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

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

LEAD, noun led.

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

2. A plummet or mass of lead used in sounding at sea.

3. Leads, a flat roof covered with lead

White lead the oxyd of lead ground with one third part of chalk.

LEAD, verb transitive led. To cover with lead; to fit with lead

LEAD, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive led.

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

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

3. To conduct to any place.

He leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalms 23:2.

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

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

5. To precede; to introduce by going first.

As Hesperus that leads the sun his way.

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

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

8. To induce; to prevail on; to influence.

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

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

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

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

To lead captive, to carry into captivity.

LEAD, verb intransitive

1. To go before and show the way.

I will lead on softly. Genesis 33:14.

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

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

4. To exercise dominion.

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

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

LEADEN, adjective led'n. [from lead.]

1. Made of lead; as a leaden ball.

2. Heavy; indisposed to action.

3. heavy; dull.

LE'ADER, noun

1. One that leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.

2. A chief; a commander; a captain.

3. One who goes first.

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

5. a performer who leads a band or choir in music.

LE'ADING, participle present tense

1. Guiding; conducting; preceding; drawing; alluring; passing life.

2. adjective Chief; principal; capital; most influential; as a leading motive; a leading man in a party.

3. showing the way by going first.

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

LE'ADING, noun Guidance; the act of conducting; direction.

LE'ADMAN, noun One who begins or leads a dance. obsolete

LEADWORT, noun led'wort. Plumbago, a genus of plants.

LEADY, adjective led'dy. Of the color of lead.

LEAF, noun plural leaves.

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

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

3. A part of a book containing two pages.

4. The side of a double door. 1 Kings 6:1.

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

6. The movable side of a table.

LEAF, verb intransitive To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves. The trees leaf in May.

LE'AFAGE, noun Abundance of leaves.

LE'AFED, participle passive Having leaves.

LE'AFLESS, adjective Destitute of leaves; as a leafless tree.

LE'AFLET, noun

1. A little leaf.

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

LE'AFY, adjective Full of leaves; as the leafy forest.

LEAGUE, noun leeg. [Latin ligo, to bind.]

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

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

And let there be 'twixt us and them no league nor amity.

LEAGUE, verb intransitive leeg.

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

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

LEAGUE, noun leeg. [Low Latin leuca.]

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

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

LE'AGUED, participle passive lee'ged. United in mutual compact; confederated.

LE'AGUER, noun lee'ger. One who unites in a league; a confederate.

LE'AGUER, noun

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

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

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

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

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

LEAK, adjective Leaky. [Not in use.]

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

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

LE'AKAGE, noun

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

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

LE'AKY, adjective

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

2. Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close.

LE'AMER, noun A dog; a kind of hound.

LEAN, verb intransitive [Gr., Latin clino.]

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

2. To incline or propend; to tend toward.

They delight rather to lean to their old customs -

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

4. To bend; to be in a bending posture.

LEAN, verb transitive

1. To incline; to cause to lean

2. To conceal. [Not in use.]

LEAN, adjective [Latin lenis, and Eng. slender.]

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

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

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

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

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

LE'ANLY, adverb Meagerly; without fat or plumpness.

LE'ANNESS, noun

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

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

3. In Scripture, want of grace and spiritual comfort.

He sent leanness into their soul. Psalms 106:15.

LE'ANY, adjective Alert; brisk; active. [Not in use.]

LEAP, verb intransitive [Latin labor, perhaps. Heb.]

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

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

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

3. To rush with violence.

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

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

5. To fly; to start. Job 41:19.

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

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

LEAP, verb transitive

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

2. To compress; as the male of certain beasts.

LEAP, noun

1. A jump; a spring; a bound; act of leaping.

2. Space passed by leaping.

3. A sudden transition of passing.

4. The space that may be passed at a bound.

'Tis the convenient leap I mean to try.

5. Embrace of animals.

6. Hazard, or effect of leaping.

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

LE'APER, noun One that leaps. A horse is called a good leaper

LE'APING, participle present tense Jumping; springing; bounding; skipping.

LE'APINGLY, adverb By leaps.

LEARN, verb transitive lern.

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

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

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

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

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

Hast thou not learned me how to make perfumes?

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

LEARN, verb intransitive lern.

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

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

2. To receive information or intelligence.

LEARNT, lernt. participle passive Obtained as knowledge or information.

LEARNED, adjective lern'ed.

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

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

3. Containing learning; as a learned treatise or publication.

4. Versed in scholastic, as distinct from other knowledge.

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

The learned, learned men; men of erudition; literati.

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

Every coxcomb swears as learnedly as they.

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

LEARNING, participle present tense lern'ing. Gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice.

LEARNING, noun lern'ing.

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

[This is the proper sense of the word.]

2. Knowledge acquired by experience, experiment or observation.

3. Skill in anything good or bad.

LEARNT, lernt. participle passive Obtained as knowledge or information.

LEARNED, adjective lern'ed.

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

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

3. Containing learning; as a learned treatise or publication.

4. Versed in scholastic, as distinct from other knowledge.

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

The learned, learned men; men of erudition; literati.

LE'ASABLE, adjective That may be leased.

LEASE, noun [See the Verb.]

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

2. Any tenure by grant or permission.

Our high placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature.

LEASE, verb transitive [Eng. let. See Let.]

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

LEASE, verb intransitive leez. [Latin lego.]

To glean; to gather what harvest men have left. obsolete

LE'ASED, participle passive Demised or let, as lands or tenements.

LE'ASEHOLD, adjective Held by lease; as a leasehold tenement.

LE'ASER, noun A gleaner; a gatherer after reapers.

LEASH, noun [Latin laqueus.]

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

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

3. A band wherewith to tie any thing.

LEASH, verb transitive To bind; to hold by a string.

LE'ASING, noun s as z.

Falsehood; lies. [Obsolete or nearly so.]

LE'ASOW, noun A pasture. obsolete

LEAST, adjective

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

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

LEAST, adverb

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

At least

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

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

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

The least in the smallest degree. His faculties are not in the least impaired.

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

LE'ASY, adjective s as z. Thin; flimsy. It is usually pronounced sleazy.

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

LEATH'ER,

LEATH'ER-COAT, noun An apple with a tough coat or rind.

LEATH'ERN,

LEATH'ERY,

LEAVE, n.

