Length"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lengthenel; p. pr. & vb. n.
Lengthening.]

Defn: To extent in length; to make longer in extent or duration; as,
to lengthen a line or a road; to lengthen life; -- sometimes followed
by out.
What if I please to lengthen out his date. Dryden.

LENGTHEN
Length"en, v. i.

Defn: To become longer. Locke.

LENGTHFUL
Length"ful, a.

Defn: Long. [Obs.] Pope.

LENGTHILY
Length"i*ly, adv.

Defn: In a lengthy manner; at great length or extent.

LENGTHINESS
Length"i*ness, n.

Defn: The state or quality of being lengthy; prolixity.

LENGTHWAYS; LENGTHWISE
Length"ways`, Length"wise`, adv.

Defn: In the direction of the length; in a longitudinal direction.

LENGTHY
Length"y, a. [Compar. Lengthier; superl. Lengthiest.]

Defn: Having length; rather long or too long; prolix; not brief; --
said chiefly of discourses, writings, and the like. "Lengthy
periods." Washington. "Some lengthy additions." Byron. "These would
be details too lengthy." Jefferson. "To cut short lengthy
explanations." Trench.

LENIENCE; LENIENCY
Le"ni*ence, Le"ni*en*cy, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being lenient; lenity; clemency.

LENIENT
Le"ni*ent, a. Etym: [L. leniens, -entis, p. pr. of lenire to soften,
fr. lenis soft, mild. Cf. Lithe.]

1. Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- some "Lenient of
grief." Milton.
Of relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. Arbuthnot.
Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand. Pope.

2. Mild; clement; merciful; not rigorous or severe; as, a lenient
disposition; a lenient judge or sentence.

LENIENT
Le"ni*ent, n. (Med.)

Defn: A lenitive; an emollient.

LENIENTLY
Le"ni*ent*ly, adv.

Defn: In a lenient manner.

LENIFY
Len"i*fy, v. t. Etym: [L. lenis soft, mild + -fy: cf. F.lénifier.]

Defn: To assuage; to soften; to Bacon. Dryden.

LENIMENT
Len"i*ment, n. Etym: [L. lenimentum: cf. OF. leniment. See Lenient.]

Defn: An assuasive. [Obs.]

LENITIVE
Len"i*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. lénitif. See Lenient.]

Defn: Having the quality of softening or mitigating, as pain or
acrimony; assuasive; emollient.

LENITIVE
Len"i*tive, n. Etym: [Cf. F. lénitif.]

1. (Med.)
(a) A medicine or application that has the quality of easing pain or
protecting from the action of irritants.
(b) A mild purgative; a laxative.

2. That which softens or mitigates; that which tends to allay
passion, excitement, or pain; a palliative.
There is one sweet Lenitive at least for evils, which Nature holds
out; so I took it kindly at her hands, and fell asleep. Sterne.

LENITIVENESS
Len"i*tive*ness, n.

Defn: The quality of being lenitive.

LENITUDE
Len"i*tude, n. Etym: [L. lenitudo.]

Defn: The quality or habit of being lenient; lenity. [Obs.] Blount.

LENITY
Len"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. lenitas, fr. lenis soft, mild: cf. OF. lenité.
See Lenient.]

Defn: The state or quality of being lenient; mildness of temper or
disposition; gentleness of treatment; softness; tenderness; clemency;
-- opposed to severity and rigor.
His exceeding lenity disposes us to be somewhat too severe. Macaulay.

Syn.
 -- Gentleness; kindness; tenderness; softness; humanity; clemency;
mercy.

LENNI-LENAPE
Len`ni-Len*a"pe, n. pl. (Ethnol.)

Defn: A general name for a group of Algonquin tribes which formerly
occupied the coast region of North America from Connecticut to
Virginia. They included the Mohicans, Delawares, Shawnees, and
several other tribes.

LENO
Le"no, n. Etym: [Cf. It. leno weak, flexible.]

Defn: A light open cotton fabric used for window curtains.

LENOCINANT
Le*noc"i*nant, a. Etym: [L. lenocinans, p. pr. of lenocinari to
pander, cajole; akin to leno pimp.]

Defn: Given to lewdness. [Obs.]

LENS
Lens, n.; pl. Lenses (-êz). Etym: [L. lens a lentil. So named from
the resemblance in shape of a double convex lens to the seed of a
lentil. Cf. Lentil.] (Opt.)

Defn: A piece of glass, or other transparent substance, ground with
two opposite regular surfaces, either both curved, or one curved and
the other plane, and commonly used, either singly or combined, in
optical instruments, for changing the direction of rays of light, and
thus magnifying objects, or otherwise modifying vision. In practice,
the curved surfaces are usually spherical, though rarely cylindrical,
or of some other figure. Lenses

Note: Of spherical lenses, there are six varieties, as shown in
section in the figures herewith given: viz., a plano-concave; b
double-concave; c plano-convex; d double-convex; converging concavo-
convex, or converging meniscus; f diverging concavo-convex, or
diverging meniscus. Crossed lens (Opt.), a double-convex lens with
one radius equal to six times the other.
 -- Crystalline lens. (Anat.) See Eye.
 -- Fresnel lens (Opt.), a compound lens formed by placing around a
central convex lens rings of glass so curved as to have the same
focus; used, especially in lighthouses, for concentrating light in a
particular direction; -- so called from the inventor.
 -- Multiplying lens or glass (Opt.), a lens one side of which is
plane and the other convex, but made up of a number of plane faces
inclined to one another, each of which presents a separate image of
the object viewed through it, so that the object is, as it were,
multiplied.
 -- Polyzonal lens. See Polyzonal.

LENT
Lent,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Lend.

LENT
Lent, n. Etym: [OE. lente, lenten, leynte, AS. lengten, lencten,
spring, lent, akin to D. lente, OHG. lenzin, langiz, G. lenz, and
perh. fr. AS. lang long, E. long, because at this season of the year
the days lengthen.] (Eccl.)

Defn: A fast of forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and
continuing till Easter, observed by some Christian churches as
commemorative of the fast of our Savior.

LENT
Lent, a. Etym: [L. lentus; akin to lenis soft, mild: cf. F. lent. See
Lenient.]

1. Slow; mild; gentle; as, lenter heats. [Obs.] B.Jonson.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: See Lento.

LENTAMENTE
Len`ta*men"te; adv. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: Slowly; in slow time.

LENTANDO
Len*tan"do, a. Etym: [It., p. pr. of lentare to make slow. See Lent,
a.] (Mus.)

Defn: Slackening; retarding. Same as Rallentando.

LENTEN
Lent"en, n.

Defn: Lent. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

LENTEN
Lent"en, a. Etym: [From OE. lenten lent. See Lent, n. ]

1. Of or pertaining to the fast called Lent; used in, or suitable to,
Lent; as, the Lenten season.
She quenched her fury at the flood. And with a Lenten salad cooled
her blood. Dryden.

2. Spare, meager; plain; somber; unostentatious; not abundant or
showy. "Lenten entertainment." " Lenten answer." Shak. " Lenten
suit." Beau. & Fl.
Lenten color, black or violet. F. G. Lee.

LENTENTIDE
Lent"en*tide`, n.

Defn: The season of Lenten or Lent.

LENTICEL
Len"ti*cel, n. Etym: [F. lenticelle, dim. fr. L. lens, lentis, a
lentil. Cf. Lentil.] (Bot.)
(a) One of the small, oval, rounded spots upon the stem or branch of
a plant, from which the underlying tissues may protrude or roots may
issue, either in the air, or more commonly when the stem or branch is
covered with water or earth.
(b) A small, lens-shaped gland on the under side of some leaves.

LENTICELLATE
Len`ti*cel"late, a. (Bot.)

Defn: Producing lenticels; dotted with lenticels.

LENTICELLE
Len`ti*celle", n. Etym: [F.] (Bot.)

Defn: Lenticel.

LENTICULA
Len*tic"u*la, n.; pl. E. Lenticulas, L. Lenticulæ. Etym: [L. See
Lenticel.]

1. (Med.)

Defn: A kind of eruption upon the skin; lentigo; freckle.

2. (Opt.)

Defn: A lens of small size.

3. (Bot.)

Defn: A lenticel.

LENTICULAR
Len*tic"u*lar, a. Etym: [L. lenticularis: cf. F. lenticulaire. See
Lenticel.]

Defn: Resembling a lentil in size or form; having the form of a
double-convex lens.

LENTICULARLY
Len*tic"u*lar*ly, adv.

Defn: In the manner of a lens; with a curve.

LENTIFORM
Len"ti*form, a. Etym: [L. lens, lentis, lentil + -form: cf. F.
lentifarme,]

Defn: Lenticular.

LENTIGINOSE
Len*tig"i*nose`, a. Etym: [See Lentiginous.] (Bot.)

Defn: Bearing numerous dots resembling freckles.

LENTIGINOUS
Len*tig"i*nous, a. Etym: [L. lentiginosus. See Lentigo.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to lentigo; freckly; scurfy; furfuraceous.

LENTIGO
Len*ti"go, n. Etym: [L., fr. lens, lentis, lentil.] (Med.)

Defn: A freckly eruption on the skin; freckles.

LENTIL
Len"til, n. Etym: [F. lentille, fr. L. lenticula, dim. of lens,
lentis, lentil. Cf. Lens.] (Bot.)

Defn: A leguminous plant of the genus Ervum (Ervum Lens), of small
size, common in the fields in Europe. Also, its seed, which is used
for food on the continent.

Note: The lentil of the Scriptures probably included several other
vetchlike plants. Lentil shell (Zoöl.), a small bivalve shell of the
genus Ervillia, family Tellinidæ.

LENTISCUS; LENTISK
Len*tis"cus, Len"tisk,, n. Etym: [L. lentiscus, lentiscum: cf. F.
lentisque.] (Bot.)

Defn: A tree; the mastic. See Mastic.

LENTITUDE
Len"ti*tude, n. Etym: [L. lentitudo, fr. lentus slow: cf. OF.
lentitude. See Lent, a.]

Defn: Slowness; sluggishness. [Obs.]

LENT LILY
Lent lily (Bot.),

Defn: the daffodil; -- so named from its blossoming in spring.

LENTO
Len"to, a. & adv. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: Slow; in slow time; slowly; -- rarely written lente.

LENTOID
Len"toid, a. Etym: [Lens + -oid.]

Defn: Having the form of a lens; lens-shaped.

LENTOR
Len"tor, n. Etym: [L. fr. lentus pliant, tough, slow. See Lent, a.]

1. Tenacity; viscidity; viscidity, as of fluids.

2. Slowness; delay; sluggishness. Arbuthnot.

LENTOUS
Len"tous, a. Etym: [L. lentus. See Lentor.]

Defn: Viscid; viscous; tenacious.
Spawn of a lentous and transparent body. Sir T. Browne.

L'ENVOI; L'ENVOY
L'en`voi", or; L'en`voy" (, n. Etym: [F. le the + envei a sending.
See Envoy.]

1. One or more detached verses at the end of a literary composition,
serving to convey the moral, or to address the poem to a particular
person; -- orig. employed in old French poetry. Shak.

2. A conclusion; a result. Massinger.

LEO
Le"o, n. Etym: [L. See Lion.] (Astron.)

1. The Lion, the fifth sign of the zodiac, marked thus

2. A northern constellation east of Cancer, containing the bright
star Regulus at the end of the handle of the Sickle. Leo Minor, a
small constellation between Leo and the Great Bear.

LEOD
Le"od, n. Etym: [AS.leód people, nation, man, chief; akin to OS.
liud, OHG. liut, pl. liuti, G.leute, pl., fr. AS.leódan to grow, akin
to Goth. liudan, OS. liodan, OHG. liotan to grow; cf. Skr. ruh. ]

Defn: People; a nation; a man. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. Bp. Gibson.

LEON
Le"on, n.

Defn: A lion. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEONCED
Le"onced, a. (Her.)

Defn: See Lionced.

LEONESE
Le`o*nese", a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Leon, in Spain.
 -- n. sing. & pl.

Defn: A native or natives of Leon.

LEONID
Le"o*nid, n. Etym: [From Leo: cf. F. léonides, pl.] (Astron.)

Defn: One of the shooting stars which constitute the star shower that
recurs near the fourteenth of November at intervals of about thirty-
three years; so called because shooting stars appear on the heavens
to move in lines directed from the constellation Leo.

LEONINE
Le"o*nine, a. Etym: [L. leoninus, fr. leo, leonis, lion: cf. F.
léonin. See Lion.]

Defn: Pertaining to, or characteristic of, the lion; as, a leonine
look; leonine repacity.
 -- Le"o*nine*ly, adv. Leonine verse, a kind of verse, in which the
end of the line rhymes with the middle; -- so named from Leo, or
Leoninus, a Benedictine and canon of Paris in the twelfth century,
who wrote largely in this measure, though he was not the inventor.
The following line is an example:
Gloria factorum temere conceditur horum.

LEONTODON
Le*on"to*don, n. Etym: [Gr. Lion's-tooth, Dandelion.] (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of liguliflorous composite plants, including the fall
dandelion (L. autumnale), and formerly the true dandelion; -- called
also lion's tooth.

LEOPARD
Leop"ard, n. Etym: [OE. leopart, leparde, lebarde, libbard, OF.
leopard, liepart, F. léopard, L. leopardus, fr. Gr. Lion, and Pard.]
(Zoöl.)

Defn: A large, savage, carnivorous mammal (Felis leopardus). It is of
a yellow or fawn color, with rings or roselike clusters of black
spots along the back and sides. It is found in Southern Asia and
Africa. By some the panther (Felis pardus) is regarded as a variety
of leopard. Hunting leopard. See Cheetah. Leopard cat (Zoöl.) any one
of several species or varieties of small, spotted cats found in
Africa, Southern Asia, and the East Indies; esp., Felis Bengalensis.
 -- Leopard marmot. See Gopher, 2.

LEOPARD'S BANE
Leop"ard's bane`. (Bot.)

Defn: A name of several harmless plants, as Arnica montana, Senecio
Doronicum, and Paris quadrifolia.

LEOPARDWOOD
Leop"ard*wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Letterwood.

LEP
Lep, obs. strong imp.

Defn: of Leap. Leaped. Chaucer.

LEPADITE
Lep"a*dite, n. Etym: [L. lepas, lepadis, limpet, Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Same as Lepadoid.

LEPADOID
Lep"a*doid, n. Etym: [Lepas + -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A stalked barnacle of the genus Lepas, or family Lepadidæ; a
goose barnacle. Also used adjectively.

LEPAL
Lep"al, n. Etym: [Gr. lépale.] (Bot.)

Defn: A sterile transformed stamen.

LEPAS
Le"pas, n. Etym: [L., a limpet, fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of various species of Lepas, a genus of pedunculated
barnacles found attached to floating timber, bottoms of ships, Gulf
weed, etc.; -- called also goose barnacle. See Barnacle.

LEPER
Lep"er, n. Etym: [OE. lepre leprosy, F. lèpre, L. leprae, lepra, fr.
Gr.

Defn: A person affected with leprosy.

LEPERED
Lep"ered, a.

Defn: Affected or tainted with leprosy.

LEPERIZE
Lep"er*ize, v. t.

Defn: To affect with leprosy.

LEPEROUS
Lep"er*ous, a.

Defn: Leprous; infectious; corrupting; poisonous. "The leperous
distillment." Shak.

LEPID
Lep"id, a. Etym: [L. lepidus.]

Defn: Pleasant; jocose. [R.]
The joyous and lepid consul. Sydney Smith.

LEPIDINE
Lep"i*dine, n. (Chem.)

