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Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary - Contents
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    LAW-BREAKER — LEATHER

    LAW-BREAKER, n. One who violates the law.

    LAW-DAY, n.

    1. A day of open court.NWAD LAW-DAY.2

    2. A leet or sheriff’s tourn.NWAD LAW-DAY.3

    LAWFUL, a.

    1. Agreeable to law; conformable to law; allowed by law; legal; legitimate. That is deemed lawful which no law forbids, but many things are lawful which are not expedient.NWAD LAWFUL.2

    2. Constituted by law; rightful; as the lawful owner of lands.NWAD LAWFUL.3

    LAWFULLY, adv. Legally; in accordance with law; without violating law. We may lawfully do what the laws do not forbid.

    LAWFULNESS, n. The quality of being conformable to law; legality. The lawfulness of an action does not always prove its propriety or expedience.

    LAWGIVER, n. [law and give.] One who makes or enacts a law; a legislator.

    LAWGIVING, a. Making or enacting laws; legislative.

    LAWING, n. Expeditation; the act of cutting off the claws and balls of the fore feet of mastiffs to prevent them from running after deer.

    LAWLESS, a.

    1. Not subject to law; unrestrained by law; as a lawless tyrant; lawless men.NWAD LAWLESS.2

    2. Contrary to law; illegal; unauthorized; as a lawless claim.NWAD LAWLESS.3

    He needs no indirect nor lawless course.NWAD LAWLESS.4

    3. Not subject to the ordinary laws of nature; uncontrolled.NWAD LAWLESS.5

    He, meteor-like, flames lawless through the void.NWAD LAWLESS.6

    LAWLESSLY, adv. In a manner contrary to law.

    LAWLESSNESS, n. The quality or state of being unrestrained by law; disorder.

    LAW-MAKER, n. One who enacts or ordains laws; a legislator; a lawgiver.

    Law-makers should not be law-breakers.NWAD LAW-MAKER.2

    LAW-MONGER, n. A low dealer in law; a pettifogger.

    LAWN, n.

    An open space between woods, or a plain in a park or adjoining a noble seat.NWAD LAWN.2

    Betwixt them lawns or level downs, and flocks grazing the tender herbs, were interspers’d.NWAD LAWN.3

    LAWN, n. [L. linum.]

    A sort of fine linen. Its use in the sleeves of bishops, explains the following line.NWAD LAWN.5

    A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn.NWAD LAWN.6

    LAWN, a. Made of lawn.

    LAWNY, a.

    1. Level, as a plain; like a lawn.NWAD LAWNY.2

    2. Made of lawn.NWAD LAWNY.3

    LAWSUIT, n. [See Suit.] a suit in law for the recovery of a supposed right; a process in law instituted by a party to compel another to do him justice.

    LAWYER, n. [that is lawer, contracted from law-wer, law-man.]

    One versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to institute suits in courts of law, and to prosecute or defend the cause of clients. this is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, serjeants and advocates.NWAD LAWYER.2

    LAWYER-LIKE, a. Like a real lawyer.

    LAWYERLY, a. Judicial.

    LAX, a. [L. laxus.]

    1. Loose; flabby; soft; not tense, firm or rigid; as lax flesh; a lax fiber.NWAD LAX.2

    2. Slack; not tight or tense; as a lax cord.NWAD LAX.3

    3. Not firly united; of loose texture; as gravel and the like laxer matter.NWAD LAX.4

    4. Not rigidly exact; as a lax moral discourse.NWAD LAX.5

    5. Not strict; as lax morals.NWAD LAX.6

    6. Loose in the bowels; having too frequent discharges.NWAD LAX.7

    LAX, n.

    1. A looseness; diarrhea.NWAD LAX.9

    2. A species of fish or salmon. [Not in use.]NWAD LAX.10

    LAXATION, n. [L. laxatio.] The act of loosening or slackening; or the state of being loose or slackened.

    LAXATIVE, a. [L. laxo.] Having the power or quality of loosening or opening the bowels, and relieving from constipation.

    LAXATIVE, n. A medicine that relaxes the bowels and relieves from costiveness; a gentle purgative.

    LAXATIVENESS, n. The quality of relaxing.

    LAXITY, n. [L. laxitas.]

    1. Looseness; slackness; the opposite of tenseness or tension.NWAD LAXITY.2

    2. Looseness of texture.NWAD LAXITY.3

    3. Want of exactness or precision; as laxity of expression.NWAD LAXITY.4

    4. Looseness; defect of exactness; as laxity of morals.NWAD LAXITY.5

    5. Looseness, as of the bowels; the opposite of costiveness.NWAD LAXITY.6

    6. Openness; not closeness.NWAD LAXITY.7

    LAXLY, adv. Loosely; without exactness.