LE'AVED, adjective [from leaf; but leafed would be preferable.]

1. Furnished with foliage or leaves.

2. Having a leaf, or made with leaves or folds; as a two-leaved gate.

LEAVEN, noun lev'n. [Latin levo, Eng. to lift.]

1. A mass of sour dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it and renders it light. During the seven days of the passover, no leaven was permitted to be in the houses of the Jews. Exodus 12:15.

2. Any thing which makes a general change in the mass. It generally means something which corrupts or depraves that with which it is mixed.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:6.

LEAVEN, verb transitive lev'n.

1. To excite fermentation in; to raise and make light, as dough or paste.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 1 Corinthians 5:6.

2. to taint; to imbue.

LEAVENED, participle passive lev'ened. Taised and made light by fermentation.

LEAVENING, participle present tense lev'ening. Making light by fermentation.

LEAVENING, noun lev'ening. that which leavens or makes light.

LEAVENOUS, adjective lev'enous. containing leaven; tainted.

LE'AVER, noun [from leave.]One who leaves or relinquishes; one who forsakes.

LEAVES, noun plural of leaf.

LE'AVING, participle present tense Quitting; withdrawing from; relinquishing; suffering to remain; ceasing; desisting from.

LE'AVINGS, noun plural

1. Things left; remnant; relics.

The leavings of Pharsalia.

2. Refuse; offal.

LE'AVY, adjective [from leaf.] Full of leaves; covered with leaves. [An improper word; it ought to be leafy.

LECH, for lick. obsolete [See Lick.]

LECH'ER, noun

A man given to lewdness; one addicted, in an exorbitant degree, to the indulgence of the animal appetite, and an illicit commerce with females.

LECH'ER, verb intransitive to practice lewdness; to indulge lust.

LECH'EROUS, adjective

1 Addicted to lewdness; prone to indulge lust; lustful; lewd.

2. Provoking lust.

LECH'EROUSLY, adverb Lustfully; lewdly.

LECH'EROUSNESS, noun Lust, or strong propensity to indulge the sexual appetite.

LECH'ERY, noun Lewdness; free indulgence of lust; practice of indulging the animal appetite.

LEC'TION, noun [Latin lectio, from lego, to read, Gr.]

1. A reading.

2. A difference or variety in copies of a manuscript or book.

3. A lesson or portion of Scripture read in divine service.

LEC'TIONARY, noun The Romish servicebook, containing portions of Scripture.

LEC'TURE, noun [Latin lectura, from lego, to read.]

1. A discourse read or pronounced on any subject; usually, a formal or methodical discourse, intended for instruction; as a lecture on morals, philosophy, rhetoric, or theology.

2. A reading; the act or practice of reading; as in the lecture of Holy Scripture. [Little used.]

3. A magisterial reprimand; a formal reproof.

4. A recitation; rehearsal of a lesson.

LEC'TURE, verb intransitive

1. To read or deliver a formal discourse.

2. To practice reading lectures for instruction. We say, the professor lectures on geometry, or on chimistry.

LEC'TURE, verb transitive

1. To instruct by discourses.

2. To instruct dogmatically or authoritatively; to reprove; as, to lecture one for his faults.

LEC'TURER, noun

1. One who reads or pronounces lectures; a professor or an instructor who delivers formal discourses for the instruction of others.

2. A preacher in a church, hired by the parish to assist the rector, vicar or curate.

LEC'TURESHIP, noun The office of a lecturer.

LEC'TURING, participle present tense Reading or delivering a discourse; reproving.

LEC'TURN, noun A reading desk. [Not in use.]

LED, preterit tense and participle passive of lead.

LED'EN, noun Language; true meaning. obsolete

LEDGE, noun

1. A stratum, layer or row.

The lowest ledge or row should be merely of stone.

2. A ridge; a prominent row; as a ledge of rocks.

3. A prominent part; a regular part rising or projecting beyond the rest.

4. A small molding.

5. A small piece of timber placed athwart ships, under the deck between the beams.

6. A long ridge of rocks near the surface of the sea.

LEDG'ER, noun The principal book of accounts among merchants; the book into which the accounts of the journal are carried in a summary form. [See Leger.]

LEE, noun plural less. Dregs; sediment. [See Lees.]

LEE, noun

Literally, a calm or sheltered place, a place defended from the wind; hence, that part of the hemisphers towards which the wind blows, as opposed to that from which it proceeds.

Under the lee denotes properly, in the part defended from the wind.

Under the lee of the land, is properly, near the shore which breaks the force of the wind.

Under the lee of a ship, on the side opposite to that on which the wind blows.

LEE, verb intransitive To lie. [Not used. See Lie.]

LEE'-BOARD, noun A frame of plant affixed to the side of a flat-bottomed vessel, to prevent it from falling to leeward when close-hauled.

LEE'-GAGE, noun A greater distance from the point whence the wind blows, than another vessel has.

LEECH, noun

1. A physician; a professor of the art of healing.

[This word, in the United States, is nearly or wholly obsolete. Even cow leech is not used.]

2. A blood-sucker; an animal of the genus Hirudo, a species of aquatic worm, which is used in the medical art for topical bleeding. One large species of this animal is called horse-leech.

3. In seamen's language, the border or edge of a sail, which is sloping or perpendicular; as the fore-leech, the after-leech, etc.

LEEF, adjective Kind; fond; pleasing; willing. obsolete

LEEK, noun

A plant of the genus Allium, with a bulbous root. Numbers 11:5.

LEE'LITE, noun A mineral, so called from Dr. Lee, of St. John's College, Cambridge. It is described as a siliceous stone, and by some mineralogists considered to be a hydrate of silica.

LEER, verb intransitive

1. To look obliquely; to turn the eye and cast a look from a corner, either in contempt, defiance or frowning, or for a sly look.

2. To look with a forced countenance.

LEER, verb transitive To allure with smiles.

LEER, noun

1. The cheek. obsolete

2. Complexion; hue; face. obsolete

3. An oblique view.

- With jealous leer malign eyed them askance.

4. An affected cast of countenance.

Damn with faint praise, concede with civil leer

LEER, adjective Empty; also, trifling; frivolous. obsolete

LEE'RING, participle present tense Looking obliquely; casting a look askance.

LEE'RINGLY, adverb With an arch oblique look or smile.