Defn: An organic base, C9H6.N.CH3, metameric with quinaldine, and
obtained by the distillation of cinchonine.

LEPIDODENDRID
Lep`i*do*den"drid, n. (Paleon.)

Defn: One of an extinct family of trees allied to the modern club
mosses, and including Lepidodendron and its allies.

LEPIDODENDROID
Lep`i*do*den"droid, a. (Paleon.)

Defn: Allied to, or resembling, Lepidodendron.
 -- n.

Defn: A lepidodendrid.

LEPIDODENDRON
Lep`i*do*den"dron, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Paleon.)

Defn: A genus of fossil trees of the Devonian and Carboniferous ages,
having the exterior marked with scars, mostly in quincunx order,
produced by the separation of the leafstalks.

LEPIDOGANOID
Lep`i*do*ga"noid, n. Etym: [Gr. ganoid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of a division (Lepidoganoidei) of ganoid fishes,
including those that have scales forming a coat of mail. Also used
adjectively.

LEPIDOLITE
Le*pid"o*lite, n. Etym: [Gr. -lite: cf. F. lépidolithe.] (Min.)

Defn: A species of mica, of a lilac or rose-violet color, containing
lithia. It usually occurs in masses consisting of small scales. See
Mica.

LEPIDOMELANE
Lep`i*dom"e*lane, n. Etym: [Fr. (Min.)

Defn: An iron-potash mica, of a raven-black color, usually found in
granitic rocks in small six-sided tables, or as an aggregation of
minute opaque scales. See Mica.

LEPIDOPTER
Lep`i*dop"ter, n. Etym: [Cf. F. lépidoptère.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Lepidoptera.

LEPIDOPTERA
Lep`i*dop"te*ra, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of insects, which includes the butterflies and moths.
They have broad wings, covered with minute overlapping scales,
usually brightly colored.

Note: They have a tubular proboscis, or haustellum, formed by the two
slender maxillæ. The labial palpi are usually large, and the
proboscis, when not in use, can be coiled up spirally between them.
The mandibles are rudimentary. The larvæ, called caterpillars, are
often brightly colored, and they commonly feed on leaves. The adults
feed chiefly on the honey of flowers.

LEPIDOPTERAL; LEPIDOPTEROUS
Lep`i*dop"ter*al, Lep`i*dop"ter*ous, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Lepidoptera.

LEPIDOPTERIST
Lep`i*dop"ter*ist, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One who studies the Lepidoptera.

LEPIDOSAURIA
Lep`i*do*sau"ri*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A division of reptiles, including the serpents and lizards; the
Plagiotremata.

LEPIDOSIREN
Lep`i*do*si"ren, n. Etym: [Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An eel-shaped ganoid fish of the order Dipnoi, having both
gills and lungs. It inhabits the rivers of South America. The name is
also applied to a related African species (Protopterus annectens).
The lepidosirens grow to a length of from four to six feet. Called
also doko.

LEPIDOTE; LEPIDOTED
Lep"i*dote, Lep"i*do`ted, a. Etym: [Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: Having a coat of scurfy scales, as the leaves of the oleaster.

LEPISMA
Le*pis"ma, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of wingless thysanurous insects having an elongated
flattened body, covered with shining scales and terminated by seven
unequal bristles. A common species (Lepisma saccharina) is found in
houses, and often injures books and furniture. Called also shiner,
silver witch, silver moth, and furniture bug.

LEPISMOID
Le*pis"moid, a. Etym: [Lepisma + -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Like or pertaining to the Lepisma.

LEPORINE
Lep"o*rine, a. Etym: [L. leporinus, fr. lepus, leporis, hare. See
Leveret.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to a hare; like or characteristic of, a hare.

LEPRA
Le"pra, n. Etym: [L. See Leper.] (Med.)

Defn: Leprosy.

Note: The term lepra was formerly given to various skin diseases, the
leprosy of modern authors being Lepra Arabum. See Leprosy.

LEPRE
Lep"re, n.

Defn: Leprosy.[Obs.] Wyclif.

LEPROSE
Lep"rose`, a. Etym: [See Leprous.] (Nat. Hist.)

Defn: Covered with thin, scurfy scales.

LEPROSITY
Le*pros"i*ty, n.

Defn: The state or quality of being leprous or scaly; also, a scale.
Bacon.

LEPROSY
Lep"ro*sy, n. Etym: [See Leprous.] (Med.)

Defn: A cutaneous disease which first appears as blebs or as reddish,
shining, slightly prominent spots, with spreading edges. These are
often followed by an eruption of dark or yellowish prominent nodules,
frequently producing great deformity. In one variety of the disease,
anæsthesia of the skin is a prominent symptom. In addition there may
be wasting of the muscles, falling out of the hair and nails, and
distortion of the hands and feet with destruction of the bones and
joints. It is incurable, and is probably contagious.Mycobacterium
leprae, curable in most cases by therapy with a combination of
antibiotics, but cases resistant to therapy are increasing.

Note: The disease now called leprosy, also designated as Lepra or
Lepra Arabum, and Elephantiasis Græcorum, is not the same as the
leprosy of the ancients. The latter was, indeed, a generic name for
many varieties of skin disease (including our modern leprosy,
psoriasis, etc.), some of which, among the Hebrews, rendered a person
ceremonially unclean. A variety of leprosy of the Hebrews (probably
identical with modern leprosy) was characterized by the presence of
smooth, shining, depressed white patches or scales, the hair on which
participated in the whiteness while the skin and adjacent flesh
became insensible. It was incurable disease.

LEPROUS
Lep"rous, a. Etym: [OF. leprous, lepros, F. lépreux, fr. L. leprosus,
fr. lepra, leprae, leprosy. See Leper.]

1. Infected with leprosy; pertaining to or resembling leprosy. "His
hand was leprous as snow." Ex. iv. 6.

2. (Nat. Hist.)

Defn: Leprose.
 -- Lep"rous*ly, adv.
 -- Lep"rous*ness, n.

LEPRY
Lep"ry, n.

Defn: Leprosy. [Obs.] Holland.

LEPTIFORM
Lep"ti*form, a. Etym: [Leptus + -form.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having a form somewhat like leptus; -- said of active insect
larvæ having three pairs of legs. See Larva.

LEPTOCARDIA
Lep`to*car"di*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The lowest class of Vertebrata, including only the Amphioxus.
The heart is represented only by a simple pulsating vessel. The blood
is colorless; the brain, renal organs, and limbs are wanting, and the
backbone is represented only by a simple, unsegmented notochord. See
Amphioxus. [Written also Leptocardii.]

LEPTOCARDIAN
Lep`to*car"di*an a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Leptocardia.
 -- n.

Defn: One of the Leptocardia.

LEPTODACTYL
Lep`to*dac"tyl, n. Etym: [Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A bird or other animal having slender toes. [Written also
lepodactyle.]

LEPTODACTYLOUS
Lep`to*dac"tyl*ous

Defn: , Having slender toes.

LEPTOLOGY
Lep*tol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: A minute and tedious discourse on trifling things.

LEPTOMENINGITIS
Lep`to*men`in*gi"tis, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. meningitis.] (Med.)

Defn: Inflammation of the pia mater or of the arachnoid membrane.

LEPTORHINE
Lep"to*rhine, a. Etym: [Gr. , , the nose.] (Anat.)

Defn: Having the nose narrow; -- said esp. of the skull. Opposed to
platyrhine.

LEPTOSTRACA
Lep*tos"tra*ca, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of Crustacea, including Nebalia and allied forms.

LEPTOTHRIX
Lep"to*thrix, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Biol.)

Defn: A genus of bacteria, characterized by having their filaments
very long, slender, and indistinctly articulated.

LEPTOTHRIX
Lep"to*thrix, a. Etym: [See Leptothrix, n. ] (Biol.)

Defn: Having the form of a little chain; -- applied to bacteria when,
as in multiplication by fission, they form chain of filiform
individuals.

LEPTUS
Lep"tus, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The six-legged young, or larva, of certain mites; -- sometimes
used as a generic name. See Harvest mite, under Harvest.

LEPTYNITE
Lep"ty*nite, n. (Min.)

Defn: See Granulite.

LERE
Lere, n. Etym: [See Lore knowledge.]

Defn: Learning; lesson; lore. [Obs.] Spenser.

LERE
Lere, v. t. & i. Etym: [OE. leeren, leren, AS. l. See Lore, Learn.]

Defn: To learn; to teach. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LERE
Lere, a.

Defn: Empty. [Obs.] See Lere, a.

LERE
Lere, n. Etym: [AS. lira flesh; cf. Icel lær thigh.]

Defn: Flesh; skin. [Obs.] "His white leer." Chaucer.

LERED
Ler"ed, a. Etym: [From lere, v. t.]

Defn: Learned. [Obs.] " Lewed man or lered." Chaucer.

LERNAEA
Ler*næ"a, n. Etym: [NL., fr. L. Lernaeus Lernæan, fr. Lerna, Gr.
(Zoöl.)

Defn: A Linnæan genus of parasitic Entomostraca, -- the same as the
family Lernæidæ.

Note: The genus is restricted by modern zoölogists to a limited
number of species similar to Lernæa branchialis found on the gills of
the cod.

LERNAEACEA
Ler`næ*a"ce*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Lernæa.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A suborder of copepod Crustacea, including a large number of
remarkable forms, mostly parasitic on fishes. The young, however, are
active and swim freely. See Illustration in Appendix.

LERNEAN
Ler*ne"an, n. Etym: [See Lernæa.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of a family (Lernæidæ) of parasitic Crustacea found
attached to fishes and other marine animals. Some species penetrate
the skin and flesh with the elongated head, and feed on the viscera.
See Illust. in Appendix.

LEROT
Lé`rot", n. Etym: [F.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small European rodent (Eliomys nitela), allied to the
dormouse.

LES
Les, n.

Defn: A leash. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LESBIAN
Les"bi*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now
Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.

LESBIANISM
Les"bi*an*ism, n. (Med.)

Defn: Unnatural sexual relations between women.

LESBIAN LOVE
Lesbian love.

Defn: See Lesbianism.

LESE
Lese, v. t.

Defn: To lose. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LESE-MAJESTY
Lese`-maj"es*ty, n.

Defn: See Leze majesty.

LESION
Le"sion, n. Etym: [F. lesion, L. laesio, fr. laedere, laesum, to
hurt, injure.]

Defn: A hurt; an injury. Specifically:
(a) (Civil Law) Loss sustained from failure to fulfill a bargain or
contract. Burrill.
(b) (Med.) Any morbid change in the exercise of functions or the
texture of organs. Dunglison.

-LESS
-less. Etym: [AS. leás loose, false; akin to OS. l loose, false, D.
los loose, loos false, sly, G. los loose, Icel. lauss loose, vacant,
Goth. laus empty, vain, and also to E. loose, lose. sq. root127. See
Lose, and cf. Loose, Leasing.]

Defn: A privative adjective suffix, denoting without, destitute of,
not having; as witless, childless, fatherless.

LESS
Less (lês), conj.

Defn: Unless. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

LESS
Less, a. Etym: [OE. lesse, AS. læssa; akin to OFries. lessa; a
compar. from a lost positive form. Cf. Lesser, Lest, Least. Less has
the sense of the comparative degree of little.]

Defn: Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter; inferior;
as, a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value; in less
time than before.

Note: The substantive which less qualifies is often omitted; as, the
purse contained less (money) than ten dollars. See Less, n.
Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the coming of
Augustine, all England became Christian. E. A. Freeman.

LESS
Less, adv. Etym: [AS. l. See Less, adj., and cf. Lest.]

Defn: Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or
loud; less beautiful.

LESS
Less, n.

1. A smaller portion or quantity.
The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
Ex. xvi. 17.

2. The inferior, younger, or smaller.
The less is blessed of the better. Heb. vii. 7.

LESS
Less, v. t.

Defn: To make less; to lessen. [Obs.] Gower.

LESSEE
Les*see", n. Etym: [F. laissé, p. p. of laisser. See Lease, v. t.]
(Law)

Defn: The person to whom a lease is given, or who takes an estate by
lease. Blackstone.

LESSEN
Less"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lessened; p. pr. & vb. n. Lessening.]
Etym: [From Less, a. ]

Defn: To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to
diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a
population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune.
Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment. Calamy.
St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen
it. Atterbury.

Syn.
 -- To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken;
degrade.

LESSEN
Less"en, v. i.

Defn: To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be
diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we
recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened.
The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was
one witness of no good reputation. Atterbury.

LESSENER
Less"en*er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, lessens.
His wife . . . is the lessener of his pain, and the augmenter of his
pleasure. J. Rogers (1839).

LESSER
Less"er, a. Etym: [This word is formed by adding anew the compar.
suffix -er (in which r is from an original s) to less. See Less, a.]

Defn: Less; smaller; inferior.
God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night. Gen. i. 15.

Note: Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in certain
special instances in which its employment has become established by
custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e., Asia Minor), the lesser light, and
some others; also in poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose
where its use renders the passage more euphonious.
The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. Shak.
The larger here, and there the lesser lambs. Pope.
By the same reason may a man, in the state of nature, punish the
lesser breaches of the law. Locke.

LESSER
Less"er, adv.

Defn: Less. [Obs.] Shak.

LESSES
Les"ses, n. pl. Etym: [F. laissées, from laisser to leave. See Lease,
v. t.]

Defn: The leavings or dung of beasts.

LESSON
Les"son, n. Etym: [OE. lessoun, F. le lesson, reading, fr. L. lectio
a reading, fr. legere to read, collect. See Legend, and cf. Lection.]

1. Anything read or recited to a teacher by a pupil or learner;
something, as a portion of a book, assigned to a pupil to be studied
or learned at one time.

2. That which is learned or taught by an express effort; instruction
derived from precept, experience, observation, or deduction; a
precept; a doctrine; as, to take or give a lesson in drawing." A
smooth and pleasing lesson." Milton.
Emprinteth well this lesson in your mind. Chaucer.

3. A portion of Scripture read in divine service for instruction; as,
here endeth the first lesson.

4. A severe lecture; reproof; rebuke; warning.
She would give her a lesson for walking so late. Sir. P. Sidney.

5. (Mus.) An exercise; a composition serving an educational purpose;
a study.

LESSON
Les"son, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lessoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Lessoning.]

Defn: To teach; to instruct. Shak.
To rest the weary, and to soothe the sad, Doth lesson happier men,
and shame at least the bad. Byron.

LESSOR
Les"sor, n. Etym: [See Lessee, Lease, v. t. ] (Law)

Defn: One who leases; the person who lets to farm, or gives a lease.
Blackstone.

LEST
Lest, v. i.

Defn: To listen. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

LEST
Lest, n. Etym: [See List to choose.]

Defn: Lust; desire; pleasure. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEST
Lest, a.

Defn: Last; least. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEST
Lest, conj. Etym: [OE.leste, fr. AS. l the less that, where that,
who, which. See The, Less, a.]

1. For
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty. Prov. xx. 18.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth he standeth take heed
lest he fall. I Cor. x. 12.

2. That (without the negative particle); -- after certain expressions
denoting fear or apprehension.
I feared Lest I might anger thee. Shak.

LESTER
Les"ter, n. [Pg., prob. fr. Fr. l'est the east.] (Meteor.)

Defn: A dry sirocco in the Madeira Islands.

-LET
-let.Etym: [From two French dim. endings -el (L. -ellus) and -et, as
in bracelet.]

Defn: A noun suffix having a diminutive force; as in streamlet,
armlet.

LET
Let, v. t. Etym: [OE.letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt
slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja
to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.]

Defn: To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [Archaic]
He was so strong that no man might him let. Chaucer.
He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 2.
Thess. ii. 7.
Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, And lets me from the saddle.
Tennyson.