    LAXNESS, n.

    1. Looseness; softness; flabbiness; as the laxness of flesh or of muscles.NWAD LAXNESS.2

    2. Laxity; the opposite of tension.NWAD LAXNESS.3

    3. Looseness, as of morals or discipline.NWAD LAXNESS.4

    4. Looseness, as of the bowels.NWAD LAXNESS.5

    5. Slackness, as of a cord.NWAD LAXNESS.6

    LAY, pret. of lie. The estate lay in the county of Hartford.

    When Ahab heard these words, he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his head, and fasted and lay in sackcloth. 1 Kings 21:27.NWAD LAY.2

    LAY, v.t. pret. and pp. laid. [L. loco, whence locus, Eng. ley or lea. The primary sense is to send or throw; hence this word is the L. lego, legare, differently applied; Gr. to lie down.]

    1. Literally, to throw down; hence, to put or place; applied to things broad or long, and in this respect differing from set. We lay a book on the table, when we place it on its side, but we set it on the end. We lay the foundation of a house, but we set a building on its foundation.NWAD LAY.4

    He laid his robe from him. Jonah 3:6.NWAD LAY.5

    Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid.NWAD LAY.6

    A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. Daniel 6:17.NWAD LAY.7

    2. To beat down; to prostrate. Violent winds with rain lay corn and grass.NWAD LAY.8

    3. To settle; to fix and keep from rising. A shower lays the dust.NWAD LAY.9

    4. To place in order; to dispose with regularity in building; as, to lay bricks or stones in constructing walls.NWAD LAY.10

    5. To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.NWAD LAY.11

    6. To spread or set; as, to lay snares.NWAD LAY.12

    7. To calm; to appease; to still; to allay.NWAD LAY.13

    After a tempest, when the winds are laid.NWAD LAY.14

    8. To quiet; to still; to restrain from walking; as, to lay the devil.NWAD LAY.15

    9. To spread and set in order; to prepare; as, to lay a table for dinner.NWAD LAY.16

    10. To place in the earth for growth.NWAD LAY.17

    The chief time of laying gilliflowers, is in July.NWAD LAY.18

    11. To place at hazard; to wage; to stake; as, to lay a crown or an eagle; to lay a wager.NWAD LAY.19

    12. To bring forth; to exclude; as, to lay eggs.NWAD LAY.20

    13. To add; to join.NWAD LAY.21

    Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field. Isaiah 5:8.NWAD LAY.22

    14. To put; to apply.NWAD LAY.23

    She layeth her hand to the spindle. Proverbs 31:19.NWAD LAY.24

    15. To asses; to charge; to impose; as, to lay a tax on land; to lay a duty on salt.NWAD LAY.25

    16. To charge; to impute; as, to lay blame on one; to lay want of prudence to one’s charge.NWAD LAY.26

    17. To impose, as evil, burden, or punishment.NWAD LAY.27

    The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6.NWAD LAY.28

    18. To enjoin as a duty; as, to lay commands on one.NWAD LAY.29

    19. To exhibit; to present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county.NWAD LAY.30

    20. To prostrate; to slay.NWAD LAY.31

    The leaders first he laid along.NWAD LAY.32

    21. To depress and lose sight of, by sailing or departing from; as, to lay the land; a seaman’s phrase.NWAD LAY.33

    22. To station; to set; as, to lay an ambush.NWAD LAY.34

    23. To contrive; to scheme; to plan.NWAD LAY.35

    To lay a cable, to twist or unite the strands.NWAD LAY.36

    To lay apart, to put away; to reject.NWAD LAY.37

    Lay apart all filthiness. James 1:21.NWAD LAY.38

    1. To lay aside, to put off or away; not to retain.NWAD LAY.39

    Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us. Hebrews 12:1.NWAD LAY.40

    2. To discontinue; as, to lay aside the use of any thing.NWAD LAY.41

    To lay away, to reposit in store; to put aside for preservation.NWAD LAY.42

    To lay before, to exhibit; to show; to present to view. The papers are laid before Congress.NWAD LAY.43

    1. To lay by, to reserve for future use.NWAD LAY.44

    Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him. 1 Corinthians 16:2.NWAD LAY.45

    2. To put away; to dismiss.NWAD LAY.46

    Let brave spirits not be laid by, as persons unnecessary for the time.NWAD LAY.47