LEES, noun

The grosser parts of any liquor which have settled on the bottom of a vessel; dregs; sediment; as the lees of wine.

LEESE, verb transitive To lose. obsolete [See Lose.]

LEESE, verb transitive [Latin lasus.] To hurt. obsolete

LEET, noun In Great Britain, a court. The court-leet or view of frankpledge, is a court of record held once a year and not oftener, within a particular hundred, lordship or manor, before the steward of the leet Its original intent was to view the frankpledges or freemen within the liberty, to preserve the peace, and punish certain minute offenses. All freeholders within the precinct are obliged to attend this court.

The court-leet is for the most part superseded by the county court.

LEE'WARD, adjective Pertaining to the part towards which the wind blows; as a leeward ship.

LEE'WARD, adverb Towards the lee, or that part towards which the wind blows; opposed to windward; as fall to leeward

LEE'WAY, noun The lateral movement of a ship to the leeward of her course, or the angle which the line of her way makes with her keel, when she is close-hauled.

LEFT, preterit tense and participle passive of leave.

LEFT, adjective [Latin lavus; Gr. probably from the root of leave, Gr. and properly weak, deficient. Applied to the hand or arm, it denotes the weak arm, as opposed to the right, the strong or dextrous. Hence the ancient idea of sinister, unfortunate, attached to the left arm or side.]

1. Denoting the part opposed to the right of the body; as the left hand, arm or side. Hence, the noun being omitted, we say, on the left that is, on the left side or wing, as of an army.

2. The left bank of a river, is that which is on the left hand of a person whose face is towards the mouth of the river.

LEG, noun

1. The limb of an animal, used in supporting the body and in walking and running; properly, that part of the limb from the knee to the foot, but in a more general sense, the whole limb, including the thigh, the leg and the foot.

2. The long or slender support of any thing; as the leg of a table.

To make a leg to bow; a phrase introduced probably by the practice of drawing the right leg backward. [Little used.]

To stand on one's own legs, to support one's self; to trust to one's own strength or efforts without aid.

LEG'ACY, [Latin legatum, from lego, to send, to bequeath.]

A bequest; a particular thing, or certain sum of money given by last will or testament.

Good counsel is the best legacy a father can leave to his child.

LE'GAL, adjective [Latin legalis, from lex, legis, law.]

1. According to law; in conformity with law; as a legal standard or test; a legal procedure.

2. Lawful; permitted by law; as a legal trade. Anything is legal which the laws do not forbid.

3. According to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation.

4. Pertaining to law; created by law.

The exception must be confined to legal crimes.

So we use the phrase, criminal law.

LEGAL'ITY, noun

1. Lawfulness; conformity to law.

2. In theology, a reliance on works for salvation.

LE'GALIZE, verb transitive

1. To make lawful; to render conformable to law; to authorize. What can legalize revenge?

2. To sanction; to give the authority of law to that which is done without law or authority. Irregular proceedings may be legalized by a subsequent act of the legislature.

LE'GALLY, adverb Lawfully; according to law; in a manner permitted by law.

LEG'ATARY, noun [Latin legatarius, from lego, to bequeath.]

A legatee; one to whom a legacy is bequeathed.

[But legatee is generally used.]

LEG'ATE, noun [Latin legatus, from lego, to send. See Lackey.]

1. An embassador; but especially,

2. The pope's embassador to a foreign prince or state; a cardinal or bishop sent as the pope's representative or commissioner to a sovereign prince. Legates are of three kinds; legates a latere, or counselors and assistants of his holiness, legates de latere, who are not cardinals, and legates by office.

LEGATEE', noun [Latin lego, to send.] One to whom a legacy is bequeathed.

LEG'ATESHIP, noun The office of a legate.

LEG'ATINE, adjective

1. Pertaining to a legate; as legatine power.

2. Made by or proceeding from a legate; as a legatine constitution.

LEGA'TION, noun [Latin legatio, from lego, to send.] An embassy; a deputation; properly a sending, but generally, the person or persons sent as envoys or embassadors to a foreign court.

LEGA'TOR, noun [Latin] A testator; one who bequeaths a legacy. [Little used.]

LEGE, verb transitive To allege; to lighten. [Not in use.]

LEG'END, noun [Latin legenda, from lego, to read; originally, in the Romish church, a book of service or lessons to be read in worship.]

1. A chronicle or register of the lives of saints, formerly read at matins and at the refectories of religious houses. Hence,

2. An idle or ridiculous story told respecting saints.

3. Any memorial or relation.

4. An incredible, unauthentic narrative.

5. An inscription, particularly on medals and on coins.

LEG'END, verb transitive To tell or narrate, as a legend

LEG'ENDARY, adjective Consisting of legends; fabulous; strange.

LEG'ENDARY, noun A book of legends; a relater of legends.

LEG'ER, noun Any thing that lies in a place; that which rests or remains; sometimes used as a noun, but more frequently as an adjective, as a leger ambassador, that is, resident; but the word is now obsolete, except in particular phrases.

A leger-line, in music, a line added to the staff of five lines, when more lines than five are wanted, for designating notes ascending or descending.

A leger-book, or leger a book that lies in the counting house, the book into which merchants carry a summary of the accounts of the journal; usually written ledger.

LEG'ERDEMAIN, noun [See Light.]

Slight of hand; a deceptive performance which depends on dexterity of hand; a trick performed with such art and adroitness, that the manner or art eludes observation. The word is sometimes used adjectively; as a legerdemain trick.

LEGER'ITY, noun Lightness; nimbleness. [Not in use.]

LEG'GED, adjective [from leg.] Having legs; used in composition; as a two-legged animal.

LEG'GIN, noun [from leg.] A cover for the leg; a garment that encloses the leg.

LEGIBIL'ITY, noun Legibleness; the quality or state of being legible.

LEG'IBLE, adjective [Latin legibilis, from lego, to read.]

1. That may be read; consisting of letters or figures that may be distinguished by the eye; as a fair, legible manuscript.

2. That may be discovered or understood by apparent marks or indications. The thoughts of men are often legible in their countenances.

LEG'IBLENESS, noun The quality or state of being legible.

LEG'IBLY, adverb In such a manner as may be read; as a manuscript legibly written.

LE'GION, noun [Latin legio, from lego, to collect.]

1. In Roman antiquity, a body of infantry consisting of different numbers of men at different periods, from three to five thousand. Each legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into ten companies, and each company into two centuries.