LET
Let, n.

1. A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; -- common in
the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. Keats.
Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not.
Latimer.

2. (Lawn Tennis)

Defn: A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing
over.

LET
Let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Let (Letted, [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n.
Letting.] Etym: [OE. leten, læten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten,
leten, lete), AS. lætan (past tense let, p. p. læten); akin to
OFries. leta, OS. latan, D. laten, G. lessen, OHG. lazzan, Icel.
lata, Sw. låta, Dan. lade, Goth. letan, and L. lassus weary. The
original meaning seems to have been, to let loose, let go, let drop.
Cf. Alas, Late, Lassitude, Let to hinder.]

1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when
followed by alone or be.]
He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let Chaucer.
Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother
Nature all her care she lets. Spenser.
Let me alone in choosing of my wife. Chaucer.

2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form
but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let
bring, i. e., cause to be brought. [Obs.]
This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him
fetch. Chaucer.
He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. Chaucer.
Anon he let two coffers make. Gower.

4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by
positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent.

Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is
commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or
suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb;
as, to let [to be or to go] loose.
Pharaoh said, I will let you go Ex. viii. 28.
If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Shak.

5. To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to
rent; to hire out; -- often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a
house; to let out horses.

6. To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; --
often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the
lathing and the plastering.

Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other
English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let
(i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms
to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive)
which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. " Your elegant house
in Harley Street is to let." Thackeray. In the imperative mood,
before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. " Rise up,
let us go." Mark xiv. 42. " Let us seek out some desolate shade."
Shak. To let alone, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from
interfering with.
 -- To let blood, to cause blood to flow; to bleed.
 -- To let down. (a) To lower. (b) To soften in tempering; as to let
down tools, cutlery, and the like.
 -- To let drive or fly, to discharge with violence, as a blow, an
arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly.
 -- To let in or into. (a) To permit or suffer to enter; to admit.
(b) To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a
surface for the purpose. To let loose, to remove restraint from; to
permit to wander at large.
 -- To let off (a) To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the
charge of, as a gun. (b) To release, as from an engagement or
obligation. [Colloq.] To let out. (a) To allow to go forth; as, to
let out a prisoner. (b) To extend or loosen, as the folds of a
garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord. (c) To lease;
to give out for performance by contract, as a job. (d) To divulge.
 -- To let slide, to let go; to cease to care for. [Colloq.] " Let
the world slide." Shak.

LET
Let, v. i.

1. To forbear. [Obs.] Bacon.

2. To be let or leased; as, the farm lets for $500 a year. See note
under Left, v. i. To let on, to tell; to tattle; to divulge
something. [Low] -- To let up, to become less severe; to diminish; to
cease; as, when the storm lets up. [Colloq.]

LET-ALONE
Let"-a*lone", a.

Defn: Letting alone. The let-alone principle, doctrine, or policy.
(Polit. Econ.) See Laissez faire.

LETCH
Letch, v. & n.

Defn: See Leach.

LETCH
Letch, n. Etym: [See Lech, Lecher.]

Defn: Strong desire; passion. (Archaic.)
Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the
wrongs of others. De Quincey.

LETCHY
Letch"y, a.

Defn: See Leachy.

LETE
Lete, v. t.

Defn: To let; to leave. [Obs.]

LETEN
Let"en, obs. p. p.

Defn: of Lete. Chaucer.

LETHAL
Leth"al, n. Etym: [Lauric + ether + alcohol.] (Chem.)

Defn: One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained
from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid. It is so called because
it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.

LETHAL
Le"thal, a. Etym: [L. lethalis, letalis, fr. lethum, letum, death:
cf. F. léthal.]

Defn: Deadly; mortal; fatal. "The lethal blow." W. Richardson.
 -- Le"thal*ly, adv.

LETHALITY
Le*thal"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. léthalité.]

Defn: The quality of being lethal; mortality.

LETHARGIC; LETHARGICAL
Le*thar"gic, Le*thar"gic*al, a. Etym: [L. lethargicus, Gr.
léthargique. See Lethargy.]

Defn: Pertaining to, affected with, or resembling, lethargy; morbidly
drowsy; dull; heavy.
 -- Le*thar"gic*al*ly, v.
 -- Le*thar"gic*al*ness, n.
 -- Le*thar"gic*ness, n.

LETHARGIZE
Leth"ar*gize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lethargized; p. pr. & vb. n.
Lethargizing.]

Defn: To make lethargic.
All bitters are poison, and act by stilling, and depressing, and
lethargizing the irritability. Coleridge.

LETHARGY
Leth"ar*gy, n.; pl. -gies. Etym: [F. léthargie, L. letgargia, Gr.
Lethe.]

1. Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a
person can scarcely be awaked.

2. A state of inaction or indifference.
Europe lay then under a deep lethargy. Atterbury.

LETHARGY
Leth"ar*gy, v. t.

Defn: To lethargize. [Obs.] Shak.

LETHE
Le"the, n. Etym: [See Lethal.]

Defn: Death.[Obs.] Shak.

LETHE
Le"the (le"the), n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr.

1. (Class. Myth.)

Defn: A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness
of the past.

2. Oblivion; a draught of oblivion; forgetfulness.

LETHEAN
Le*the"an, a. Etym: [L. Letha, Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Lethe; resembling in effect the water of
Lethe. Milton. Barrow.

LETHEED
Le"theed, a.

Defn: Caused by Lethe. " Letheed dullness." [Obs.] Shak.

LETHEON
Le"the*on, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: Sulphuric ether used as an anæsthetic agent. [R.]

LETHEONIZE
Le"the*on*ize, v. t.

Defn: To subject to the influence of letheon. [R. or Obs.]

LETHIFEROUS
Le*thif"er*ous, a. Etym: [L. lethifer, letifer, fr. lethum, letum,
death + ferre to bear, to bring: cf. F. léthifère.]

Defn: Deadly; bringing death or destruction.

LETHY
Le"thy, a.

Defn: Lethean. [Obs.] Marston.

LET-OFF
Let"-off`, n. (Mach.)

Defn: A device for letting off, releasing, or giving forth, as the
warp from the cylinder of a loom.

LETTE
Let"te, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Letted.]

Defn: To let; to hinder. See Let, to hinder. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LETTER
Let"ter, n. Etym: [From Let to permit.]

Defn: One who lets or permits; one who lets anything for hire.

LETTER
Let"ter, n. Etym: [From Let to hinder.]

Defn: One who retards or hinders. [Archaic.]

LETTER
Let"ter, n. Etym: [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L.littera,
litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr. linere,
litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over; because one of the earliest
modes of writing was by graving the characters upon tablets smeared
over or covered with wax. Pliny, xiii. 11. See Leniment, and cf.
Literal.]

1. A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of
an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of
written language.
And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek,
and Latin, and Hebrew. Luke xxiii. 38.

2. A written or printed communication; a message expressed in
intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper,
parchment, etc.; an epistle.
The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural. Walsh.

3. A writing; an inscription. [Obs.]
None could expound what this letter meant. Chaucer.

4. Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact
signification or requirement.
We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the
reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver. Jer. Taylor.
I broke the letter of it to keep the sense. Tennyson.

5. (Print.)

Defn: A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing house, and that
famous letter so much esteemed. Evelyn.

6. pl.

Defn: Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters.

7. pl.

Defn: A letter; an epistle. [Obs.] Chaucer. Dead letter, Drop letter,
etc. See under Dead, Drop, etc.
 -- Letter book, a book in which copies of letters are kept.
 -- Letter box, a box for the reception of letters to be mailed or
delivered.
 -- Letter carrier, a person who carries letters; a postman; specif.,
an officer of the post office who carries letters to the persons to
whom they are addressed, and collects letters to be mailed.
 -- Letter cutter, one who engraves letters or letter punches.
 -- Letter lock, a lock that can not be opened when fastened, unless
certain movable lettered rings or disks forming a part of in are in
such a position (indicated by a particular combination of the
letters) as to permit the bolt to be withdrawn.
A strange lock that opens with AMEN. Beau. & Fl.
-- Letter paper, paper for writing letters on; especially, a size of
paper intermediate between note paper and foolscap. See Paper.
 -- Letter punch, a steel punch with a letter engraved on the end,
used in making the matrices for type.
 -- Letters of administration (Law), the instrument by which an
administrator or administratrix is authorized to administer the goods
and estate of a deceased person.
 -- Letter of attorney, Letter of credit, etc. See under Attorney,
Credit, etc.
 -- Letter of license, a paper by which creditors extend a debtor's
time for paying his debts.
 -- Letters close or clause (Eng. Law.), letters or writs directed to
particular persons for particular purposes, and hence closed or
sealed on the outside; -- distinguished from letters patent. Burrill.
 -- Letters of orders (Eccl.), a document duly signed and sealed, by
which a bishop makes it known that he has regularly ordained a
certain person as priest, deacon, etc.
 -- Letters patent, overt, or open (Eng. Law), a writing executed and
sealed, by which power and authority are granted to a person to do
some act, or enjoy some right; as, letters patent under the seal of
England.
 -- Letter-sheet envelope, a stamped sheet of letter paper issued by
the government, prepared to be folded and sealed for transmission by
mail without an envelope.
 -- Letters testamentary (Law), an instrument granted by the proper
officer to an executor after probate of a will, authorizing him to
act as executor.
 -- Letter writer. (a) One who writes letters. (b) A machine for
copying letters. (c) A book giving directions and forms for the
writing of letters.

LETTER
Let"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lettered; p. pr. & vb. n. Lettering.]

Defn: To impress with letters; to mark with letters or words; as, a
book gilt and lettered.

LETTERED
Let"tered, a.

1. Literate; educated; versed in literature. " Are you not lettered"
Shak.
The unlettered barbarians willingly accepted the aid of the lettered
clergy, still chiefly of Roman birth, to reduce to writing the
institutes of their forefathers. Milman.

2. Of or pertaining to learning or literature; learned. " A lettered
education." Collier.

3. Inscribed or stamped with letters. Addison.

LETTERER
Let"ter*er, n.

Defn: One who makes, inscribes, or engraves, alphabetical letters.

LETTERGRAM
Let"ter*gram, n.

Defn: See Letter, above.

LETTERING
Let"ter*ing, n.

1. The act or business of making, or marking with, letters, as by
cutting or painting.

2. The letters made; as, the lettering of a sign.

LETTERLESS
Let"ter*less, a.

1. Not having a letter.

2. Illiterate. [Obs.] E. Waterhouse.

LETTERN
Let"tern, n.

Defn: See Lecturn.

LETTERPRESS
Let"ter*press", n.

Defn: Print; letters and words impressed on paper or other material
by types; -- often used of the reading matter in distinction from the
illustrations.
Letterpress printing, printing directly from type, in distinction
from printing from plates.

LETTERURE
Let"ter*ure, n.

Defn: Letters; literature. [Obs.] "To teach him letterure and
courtesy." Chaucer.

LETTERWOOD
Let"ter*wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The beautiful and highly elastic wood of a tree of the genus
Brosimum (B. Aubletii), found in Guiana; -- so called from black
spots in it which bear some resemblance to hieroglyphics; also called
snakewood, and leopardwood. It is much used for bows and for walking
sticks.

LETTIC
Let"tic, a.
(a) Of or pertaining to the Letts; Lettish.
(b) Of or pertaining to a branch of the Slavic family, subdivided
into Lettish, Lithuanian, and Old Prussian.
 -- n.
(a) The language of the Letts; Lettish.
(b) The language of the Lettic race, including Lettish, Lithuanian,
and Old Prussian.

LETTISH
Let"tish, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Letts.
 -- n.

Defn: The language spoken by the Letts. See Lettic.

LETTRURE
Let"trure, n.

Defn: See Letterure. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LETTS
Letts, n. pl.; sing. Lett (. (Ethnol.)

Defn: An Indo-European people, allied to the Lithuanians and Old
Prussians, and inhabiting a part of the Baltic provinces of Russia.

LETTUCE
Let"tuce, n. Etym: [OE. letuce, prob. through Old French from some
Late Latin derivative of L. lactuca lettuce, which, according to
Varro, is fr. lac, lactis, milk, on account of the milky white juice
which flows from it when it is cut: cf. F. laitue. Cf. Lacteal,
Lactucic.] (Bot.)

Defn: A composite plant of the genus Lactuca (L. sativa), the leaves
of which are used as salad. Plants of this genus yield a milky juice,
from which lactucarium is obtained. The commonest wild lettuce of the
United States is L. Canadensis. Hare's lettuce, Lamb's lettuce. See
under Hare, and Lamb.
 -- Lettuce opium. See Lactucarium.
 -- Sea lettuce, certain papery green seaweeds of the genus Ulva.

LETUARY
Let"u*a*ry, n.

Defn: Electuary. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LET-UP
Let"-*up`, n. Etym: [See Let to forbear.]

Defn: Abatement; also, cessation; as, it blew a gale for three days
without any let-up. [Colloq.]

LEUC-
Leuc-

Defn: . Same as Leuco-.

LEUCADENDRON
Leu`ca*den"dron, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of evergreen shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, having
handsome foliage. Leucadendron argenteum is the silverboom of the
colonists.

LEUCANILINE
Leu*can"i*line, n. Etym: [Leuc- + aniline.] (Chem.)

Defn: A colorless, crystalline, organic base, obtained from
rosaniline by reduction, and also from other sources. It forms
colorless salts.

LEUCHAEMIA
Leu*chæ"mi*a, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: See Leucocythæmia.
 -- Leu*chæm"ic, a. [Written also leukæmia, leukæmic.]

LEUCIC; LEUCINIC
Leu"cic, Leu*cin"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from leucin,
and called also oxycaproic acid.

LEUCIN
Leu"cin, n. Etym: [Gr. (Physiol. Chem.)

Defn: A white, crystalline, nitrogenous substance formed in the
decomposition of albuminous matter by pancreatic digestion, by the
action of boiling dilute sulphuric acid, and by putrefaction. It is
also found as a constituent of various tissues and organs, as the
spleen, pancreas, etc., and likewise in the vegetable kingdom.
Chemically it is to be considered as amido-caproic acid.
(CH3)2CH.CH2.CH(NH2)-COOH. L-leucine, the natural form, is present in
most proteins.

LEUCITE
Leu"cite, n. Etym: [Gr.leucite.]

1. (Min.)

Defn: A mineral having a glassy fracture, occurring in translucent
trapezohedral crystals. It is a silicate of alumina and potash. It is
found in the volcanic rocks of Italy, especially at Vesuvius.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: A leucoplast.

LEUCITIC
Leu*cit"ic, a. (Min.)

Defn: Containing leucite; as, leucitic rocks.

LEUCITOID
Leu"ci*toid, n. Etym: [Leucite + -oid.] (Crystallog.)

Defn: The trapezohedron or tetragonal trisoctahedron; -- so called as
being the form of the mineral leucite.

LEUCO-; LEUC-
Leu"co-, Leuc-.Etym: [Gr.

Defn: 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.

LEUCOCYTE
Leu"co*cyte, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Cr. (Physiol.)

Defn: A colorless corpuscle, as one of the white blood corpuscles, or
those found in lymph, marrow of hone, connective tissue, etc.

Note: They all consist of more or less spherical masses of
protoplasm, without any surrounding membrane or wall, and are capable
of motion.

LEUCOCYTHAEMIA; LEUCOCYTHEMIA
Leu`co*cy*thæ"mi*a, Leu`co*cy*the"mi*a, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A disease in which the white corpuscles of the blood are
largely increased in number, and there is enlargement of the spleen,
or the lymphatic glands; leuchæmia.