    3. To put off.NWAD LAY.48

    And she arose and went away, and laid by her veil. Genesis 38:19.NWAD LAY.49

    1. To lay down, to deposit, as a pledge, equivalent or satisfaction; to resign.NWAD LAY.50

    I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:15.NWAD LAY.51

    2. To give up; to resign; to quit or relinquish; as, to lay down an office or commission.NWAD LAY.52

    3. To quit; to surrender the use of; as, to lay down one’s arms.NWAD LAY.53

    4. To offer or advance; as, to lay down a proposition or principle.NWAD LAY.54

    To lay one’s self down, to commit to repose.NWAD LAY.55

    I will both lay me down in peace and sleep - Psalm 4:8.NWAD LAY.56

    To lay hold of, to seize; to catch. To lay hold on, is used in a like sense.NWAD LAY.57

    To lay in, to store; to treasure; to provide previously.NWAD LAY.58

    To lay on, to apply with force; to inflict; as, to lay on blows.NWAD LAY.59

    To lay open, to open; to make bare; to uncover; also, to show; to expose; to reveal; as, to lay open the designs of an enemy.NWAD LAY.60

    To lay over, to spread over; to incrust; to cover the surface; as, to lay over with gold or silver.NWAD LAY.61

    1. To lay out, to expend; as, to lay out money, or sums of money.NWAD LAY.62

    2. To display; to discover.NWAD LAY.63

    He takes occasion to lay out bigotry and false confidence in all its colors. Obs.NWAD LAY.64

    3. To plan; to dispose in order the several parts; as, to lay out a garden.NWAD LAY.65

    4. To dress in grave clothes and place in a decent posture; as, to lay out a corpse. Shakespeare uses to lay, forth.NWAD LAY.66

    5. To exert; as, to lay out all one’s strength. So with the reciprocal pronoun, to lay one’s self out, is to exert strength.NWAD LAY.67

    1. To lay to, to charge upon; to impute.NWAD LAY.68

    2. To apply with vigor.NWAD LAY.69

    3. To attack or harass. Obs.NWAD LAY.70

    4. To check the motion of a ship, and cause her to be stationary.NWAD LAY.71

    To lay together, to collect; to bring to one place; also, to bring into one view.NWAD LAY.72

    To lay to heart, to permit to affect greatly.NWAD LAY.73

    To lay under, to subject to; as, to lay one under restraint or obligation.NWAD LAY.74

    1. To lay up, to store; to treasure; to reposit for future use.NWAD LAY.75

    Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:20.NWAD LAY.76

    2. To confine to the bed or chamber. He is laid up with the gout.NWAD LAY.77

    To lay siege, to besiege; to encompass with an army.NWAD LAY.78

    To lay wait, to station for private attack; to lay in ambush for.NWAD LAY.79

    To lay the course, in sailing, is to sail towards the port intended, without gibing.NWAD LAY.80

    To lay waste, to destroy; to desolate; to deprive of inhabitants, improvements and productions.NWAD LAY.81

    To lay the land, in seamen’s language, is to cause the land apparently to sink or appear lower, by sailing from it; the distance diminishing the elevation.NWAD LAY.82

    LAY, v.i.

    1. To bring or produce eggs.NWAD LAY.84

    Hens will greedily eat the herb that will make them lay the better.NWAD LAY.85

    2. To contrive; to form a scheme. [Unusual.]NWAD LAY.86

    To lay about, to strike or throw the arms on all sides; to act with vigor.NWAD LAY.87

    To lay at, to strike or to endeavor to strike.NWAD LAY.88

    The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold. Job 41:26.NWAD LAY.89

    1. To lay out, to purpose; to intend. he lays out to make a journey.NWAD LAY.90

    2. To take measures.NWAD LAY.91

    I made strict inquiry wherever I came, and laid out for intelligence of all places.NWAD LAY.92

    To lay upon, to importune. Obs.NWAD LAY.93

    LAY, n.

    1. That which lies or is laid; a row; a stratum; a layer; one rank in a series reckoned upward; as a lay of wood.NWAD LAY.95

    A viol should have a lay of wire-strings below.NWAD LAY.96

    2. A bet; a wager. [Little used.]NWAD LAY.97

    3. Station; rank. [Not used.]NWAD LAY.98

    LAY, n. [L. locus. See Lay, the verb. The words which signify place, are from verbs which express setting or laying. It is written also ley, and lea, but less properly.]

    A meadow; a plain or plat of grass land.NWAD LAY.100

    A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay.NWAD LAY.101

    The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea.NWAD LAY.102

    LAY, n. [Gr. to sound. L. laudo, plaudo.]