2. A military force; military bands.

3. A great number.

Where one sin has entered, legions will force their way through the same breach.

My name is legion for we are many. Mark 5:9.

LE'GIONARY, adjective

1. Relating to a legion or to legions.

2. Consisting of a legion or of legions; as a legionary force.

3. Containing a great number; as a legionary body of errors.

LE'GIONARY, noun One of a legion.

LEG'ISLATE, verb intransitive [Latin lex, legis, law, and fero, latum, to give, pass or enact.]

To make or enact a law or laws. It is a question whether it is expedient to legislate at present on the subject. Let us not legislate when we have no power to enforce our laws.

LEGISLA'TION, noun The act of passing a law or laws; the enacting of laws.

Pythagoras joined legislation to his philosophy.

LEG'ISLATIVE, adjective

1. Giving or enacting laws; as a legislative body.

2. Capable of enacting laws; as legislative power.

3. Pertaining to the enacting of laws; suitable to laws; as the legislative style.

4. Done by enacting; as a legislative act.

[Note. In this word, and in legislator, legislatrix, legislature, the accent is nearly equal on the first and third syllables, and a, in the third, has its first or long sound.]

LEGISLA'TOR, noun [Latin] A lawgiver; one who makes laws for a state or community. This word is limited in its use to a supremem lawgiver, the lawgiver of a sovereign state or kingdom, and is not applied to men that make the by-laws of a subordinate corporation.

LEGISLA'TORSHIP, noun the office of a legislator. [Not in use.]

LEGISLA'TRESS,

LEGISLA'TRIX, noun a female who makes laws.

LEGISLA'TRIX, n. a female who makes laws.

LEG'ISLATURE, noun the body of men in a state or kingdom, invested with power to make and repeal laws; the supreme power of a state. The legislature of Great Britain consists of the house of lords and the house of commons with the king, whose sanction is necessary to every bill before it becomes a law. The legislatures of most of the states in America, consist of two houses or branches, but the sanction of the govenor is required to give their acts the force of law, or a concurrence of two thirds of the two houses, after he has declined and assigned his objections.

LE'GIST, noun One skilled in the laws.

LEGIT'IMACY, noun [from legitimate.]

1. Lawfulness of birth; opposed to bastardy.

2. Genuineness; opposed to spuriousness. the legitimacy of his conclusions is not to be questioned.

LEGIT'IMATE, adjective [Latin legitimus, from lex, law.]

1. Lawfully begotten or born; born in wedlock; as legitimate heirs or children.

2. Genuine; real; proceeding from a pure source; not false or spurious; as legitimate arguments or inferences.

LEGIT'IMATE, verb transitive

1. To make lawful

2. To render legitimate; to communicate the rights of a legitimate child to one that is illegitimate; to invest with the rights of a lawful heir.

LEGIT'IMATELY, adverb

1. Lawfully; according to law.

2. Genuinely; not falsely.

LEGIT'IMATENESS, noun legality; lawfulness; genuineness.

LEGITIMA'TION, noun

1. The act of rendering legitimate, or of investing an illegitimate child with the rights of one born in wedlock.

2. Lawful birth. [Unusual.]

LEG'UME,

LEGU'MEN, noun [Latin legumen, lego to collect, and signifying that which collects, or holds, or a collection.]

1. In botany, a pericarp or seed-vessel, of two valves, in which the seeds are fixed to one suture only. In the latter circumstance it differs from a siliqua, in which the seeds are attached to both sutures. In popular use, a legume is called a pod, or a cod; as a pea-pod, or peas-cod.

2. In the plural, pulse, peas, beans, etc.

LEGU'MEN, n. [L. legumen, lego to collect, and signifying that which collects, or holds, or a collection.]

LEGU'MINOUS, adjective Pertaining to pulse; consisting of pulse. leguminous plants are such as have a legume for a pericarp, as peas and beans.

LEIS'URABLE, adjective s as z. [See Leisure.] Vacant of employment; not occupied; as leisurable hours. [Little used.]

LEIS'URABLY, adverb At leisure; without hurry. [Little used.]

LEISURE, noun lezh'ur or lee'zhur.

1. Freedom from occupation or business; vacant time; time free from employment.

The desire of leisure is much more natural than of business and care.

I shall leave with him that rebuke to be considered at his leisure

2. Convenience of time.

He sigh'd, and had no leisure more to say. [Not used.]

LEIS'URELY, adjective Done at leisure; not hasty; deliberate; slow; as a leisurely walk or march; a leisurely survey of life.

LEIS'URELY, adverb Not in haste or hurry; slowly; at leisure; deliberately.

We descended very leisurely by friend being careful to count the steps.

LE'MAN, noun [See Love and Lief.]

A sweetheart; a gallant, or a mistress. obsolete

LEME, noun A ray of light. [Not in use.]

LEME, verb intransitive To shine. obsolete

LE'MING, noun A species of animal belonging to the genus Mus; a kind of rat, in the north of Europe, which sometimes migrates from north to south in immense numbers.

Lemnian earth, or sphragide, from the isle of Lemnos, in the Egean sea, a kind of astringent medicinal earth, of a fatty consistence and reddish color, used in the same cases as bole. It has the external appearance of clay, with a smooth surface resembling agate, especially in recent fractures. It removes impurities like soap.

LEM'MA, noun [Gr. from to receive.]

In mathematics, a previous proposition proved, or a proposition demonstrated for the purpose of being used in the demonstration of some other proposition. It is therefore a received truth.

LEM'MING,

LEM'NISCATE, noun [Latin lemniscus, a ribbon; lemniscatus, adorned with ribbons.] A curve in the form of the figure 8.

LEM'ON, noun

1. The fruit of a tree belonging to the genus Citrus, which grows in warm climates. This fruit furnishes a cooling acid juice, which forms an ingredient in some of our most delicious liquors.

2. lemon or lemon tree, the tree that produces lemons.

LEMONA'DE, noun

A liquor consisting of lemon juice mixed with water and sweetened.

LE'MUR, noun [Latin] A genus of quadrupeds, the Makis, natives of Africa and the East Indies.

LE'MURES, noun [Latin] Hobgoblins; evil spirits. [Not English.]

LEND, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive lent.