LEUCOCYTOGENESIS
Leu`co*cy`to*gen"e*sis, n. Etym: [Leucocyte + genesis.] (Physiol.)

Defn: The formation of leucocytes.

LEUCOETHIOPIC
Leu`co*e`thi*op"ic, a. Etym: [Leuco- + Ethiopic.]

Defn: White and black; -- said of a white animal of a black species,
or the albino of the negro race.

LEUCOETHIOPS
Leu`co*e"thi*ops, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Aethiops.]

Defn: An albino. [Also written leucoethiops.]

LEUCOLINE
Leu"co*line, n. Etym: [Leuc- + L. oleum oil.] (Chem.)

Defn: A nitrogenous organic base from coal tar, and identical with
quinoline. Cf. Quinoline.

LEUCOMA
Leu*co"ma, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A white opacity in the cornea of the eye; -- called also
albugo.

LEUCOMAINE
Leu*co"ma*ine, n. Etym: [Leuco- + -maine, as in ptomaine.] (Physiol.
Chem.)

Defn: An animal base or alkaloid, appearing in the tissue during
life; hence, a vital alkaloid, as distinguished from a ptomaine or
cadaveric poison.

LEUCONIC
Leu*con"ic, a. Etym: [Leuc- + croconic.] (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or designating, a complex organic acid, obtained
as a yellowish white gum by the oxidation of croconic acid.

LEUCOPATHY
Leu*cop"a*thy, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Gr.

Defn: The state of an albino, or of a white child of black parents.

LEUCOPHANE
Leu"co*phane, n. Etym: [Gr. leukophan.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral of a greenish yellow color; it is a silicate of
glucina, lime, and soda with fluorine. Called also leucophanite.

LEUCOPHLEGMACY
Leu`co*phleg"ma*cy, n. Etym: [Gr. leucophlegmasie.] (Med.)

Defn: A dropsical habit of body, or the commencement of anasarca;
paleness, with viscid juices and cold sweats.

LEUCOPHLEGMATIC
Leu`co*phleg*mat"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. leucophlegmatique, Gr.

Defn: Having a dropsical habit of body, with a white bloated skin.

LEUCOPHYLL
Leu"co*phyll, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Gr. (Chem.)

Defn: A colorless substance isomeric with chlorophyll, contained in
parts of plants capable of becoming green. Watts.

LEUCOPHYLLOUS
Leu*coph"yl*lous, a. Etym: [Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: Having white or silvery foliage.

LEUCOPLAST; LEUCOPLASTID
Leu"co*plast, Leu`co*plas"tid, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: One of certain very minute whitish or colorless granules
occurring in the protoplasm of plants and supposed to be the nuclei
around which starch granules will form.

LEUCOPYRITE
Leu*cop"y*rite, n. Etym: [Leuco- + pyrites.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral of a color between white and steel-gray, with a
metallic luster, and consisting chiefly of arsenic and iron.

LEUCORRHOEA
Leu`cor*rhoe"a, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Gr. "rei^n to flow.] (Med.)

Defn: A discharge of a white, yellowish, or greenish, viscid mucus,
resulting from inflammation or irritation of the membrane lining the
genital organs of the female; the whites. Dunglison.

LEUCORYX
Leu"co*ryx, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A large antelope of North Africa (Oryx leucoryx), allied to the
gemsbok.

LEUCOSCOPE
Leu"co*scope, n. Etym: [Leuco- + -scope.] (Physics)

Defn: An instrument, devised by Professor Helmholtz, for testing the
color perception of the eye, or for comparing different lights, as to
their constituent color or their relative whiteness.

LEUCOSOID
Leu"co*soid, a. Etym: [NL. Leucosia, the typical genus (fr. Gr. -
oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Like or pertaining to the Leucosoidea, a tribe of marine crabs
including the box crab or Calappa.

LEUCOSPHERE
Leu"co*sphere, n. Etym: [Leuco- + sphere.] (Astron.)

Defn: The inner corona. [R.]

LEUCOTURIC
Leu`co*tu"ric, a. Etym: [Leuco- + allantoic + uric.] (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or designating, a nitrogenous organic substance
of the uric acid group, called leucoturic acid or oxalantin. See
Oxalantin.

LEUCOUS
Leu"cous, a. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: White; -- applied to albinos, from the whiteness of their skin
and hair.

LEUCOXENE
Leu*cox"ene, n. Etym: [Leuco- + Gr. xe`nos stranger.] (Min.)

Defn: A nearly opaque white mineral, in part identical with titanite,
observed in some igneous rocks as the result of the alteration of
titanic iron.

LEUKAEMIA
Leu*kæ"mi*a, n.

Defn: Leucocythæmia.

LEUKE; LEUKENESS
Leuke, a., Leuke"ness, n.

Defn: See Luke, etc.

LEUKOPLAST
Leu"ko*plast, n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Leucoplast.

LEUKOPLAST
Leu"ko*plast (lu"ko*plast), n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Leucoplast.

LEVANA
Le*va"na, n. Etym: [L., fr. levare to raise.] (Rom. Myth.)

Defn: A goddess who protected newborn infants.

LEVANT
Le"vant, a. Etym: [F., p. pr. of lever to raise.] (Law)

Defn: Rising or having risen from rest; -- said of cattle. See
Couchant and levant, under Couchant.

LEVANT
Le*vant", n. Etym: [It. levante the point where the sum rises, the
east, the Levant, fr.levare to raise, levarsi to rise: cf. F. levant.
See Lever.]

1. The countries washed by the eastern part of the Mediterranean and
its contiguous waters.

2. A levanter (the wind so called).

LEVANT
Le"vant, a.

Defn: Eastern. [Obs.]
Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds. Milton.

LEVANT
Le*vant", v. i. Etym: [Cf. Sp. levantar to raise, go from one place
to another.]

Defn: To run away from one's debts; to decamp. [Colloq. Eng.]
Thackeray.

LEVANTER
Le*vant"er, n. Etym: [From Levant, v.]

Defn: One who levants, or decamps. [Colloq. Eng.]

LEVANTER
Le*vant"er, n. Etym: [From Levant, n.]

Defn: A strong easterly wind peculiar to the Mediterranean. W. H.
Russell.

LEVANTINE
Le*vant"ine, a. Etym: [F. levantin, or It. levantino. See Levant, n.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Levant. J. Spencer.

LEVANTINE
Le*vant"ine, n.

1. A native or inhabitant of the Levant.

2. Etym: [F. levantine, or It. levantina.]

Defn: A stout twilled silk fabric, formerly made in the Levant.

LEVARI FACIAS
Le*va`ri fa"ci*as. Etym: [Law L., cause to be levied.]

Defn: A writ of execution at common law.

LEVATION
Le*va"tion, n. Etym: [L. levatio.]

Defn: The act of raising; elevation; upward motion, as that produced
by the action of a levator muscle.

LEVATOR
Le*va"tor, n. Etym: [NL., fr. L. levare to raise. See Lever, n.]

1. (Anat.)

Defn: A muscle that serves to raise some part, as the lip or the
eyelid.

2. (Surg.)

Defn: A surgical instrument used to raise a depressed part of the
skull.

LEVE
Leve, a.

Defn: Dear. See Lief. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEVE
Leve, n. & v.

Defn: Same as 3d & 4th Leave. [Obs.]

LEVE
Leve, v. i.

Defn: To live. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEVE
Leve, v. t. Etym: [OE., fr. AS. l, abbrev. fr. gel. See Believe.]

Defn: To believe. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEVE
Leve, v. t. Etym: [OE. leven, AS. l, l. See Leave permission.]

Defn: To grant; -- used esp. in exclamations or prayers followed by a
dependent clause. [Obs.]
God leve all be well. Chaucer.

LEVECHE
Le*ve"che, n. [Sp. Cf. Lebeccio.] (Meteor.)

Defn: A dry sirocco of Spain.

LEVEE
Lev"ee, n. Etym: [F. lever, fr. lever to raise, se lever to rise. See
Lever, n.]

1. The act of rising. " The sun's levee." Gray.

2. A morning assembly or reception of visitors, -- in distinction
from a soirée, or evening assembly; a matinée; hence, also, any
general or somewhat miscellaneous gathering of guests, whether in the
daytime or evening; as, the president's levee.

Note: In England a ceremonious day reception, when attended by both
ladies and gentlemen, is called a drawing-room.

LEVEE
Lev"ee, v. t.

Defn: To attend the levee or levees of.
He levees all the great. Young.

LEVEE
Lev"ee, n. Etym: [F. levée, fr. lever to raise. See Lever, and cf.
Levy.]

Defn: An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the
Mississippi; sometimes, the steep bank of a river. [U. S. ]

LEVEE
Lev"ee, v. t.

Defn: To keep within a channel by means of levees; as, to levee a
river. [U. S.]

LEVEE EN MASSE
Le*vée" en` masse". Etym: [F.]

Defn: See Levy in mass, under Levy, n.

LEVEFUL
Leve"ful, a. Etym: [Leve, n. + -ful.]

Defn: Allowable; permissible; lawful. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEVEL
Lev"el, n. Etym: [OE. level, livel, OF. livel, F. niveau, fr. L.
libella level, water level, a plumb level, dim. of libra pound,
measure for liquids, balance, water poise, level. Cf. Librate,
Libella.]

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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 l of the plateau and then descent to
the level of the valley or of the sea.
After draining of the level in Northamptonshire. Sir M. Hale.
Shot from the deadly level of a gun. Shak.

4. Hence, figuratively, a certain position, rank, standard, degree,
quality, character, etc., conceived of as in one of several planes of
different elevation.
Providence, for the most part, sets us on a level. Addison.
Somebody there of his own level. Swift.
Be the fair level of thy actions laid As temperance wills and
prudence may persuade. Prior.

5. 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.
When merit shall find its level. F. W. Robertson.

6. (Mech. & Surv.)
(a) An instrument by which to find a horizontal line, or adjust
something with reference to a horizontal line.
(b) A measurement of the difference of altitude of two points, by
means of a level; as, to take a level.

7. A horizontal passage, drift, or adit, in mine. Air level, a spirit
level. See Spirit level (below).
 -- Box level, a spirit level in which a glass-covered box is used
instead of a tube.
 -- Garpenter's level, Mason's level, either the plumb level or a
straight bar of wood, in which is imbedded a small spirit level.
 -- Level of the sea, the imaginary level from which heights and
depths are calculated, taken at a mean distance between high and low
water.
 -- Line of levels, a connected series of measurements, by means of a
level, along a given line, as of a railroad, to ascertain the profile
of the ground.
 -- Plumb level, one in which a horizontal bar is placed in true
position by means of a plumb line, to which it is at right angles.
 -- Spirit level, one in which the adjustment to the horizon is shown
by the position of a bubble in alcohol or ether contained in a nearly
horizontal glass tube, or a circular box with a glass cover.
 -- Surveyor's level, a telescope, with a spirit level attached, and
with suitable screws, etc., for accurate adjustment, the whole
mounted on a tripod, for use in leveling; -- called also leveling
instrument.
 -- Water level, an instrument to show the level by means the surface
of water in a trough, or in upright tubes connected by a pipe.

LEVEL
Lev"el, a.

1. 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.
Ample spaces o'er the smooth And level pavement. Milton.

2. Coinciding or parallel with the plane of the horizon; horizontal;
as, the telescope is now level.

3. 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.
Young boys and girls Are level now with men; the odds is gone. Shak.
Everything lies level to our wish. Shak.

4. Straightforward; direct; direct; clear; open.
A very plain and level account. M. Arnold.

5. Well balanced; even; just; steady; impartial; as, a level head; a
level understanding. [Colloq.] " A level consideration." Shak.

6. (Phonetics)

Defn: Of even tone; without rising or falling inflection. H. Sweet.
Level line (Shipbuilding), the outline of a section which is
horizontal crosswise, and parallel with the rabbet of the keel
lengthwise. Level surface (Physics), an equipotential surface at
right angles at every point to the lines of force.

LEVEL
Lev"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Leveled or Levelled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Leveling or Levelling.]

1. 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.

2. To bring to a lower level; to overthrow; to topple down; to reduce
to a flat surface; to lower.
And their proud structures level with the ground. Sandys.
He levels mountains and he raises plains. Dryden.

3. To bring to a horizontal position, as a gun; hence, to point in
taking aim; to aim; to direct.
Bertram de Gordon, standing on the castle wall, leveled a quarrel out
of a crossbow. Stow.

4. 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.

5. To adjust or adapt to a certain level; as, to level remarks to the
capacity of children.
For all his mind on honor fixed is, To which he levels all his
purposes. Spenser.

LEVEL
Lev"el, v. i.

1. To be level; to be on a level with, or on an equality with,
something; hence, to accord; to agree; to suit. [Obs.]
With such accommodation and besort As levels with her breeding. Shak.

2. 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.
The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife.
Shak.
The glory of God and the good of his church . . . ought to be the
mark whereat we also level. Hooker.
She leveled at our purposes. Shak.

LEVELER
Lev"el*er, n. Etym: [Written also leveller.]

1. One who, or that which, levels.

2. One who would remove social inequalities or distinctions; a
socialist.

LEVELING
Lev"el*ing, n. Etym: [Written also levelling.]

1. The act or operation of making level.

2. (Surveying)

Defn: The art or operation of using a leveling instrument for finding
a horizontal line, for ascertaining the differences of level between
different points of the earth's surface included in a survey, for
establishing grades, etc., as in finding the descent of a river, or
locating a line of railroad. Leveling instrument. See Surveyor's
level, under Level, n.
 -- Leveling staff, a graduated rod or staff used in connection with
a leveling instrument for measuring differences of level between
points.

LEVELISM
Lev"el*ism, n.

Defn: The disposition or endeavor to level all distinctions of rank
in society.

LEVELLY
Lev"el*ly, adv.

Defn: In an even or level manner.

LEVELNESS
Lev"el*ness, n.

Defn: The state or quality of being level.

LEVEN
Lev"en, n. Etym: [See Levin.]

Defn: Lightning. [Obs.]
Wild thunder dint and fiery leven. Chaucer.

LEVER
Lev"er, a. Etym: [Old compar. of leve or lief.]

Defn: More agreeable; more pleasing. [Obs.] Chaucer. To be lever
than. See Had as lief, under Had.

LEVER
Lev"er, adv.

Defn: Bather. [Obs.] Chaucer.
For lever had I die than see his deadly face. Spenser.

LEVER
Le"ver, n. Etym: [OE. levour, OF. leveor, prop., a lifter, fr. F.
lever to raise, L. levare; akin to levis light in weight, E. levity,
and perh. to E. light not heavy: cf. F. levier. Cf. Alleviate,
Elevate, Leaven, Legerdemain, Levy, n.]

1. (Mech.)

Defn: A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or
axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where
forces are applied; -- used for transmitting and modifying force and
motion. Specif., a bar of metal, wood, or other rigid substance, used
to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length,
by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on
a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of
the six mechanical powers, and is three kinds, according as either
the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P. respectively, is
situated between the other two, as in the figures.

2. (Mach.)
(a) A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
(b) An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain
motion from it. Compound lever, a machine consisting of two or more
levers acting upon each other.
 -- Lever escapement. See Escapement.
 -- Lever jack. See Jack, n., 5.
 -- Lever watch, a watch having a vibrating lever to connect the
action of the escape wheel with that of the balance. Universal lever,
a machine formed by a combination of a lever with the wheel and axle,
in such a manner as to convert the reciprocating motion of the lever
into a continued rectilinear motion of some body to which the power
is applied.

LEVERAGE
Lev"er*age, n.

