearken to.
(a.) Mild; calm; as, lithe weather.
(a.) Capable of being easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber; as,
the elephant's lithe proboscis.
(a.) To smooth; to soften; to palliate.
() A combining form from Gr. li`qos, stone.
(a.) Easily bent; pliable.
(n.) Same as Liter.
(pl. ) of Lituus
(imp. & p. p.) of Live
(a.) Having life; -- used only in composition; as, long-lived;
short-lived.
(n.) One who, or that which, lives.
(n.) A resident; a dweller; as, a liver in Brooklyn.
(n.) One whose course of life has some marked characteristic
(expressed by an adjective); as, a free liver.
(n.) A very large glandular and vascular organ in the visceral
cavity of all vertebrates.
(n.) The glossy ibis (Ibis falcinellus); -- said to have given
its name to the city of Liverpool.
(n.) See Litchi.
(a.) Lawful.
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lie
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lie
(n.) pl. of Life.
(a. & adv.) Alive; living; with life.
(a.) Black and blue; grayish blue; of a lead color; discolored,
as flesh by contusion.
(a.) Same as Lief.
(pl. ) of Life
(n.) Malignity.
(n.) A French money of account, afterward a silver coin equal to
20 sous. It is not now in use, having been superseded by the franc.
(n.) Any one of several small, fresh-water, cyprinoid fishes of
the genera Cobitis, Nemachilus, and allied genera, having six or more
barbules around the mouth. They are found in Europe and Asia. The
common European species (N. barbatulus) is used as a food fish.
(a.) Consisting of loam; partaking of the nature of loam;
resembling loam.
(a.) Hateful; odious; disliked.
(a.) Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling;
reluctant; as, loath to part.
(a.) Of or pertaining to a lobe; characterized by, or like, a
lobe or lobes.
(n.) A passage or hall of communication, especially when large
enough to serve also as a waiting room. It differs from an antechamber
in that a lobby communicates between several rooms, an antechamber to
one only; but this distinction is not carefully preserved.
(n.) That part of a hall of legislation not appropriated to the
official use of the assembly; hence, the persons, collectively, who
frequent such a place to transact business with the legislators; any
persons, not members of a legislative body, who strive to influence its
proceedings by personal agency.
(n.) An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an
old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.
(n.) A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges. trees, or
other fencing, near the farmyard.
(v. i.) To address or solicit members of a legislative body in
the lobby or elsewhere, with the purpose to influence their votes.
(v. t.) To urge the adoption or passage of by soliciting members
of a legislative body; as, to lobby a bill.
(v. t.) To enliven.
(a.) Having lobes; lobate.
(a.) Of or pertaining to a particular place, or to a definite
region or portion of space; restricted to one place or region; as, a
local custom.
(n.) A train which receives and deposits passengers or freight
along the line of the road; a train for the accommodation of a certain
district.
(n.) On newspaper cant, an item of news relating to the place
where the paper is published.
(n.) See Loach.
(n.) Goods sunk in the sea, with a buoy attached in order that
they may be found again. See Jetsam and Flotsam.
(v. i.) To lie or recline.
(n. pl.) Small steel plates combined together so as to slide one
upon the other and form a piece of armor.
(n.) A monster capable of assuming a woman's form, who was said
to devour human beings or suck their blood; a vampire; a sorceress; a
witch.
(a.) The people, as distinguished from the clergy; the body of
the people not in orders.
(a.) The state of a layman.
(a.) Those who are not of a certain profession, as law or
medicine, in distinction from those belonging to it.
(n. & v.) See Lack.
(imp. & p. p.) of Lame
(n.) See Lamella.
(v. t.) A cuplike spoon, often of large size, with a long handle,
used in lading or dipping.
(v. t.) A vessel to carry liquid metal from the furnace to the
mold.
(v. t.) The float of a mill wheel; -- called also ladle board.
(v. t.) An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.
(v. t.) A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for
carrying shot.
(v. t.) To take up and convey in a ladle; to dip with, or as
with, a ladle; as, to ladle out soup; to ladle oatmeal into a kettle.
(n. & v.) See Ligan.
(adv.) Laggingly.
(imp.) of Lade
(p. p.) of Lade
() of Lade
(pl. ) of Labrum
(imp. & p. p.) of Lace
(a.) Fastened with a lace or laces; decorated with narrow strips
or braid. See Lace, v. t.
(v. t.) Decorated with the fabric lace.
(n.) Neglect; negligence; remissness; neglect to do a thing at
the proper time; delay to assert a claim.
(n.) A tassel.
(n.) A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything,
usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.;
as, the label of a bottle or a package.
(n.) A slip of ribbon, parchment, etc., attached to a document to
hold the appended seal; also, the seal.
(n.) A writing annexed by way of addition, as a codicil added to
a will.
(n.) A barrulet, or, rarely, a bendlet, with pendants, or points,
usually three, especially used as a mark of cadency to distinguish an
eldest or only son while his father is still living.
(n.) A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with
a circumferentor, to take altitudes.
(n.) The name now generally given to the projecting molding by
the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture. It
always has a /quare form, as in the illustration.
(n.) In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll
containing an inscription.
(v. t.) To affix a label to; to mark with a name, etc.; as, to
label a bottle or a package.
(v. t.) To affix in or on a label.
(n. pl.) See Labium.
(pl. ) of Labium
(n.) Physical toil or bodily exertion, especially when fatiguing,
irksome, or unavoidable, in distinction from sportive exercise; hard,
muscular effort directed to some useful end, as agriculture,
manufactures, and like; servile toil; exertion; work.
(n.) Intellectual exertion; mental effort; as, the labor of
compiling a history.
(n.) That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that
which demands effort.
(n.) Travail; the pangs and efforts of childbirth.
(n.) Any pang or distress.
(n.) The pitching or tossing of a vessel which results in the
straining of timbers and rigging.
(n.) A measure of land in Mexico and Texas, equivalent to an area
of 177/ acres.
(n.) To exert muscular strength; to exert one's strength with
painful effort, particularly in servile occupations; to work; to toil.
(n.) To exert one's powers of mind in the prosecution of any
design; to strive; to take pains.
(n.) To be oppressed with difficulties or disease; to do one's
work under conditions which make it especially hard, wearisome; to move
slowly, as against opposition, or under a burden; to be burdened; --
often with under, and formerly with of.
(n.) To be in travail; to suffer the pangs of childbirth.
(n.) To pitch or roll heavily, as a ship in a turbulent sea.
(v. t.) To work at; to work; to till; to cultivate by toil.
(v. t.) To form or fabricate with toil, exertion, or care.
(v. t.) To prosecute, or perfect, with effort; to urge
stre/uously; as, to labor a point or argument.
(v. t.) To belabor; to beat.