1. To grant to another for temporary use, on the express or implied condition that the thing shall be returned; as, to lend a book; or

2. To grant a thing to be used, on the condition that its equivalent in kind shall be returned; as, to lend a sum of money, or a loaf of bread.

3. To afford; to grant; to furnish, in general; as, to lend assistance; to lend an ear to a discourse.

Cato, lend me for a while they patience.

4. To grant for temporary use, on condition of receiving a compensation at certain periods for the use of the thing, and an ultimate return of the thing, or its full value. Thus money is lent on condition of receiving interest for the use, and of having the principal sum returned at the stipulated time. lend is correlative to borrow.

5. To permit to use for another's benefit. A lent his name to obtain money from the bank.

6. To let for hire or compensation; as, to lend a horse or gig. [This sense is used by Paley, and probably may be common in England. But in the United States, I believe, the word is never thus used, except in reference to money. We lend money upon interest, but never lend a coach or horse for a compensation. We use let.]

LEND'ABLE, adjective That may be lent.

LEND'ER, noun

1. One who lends.

The borrower is servant to the lender Proverbs 22:7.

2. One who makes a trade of putting money to interest.

LEND'ING, participle present tense Granting for temporary use. [See Lend.]

LEND'ING, noun

1. The act of loaning.

2. That which is lent or furnished.

LENDS, noun Loins. [Not in use.]

LENGTH, noun

1. The extent of anything material from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as the length of a church or of a ship; the length of a rope or line.

2. Extent; extension.

Stretch'd at his length he spurns the swarthy ground.

3. A certain extent; a portion of space; with a plural.

Large lengths of seas and shores -

4. Space of time; duration, indefinitely; as a great length of time. What length of time will this enterprise require for its accomplishment?

5. Long duration.

May heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss, with length of days, and every day like this.

6. Reach or extent; as, to pursue a subject to a great length

7. Extent; as the length of a discourse, essay, or argument.

8. Distance.

He had marched to the length of Exeter.

[Unusual and inelegant.]

1. At length at or in the full extent. Let the name be inserted at length

2. At last; at the end or conclusion.

LENGTH, verb transitive To extend. [Not used.]

LENGTH'EN, verb transitive length'n.

1. To extend in length; to make longer; to elongate; as, to lengthen a line.

2. To draw out or extend in time; to protract; to continue in duration; as, to lengthen life. The days lengthen from December to June.

3. To extend; as, to lengthen a discourse or a dissertation.

4. To draw out in pronunciation; as, to lengthen a sound or a syllable. This verb is often followed by out, which may be sometimes emphatical, but in general is useless.

What if I please to lengthen out his date?

LENGTH'EN, verb intransitive To grow longer; to extend in length. A hempen rope contracts when wet, and lengthens when dry.

LENGTH'ENED, participle passive Made longer; drawn out in length; continued in duration.

LENGTH'ENING, participle present tense Making longer; extending in length or in duration.

LENGTH'ENING, noun Continuation; protraction. Daniel 4:27.

LENGTH'FUL, adjective Of great length in measure.

LENGTH'WISE, adverb In the direction of the length; in a longitudinal direction.

LENGTH'Y, adjective Being long or moderately long; not short; not brief; applied mostly to moral subjects, as to discourses, writings, arguments, proceedings, etc.; as a lengthy sermon; a lengthy dissertation; a lengthy detail.

Lengthy period.

No ministerial act in France, in matters of judicial cognizance, is done without a process verbal, in which the facts are stated amidst a great deal of lengthy formality, with a degree of minuteness, highly profitable to the verbalizing officers and to the revenue.

P. S. Murray has sent or will send a double copy of the Bride and Giaour; in the last one, some lengthy additions; pray accept them, according to old customs.

Chalmers' Political Annals, in treating of South Carolina - is by no means as lengthy as Mr. Hewitt's History.

LE'NIENT, adjective [Latin leniens, from lenio, lenis, soft, mild.

1. Softening; mitigating; assuasive.

Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand, yet tames not this.

Sometimes with of; as lenient of grief.

2. Laxative; emollient.

Oils relax the fibers, are lenient balsamic.

LE'NIENT, noun That which softens or assuages; an emollient.

LEN'IFY, verb transitive To assuage; to soften; to mitigate. [Little used.]

LEN'IMENT, noun An assuasive. [Not used.]

LEN'ITIVE, adjective [Latin lenio, to soften.]

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

LEN'ITIVE, noun

1. A medicine or application that has the quality of easing pain; that which softens or mitigates.

2. A palliative; that which abates passion.

LEN'ITY, noun [Latin lenitas, from lenis, mild, soft.]

Mildness of temper; softness; tenderness; mercy. Young offenders may be treated with lenity It is opposed to severity and rigor.

LENS, noun plural lenses. [Latin lens a lentil.] A transparent substance, usually glass, so formed that rays of light passing through it are made to change their direction, and to magnify or diminish objects at a certain distance. Lenses are double-convex, or convex on both sides; double-concave, or concave on both sides; plano-convex, or plano-concave, that is, with one side plane, and the other convex or concave; or convex on one side and concave on the other; the latter is called a meniscus.

LENT, participle passive of lend.

LENT, noun

The quadragesimal fast, or fast of forty days observed by the christian church before Easter, the festival of our Savior's resurrection. It begins at Ash Wednesday, and continues till Easter.

LENT'EN, adjective Pertaining to lent; used in lent; sparing; as a lenten entertainment; a lenten salad.

LENTIC'ULAR, adjective [Latin lenticularis, from lens, supra.]

1. Resembling a lentil.

2. Having the form of a lens; lentiform.

LENTIC'ULARLY, adverb In the manner of a lens; with a curve.

LENTIC'ULITE, noun A petrified shell.

LENT'IFORM, adjective [Latin lens and forma, form.] Of the form of a lens.

LENTIG'INOUS, adjective [Latin lentigo, a freckle, from Latin lens.] Freckly; scurfy; furfuraceous.

LENTI'GO, noun A freckly eruption on the skin.

LEN'TIL, noun [Latin lens.] A plant of the genus Ervum. It is an annual plant, rising with weak stalks about 18 inches. The seeds, which are contained in a pod, are round, flat, and a little convex in the middle. It is cultivated for fodder, and for its seeds.