Defn: The action of a lever; mechanical advantage gained by the
lever. Leverage of a couple (Mech.), the perpendicular distance
between the lines of action of two forces which act in parallel and
opposite directions.
 -- Leverage of a force, the perpendicular distance from the line in
which a force acts upon a body to a point about which the body may be
supposed to turn.

LEVERET
Lev"er*et, n. Etym: [F. levraut, dim. of lièvre hare, L. lepus. Cf.
Leporine.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A hare in the first year of its age.

LEVEROCK
Lev"er*ock, n. Etym: [See Lark.]

Defn: A lark. [Scot.]

LEVERWOOD
Lev"er*wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The American hop hornbeam (Ostrya Virginica), a small tree with
very tough wood.

LEVESEL
Lev"e*sel, n. Etym: [AS. leáf a leaf + sæl, sel, a room, a hall.]

Defn: A leafy shelter; a place covered with foliage. [Obs.]
Behind the mill, under a levesel. Chaucer.

LEVET
Lev"et, n. Etym: [Cf. F. lever to raise.]

Defn: A trumpet call for rousing soldiers; a reveille. [Obs.]
Hudibras.

LEVIABLE
Lev"i*a*ble, a. Etym: [From Levy to assess.]

Defn: Fit to be levied; capable of being assessed and collected; as,
sums leviable by course of law. Bacon.

LEVIATHAN
Le*vi"a*than, n. Etym: [Heb. livyathan.]

1. An aquatic animal, described in the book of Job, ch. xli., and
mentioned on other passages of Scripture.

Note: It is not certainly known what animal is intended, whether the
crocodile, the whale, or some sort of serpent.

2. The whale, or a great whale. Milton.

LEVIER
Lev"i*er, n.

Defn: One who levees. Cartwright.

LEVIGABLE
Lev"i*ga*ble a. Etym: [See Levigate, v. t.]

Defn: Capable of being levigated.

LEVIGATE
Lev"i*gate, a. Etym: [L. levigatus, p. p. of levigare to lighten, fr.
l light.]

Defn: Made less harsh or burdensome; alleviated. [Obs.] Sir. T.
Elyot.

LEVIGATE
Lev"i*gate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Levigated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Levigating.] Etym: [L. levigatus, p. p. of levigare to make smooth,
fr. l smooth; akin to Gr.

Defn: To make smooth in various senses:
(a) To free from grit; to reduce to an impalpable powder or paste.
(b) To mix thoroughly, as liquids or semiliquids.
(c) To polish.
(d) To make smooth in action. " When use hath levigated the organs."
Barrow.
(e) Technically, to make smooth by rubbing in a moist condition
between hard surfaces, as in grinding pigments.

LEVIGATE
Lev"i*gate, a. Etym: [L. levigatus, p. p.]

Defn: Made smooth, as if polished.

LEVIGATION
Lev"i*ga"tion, n. Etym: [L. levigatio a smoothing: cf. F.
lévigation.]

Defn: The act or operation of levigating.

LEVIN
Lev"in, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain. Cf. Leven.]

Defn: Lightning. [Obs.] Spenser. Levin brand, a thunderbolt. [Obs.]
Spenser.

LEVINER
Lev"in*er, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A swift hound.

LEVIR
Le"vir, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: A husband's brother; -- used in reference to levirate
marriages.

LEVIRATE; LEVIRATICAL
Lev"i*rate, Lev`i*rat"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. levir a husband's brother,
brother-in-law; akin to Gr. lévirat leviration.]

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with, a law of the ancient
Israelites and other tribes and races, according to which a woman,
whose husband died without issue, was married to the husband's
brother.
The firstborn son of a leviratical marriage was reckoned and
registered as the son of the deceased brother. Alford.

LEVIRATION
Lev`i*ra"tion, n.

Defn: Levirate marriage or marriages. Kitto.

LEVIROSTRES
Lev`i*ros"tres, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. L. levis light + rostrum
beak.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A group of birds, including the hornbills, kingfishers, and
related forms.

LEVITATE
Lev"i*tate, v. i. Etym: [L. levitas, -atis, lightness. See Levity.]

Defn: To rise, or tend to rise, as if lighter than the surrounding
medium; to become buoyant; -- opposed to gravitate. Sir. J. Herschel.

LEVITATE
Lev"i*tate, v. i. (Spiritualism)

Defn: To make buoyant; to cause to float in the air; as, to levitate
a table. [Cant]

LEVITATION
Lev`i*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. levis light in weight.]

1. Lightness; buoyancy; act of making light. Paley.

2. The act or process of making buoyant.

LEVITE
Le"vite, n. Etym: [L. Levites, Gr. Levi, one of the sons of Jacob.]

1. (Bib. Hist.)

Defn: One of the tribe or family of Levi; a descendant of Levi; esp.,
one subordinate to the priests (who were of the same tribe) and
employed in various duties connected with the tabernacle first, and
afterward the temple, such as the care of the building, bringing of
wood and other necessaries for the sacrifices, the music of the
services, etc.

2. A priest; so called in contempt or ridicule.

LEVITICAL
Le*vit"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. Leviticus, Gr.

1. Of or pertaining to a Levite or the Levites.

2. Priestly. " Levitical questions." Milton.

3. Of or pertaining to, or designating, the law contained in the book
of Leviticus. Ayliffe. Levitical degrees, degrees of relationship
named in Leviticus, within which marriage is forbidden.

LEVITICALLY
Le*vit"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: After the manner of the Levites; in accordance with the
levitical law.

LEVITICUS
Le*vit"i*cus, n. Etym: [See Levitical.]

Defn: The third canonical book of the Old Testament, containing the
laws and regulations relating to the priests and Levites among the
Hebrews, or the body of the ceremonial law.

LEVITY
Lev"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. levitas, fr. levis light in weight; akin to
levare to raise. See Lever, n.]

1. The quality of weighing less than something else of equal bulk;
relative lightness, especially as shown by rising through, or
floating upon, a contiguous substance; buoyancy; -- opposed to
gravity.
He gave the form of levity to that which ascended; to that which
descended, the form of gravity. Sir. W. Raleigh.
This bubble by reason of its comparative levity to the fluidity that
incloses it, would ascend to the top. Bentley.

2. Lack of gravity and earnestness in deportment or character;
trifling gayety; frivolity; sportiveness; vanity. " A spirit of
levity and libertinism." Atterbury.
He never employed his omnipotence out of levity. Calamy.

3. Lack of steadiness or constancy; disposition to change;
fickleness; volatility.
The levity that is fatigued and disgusted with everything of which it
is in possession. Burke.

Syn.
 -- Inconstancy; thoughtlessness; unsteadiness; inconsideration;
volatility; flightiness.
 -- Levity, Volatility, Flightiness. All these words relate to
outward conduct. Levity springs from a lightness of mind which
produces a disregard of the proprieties of time and place.Volatility
is a degree of levity which causes the thoughts to fly from one
object to another, without resting on any for a moment. Flightiness
is volatility carried to an extreme which often betrays its subject
into gross impropriety or weakness. Levity of deportment, of conduct,
of remark; volatility of temper, of spirits; flightiness of mind or
disposition.

LEVO-
Le"vo-.

Defn: A prefix from L. laevus, meaning:
(a) Pertaining to, or toward, the left; as, levorotatory.
(b) (Chem. & Opt.) Turning the plane of polarized light to the left;
as, levotartaric acid; levoracemic acid; levogyratory crystals, etc.
[Written also lævo-.]

LEVOGYRATE
Le`vo*gy"rate, a. Etym: [Levo- + gyrate.] (Chem. & Physics)

Defn: Turning or twisting the plane of polarization towards the left,
as levulose, levotartaric acid, etc. [Written also lævogyrate.]

LEVOROTATION
Le`vo*ro*ta"tion, n. [Written also lævorotation.] [Levo- + rotation.]
(Physics & Chem.)

Defn: Rotation in the direction of an outgoing right-handed screw;
counter-clockwise rotation; -- applied chiefly to the turning of the
plane of polarization of light.

LEVOROTATORY
Le`vo*ro"ta*to*ry, a. Etym: [Levo- + rotatory.] (Chem. & Physics)

Defn: Turning or rotating the plane of polarization towards the left;
levogyrate, as levulose, left handed quartz crystals, etc. [Written
also lævorotatory.]

LEVULIN
Lev"u*lin, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A substance resembling dextrin, obtained from the bulbs of the
dahlia, the artichoke, and other sources, as a colorless, spongy,
amorphous material. It is so called because by decomposition it
yields levulose. [Written also lævulin.]

LEVULINIC
Lev`u*lin"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or denoting, an acid (called also acetyl-
propionic acid), C5H8O3, obtained by the action of dilute acids on
various sugars (as levulose). [Written also lævulinic.]

LEVULOSAN
Lev`u*lo"san, n. (Chem.)

Defn: An unfermentable carbohydrate obtained by gently heating
levulose.

LEVULOSE
Lev"u*lose`, n. Etym: [See Levo-.] (Chem.)

Defn: A sirupy variety of sugar, rarely obtained crystallized,
occurring widely in honey, ripe fruits, etc., and hence called also
fruit sugar. It is called levulose, because it rotates the plane of
polarization to the left. [Written also lævulose.]C6H12O6.

Note: It is obtained, together with an equal quantity of dextrose, by
the inversion of ordinary cane or beet sugar, and hence, as being an
ingredient of invert sugar, is often so called. It is fermentable,
nearly as sweet as cane sugar, and is metameric with dextrose. Cf.
Dextrose.

LEVY
Lev"y, n.; pl. Levies. Etym: [A contr. of elevenpence or elevenpenny
bit.]

Defn: A name formerly given in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia
to the Spanish real of one eight of a dollar (or 12

LEVY
Lev"y, n. Etym: [F. levée, fr. lever to raise. See Lever, and cf.
Lever.]

1. The act of levying or collecting by authority; as, the levy of
troops, taxes, etc.
A levy of all the men left under sixty. Thirlwall.

2. That which is levied, as an army, force, tribute, etc. " The Irish
levies." Macaulay.

3. (Law)

Defn: The taking or seizure of property on executions to satisfy
judgments, or on warrants for the collection of taxes; a collecting
by execution. Levy in mass Etym: [F. levée en masse], a requisition
of all able-bodied men for military service.

LEVY
Lev"y, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Levied; p. pr. & vb. n. Levying.]

1. To raise, as a siege. [Obs.] Holland.

2. To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by
enrollment, conscription. etc.
Augustine . . . inflamed Ethelbert, king of Kent, to levy his power,
and to war against them. Fuller.

3. To raise or collect by assessment; to exact by authority; as, to
levy taxes, toll, tribute, or contributions.
If they do this . . . my ransom, then, Will soon be levied. Shak.

4. (Law)
(a) To gather or exact; as, to levy money.
(b) To erect, build, or set up; to make or construct; to raise or
cast up; as, to levy a mill, dike, ditch, a nuisance, etc. [Obs.]
Cowell. Blackstone.
(c) To take or seize on execution; to collect by execution. To levy a
fine, to commence and carry on a suit for assuring the title to lands
or tenements. Blackstone.
 -- To levy war, to make or begin war; to take arms for attack; to
attack.

LEVY
Lev"y, v. i.

Defn: To seize property, real or personal, or subject it to the
operation of an execution; to make a levy; as, to levy on property;
the usual mode of levying, in England, is by seizing the goods. To
levy on goods and chattels, to take into custody or seize specific
property in satisfaction of a writ.

LEVYNE; LEVYNITE
Lev"yne, Lev"yn*ite, n. Etym: [From Mr. Levy, an English
mineralogist.] (Min.)

Defn: A whitish, reddish, or yellowish, transparent or translucent
mineral, allied to chabazite.

LEW
Lew, a. Etym: [Cf. lee a calm or sheltered place, lukewarm.]

Defn: Lukewarm; tepid. [Obs.] Wyclif.

LEWD
Lewd, a. [Compar. Lewder; superl. Lewdest.] Etym: [OE.lewed, lewd,
lay, ignorant, vile, AS. l laical, belonging to the laity.]

1. Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple. [Obs.]
For if priest be foul, on whom we trust, No wonder is a lewed man to
rust. Chaucer.
So these great clerks their little wisdom show To mock the lewd, as
learn'd in this as they. Sit. J. Davies.

2. Belonging to the lower classes, or the rabble; idle and lawless;
bad; vicious. [Archaic] Chaucer.
But the Jews, which believed not, . . . took unto them certain lewd
fellows of the baser sort, . . . and assaulted the house of Jason.
Acts xvii. 5.
Too lewd to work, and ready for any kind of mischief. Southey
.

3. Given to the promiscuous indulgence of lust; dissolute; lustful;
libidinous. Dryden.

4. Suiting, or proceeding from, lustfulness; involving unlawful
sexual desire; as, lewd thoughts, conduct, or language.

Syn.
 -- Lustful; libidinous; licentious; profligate; dissolute; sensual;
unchaste; impure; lascivious; lecherous; rakish; debauched.
 -- Lewd"ly, adv.
 -- Lewd"ness, n.

LEWDSTER
Lewd"ster, n.

Defn: A lewd person. [Obs.] Shak.

LEWIS; LEWISSON
Lew"is, Lew"is*son, n.

1. An iron dovetailed tenon, made in sections, which can be fitted
into a dovetail mortise; -- used in hoisting large stones, etc.

2. A kind of shears used in cropping woolen cloth. Lewis hole, a hole
wider at the bottom than at the mouth, into which a lewis is fitted.
De Foe.

LEX
Lex, n.; pl. Leges. Etym: [L. See Legal.]

Defn: Law; as, lex talionis, the law of retaliation; lex terræ, the
law of the land; lex fori, the law of the forum or court; lex loci,
the law of the place; lex mercatoria, the law or custom of merchants.

LEXICAL
Lex"ic*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a lexicon, to lexicography, or words;
according or conforming to a lexicon.
 -- Lex"ic*al*ly, adv.

LEXICOGRAPHER
Lex`i*cog"ra*pher, n. Etym: [Gr. lexicographe. See Lexicon.]

Defn: The author or compiler of a lexicon or dictionary.
Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only
hope to escape reproach; and even this negative recompense has been
yet granted to very few. Johnson.

LEXICOGRAPHIC; LEXICOGRAPHICAL
Lex`i*co*graph"ic, Lex`i*co*graph"ic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F.
lexicographique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to, or according to, lexicography.
 -- Lex`i*co*graph"ic*al*ly, adv.

LEXICOGRAPHIST
Lex`i*cog"ra*phist, n.

Defn: A lexicographer. [R.] Southey.

LEXICOGRAPHY
Lex`i*cog"ra*phy, n. Etym: [Cf. F. lexicographie.]

Defn: The art, process, or occupation of making a lexicon or
dictionary; the principles which are applied in making dictionaries.

LEXICOLOGIST
Lex`i*col"o*gist, n.

Defn: One versed in lexicology.

LEXICOLOGY
Lex`i*col"o*gy, n. Etym: [Gr. -logy: cf. F. lexicologie.]

Defn: The science of the derivation and signification of words; that
branch of learning which treats of the signification and application
of words.

LEXICON
Lex"i*con, n. Etym: [Gr. Legend.]

Defn: A vocabulary, or book containing an alphabetical arrangement of
the words in a language or of a considerable number of them, with the
definition of each; a dictionary; especially, a dictionary of the
Greek, Hebrew, or Latin language.

LEXICONIST
Lex"i*con*ist, n.

Defn: A writer of a lexicon. [R.]

LEXIGRAPHIC
Lex`i*graph"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. lexigraphique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to lexigraphy.

LEXIGRAPHY
Lex*ig"ra*phy, n. Etym: [Gr. -graphy: cf. F. lexigraphie.]

Defn: The art or practice of defining words; definition of words.