    A song; as a loud or soft lay; immortal lays.NWAD LAY.104

    [It is used chiefly in poetry.]NWAD LAY.105

    LAY, a. [L. laicus, Gr. from people.]

    Pertaining to the laity or people, as distinct from the clergy; not clerical; as a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.NWAD LAY.107

    LAY-CLERK, n. A vocal officiate in a cathedral.

    LAYER, n. la’er. [from lay, the verb.]

    1. A stratum; a bed; a body spread over another; as a layer of clay or of sand.NWAD LAYER.2

    2. A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation.NWAD LAYER.3

    3. A hen that lays eggs.NWAD LAYER.4

    LAYING, ppr. Putting; placing; applying; imputing; wagering.

    LAYLAND, n. Land lying untilled; fallow ground. [Local.]

    LAYMAN, n. la’man. [lay and man.]

    1. A man who is not a clergyman; one of the laity or people, distinct from the clergy.NWAD LAYMAN.2

    2. An image used by painters in contriving attitudes.NWAD LAYMAN.3

    3. A lay-clerk.NWAD LAYMAN.4

    LAYSTALL, n. [lay and stall.] A heap of dung, or a place where dung is laid.

    LAZAR, n. [from Laxarus.] A person infected with nauseous and pestilential disease.

    LAZARET, LAZARETTO, n.

    A public building, hospital or pest-house for the reception of diseased persons, particularly for those affected with contagious distempers.NWAD LAZARET.2

    LAZAR-HOUSE, n. A lazaretto; also, a hospital for quarantine.

    LAZAR-LIKE, LAZARLY, a. Full of sores; leprous.

    LAZARWORT, LASERWORT, n. Laserpitium, a genus of plants of several species, natives of Germany, Italy, France, etc.

    LAZE, v.i. To live in idleness. [Vulgar.]

    LAZE, v.t. To waste in sloth. [Vulgar.]

    LAZILY, adv. [from lazy.] In a heavy, sluggish manner; sluggishly.

    Whether he lazily and listlessly dreams away his time.NWAD LAZILY.2

    LAZINESS, n. [from lazy.]

    1. The state or quality of being lazy; indisposition to action or exertion; indolence; sluggishness; heaviness in motion; habitual sloth. Laziness differs from idleness; the latter being a mere defect or cessation of action, but laziness is sloth, with natural or habitual disinclination to action.NWAD LAZINESS.2

    Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him.NWAD LAZINESS.3

    2. Slowness; tardiness.NWAD LAZINESS.4

    LAZING, a. Spending time in sluggish inaction.

    [This is an ill-formed, inelegant word.]NWAD LAZING.2

    LAZULI. Lapis Lazuli is a mineral of a fine, azure blue color, usually amorphous, or in rounded masses of a moderate size. It is often marked by yellow spots or veins of sulphuret of iron, and is much valued for ornamental work. It is distinguished from lazulite, by the intenseness of its color.

    LAZULITE, n. A mineral of a light, indigo blue color, occurring in small masses, or crystallized in oblique four-sided prisms.

    LAZY, a. [L. laxus, and it is doubtful whether this is of the same family.]

    1. Disinclined to action or exertion; naturally or habitually slothful; sluggish; indolent; averse to labor; heavy in motion.NWAD LAZY.2

    Wicked men will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy and spend victuals.NWAD LAZY.3

    2. Slow; moving slowly or apparently with labor; as a lazy stream.NWAD LAZY.4

    The night-owl’s lazy flight.NWAD LAZY.5

    LD, stands for lord.

    LEA, LEY, n. [See Lay.] A meadow or plain. The Welsh write lle, but as this word is from the root of lay, the latter is the more correct orthography.

    LEACH, v.t. [See Leak. Perhaps L. lix may be from the same root.]

    To wash, as ashes, by percolation, or causing water to pass through them, and thus to separate from them the alkali. The water thus charged with alkali, is called lye.NWAD LEACH.2

    LEACH, n. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.

    LEACH-TUB, n. A wooden vessel or tub in which ashes are leached. It is sometimes written letch-tub.

    LEAD, n. led.

    1. A metal of a dull white color, with a cast of blue. It is the least elastic and sonorous of all the metals, and at the same time it is soft and easily fusible. It is found native in small masses, but generally mineralized by sulphur, and sometimes by other substances. Lead fused in a strong heat, throws off vapors which are unwholesome.NWAD LEAD.2

    2. A plummet or mass of lead, used in sounding at sea.NWAD LEAD.3

    3. Leads, a flat roof covered with lead.NWAD LEAD.4

    White lead, the oxyd of lead, ground with one third part of chalk.NWAD LEAD.5

    LEAD, v.t. led. To cover with lead; to fit with lead.