LENTIS'CUS, noun [Latin lentiscus ]

A tree of the genus Pistacia, the mastichtree, a native of Arabia, Persia, Syria, and the south of Europe. The wood is of a pale brown, resinous and fragrant. [See Mastich.]

LEN'TISK,

LENT'ITUDE, noun [Latin lectus, slow.] Slowness. [Not used.]

LENT'NER, noun A kind of hawk.

LENT'OR, noun [Latin from lentus, slow, tough, clammy.]

1. Tenacity; viscousness.

2. Slowness; delay; sluggishness.

3. Siziness; thickness of fluids; viscidity; a term used in the humoral pathology.

LENT'OUS, adjective [Latin lentus, slow, thick.] Viscid; viscous; tenacious.

LEN'ZINITE, noun [from Lenzius, a German mineralogist.]

A mineral of two kinds, the opaline and argillaceous; a variety of clay, occurring usually in small masses of the size of a nut.

LE'O, noun [Latin] The Lion, the fifth sign of the zodiac.

LE'ONINE, adjective [Latin leoninus, from leo, lion.] Belonging to a lion; resembling a lion, or partaking of his qualities; as leonine fierceness or rapacity.

Leonine verses, so named from Leo, the inventor, are those, the end of which rhymes with the middle; as,

Gloria factorum temere conceditur horum.

LE'ONINELY, adverb In the manner of a lion.

LEOPARD, noun lep'ard. [Latin leo, lion, and pardus, pard. Gr. from Heb. to separate, that is, spotted, broken into spots.]

A rapacious quadruped of the genus Felis. It differs from the panther and the once in the beauty of its color, which is of a lively yellow, with smaller spots than those of the two latter, and disposed in groups. It is larger than the once and less than the panther. This animal is found in Africa and Asia, and so rapacious as to spare neither man nor beast.

LEP'ER, noun [Latin lepra, leprosy. Gr.] A person affected with leprosy.

LEP'ID, adjective [Latin lepidus.] Pleasant; jocose. [Little used.]

LEP'IDOLITE, noun [Gr. a scale.] A mineral found in scaly masses, ordinarily of a violet or lilac color; allied to mica.

Lepidolite is of a peach-blossom red color, sometimes gray; massive and in small concretions. On account of its beautiful color, it has been cut into snuff-boxes. It is sometimes called lilalite.

LEP'IDOPTER,

LEPIDOP'TERA, noun [Gr. a scale, and a wing.] The Lepidopteras are an order of insects having four wings covered with fine scales, like powder, as the butterfly.

LEPIDOP'TERA, n. [Gr. a scale, and a wing.] The Lepidopteras are an order of insects having four wings covered with fine scales, like powder, as the butterfly.

LEPIDOP'TERAL, adjective Belonging to the order of Lepidopters.

LEP'ORINE, adjective [Latin leporinus, from lepus, a hare.]

Pertaining to a hare; having the nature or qualities of the hare.

LEPROS'ITY, noun Squamousness. [Little used.]

LEP'ROSY, noun [See Leper.] A foul cutaneous disease, appearing in dry, white, thin, scurfy scabs, attended with violent itching. It sometimes covers the whole body, rarely the face. One species of it is called elephantiasis.

The term leprosy is applied to two very distinct diseases, the scaly and the tuberculated, or the proper leprosy and the elephantiasis. The former is characterized by smooth laminated scales, sometimes livid, but usually whitish; in the latter, the skin is thickened, livid and tuberculated. It is called the black leprosy but this term is also applied to the livid variety of the scaly leprosy

LEP'ROUS, adjective [See Leper.] Infected with leprosy; covered with white scales.

His hand was leprous as snow. Exodus 4:6.

LEP'ROUSLY, adverb In an infectious degree.

LERE, noun Learning; lesson; lore. obsolete

LERE, verb transitive To learn; to teach. obsolete

LE'SION, noun le'zhun. [Latin lasio, from lado, to hurt.]

A hurting; hurt; wound; injury.

LESS, for unless. [Not in use.]

LESS, A terminating syllable of many nouns and some adjectives. Hence it is a privative word, denoting destitution; as a witless man, a man destitute of wit; childless, without children; fatherless; faithless; penniless; lawless, etc.

LESS, adjective Smaller; not so large or great; as a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value. We are all destined to suffer affliction in a greater or less degree.

LESS, adverb Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as less bright or loud; less beautiful; less obliging; less careful. The less a man praises himself, the more disposed are others to praise him.

LESS, noun

1. Not so much.

They gathered some more, some less Exodus 16:17.

2. An inferior.

The less is blessed by the better. Hebrews 7:7.

LESS, verb transitive To make less [Not in use.]

LESSEE', noun [from lease.] The person to whom a lease is given, or who takes an estate by lease.

LESS'EN, verb transitive les'n. [from less.]

1. To make less; to diminish; to reduce in bulk, size, quantity, number or amount; to make smaller; as, to lessen a kingdom or its population.

2. To diminish in degree, state of quality; as, awkward manners tend to lessen our respect for men of merit.

3. To degrade; to reduce in dignity.

St. Paul chose to magnify his office, when ill men conspired to lessen it.

LESS'EN, verb intransitive les'n.

1. To become less; to shrink; to contract in bulk, quantity, number or amount; to be diminished. The apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them.

2. To become less in degree, quality or intensity; to decrease. The strength of the body, and the vivacity of the temper usually lessen as we advance in age.

LESS'ENED, participle passive Made smaller; diminished.

LESS'ENING, participle present tense Reducing in bulk, amount or degree; degrading.

LESS'ER, adjective [This word is a corruption; but too well established to be discarded.]

Less; smaller. Authors always write the lesser Asia.

By the same reason, may a man in a state of nature, punish the lesser breaches of that law.

God made the lesser light to rule the night. Genesis 1:16.

LES'SON, noun les'n. [Latin lectio, from lego, to read.]

1. Any thing read or recited to a teacher by a pupil or learner for improvement; or such a portion of a book as a pupil learns and repeats at one time. The instructor is pleased when his pupils recite their lessons with accuracy and promptness.

2. A portion of Scripture read in divine service. Thus endeth the first lesson

3. A portion of a book or manuscript assigned by a preceptor to a pupil to be learnt, or for an exercise; something to be learnt. Give him his lesson

4. Precept; doctrine or notion inculcated.

Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, and teach her not an evil lesson against thyself.