LEXIPHANIC
Lex`i*phan"ic, a. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: Using, or interlarded with, pretentious words; bombastic; as, a
lexiphanic writer or speaker; lexiphanic writing.

LEXIPHANICISM
Lex`i*phan"i*cism, n.

Defn: The use of pretentious words, language, or style.

LEXIPHARMIC
Lex`i*phar"mic, a.

Defn: See Alexipharmic.

LEY
Ley, v. i.

Defn: , & i. To lay; to wager. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEY
Ley, n. Etym: [OF.]

Defn: Law. Abbott.

LEY
Ley, n. [Obs.]

Defn: See Lye.

LEY
Ley, n.

Defn: Grass or meadow land; a lea.

LEY
Ley, a.

Defn: Fallow; unseeded. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

LEYDEN JAR; LEYDEN PHIAL
Ley"den jar", Ley"den phi"al, (Elec.)

Defn: A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate electricity. It is
coated with tin foil, within and without, nearly to its top, and is
surmounted by a brass knob which communicates with the inner coating,
for the purpose of charging it with electricity. It is so named from
having been invented in Leyden, Holland.

LEYSER
Ley"ser, n.

Defn: Leisure. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LEZE MAJESTY
Leze` maj"es*ty. Etym: [F. lese-majesté, fr. L. laesus, fem. laesa,
injured (see Lesion) + majestas majesty; that is, crimen laesae
majestatis.] [Written also lese majesty.] (Law)

Defn: Any crime committed against the sovereign power.

LHERZOLITE
Lher"zo*lite, n. Etym: [From Lherz, a place in the Pyrenees + -lite.]
(Min.)

Defn: An igneous rock consisting largely of chrysolite, with pyroxene
and picotite (a variety of spinel containing chromium).

LI
Li, n.

1. Chinese measure of distance, being a little more that one third of
a mile.

2. A Chinese copper coin; a cash. See Cash.

LIABILITY
Li`a*bil"i*ty, n.; pl. Liabilities (.

1. The state of being liable; as, the liability of an insurer;
liability to accidents; liability to the law.

2. That which one is under obligation to pay, or for which one is
liable. Specifically, in the pl.,

Defn: the sum of one's pecuniary obligations; -- opposed to assets.
Limited liability. See Limited company, under Limited.

LIABLE
Li"a*ble, a. Etym: [From F. lier to bind, L. ligare. Cf. Ally, v. t.,
Ligature.]

1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable; as,
the surety is liable for the debt of his principal.

2. Exposed to a certain contingency or casualty, more or less
probable; -- with to and an infinitive or noun; as, liable to slip;
liable to accident.

Syn.
 -- Accountable; responsible; answerable; bound; subject; obnoxious;
exposed.
 -- Liable, Subject. Liable refers to a future possible or probable
happening which may not actually occur; as, horses are liable to
slip; even the sagacious are liable to make mistakes. Subject refers
to any actual state or condition belonging to the nature or
circumstances of the person or thing spoken of, or to that which
often befalls one. One whose father was subject to attacks of the
gout is himself liable to have that disease. Men are constantly
subject to the law, but liable to suffer by its infraction.
Proudly secure, yet liable to fall. Milton.
All human things are subject to decay. Dryden.

LIABLENESS
Li"a*ble*ness, n.

Defn: Quality of being liable; liability.

LIAGE
Li"age, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. liage a bond. See Liable.]

Defn: Union by league; alliance. [Obs.]

LIAISON
Li`ai`son", n. Etym: [F., fr. L. ligatio, fr. ligare to bind. See
Ligature, and cf. Ligation.]

Defn: A union, or bond of union; an intimacy; especially, an illicit
intimacy between a man and a woman.

LIANE; LIANA
Li*ane", Li*a"na, n. Etym: [F. liane; prob. akin to lien a band, fr.
L. ligamen, fr. ligare to bind. Cf. Lien, n. ] (Bot.)

Defn: A luxuriant woody plant, climbing high trees and having
ropelike stems. The grapevine often has the habit of a liane. Lianes
are abundant in the forests of the Amazon region.

LIAR
Li"ar, n. Etym: [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]

Defn: A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies.

LIARD
Li"ard, a. Etym: [OF. liart, LL. liardus gray, dappie.]

Defn: Gray. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Note: Used by Chaucer as an epithet of a gray or dapple gray horse.
Also used as a name for such a horse.

LIARD
Liard, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A French copper coin of one fourth the value of a sou.

LIAS
Li"as, n. Etym: [Cf. F. lias, fr. liais sort of limestone, OF. also
liois; perh. of Celtic origin, cf. Armor. liach, leach, a stone,
Gael. leac, W. llech. Cf. Cromlech.] (Geol.)

Defn: The lowest of the three divisions of the Jurassic period; a
name given in England and Europe to a series of marine limestones
underlying the Oölite. See the Chart of Geology.

LIASSIC
Li*as"sic, a. (Geol.)

Defn: Of the age of the Lias; pertaining to the Lias Formation.
 -- n.

Defn: Same as Lias.

LIB
Lib, v. i. Etym: [Cf. Glib to geld.]

Defn: To castrate. [Obs.]

LIBAMENT
Lib"a*ment, n. Etym: [L. libamentum.]

Defn: Libation. [Obs.] Holland.

LIBANT
Li"bant, a. Etym: [L. libans, p. pr. of libare to taste, touch.]

Defn: Sipping; touching lightly. [R.] Landor.

LIBATION
Li*ba"tion, n. Etym: [L. libatio, fr. libare to take a little from
anything, to taste, to pour out as an offering: cf. F. libation.]

Defn: The act of pouring a liquid or liquor, usually wine, either on
the ground or on a victim in sacrifice, in honor of some deity; also,
the wine or liquid thus poured out. Dryden.
A heathen sacrifice or libation to the earth. Bacon.

LIBATORY
Li"ba*to*ry, a.

Defn: Pertaining to libation.

LIBBARD
Lib"bard, n. Etym: [See Leopard.]

Defn: A leopard. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser. Keats.

LIBBARD'S BANE
Lib"bard's bane`

Defn: . Leopard's bane. [Obs.]

LIBEL
Li"bel, n. Etym: [L. libellus a little book, pamphlet, libel,
lampoon, dim. of liber the liber or inner bark of a tree; also
(because the ancients wrote on this bark), paper, parchment, or a
roll of any material used to write upon, and hence, a book or
treatise: cf. F. libelle.]

1. A brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill,
certificate, request, supplication, etc. [Obs.] Chaucer.
A libel of forsaking [divorcement]. Wyclif (Matt. v. 31).

2. Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.

3. (Law)

Defn: 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.

Note: The term, in a more extended sense, includes the publication of
such writings, pictures, and the like, as are of a blasphemous,
treasonable, seditious, or obscene character. These also are
indictable at common law.

4. (Law)

Defn: The crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.

5. (Civil Law & Courts of Admiralty)

Defn: A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his
cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.

LIBEL
Li"bel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Liebeled or Libelled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Libeling or Libelling.]

1. To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a
writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon.
Some wicked wits have libeled all the fair. Pope.

2. (Law)

Defn: To proceed against by filing a libel, particularly against a
ship or goods.

LIBEL
Li"bel, v. i.

Defn: To spread defamation, written or printed; -- with against.
[Obs.]
What's this but libeling against the senate Shak.
[He] libels now 'gainst each great man. Donne.

LIBELANT
Li"bel*ant, n.

Defn: One who libels; one who institutes a suit in an ecclesiastical
or admiralty court. [Written also libellant.] Cranch.

LIBELER
Li"bel*er, n.

Defn: One who libels. [Written also libeller.] " Libelers of others."
Buckkminster.

LIBELIST
Li"bel*ist, n.

Defn: A libeler.

LI BELLA
Li *bel"la, n. Etym: [L., dim. of libra balance. See Level, n.]

1. A small balance.

2. A level, or leveling instrument.

LIBELLEE
Li`bel*lee", n. (Law)
 (a) The party against whom a libel has been filed; -- corresponding
to defendant in a common law action.
 (b) The defendant in an action of libel.

LIBELLULID
Li*bel"lu*lid, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A dragon fly.

LIBELLULOID
Li*bel"lu*loid, a. Etym: [NL. Libellula, the name of the typical
genus + -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Like or pertaining to the dragon fi

LIBELOUS
Li"bel*ous, a.

Defn: Containing or involving a libel; defamatory; containing that
which exposes some person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule;
as, a libelous pamphlet. [Written also libellous.] -- Li"bel*ous*ly,
adv.

LIBER
Li"ber, n. Etym: [L. See Libel.] (Bot.)

Defn: The inner bark of plants, lying next to the wood. It usually
contains a large proportion of woody, fibrous cells, and is,
therefore, the part from which the fiber of the plant is obtained, as
that of hemp, etc. Liber cells, elongated woody cells found in the
liber.

LIBERAL
Lib"er*al, a. Etym: [F. libéral, L. liberalis, from liber free; perh.
akin to libet, lubet,it pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.]

1. Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined;
noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal
ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. " Liberal
education." Macaulay. " A liberal tongue." Shak.

2. Bestowing in a large and noble way, as a freeman; generous;
bounteous; open-handed; as, a liberal giver. " Liberal of praise."
Bacon.
Infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite.
Milton.

3. Bestowed in a large way; hence, more than sufficient; abundant;
bountiful; ample; profuse; as, a liberal gift; a liberal discharge of
matter or of water.
His wealth doth warrant a liberal dower. Shak.

4. Not strict or rigorous; not confined or restricted to the literal
sense; free; as, a liberal translation of a classic, or a liberal
construction of law or of language.

5. Not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in spirit;
catholic.

6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint; licentious.
" Most like a liberal villain." Shak.

7. Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in political or
religious philosophy; independent in opinion; not conservative;
friendly to great freedom in the constitution or administration of
government; having tendency toward democratic or republican, as
distinguished from monarchical or aristocratic, forms; as, liberal
thinkers; liberal Christians; the Liberal party.
I confess I see nothing liberal in this " order of thoughts," as
Hobbes elsewhere expresses it. Hazlitt.

Note: Liberal has of, sometimes with, before the thing bestowed, in
before a word signifying action, and to before a person or object on
which anything is bestowed; as, to be liberal of praise or censure;
liberal with money; liberal in giving; liberal to the poor. The
liberal arts. See under Art.
 -- Liberal education, education that enlarges and disciplines the
mind and makes it master of its own powers, irrespective of the
particular business or profession one may follow.

Syn.
 -- Generous; bountiful; munificent; beneficent; ample; large;
profuse; free.
 -- Liberal, Generous. Liberal is freeborn, and generous is highborn.
The former is opposed to the ordinary feelings of a servile state,
and implies largeness of spirit in giving, judging, acting, etc. The
latter expresses that nobleness of soul which is peculiarly
appropriate to those of high rank, -- a spirit that goes out of self,
and finds its enjoyment in consulting the feelings and happiness of
others. Generosity is measured by the extent of the sacrifices it
makes; liberality, by the warmth of feeling which it manifests.

LIBERAL
Lib"er*al, n.

Defn: One who favors greater freedom in political or religious
matters; an opponent of the established systems; a reformer; in
English politics, a member of the Liberal party, so called. Cf. Whig.

LIBERALISM
Lib"er*al*ism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. libéralisme.]

Defn: Liberal principles; the principles and methods of the liberals
in politics or religion; specifically, the principles of the Liberal
party.

LIBERALIST
Lib"er*al*ist, n.

Defn: A liberal.

LIBERALISTIC
Lib`er*al*is"tic, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, or characterized by, liberalism; as,
liberalistic opinions.

LIBERALITY
Lib`er*al"i*ty, n.; pl. Liberalities. Etym: [L. liberalitas: cf. F.
libéralité.]

1. The quality or state of being liberal; liberal disposition or
practice; freedom from narrowness or prejudice; generosity; candor;
charity.
That liberality is but cast away Which makes us borrow what we can
not pay. Denham.

2. A gift; a gratuity; -- sometimes in the plural; as, a prudent man
is not impoverished by his liberalities.

LIBERALIZATION
Lib`er*al*i*za"tion, n.

Defn: The act of liberalizing.

LIBERALIZE
Lib"er*al*ize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Liberalized; p. pr. & vb. n.
Liberalizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. libéraliser.]

Defn: To make liberal; to free from narrow views or prejudices.
To open and to liberalize the mind. Burke.

LIBERALIZER
Lib"er*al*i`zer, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, liberalizes. Emerson.

LIBERALLY
Lib"er*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a liberal manner.

LIBERATE
Lib"er*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Liberated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Liberating.] Etym: [L. liberatus, p. p. of liberare to free, fr.
liber free. See Liberal, a., and cf. Deliver.]

Defn: To release from restraint or bondage; to set at liberty; to
free; to manumit; to disengage; as, to liberate a slave or prisoner;
to liberate the mind from prejudice; to liberate gases.

Syn.
 -- To deliver; free; release. See Deliver.

LIBERATION
Lib`er*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. liberatio: cf. F. libération. Cf.
Livraison.]

Defn: The act of liberating or the state of being liberated.
This mode of analysis requires perfect liberation from all prejudged
system. Pownall.

LIBERATOR
Lib"er*a`tor, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: One who, or that which, liberates; a deliverer.

LIBERATORY
Lib"er*a*to*ry, a.

Defn: Tending, or serving, to liberate. [R.]

LIBERTARIAN
Lib`er*ta"ri*an, a. Etym: [See Liberty.]

Defn: Pertaining to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as
opposed to the doctrine of necessity.

LIBERTARIAN
Lib`er*ta"ri*an, n.

Defn: One who holds to the doctrine of free will.

LIBERTARIANISM
Lib`er*ta"ri*an*ism, n.

Defn: Libertarian principles or doctrines.

LIBERTICIDE
Lib"er*ti*cide, n. Etym: [L. libertas liberty + caedere to kill: cf.
(for sense 2) F. liberticide.]

1. The destruction of civil liberty.

2. A destroyer of civil liberty. B. F. Wade.

LIBERTINAGE
Lib"er*tin*age n. Etym: [Cf. F. libertinage. See Libertine.]

Defn: Libertinism; license. [R.]

LIBERTINE
Lib"er*tine, n. Etym: [L. libertinus freedman, from libertus one made
free, fr. liber free: cf. F. libertin. See Liberal.]

1. (Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: A manumitted slave; a freedman; also, the son of a freedman.

2. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: One of a sect of Anabaptists, in the fifteenth and early part
of the sixteenth century, who rejected many of the customs and
decencies of life, and advocated a community of goods and of women.

3. One free from restraint; one who acts according to his impulses
and desires; now, specifically, one who gives rein to lust; a rake; a
debauchee.
Like a puffed and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of
dalliance treads. Shak.

4. A defamatory name for a freethinker. [Obsoles.]

LIBERTINE
Lib"er*tine, a. Etym: [L. libertinus of a freedman: cf. F. libertin.
See Libertine, n. ]

1. Free from restraint; uncontrolled. [Obs.]
You are too much libertine. Beau. & Fl.

2. Dissolute; licentious; profligate; loose in morals; as, libertine
principles or manners. Bacon.

LIBERTINISM
Lib"er*tin*ism, n.

1. The state of a libertine or freedman. [R.] Hammond.

2. Licentious conduct; debauchery; lewdness.

3. Licentiousness of principle or opinion.
That spirit of religion and seriousness vanished all at once, and a
spirit of liberty and libertinism, of infidelity and profaneness,
started up in the room of it. Atterbury.

LIBERTY
Lib"er*ty, n.; pl. Liberties (. Etym: [OE. liberte, F. liberté, fr.
L. libertas, fr. liber free. See Liberal.]