    LEAD, v.t. pret. and pp. led.

    1. To guide by the hand; as, to lead a child. It often includes the sense of drawing as well as of directing.NWAD LEAD.8

    2. To guide or conduct by showing the way; to direct; as, the Israelites were led by a pillar of a cloud by day, and by a pillar of fire by night.NWAD LEAD.9

    3. To conduct to any place.NWAD LEAD.10

    He leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2.NWAD LEAD.11

    4. To conduct, as a chief or commander, implying authority; to direct and govern; as, a general leads his troops to battle and to victory.NWAD LEAD.12

    Christ took not on him flesh and blood, that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies.NWAD LEAD.13

    5. To precede; to introduce by going first.NWAD LEAD.14

    As Hesperus that leads the sun his way.NWAD LEAD.15

    6. To guide; to show the method of attaining an object. Self-examination may lead us to a knowledge of ourselves.NWAD LEAD.16

    7. To draw; to entice; to allure. The love of pleasure leads men into vices which degrade and impoverish them.NWAD LEAD.17

    8. To induce; to prevail on; to influence.NWAD LEAD.18

    He was driven by the necessities of the times more than led by his own disposition to any rigor of actions.NWAD LEAD.19

    9. To pass; to spend, that is, to draw out; as, to lead a life of gayety, or a solitary life.NWAD LEAD.20

    That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 1 Timothy 2:2.NWAD LEAD.21

    To lead astray, to guide in a wrong way or into error; to seduce from truth or rectitude.NWAD LEAD.22

    To lead captive, to carry into captivity.NWAD LEAD.23

    LEAD, v.i.

    1. To go before and show the way.NWAD LEAD.25

    I will lead on softly. Genesis 33:14.NWAD LEAD.26

    2. To conduct, as a chief or commander. Let the troops follow, where their general leads.NWAD LEAD.27

    3. To draw; to have a tendency to. Gaming leads to other vices.NWAD LEAD.28

    4. To exercise dominion.NWAD LEAD.29

    To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.NWAD LEAD.30

    LEAD, n. Precedence; a going before; guidance. Let the general take the lead. [A colloquial word in reputable use.]

    LEADEN, a. led’n. [from lead.]

    1. Made of lead; as a leaden ball.NWAD LEADEN.2

    2. Heavy; indisposed to action.NWAD LEADEN.3

    3. heavy; dull.NWAD LEADEN.4

    LEADEN-HEARTED, a. Stupid; destitute of feeling.

    LEADEN-HEELED, a. Moving slowly.

    LEADEN-STEPPING, a. Moving slowly.

    LEADER, n.

    1. One that leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.NWAD LEADER.2

    2. A chief; a commander; a captain.NWAD LEADER.3

    3. One who goes first.NWAD LEADER.4

    4. The chief of a party or faction; as the leader of the whigs or of the tories; a leader of the Jacobins.NWAD LEADER.5

    5. a performer who leads a band or choir in music.NWAD LEADER.6

    LEADING, ppr.

    1. Guiding; conducting; preceding; drawing; alluring; passing life.NWAD LEADING.2

    2. a. Chief; principal; capital; most influential; as a leading motive; a leading man in a party.NWAD LEADING.3

    3. showing the way by going first.NWAD LEADING.4

    He left his mother a countess by patent, which was a new leading example.NWAD LEADING.5

    LEADING, n. Guidance; the act of conducting; direction.

    LEADING-STRINGS, n. Strings by which children are supported when beginning to walk.

    To be in leading strings, to be in a state of infancy or dependence, or in pupilage under the guidance of others.NWAD LEADING-STRINGS.2

    LEADMAN, n. One who begins or leads a dance. Obs.

    LEADWORT, n. led’wort. Plumbago, a genus of plants.

    LEADY, a. led’dy. Of the color of lead.

    LEAF, n. plu. leaves.

    1. In botany, leaves are organs of perspiration and inhalation in plants. They usually shoot from the sides of the stems and branches, but sometimes from the root; sometimes they are sessile; more generally supported by petioles. They are of various forms, flat, extended, linear, cylindric, etc.NWAD LEAF.2

    2. The thin, extended part of a flower; a petal.NWAD LEAF.3

    3. A part of a book containing two pages.NWAD LEAF.4

    4. The side of a double door. 1 Kings 6:34.NWAD LEAF.5

    5. Something resembling a leaf in thinness and extension; a very thin plate; as gold leaf.NWAD LEAF.6

    6. The movable side of a table.NWAD LEAF.7

    LEAF, v.i. To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves. The trees leaf in May.