5. Severe lecture; reproof; rebuke.

She would give her a lesson for walking so late.

6. Tune written for an instrument.

7. Instruction or truth, taught by experience. The lessons which sickness imparts, she leaves to be practiced when health is established.

LES'SON, verb transitive les'n. To teach; to instruct.

Children should be lessoned into a contempt and detestation of this vice.

LES'SONED, participle passive Taught; instructed.

LES'SONING, participle present tense Teaching.

LES'SOR, noun [from lease.] One who leases; the person who lets to farm, or gives a lease.

LEST, conjunction That not; for fear that.

Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 3:3.

The phrase may be thus explained. Ye shall not touch it; that separated or dismissed, ye die. That here refers to the preceding command or sentence; that being removed or not observed, the fact being not so, ye will die.

Sin no more, lest a worse thing come to thee. John 5:14.

Sin no more; that fact not taking place, a worse thing will happen to thee.

LET, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive let Letted is obsolete. [To let out, like Latin elocare, is to lease.]

1. To permit; to allow; to suffer; to give leave or power by a positive act, or negatively, to withhold restraint; not to prevent. A leaky ship lets water enter into the hold. let is followed by the infinitive without the sign to.

Pharaoh said, I will let you go. Exodus 8:1.

When the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. Acts 27:15.

2. To lease; to grant possession and use for a compensation; as, to let to farm; to let an estate for a year; to let a room to lodgers; often followed by out, as, to let out a farm; but the use of out is unnecessary.

3. To suffer; to permit; with the usual sign of the infinitive.

There's a letter for you, Sir, if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. [Not used.]

4. In the imperative mode, let has the following uses. Followed by the first and third persons, it expresses desire or wish; hence it is used in prayer and entreaty to superiors, and to those who have us in their power; as, let me not wander from thy commandments. Psalms 119:10.

Followed by the first person plural, let expresses exhortation or entreaty; as, rise, let us go.

Followed by the third person, it implies permission or command addressed to an inferior. let him go, let them remain, are commands addressed to the second person. let thou, or let ye, that is, do thou or you permit him to go.

Sometimes let is used to express a command or injunction to a third person. When the signal is given to engage, let every man do his duty.

When applied to things not rational, it implies allowance or concession.

O'er golden sands let rich Pactolus flow.

5. To retard; to hinder; to impede; to interpose obstructions. 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

[This sense is now obsolete, or nearly so.]

To let alone, to leave; to suffer to remain without intermeddling; as, let alone this idle project; let me alone.

To let down, to permit to sink or fall; to lower.

She let them down by a cord through the window. Joshua 2:15.

To let loose, to free from restraint; to permit to wander at large.

To let in or into, to permit or suffer to enter; to admit. Open the door, let in my friend. We are not let into the secrets of the cabinet.

To let blood, to open a vein and suffer the blood to flow out.

To let out, to suffer to escape; also, to lease or let to hire.

To let off, to discharge, to let fly, as an arrow; or cause to explode, as a gun.

LET, verb intransitive To forbear. obsolete

LET, noun A retarding; hinderance; obstacle; impediment; delay. [Obsolete, unless in some technical phrases.]

LET, a termination of diminutives; as hamlet, a little house; rivulet, a small stream. [See Little.]

LE'THAL, adjective [Latin lethalis, mortal, from Gr. oblivion.] Deadly; mortal; fatal.

LETHAL'ITY, noun Mortality.

LETHAR'GIC,

LETHAR'GICAL, adjective [Latin lethargicus.] Preternaturally inclined to sleep; drowsy; dull; heavy.

LETHAR'GICAL, a. [L. lethargicus.] Preternaturally inclined to sleep; drowsy; dull; heavy.

LETHAR'GICALLY, adverb In a morbid sleepiness.

LETHAR'GICALNESS,

LETHAR'GICNESS, noun Preternatural or morbid sleepiness or drowsiness.

LETHAR'GICNESS, n. Preternatural or morbid sleepiness or drowsiness.

LETH'ARGIED, participle passive or adjective Laid asleep; entranced.

LETH'ARGY, noun [Latin lethargia; Gr. oblivion and idle.]

1. Preternatural sleepiness; morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked, and if awaked, remains stupid.

2. Dullness; inaction; inattention.

Europe lay them under a deep lethargy

LETH'ARGY, verb transitive To make lethargic or dull.

LE'THE, noun le'thee. [Gr. forgetfulness; Latin lateo, to be hid.] Oblivion; a draught of oblivion.

LETHE'AN, adjective Inducing forgetfulness or oblivion.

LETH'ER, noun

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

2. Dressed hides in general.

3. Skin; in an ironical sense.

LEATH'ER,

LETH'ER, adjective Lethern; consisting of leather; as a leather glove.

LETH'ERN, adjective Made of leather; consisting of leather; as a lethern purse; a lethern girdle.

LETH'ERY, adjective Resembling leather; tough.

LETHIF'EROUS, adjective [Latin lethum, death, and fero, to bring.]

Deadly; mortal; bringing death or destruction.

LET'TER, noun [from let.]

1. One who permits.

2. One who retards or hinders.

3. One who gives vent; as a blood-letter.

LET'TER, noun [Latin litera.]

1. A mark or character, written, printed, engraved or painted; used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech. By sounds, and articulations or closures of the organs, are formed syllables and words. Hence a letter is the first element of written language, as a simple sound is the first element of spoken language or speech. As sounds are audible and communicate ideas to others by the ear, so letters are visible representatives of sounds, and communicate the thoughts of others by means of the eye.

2. A written or printed message; an epistle; a communication made by visible characters from one person to another at a distance.

The style of letters ought to be free, easy and natural.

3. The verbal expression; the literal meaning.

We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law, and the intentions of the lawgiver.

4. Type; a charter formed of metal or wood, usually of metal, and used in printing books.

5. Letters, in the plural, learning; erudition; as a man of letters.

Dead letter a writing or precept, which is without authority or force. The best law may become a dead letter

Letter of attorney, a writing by which one person authorizes another to act in his stead.

Letter of marque, a private ship commissioned or authorized by a government to make reprisals on the ships of another state. [See Marque.]

Letters patent, or overt, open, 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.

LET'TER, verb transitive To impress or form letters on; as, to letter a book; a book gilt and lettered.

LET'TERED, participle passive Stamped with letters.