1. The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the will
of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom; --
opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.
But ye . . . caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid
whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought
them into subjection. Jer. xxxiv. 16.
Delivered fro the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the sons of God. Bible, 1551. Rom. viii. 21.

2. Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon
locomotion.
Being pent from liberty, as I am now. Shak.

3. A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted;
leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave
a court, and the like.

4. Privilege; exemption; franchise; immunity enjoyed by prescription
or by grant; as, the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.
His majesty gave not an entire county to any; much less did he grant
. . . any extraordinary liberties. Sir J. Davies.

5. The place within which certain immunities are enjoyed, or
jurisdiction is exercised. [Eng.]
Brought forth into some public or open place within the liberty of
the city, and there . . . burned. Fuller.

6. A certain amount of freedom; permission to go freely within
certain limits; also, the place or limits within which such freedom
is exercised; as, the liberties of a prison.

7. A privilege or license in violation of the laws of etiquette or
propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty.
He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had taken
liberties with him. Macaulay.

8. The power of choice; freedom from necessity; freedom from
compulsion or constraint in willing.
The idea of liberty is the idea of a power in any agent to do or
forbear any particular action, according to the determination or
thought of the mind, whereby either of them is preferred to the
other. Locke.
This liberty of judgment did not of necessity lead to lawlessness. J.
A. Symonds.

9. (Manege)

Defn: A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the tongue of the
horse.

10. (Naut.)

Defn: Leave of absence; permission to go on shore. At liberty. (a)
Unconfined; free. (b) At leisure.
 -- Civil liberty, exemption from arbitrary interference with person,
opinion, or property, on the part of the government under which one
lives, and freedom to take part in modifying that government or its
laws.
 -- Liberty bell. See under Bell.
 -- Liberty cap. (a) The Roman pileus which was given to a slave at
his manumission. (b) A limp, close-fitting cap with which the head of
representations of the goddess of liberty is often decked. It is
sometimes represented on a spear or a liberty pole.
 -- Liberty of the press, freedom to print and publish without
official supervision. Liberty party, the party, in the American
Revolution, which favored independence of England; in more recent
usage, a party which favored the emancipation of the slaves.
 -- Liberty pole, a tall flagstaff planted in the ground, often
surmounted by a liberty cap. [U. S.] -- Moral liberty, that liberty
of choice which is essential to moral responsibility.
 -- Religious liberty, freedom of religious opinion and worship.

Syn.
 -- Leave; permission; license.
 -- Liberty, Freedom. These words, though often interchanged, are
distinct in some of of their applications. Liberty has reference to
previous restraint; freedom, to the simple, unrepressed exercise of
our powers. A slave is set at liberty; his master had always been in
a state of freedom. A prisoner under trial may ask liberty (exemption
from restraint) to speak his sentiments with freedom (the spontaneous
and bold utterance of his feelings), The liberty of the press is our
great security for freedom of thought.

LIBETHENITE
Li*beth"en*ite, n. Etym: [From Libethen, in Hungary, where it was
first found.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral of an olive-green color, commonly in orthorhombic
crystals. It is a hydrous phosphate of copper.

LIBIDINIST
Li*bid"i*nist, n. Etym: [See Libidinous.]

Defn: One given to lewdness.

LIBIDINOSITY
Li*bid`i*nos"i*ty, n.

Defn: The state or quality of being libidinous; libidinousness.
Skelton.

LIBIDINOUS
Li*bid"i*nous, a. Etym: [L. libidinosus, fr. libido, libidinis,
pleasure, desire, lust, fr. libet, lubet, it pleases: cf. F.
libidineux. See Lief.]

Defn: Having lustful desires; characterized by lewdness; sensual;
lascivious.
 -- Li*bid"i*nous*ly, adv.
 -- Li*bid"i*nous*ness, n.

Syn.
 -- Lewd; lustful; lascivious; unchaste; impure; sensual; licentious;
lecherous; salacious.

LIBKEN; LIBKIN
Lib"ken, Lib"kin, n. Etym: [AS. libban, F. live, v. i. + -kin.]

Defn: A house or lodging. [Old Slang] B. Jonson.

LIBRA
Li"bra, n.; pl. Libræ. Etym: [L., a balance.] (Astron.)
(a) The Balance; the seventh sign in the zodiac, which the sun enters
at the autumnal equinox in September, marked thus libra in almanacs,
etc. (b ) A southern constellation between Virgo and Scorpio.

LIBRAL
Li"bral, a. Etym: [L. libralis, fr. libra the Roman pound.]

Defn: Of a pound weight. [Obs.] Johnson.

LIBRARIAN
Li*bra"ri*an, n. Etym: [See Library.]

1. One who has the care or charge of a library.

2. One who copies manuscript books. [Obs.] Broome.

LIBRARIANSHIP
Li*bra"ri*an*ship, n.

Defn: The office of a librarian.

LIBRARY
Li"bra*ry, n.; pl. Libraries. Etym: [OE. librairie, F. librairie
bookseller's shop, book trade, formerly, a library, fr. libraire
bookseller, L. librarius, from liber book; cf. libraria bookseller's
shop, librarium bookcase, It. libreria. See Libel.]

1. A considerable collection of books kept for use, and not as
merchandise; as, a private library; a public library.

2. A building or apartment appropriated for holding such a collection
of books. Holland.

LIBRATE
Li"brate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Librated p. pr. & & vb. n. Librating.]
Etym: [L. libratus, p. p. of librare to balance, to make even, fr.
libra.Cf. Level, Deliberate, Equilibrium.]

Defn: To vibrate as a balance does before resting in equilibrium;
hence, to be poised.
Their parts all liberate on too nice a beam. Clifton.

LIBRATE
Li"brate, v. i.

Defn: To poise; to balance.

LIBRATION
Li*bra"tion, n. Etym: [L. libratio: cf. F. libration.]

1. The act or state of librating. Jer. Taylor.

2. (Astron.)

Defn: A real or apparent libratory motion, like that of a balance
before coming to rest. Libration of the moon, any one of those small
periodical changes in the position of the moon's surface relatively
to the earth, in consequence of which narrow portions at opposite
limbs become visible or invisible alternately. It receives different
names according to the manner in which it takes place; as: (a)
Libration in longitude, that which, depending on the place of the
moon in its elliptic orbit, causes small portions near the eastern
and western borders alternately to appear and disappear each month.
(b) Libration in latitude, that which depends on the varying position
of the moon's axis in respect to the spectator, causing the alternate
appearance and disappearance of either pole. (c) Diurnal or
parallactic libration, that which brings into view on the upper limb,
at rising and setting, some parts not in the average visible
hemisphere.

LIBRATORY
Li"bra*to*ry, a.

Defn: Balancing; moving like a balance, as it tends to an equipoise
or level.

LIBRETTIST
Li*bret"tist, n.

Defn: One who makes a libretto.

LIBRETTO
Li*bret"to, n.; pl. E. Librettos, It. Libretti. Etym: [It., dim. of
libro book, L. liber. See Libel.] (Mus.)
(a) A book containing the words of an opera or extended piece of
music.
(b) The words themselves.

LIBRIFORM
Li"bri*form, a. Etym: [Liber + -form.] (Bot.)

Defn: Having the form of liber, or resembling liber. Libriform cells,
peculiar wood cells which are very slender and relatively thick-
walled, and occasionally are furnished with bordered pits. Goodale.

LIBYAN
Lib"y*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Libya, the ancient name of that part of
Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean, or of Africa as a whole.

LICE
Lice, n.;

Defn: pl. of Louse.

LICENSABLE
Li"cens*a*ble, a.

Defn: That can be licensed.

LICENSE
Li"cense, n. [Written also licence.] Etym: [F. licence, L. licentia,
fr. licere to be permitted, prob. orig., to be left free to one; akin
to linquere to leave. See Loan, and cf. Illicit, Leisure.]

1. Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act; especially, a
formal permission from the proper authorities to perform certain acts
or to carry on a certain business, which without such permission
would be illegal; a grant of permission; as, a license to preach, to
practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating liquors.
To have a license and a leave at London to dwell. P. Plowman.

2. The document granting such permission. Addison.

3. Excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or
decorum; disregard of law or propriety.
License they mean when they cry liberty. Milton.

4. That deviation from strict fact, form, or rule, in which an artist
or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake
of the advantage or effect gained; as, poetic license; grammatical
license, etc.

Syn.
 -- Leave; liberty; permission.

LICENSE
Li"cense, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licensed; p. pr. & vb. n. Licensing.]

Defn: To permit or authorize by license; to give license to; as, to
license a man to preach. Milton. Shak.

LICENSED
Li"censed, a.

Defn: Having a license; permitted or authorized by license; as, a
licensed victualer; a licensed traffic. Licensed victualer, one who
has a license to keep an in or eating house; esp., a victualer who
has a license to sell intoxicating liquors.

LICENSEE
Li`cen*see", n. (Law)

Defn: The person to whom a license is given.

LICENSER
Li"cens*er, n.

Defn: One who gives a license; as, a licenser of the press.

LICENSURE
Li"cen*sure, n.

Defn: A licensing. [R.]

LICENTIATE
Li*cen"ti*ate, n. Etym: [LL. licentiatus, fr. licentiare to allow to
do anything, fr. L. licentia license. See License, n.]

1. One who has a license to exercise a profession; as, a licentiate
in medicine or theology.
The college of physicians, in July, 1687, published an edict,
requiring all the fellows, candidates, and licentiates, to give
gratuitous advice to the neighboring poor. Johnson.

2. A friar authorized to receive confessions and grant absolution in
all places, independently of the local clergy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. One who acts without restraint, or takes a liberty, as if having a
license therefor. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

4. On the continent of Europe, a university degree intermediate
between that of bachelor and that of doctor.

LICENTIATE
Li*cen"ti*ate, v. t.

Defn: To give a license to. [Obs.] L'Estrange.

LICENTIOUS
Li*cen"tious, a. Etym: [L. licentiosus: cf. F. licencieux. See
License.]

1. Characterized by license; passing due bounds; excessive; abusive
of freedom; wantonly offensive; as, a licentious press.
A wit that no licentious pertness knows. Savage.

2. Unrestrained by law or morality; lawless; immoral; dissolute;
lewd; lascivious; as, a licentious man; a licentious life.
"Licentious wickedness." Shak.

Syn.
 -- Unrestrained; uncurbed; uncontrolled; unruly; riotous;
ungovernable; wanton; profligate; dissolute; lax; loose; sensual;
impure; unchaste; lascivious; immoral.
 -- Li*cen"tious*ly, adv.
 -- Li*cen"tious*ness, n.

LICH
Lich, a.

Defn: Like. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

LICH
Lich, n. Etym: [AS.lic body. See Like, a.]

Defn: A dead body; a corpse. [Obs.] Lich fowl (Zoöl.), the European
goatsucker; -- called also lich owl.
 -- Lich gate, a covered gate through which the corpse was carried to
the church or burial place, and where the bier was placed to await
clergyman; a corpse gate. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
 -- Lich wake, the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before
burial. [Prov Eng.] Chaucer.
 -- Lich wall, the wall of a churchyard or burying ground.
 -- Lich way, the path by which the dead are carried to the grave.
[Prov. Eng.]

LICHEN
Li"chen, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr.

1. (Bot.)

Defn: One of a class of cellular, flowerless plants, (technically
called Lichenes), having no distinction of leaf and stem, usually of
scaly, expanded, frond-like forms, but sometimes erect or pendulous
and variously branched. They derive their nourishment from the air,
and generate by means of spores. The species are very widely
distributed, and form irregular spots or patches, usually of a
greenish or yellowish color, upon rocks, trees, and various bodies,
to which they adhere with great tenacity. They are often improperly
called rock moss or tree moss.

Note: A favorite modern theory of lichens (called after its inventor
the Schwendener hypothesis), is that they are not autonomous plants,
but that they consist of ascigerous fungi, parasitic on algæ. Each
lichen is composed of white filaments and green, or greenish, rounded
cells, and it is argued that the two are of different nature, the one
living at the expense of the other. See Hyphæ, and Gonidia.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A name given to several varieties of skin disease, esp. to one
characterized by the eruption of small, conical or flat, reddish
pimples, which, if unchecked, tend to spread and produce great and
even fatal exhaustion.

LICHENED
Li"chened, a.

Defn: Belonging to, or covered with, lichens. Tennyson.

LICHENIC
Li*chen"ic, a.

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, lichens. Lichenic acid.
(a) An organic acid, C14H24O3 obtained from Iceland moss. (b) An old
name of fumaric acid.

LICHENIFORM
Li*chen"i*form, a.

Defn: Having the form of a lichen.

LICHENIN
Li"chen*in, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A substance isomeric with starch, extracted from several
species of moss and lichen, esp. from Iceland moss.

LICHENOGRAPHIC; LICHENOGRAPHICAL
Li"chen*o*graph"ic, Li`chen*o*graph"ic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F.
lichénographique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to lichenography.

LICHENOGRAPHIST
Li`chen*og"ra*phist, n.

Defn: One who describes lichens; one versed in lichenography.

LICHENOGRAPHY
Li`chen*og"ra*phy, n. Etym: [Lichen + -graphy: cf. F.
lichénographie.]

Defn: A description of lichens; the science which illustrates the
natural history of lichens.

LICHENOLOGIST
Li`chen*ol"o*gist, n.

Defn: One versed in lichenology.

LICHENOLOGY
Li`chen*ol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Lichen + -logy.]

Defn: The science which treats of lichens.

LICHENOUS
Li"chen*ous, a.

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or resembling, lichens; abounding in
lichens; covered with lichens. G. Eliot.

LICHI
Li"chi`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Litchi.

LICHWALE
Lich"wale`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The gromwell.

LICHWORT
Lich"wort`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: An herb, the wall pellitory. See Pellitory.

LICIT
Lic"it, a. Etym: [L.licitus permitted, lawful, from licere: cf. F.
licite. See License.]

Defn: Lawful. "Licit establishments." Carlyle.
 -- Lic"it*ly, adv.
 -- Lic"it*ness, n.

LICITATION
Lic`i*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. licitatio, fr. licitari, liceri, to bid,
offer a price.]

Defn: The act of offering for sale to the highest bidder. [R.]

LICK
Lick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licked; p. pr. & vb. n. Licking.] Etym:
[AS. liccian; akin to OS. likk, D. likken, OHG. lecch, G. lecken,
Goth. bi-laig, Russ. lizate, L. lingere, Gr. lih, rih. . Cf. Lecher,
Relish.]

1. To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his master's
hand. Addison.

2. To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk.
Shak. To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. "His enemies
shall lick the dust." Ps. lxxii. 9.
 -- To lick into shape, to give proper form to; -- from a notion that
the bear's cubs are born shapeless and subsequently formed by
licking. Hudibras.
 -- To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon. South.
 -- To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to consume
entirely. Shak. Num. xxii. 4.

LICK
Lick, n. Etym: [See Lick, v.]

1. A stroke of the tongue in licking. "A lick at the honey pot."
Dryden.

2. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of
the tongue, or of something which acts like a tongue; as, to put on
colors with a lick of the brush. Also, a small quantity of any
substance so applied. [Colloq.]
A lick of court white wash. Gray.

3. A place where salt is found on the surface of the earth, to which
wild animals resort to lick it up; -- often, but not always, near
salt springs. [U. S.]

LICK
Lick, v. t. Etym: [Cf. OSw. lägga to place, strike, prick.]

Defn: To strike with repeated blows for punishment; to flog; to whip
or conquer, as in a pugilistic encounter. [Colloq. or Low] Carlyle.
Thackeray.