    LEAFAGE, n. Abundance of leaves.

    LEAFED, pp. Having leaves.

    LEAFLESS, a. Destitute of leaves; as a leafless tree.

    LEAFLET, n.

    1. A little leaf.NWAD LEAFLET.2

    2. In botany, one of the divisions of a compound leaf; a foliole.NWAD LEAFLET.3

    LEAF-STALK, n. The petiole or stalk which supports a leaf.

    LEAFY, a. Full of leaves; as the leafy forest.

    LEAGUE, n. leeg. [L. ligo, to bind.]

    1. An alliance or confederacy between princes or states for their mutual aid or defense; a national contract or compact. A league may be offensive or defensive, or both. It is offensive, when the contracting parties agree to unite in attacking a common enemy; defensive, when the parties agree to act in concert in defending each other against an enemy.NWAD LEAGUE.2

    2. A combination or union of two or more parties for the purpose of maintaining friendship and promoting their mutual interest, or for executing any design in concert.NWAD LEAGUE.3

    And let there be ‘twixt us and them no league, nor amity.NWAD LEAGUE.4

    LEAGUE, v.i. leeg.

    1. To unite, as princes or states in a contract of amity for mutual aid or defense; to confederate. Russia and Austria leagued to oppose the ambition of Buonaparte.NWAD LEAGUE.6

    2. To unite or confederate, as private persons for mutual aid.NWAD LEAGUE.7

    LEAGUE, n. leeg. [Low L. leuca.]

    1. Originally, a stone erected on the public roads, at certain distances, in the manner of the modern mile-stones. Hence,NWAD LEAGUE.9

    2. The distance between two stones. With the English and Americans, a league is the length of three miles; but this measure is chiefly at sea. The league on the continent of Europe, is very different among different nations. The Dutch and German league contains four geographical miles.NWAD LEAGUE.10

    LEAGUED, pp. lee’ged. United in mutual compact; confederated.

    LEAGUER, n. lee’ger. One who unites in a league; a confederate.

    LEAGUER, n.

    Siege; investment of a town or fort by an army. [Little used.]NWAD LEAGUER.3

    LEAK, n. [Gr. a fissure or crevice, L. lacero and loquor, and perhaps Eng. clack. It seems that licerish is from the root of leak, and signifies properly watery.]

    1. A crack, crevice, fissure or hole in a vessel, that admits water, or permits a fluid to escape.NWAD LEAK.2

    2. The oozing or passing of water or other fluid or liquor through a crack, fissure or aperture in a vessel, either into it, as into a ship, or out of it, as out of a cask.NWAD LEAK.3

    To spring a leak, is to open or crack so as to let in water; to being to let in water.NWAD LEAK.4

    LEAK, a. Leaky. [Not in use.]

    LEAK, v.i. To let water or other liquor into or out of a vessel, through a hole or crevice in the vessel. A ship leaks, when she admits water through her seams or an aperture in her bottom or sides, into the hull. A pail or a cask leaks, when it admits liquor to pass out through a hole or crevice.

    To lead out, to find vent; to escape privately from confinement or secrecy; as a fact or report.NWAD LEAK.7

    LEAKAGE, n.

    1. A leaking; or the quantity of a liquor that enters or issues by leaking.NWAD LEAKAGE.2

    2. An allowance, in commerce, of a certain rate per cent, for the leaking of casks, or the waste of liquors by leaking.NWAD LEAKAGE.3

    LEAKY, a.

    1. That admits water or other liquor to pass in or out; as a leaky vessel; a leaky ship or barrel.NWAD LEAKY.2

    2. Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close.NWAD LEAKY.3

    LEAMER, n. A dog; a kind of hound.

    LEAN, v.i. [Gr., L. clino.]

    1. To deviate or move from a straight or perpendicular line; or to be in a position thus deviating. We say, a column leans to the north or to the east; it leans to the right or left.NWAD LEAN.2

    2. To incline or propend; to tend toward.NWAD LEAN.3

    They delight rather to lean to their old customs -NWAD LEAN.4

    3. To bend or incline so as to rest on something; as, to lean against a wall or a pillar; to lean on the arm of another.NWAD LEAN.5

    4. To bend; to be in a bending posture.NWAD LEAN.6

    LEAN, v.t.

    1. To incline; to cause to lean.NWAD LEAN.8

    2. To conceal. [Not in use.]NWAD LEAN.9

    LEAN, a. [L. lenis, and Eng. slender.]

    1. Wanting flesh; meager; not fat; as a lean body; a lean man or animal.NWAD LEAN.11

    2. Not rich; destitute of good qualities; bare; barren; as lean earth.NWAD LEAN.12

    3. Low; poor; in opposition to rich or great; as a lean action. [Unusual.]NWAD LEAN.13

    4. Barren of thought; destitute of that which improves or entertains; jejune; as a lean discourse or dissertation.NWAD LEAN.14

    LEAN, n. That part of flesh which consists of muscle without the fat.

    LEANLY, adv. Meagerly; without fat or plumpness.

    LEANNESS, n.

    1. Destitution of fat; want of flesh; thinness of body; meagerness; applied to animals.NWAD LEANNESS.2

    2. Want of matter; poverty; emptiness; as the leanness of a purse.NWAD LEANNESS.3

    3. In Scripture, want of grace and spiritual comfort.NWAD LEANNESS.4

    He sent leanness into their soul. Psalm 106:15.NWAD LEANNESS.5

    LEANY, a. Alert; brisk; active. [Not in use.]

    LEAP, v.i. [L. labor, perhaps. Heb.]

    1. To spring or rise from the ground with both feet, as man, or with all the feet, as other animals; to jump; to vault; as, a man leaps over a fence, or leaps upon a horse.NWAD LEAP.2

    A man leapeth better with weights in his hands than without.NWAD LEAP.3

    2. To spring or move suddenly; as, to leap from a horse.NWAD LEAP.4

    3. To rush with violence.NWAD LEAP.5

    And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them - Acts 19:16.NWAD LEAP.6

    4. To spring; to bound; to skip; as, to leap for joy.NWAD LEAP.7

    5. To fly; to start. Job 41:19.NWAD LEAP.8

    He parted frowning from me, as if ruin leaped from his eyes.NWAD LEAP.9

    [Our common people retain the Saxon aspirate of this word in the phrase, to clip it, to run fast.]NWAD LEAP.10

    LEAP, v.t.

    1. To pass over by leaping; to spring or bound from one side to the other; as, to leap a wall, a gate or a gulf; to leap a stream. [But the phrase is elliptical, and over is understood.]NWAD LEAP.12

    2. To compress; as the male of certain beasts.NWAD LEAP.13

    LEAP, n.

    1. A jump; a spring; a bound; act of leaping.NWAD LEAP.15

    2. Space passed by leaping.NWAD LEAP.16

    3. A sudden transition of passing.NWAD LEAP.17

    4. The space that may be passed at a bound.NWAD LEAP.18

    ‘Tis the convenient leap I mean to try.NWAD LEAP.19

    5. Embrace of animals.NWAD LEAP.20

    6. Hazard, or effect of leaping.NWAD LEAP.21

    7. A basket; a weel for fish. [Not in use.]NWAD LEAP.22

    LEAPER, n. One that leaps. A horse is called a good leaper.

    LEAP-FROG, n. A play of children in which they imitate the leap of frogs.

    LEAPING, ppr. Jumping; springing; bounding; skipping.

    LEAPINGLY, adv. By leaps.

    LEAP-YEAR, n. Blissextile, a year containing 366 days; every fourth year, which leaps over a day more than a common year. Thus in common years, if the first day of March is on Monday, the present year, it will, the next year, fall on Tuesday, but in leap-year it will leap to Wednesday; for leap-year contains a day more than a common year, a day being added to the month of February.

    LEARN, v.t. lern.

    1. To gain knowledge of; to acquire knowledge or ideas of something before unknown. We learn the use of letters, the meaning of words and the principles of science. We learn things by instruction, by study, and by experience and observation. It is much easier to learn what is right, than to unlearn what is wrong.NWAD LEARN.2

    Now learn a parable of the fig tree. Matthew 24:32.NWAD LEARN.3

    2. To acquire skill in any thing; to gain by practice a faculty of performing; as, to learn to play on a flute or an organ.NWAD LEARN.4

    The chief art of learning is to attempt but little at a time.NWAD LEARN.5

    3. To teach; to communicate the knowledge of something before unknown.NWAD LEARN.6

    Hast thou not learned me how to make perfumes?NWAD LEARN.7

    [This use of learn, is found in respectable writers, but is now deemed inelegant as well as improper.]NWAD LEARN.8

    LEARN, v.i. lern.