LICK
Lick, n.

Defn: A slap; a quick stroke.[Colloq.] "A lick across the face."
Dryden.

LICKER
Lick"er, n. Etym: [Cf. Lecher.]

Defn: One who, or that which, licks. Licker in (Carding Machine), the
drum, or cylinder, by which the lap is taken from the feed rollers.

LICKERISH
Lick"er*ish, a. Etym: [Cf. Lecherous.]

1. Eager; craving; urged by desire; eager to taste or enjoy; greedy.
"The lickerish palate of the glutton." Bp. Hall.

2. Tempting the appetite; dainty. "Lickerish baits, fit to insnare a
brute." Milton.

3. lecherous; lustful. Robert of Brunne.
 -- Lick"er*ish*ly, adv.
 -- Lick"er*ish*ness, n.

LICKEROUS
Lick"er*ous, a.

Defn: Lickerish; eager; lustful. [Obs.] -- Lick"er*ous*ness, n.
[Obs.] Chaucer.

LICKING
Lick"ing, n.

1. A lapping with the tongue.

2. A flogging or castigation. [Colloq. or Low]

LICKPENNY
Lick"pen`ny, n.

Defn: A devourer or absorber of money. "Law is a lickpenny." Sir W.
Scott.

LICK-SPIGOT
Lick"-spig`ot, n.

Defn: A tapster. [Obs.]

LICK-SPITTLE
Lick"-spit`tle, n.

Defn: An abject flatterer or parasite. Theodore Hook.

LICORICE
Lic"o*rice, n. Etym: [OE. licoris, though old French, fr. L.
liquiritia, corrupted fr. glycyrrhiza, Gr. Glycerin, Glycyrrhiza,
Wort.] [Written also liquorice.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A plant of the genus Glycyrrhiza (G. glabra), the root of which
abounds with a juice, and is much used in demulcent compositions.

2. The inspissated juice of licorice root, used as a confection and
medicinal purposes. Licorice fern (Bot.), a name of several kinds of
polypody which have rootstocks of a sweetish flavor.
 -- Licorice sugar. (Chem.) See Glycyrrhizin.
 -- Licorice weed (Bot.), the tropical plant Scapania aulcis.
 -- Mountain licorice (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium alpinum),
found in the Alps. It has large purplish flowers and a sweetish
perennial rootstock.
 -- Wild licorice. (Bot.) (a) The North American perennial herb
Glycyrrhiza lepidota. (b) Certain broad-leaved cleavers (Galium
circæzans and G. lanceolatum). (c) The leguminous climber Abrus
precatorius, whose scarlet and black seeds are called black-eyed
Susans. Its roots are used as a substitute for those of true licorice
(Glycyrrhiza glabra).

LICOROUS
Lic"o*rous, a.

Defn: See Lickerish.
 -- Lic"o*rous*ness, n. [Obs.] Herbert.

LICOUR
Lic"our, n.

Defn: Liquor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LICTOR
Lic"tor, n. Etym: [L.] (Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: An officer who bore an ax and fasces or rods, as ensigns of his
office. His duty was to attend the chief magistrates when they
appeared in public, to clear the way, and cause due respect to be
paid to them, also to apprehend and punish criminals.
Lictors and rods, the ensigns of their power. Milton.

LID
Lid, n. Etym: [AS. hlid, fr. hlidan (in comp.) to cover, shut; akin
to OS. hlidan (in comp.), D. lid, OHG. hlit, G. augenlid eyelid,
Icel. hli gate, gateway.

1. That which covers the opening of a vessel or box, etc. ; a movable
cover; as, the lid of a chest or trunk.

2. The cover of the eye; an eyelid. Shak.
Tears, big tears, gushed from the rough soldier's lid. Byron.

3. (Bot.)
(a) The cover of the spore cases of mosses.
(b) A calyx which separates from the flower, and falls off in a
single piece, as in the Australian Eucalypti.
(c) The top of an ovary which opens transversely, as in the fruit of
the purslane and the tree which yields Brazil nuts.

LIDDED
Lid"ded, a.

Defn: Covered with a lid. Keats.

LIDGE
Lidge, n.

Defn: Same Ledge.[Obs.] Spenser.

LIDLESS
Lid"less, a.

Defn: Having no lid, or not covered with the lids, as the eyes;
hence, sleepless; watchful.
A lidless watcher of the public weal. Tennyson.

LIE
Lie, n.

Defn: See Lye.

LIE
Lie, n. Etym: [AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. lüge, lug,
Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a
falsehood.]

1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an
intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention
to deceive.
It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by
pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of
him his road. Paley.

2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. Dryden.

3. Anything which misleads or disappoints.
Wishing this lie of life was o'er. Trench.
To give the lie to. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave
him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give
the lie to his words.
 -- White lie, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient
to tell, and excuses himself for telling.

Syn.
 -- Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception.
 -- lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or
misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily
the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not
every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity.

LIE
Lie, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lied; p. pr. & vb. n. Lying.] Etym: [OE.
lien, li, le, leo, AS. leógan; akin to D. liegen, OS. & OHG. liogan,
G. lügen, Icel. lj, Sw. ljuga, Dan.lyve, Goth. liugan, Russ. lgate.]

Defn: To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to say or do
that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know
the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.

LIE
Lie, v. i. [imp. Lay; p. p. Lain, (Lien (, [Obs.]); p. pr. & vb. n.
Lying.] Etym: [OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG.
ligen, licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth.
ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. Lair, Law, Lay, v. t.,
Litter, Low, adj.]

1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or
to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be
prostate; to be stretched out; -- often with down, when predicated of
living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on
the roof; he lies in his coffin.
The watchful traveler . . . Lay down again, and closed his weary
eyes. Dryden.

2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west
of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port.

3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a
certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie
open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to
lie at the mercy of the waves; the paper does not lie smooth on the
wall.

4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to
consist; -- with in.
Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in
circumstances. Collier.
He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the
early rising and hard riding of huntsmen. Locke.

5. To lodge; to sleep.
Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . . . where I lay
one night only. Evelyn.
Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. Dickens.

6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
The wind is loud and will not lie. Shak.

7. (Law)

Defn: To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. "An
appeal lies in this case." Parsons.

Note: Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often
confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. Lay is a
transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay
it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its
preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some
persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me
to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say incorrectly, the
ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was
laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all
such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie. To lie
along the shore (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in sight.
 -- To lie at the door of, to be imputable to; as, the sin, blame,
etc., lies at your door.
 -- To lie at the heart, to be an object of affection, desire, or
anxiety. Sir W. Temple.
 -- To lie at the mercy of, to be in the power of.
 -- To lie by. (a) To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the
manuscript lying by him. (b) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay
by during the heat of the day.
 -- To lie hard or heavy, to press or weigh; to bear hard.
 -- To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
 -- To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. "As much as
lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Rom. xii. 18.
 -- To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment.
 -- To lie in wait , to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush.
 -- To lie on or upon. (a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the
result. (b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on.
 -- To lie low, to remain in concealment or inactive. [Slang] -- To
lie on hand, To lie on one's hands, to remain unsold or unused; as,
the goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much time lying
on their hands.
 -- To lie on the head of, to be imputed to.
What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head.
Shak.
-- To lie over. (a) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is
due, as a note in bank. (b) To be deferred to some future occasion,
as a resolution in a public deliberative body.
 -- To lie to (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as near
the wind as possible as being the position of greatest safety in a
gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. To bring to, under Bring.
 -- To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by.
 -- To lie with. (a) To lodge or sleep with. (b) To have sexual
intercourse with. (c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make
amends.

LIE
Lie, n.

Defn: The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land
or country. J. H. Newman.
He surveyed with his own eyes . . . the lie of the country on the
side towards Thrace. Jowett (Thucyd.).

LIEBERKUHN; LIEBERKUEHN
Lie"ber*kühn, n. Etym: [Named after a German physician and instrument
maker, J. n. Lieberkühn.] (Optics)

Defn: A concave metallic mirror attached to the object-glass end of a
microscope, to throw down light on opaque objects; a reflector.

LIEBERKUHN'S GLANDS; LIEBERKUEHN'S GLANDS
Lie"ber*kühn's glands`. Etym: [See Lieberkühn.] (Anat.)

Defn: The simple tubular glands of the small intestines; -- called
also crypts of Lieberkühn.

LIED
Lied, n. ; pl. Lieder. Etym: [G.] (Mus.)

Defn: A lay; a German song. It differs from the French chanson, and
the Italian canzone, all three being national.
The German Lied is perhaps the most faithful reflection of the
national sentiment. Grove.

LIEDERKRANZ
Lie"der*kranz, n. [G. See Lied, and Grants.] (Mus.)

Defn: Lit., wreath of songs; -- used as the title of a group of
songs, and esp. as the common name for German vocal clubs of men.

LIEDERTAFEL
Lie"der*ta`fel, n. Etym: [G., lit., a song table.] (Mus.)

Defn: A popular name for any society or club which meets for the
practice of male part songs.

LIEF
Lief, n.

Defn: Same as Lif.

LIEF
Lief, a. [Written also lieve.] Etym: [OE. leef, lef, leof, AS. leóf;
akin to OS.liof, OFries. liaf, D. lief, G. lieb, OHG. liob, Icel. lj,
Sw.ljuf, Goth. liubs, and E. love. sq. root124. See Love, and cf.
Believe, Leave, n., Furlough, Libidinous.]

1. Dear; beloved. [Obs., except in poetry.] "My liefe mother."
Chaucer. "My liefest liege." Shak.
As thou art lief and dear. Tennyson.

2.

Note: (Used with a form of the verb to be, and the dative of the
personal pronoun.)

Defn: Pleasing; agreeable; acceptable; preferable. [Obs.] See Lief,
adv., and Had as lief, under Had.
Full lief me were this counsel for to hide. Chaucer.
Death me liefer were than such despite. Spenser.

3. Willing; disposed. [Obs.]
I am not lief to gab. Chaucer.
He up arose, however lief or loth. Spenser.

LIEF
Lief, n.

Defn: A dear one; a sweetheart. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LIEF
Lief, adv.

Defn: Gladly; willingly; freely; -- now used only in the phrases, had
as lief, and would as lief; as, I had, or would, as lief go as not.
All women liefest would Be sovereign of man's love. Gower.
I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Shak.
Far liefer by his dear hand had I die. Tennyson.

Note: The comparative liefer with had or would, and followed by the
infinitive, either with or without the sign to, signifies prefer,
choose as preferable, would or had rather. In the 16th century rather
was substituted for liefer in such constructions in literary English,
and has continued to be generally so used. See Had as lief, Had
rather, etc. , under Had.

LIEFSOME
Lief"some, a.

Defn: Pleasing; delightful. [Obs.]

LIEGANCE
Lieg"ance, n.

Defn: Same as Ligeance.

LIEGE
Liege, a. Etym: [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege,
unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from
bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, lidic, freed, loosed, and
Charta Ottonis de Benthem, ann. ligius homo quod Teutonicè dicitur
ledigman," i. e., uni soli homagio obligatus, free from all
obligations to others; influenced by L.ligare to bind. G. ledig perh.
orig. meant, free to go where one pleases, and is perh. akin to
E.lead to conduct. Cf. Lead to guide.]

1. Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance;
as, a liege lord. Chaucer.
She looked as grand as doomsday and as grave; And he, he reverenced
his liege lady there. Tennyson.

2. serving an independent sovereign or master; bound by a feudal
tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal
to his lord; faithful; loyal; as, a liege man; a liege subject.

3. (Old Law)

Defn: Full; perfect; complete; pure. Burrill. Liege homage (Feudal
Custom), that homage of one sovereign or prince to another which
acknowledged an obligation of fealty and services.
 -- Liege poustie Etym: [L. legitima potestas] (Scots Law), perfect,
i. e., legal, power; specif., having health requisite to do legal
acts.
 -- Liege widowhood, perfect, i. e., pure, widowhood. [Obs.]

LIEGE
Liege, n.

1. A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a
sovereign. Mrs. Browning.
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of all loiterers
and malcontents. Shak.

2. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.
A liege lord seems to have been a lord of a free band; and his
lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all
other obligations, their name being due to their freedom, not to
their service. Skeat.

LIEGEMAN
Liege"man, n.; pl. Liegemen (.

Defn: Same as Liege, n., 2. Chaucer. Spenser.

LIEGER
Lie"ger, n. Etym: [See Leger, Ledger.]

Defn: A resident ambassador. [Obs.] See Leger. Denham.

LIEGIANCY
Lie"gian*cy, n.

Defn: See Ligeance.

LIEN
Li"en, obs. p. p.

Defn: of Lie. See lain. Ps. lxviii. 13.

LIEN
Lien, n. Etym: [F. lien band, bond, tie, fr. L. ligamen, fr. ligare
to bind. Cf. League a union, Leam a string, Leamer, Ligament.] (Law)

Defn: A legal claim; a charge upon real or personal property for the
satisfaction of some debt or duty; a right in one to control or hold
and retain the property of another until some claim of the former is
paid or satisfied.

LIENAL
Li*e"nal, a. Etym: [L. lien the spleen.] (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the spleen; splenic.

LIENCULUS
Li*en"cu*lus, n.; pl. Lienculi. Etym: [NL., dim. of L. lien the
spleen.] (Anat.)

Defn: One of the small nodules sometimes found in the neighborhood of
the spleen; an accessory or supplementary spleen.

LIENO-INTESTINAL
Li*e`no-in*tes"ti*nal, a. Etym: [l. lien the spleen + E. intestinal.]
(Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the spleen and intestine; as, the lieno-
intestinal vein of the frog.

LIENTERIC
Li`en*ter"ic, a. Etym: [L. lientericus, Gr. lientérique. See
Lientery.] (Med.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to, or of the nature of, a lientery.
 -- n. (Med.)

Defn: A lientery. Grew.

LIENTERY
Li"en*ter*y, n. Etym: [Gr. lientérie.] (Med.)

Defn: A diarrhea, in which the food is discharged imperfectly
digested, or with but little change. Dunglison.

LIER
Li"er, n. Etym: [From Lie. ]

Defn: One who lies down; one who rests or remains, as in concealment.
There were liers in a ambush against him. Josh. viii. 14.

LIERNE RIB
Lierne" rib`. Etym: [F. lierne.] (Arch.)

Defn: In Gothic vaulting, any rib which does not spring from the
impost and is not a ridge rib, but passes from one boss or
intersection of the principal ribs to another.

LIEU
Lieu, n. Etym: [F., OF. also liu, leu, lou, fr. L. locus place. See
Local, Locus.]

Defn: Place; room; stead; -- used only in the phrase in lieu of, that
is, instead of.
The plan of extortion had been adopted in lieu of the scheme of
confiscation. Burke.

LIEUTENANCY
Lieu*ten"an*cy, n.

1. The office, rank, or commission, of a lieutenant.

2. The body of lieutenants or subordinates. [Obs.]
The list of the lieutenancy of our metropolis. Felton.

LIEUTENANT
Lieu*ten"ant, n. Etym: [F., fr. lieu place + tenant holding, p. pr.
of tenir to hold, L. tenere. See Lieu, and Tenant, and cf. Locum
tenens.]

1. An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his absence; a
representative of, or substitute for, another in the performance of
any duty.
The lawful magistrate, who is the vicegerent or lieutenant of God.
Abp. Bramhall.

2.
(a) A commissioned officer in the army, next below a captain.
(b) A commissioned officer in the British navy, in rank next below a
commander.
(c) A commissioned officer in the United States navy, in rank next
below a lieutenant commander.

Note: Lieutenant is often used, either adjectively or in hyphened
compounds, to denote an officer, in rank next below another,