    1. To gain or receive knowledge; to receive instruction; to take pattern; with of.NWAD LEARN.10

    Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly - Matthew 11:29.NWAD LEARN.11

    2. To receive information or intelligence.NWAD LEARN.12

    LEARNED, LEARNT, pp. lern’ed, lernt. Obtained as knowledge or information.

    LEARNED, a. lern’ed.

    1. Versed in literature and science; as a learned man.NWAD LEARNED.3

    2. Skillful; well acquainted with arts; knowing; within; as learned in martial arts.NWAD LEARNED.4

    3. Containing learning; as a learned treatise or publication.NWAD LEARNED.5

    4. Versed in scholastic, as distinct from other knowledge.NWAD LEARNED.6

    Men of much reading are greatly learned, but may be little knowing.NWAD LEARNED.7

    The learned, learned men; men of erudition; literati.NWAD LEARNED.8

    LEARNEDLY, adv. lern’edly. With learning or erudition; with skill; as, to discuss a question learnedly.

    Every coxcomb swears as learnedly as they.NWAD LEARNEDLY.2

    LEARNER, n. lern’er. A person who is gaining knowledge from instruction, from reading or study, or by other means; one who is in the rudiments of any science or art.

    LEARNING, ppr. lern’ing. Gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice.

    LEARNING, n. lern’ing.

    1. The knowledge of principles or facts received by instruction or study; acquired knowledge or ideas in any branch of science or literature; erudition; literature; science. The Scaligers were men of great learning.NWAD LEARNING.3

    [This is the proper sense of the word.]NWAD LEARNING.4

    2. Knowledge acquired by experience, experiment or observation.NWAD LEARNING.5

    3. Skill in anything good or bad.NWAD LEARNING.6

    LEASABLE, a. That may be leased.

    LEASE, n. [See the Verb.]

    1. A demise or letting of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, for a rent or compensation reserved; also, the contract for such letting.NWAD LEASE.2

    2. Any tenure by grant or permission.NWAD LEASE.3

    Our high placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature.NWAD LEASE.4

    LEASE, v.t. [Eng. let. See Let.]

    To let; to demise; to grant the temporary possession of lands, tenements or hereditaments to another for a rent reserved. A leased to B his land in Dale for the annual rent of a pepper corn.NWAD LEASE.6

    LEASE, v.i. leez. [L. lego.]

    To glean; to gather what harvest men have left. Obs.NWAD LEASE.8

    LEASED, pp. Demised or let, as lands or tenements.

    LEASEHOLD, a. Held by lease; as a leasehold tenement.

    LEASER, n. A gleaner; a gatherer after reapers.

    LEASH, n. [L. laqueus.]

    1. A thong of leather, or long line by which a falconer holds his hawk, or a courser his dog.NWAD LEASH.2

    2. Among sportsmen, a brace and a half; tierce; three; three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks and hares.NWAD LEASH.3

    3. A band wherewith to tie any thing.NWAD LEASH.4

    LEASH, v.t. To bind; to hold by a string.

    LEASING, n. s as z.

    Falsehood; lies. [Obsolete or nearly so.]NWAD LEASING.2

    LEASOW, n. A pasture. Obs.

    LEAST, a.

    Smallest; little beyond others, either in size or degree; as the least insect; the least mercy.NWAD LEAST.2

    Least is often used without the noun to which it refers. “I am the least of the apostles,” that is, the least apostle of all the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9.NWAD LEAST.3

    LEAST, adv.

    1. In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others; as, to reward those who least deserve it.NWAD LEAST.5

    At least,NWAD LEAST.6

    At the least, To say no more; not to demand or affirm more than is barely sufficient; at the lowest degree. If he has not incurred a penalty, he at least deserves censure.NWAD LEAST.7

    He who tempts, though vain, at least asperses the tempted with dishonor.NWAD LEAST.8

    2. To say no more. Let useful observations be at least a part of your conversation.NWAD LEAST.9

    The least, in the smallest degree. His faculties are not in the least impaired.NWAD LEAST.10

    At leastwise, in the sense of at least, is obsolete.NWAD LEAST.11

    LEASY, a. s as z. Thin; flimsy. It is usually pronounced sleazy.

    LEAT, n. A trench to conduct water to or from a mill.

    LEATHER, LETHER, n.

    1. The skin of an animal dressed and prepared for use.NWAD LEATHER.2

    2. Dressed hides in general.NWAD LEATHER.3

    3. Skin; in an ironical sense.NWAD LEATHER.4

    LEATHER, LETHER, a. Lethern; consisting of leather; as a leather glove.

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