LET'TERED, adjective

1. Literate; educated; versed in literature or science.

LET'TERING, participle present tense Impressing or forming letters on; as lettering a book on the cover.

LET'TERLESS, adjective Illiterate; unlettered; not learned.

LETTUCE, noun let'tis. [Latin lactuca, according to Varro, from lac, milk.]

A genus of plants, the Lactuca, of many species, some of which are used as salads.

LEU'CIN,

LEU'CINE, noun [Gr. white.] A peculiar white pulverulent substance obtained from beef-fibers, treated with sulphuric acid, and afterwards with alcohol.

LEU'CINE, n. [Gr. white.] A peculiar white pulverulent substance obtained from beef-fibers, treated with sulphuric acid, and afterwards with alcohol.

LEU'CITE, noun [Gr. white.] A stony substance, so called from its whiteness, found among volcanic productions in Italy, in crystals, or in irregular masses; formerly called crystals of white shorl, or white granite or granilite.

Hauy called this mineral, amphigene. It is called by some writers leucolite, and by others, dodecahedral zeolite.

LEUCOPHLEG'MACY, noun [Gr. white, and phlegm.]

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

LEUCOPHLEGMAT'IC, adjective Having a dropsical habit of body with a white bloated skin.

LEUCO'THIOP, noun [See Leuco-ethiopic.] An albino; a white man of a black race.

LEU'THRITE, noun

A substance that appears to be a recomposed rock, or a loose texture, gritty and harsh to the touch. Its color is a grayish white, tinged here and there with an ocherous brown. It includes small fragments of mica.

LE'VANT, adjective [Latin levo.]

Eastern; denoting the part of the hemisphere where the sun rises.

Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds.

LEVANT', noun Properly, a country to the eastward; but appropriately, the countries of Turkey, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt, etc. which are washed by the Mediterranean and its contiguous waters.

LEV'ANTINE, adjective

1. Pertaining to the Levant.

2. Designating a particular kind of silk cloth.

LEV'ANTINE, noun A particular kind of silk cloth.

LEVA'TOR, noun [Latin from levo, to raise.]

1. In anatomy, a muscle that serves to raise some part, as the lip or the eyelid.

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

LEVE, for believe. obsolete

LEV'EE, noun [Latin levo.]

1. The time of rising.

2. The concourse of persons who visit a prince or great personage in the morning.

3. A bank or causey, particularly along a river to prevent inundation; as the levees along the Mississippi.

LEV'EL, adjective [Eng. sleek. Latin libella, libra, belong to the root.]

1. Horizontal; coinciding with the plane of the horizon. To be perfectly level is to be exactly horizontal.

2. Even; flat; not having one part higher than another; not ascending or descending; as a level plain or field; level ground; a level floor or pavement. In common usage, level is often applied to surfaces that are not perfectly horizontal, but which have no inequalities of magnitude.

3. Even with any thing else; of the same height; on the same line or plane.

4. Equal in rank or degree; having no degree of superiority.

Be level in preferments, and you will soon be level in your learning.

LEV'EL, verb transitive

1. To make horizontal.

2. To make even; to reduce or remove inequalities of surface in any thing; as, to level a road or walk.

3. To reduce or bring to the same height with something else.

And their proud structures level with the ground.

4. To lay flat; to reduce to an even surface or plain.

he levels mountains, and he raises plains.

5. To reduce to equality of condition, state or degree; as, to level all ranks and degrees of men.

6. To point, in taking aim; to elevate or depress so as to direct a missile weapon to an object; to aim; as, to level a cannon or musket.

7. To aim; to direct; as severe remarks leveled at the vices and follies of the age.

8. To suit; to proportion; as, to level observations to the capacity of children.

LEV'EL, verb intransitive

1. To accord; to agree; to suit. [Little used.]

2. To aim at; to point a gun or an arrow to the mark.

3. To aim at; to direct the view or purpose.

The glory of God and the good of his church, ought to be the mark at which we level

4. To be aimed; to be in the same direction with the mark.

He raised it till he level'd right.

5. To aim; to make attempts.

Ambitious York did level at thy crown.

6. To conjecture; to attempt to guess. [Not used.]

LEV'EL, noun

1. A horizontal line, or a plane; a surface without inequalities.

2. Rate; standard; usual elevation; customary height; as the ordinary level of the world.

3. Equal elevation with something else; a state of equality.

Providence, for the most part, sets us on a level

4. The line of direction in which a missile weapon is aimed.

5. An instrument in mechanics by which to find or draw a horizontal line, as in setting buildings, or in making canals and drains. The instruments for these purposes are various; as the air level the carpenter's level the mason's level and the gunner's level

6. Rule; plan; scheme: borrowed from the mechanic's level

Be the fair level of thy actions laid. -

LEV'ELED, participle passive

1. Reduced to a plane; made even.

2. Reduced to an equal state, condition or rank.

3. Reduced to an equality with something else.

4. Elevated or depressed to a right line towards something; pointed to an object; directed to a mark.

5. Suited; proportioned.

LEV'ELER, noun

1. One that levels or makes even.

2. One that destroys or attempts to destroy distinctions, and reduce to equality.

LEV'ELING, participle present tense

1. Making level or even.

2. Reducing to an equality of condition.

LEV'ELING, noun The art or practice of finding a horizontal line, or of ascertaining the different elevations of objects on the surface of the earth; in other words, the difference in the distance of objects from the center of the earth.

LEV'ELNESS, noun

1. Evenness; equality of surface.

2. Equality with something else.

LEVEN. [See Leaven.]

LEV'EN, noun Lightning. obsolete

LEV'ER, noun [Latin levo, to raise.]

In mechanics, a bar of metal, wood, or other substance, turning on a support called the fulcrum or prop. Its arms are equal, as in the balance; or unequal, as in steelyards. It is one of the mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, viz. 1. When the fulcrum is between the weight and the power, as in the handspike, crowbar, etc. 2. When the weight is between the power and fulcrum, as in rowing a boat. 3. When the power is between the weight and the fulcrum, as in raising a ladder from the ground, by applying the hands to one of the lower rounds. The bones of animals are levers of the third kind.

LEV'ERET, noun A hare in the first year of her age.

LEV'EROCK, noun A bird, a lark. [See Lark.]

LEV'ET, noun A blast of a trumpet; probably that by which soldiers are called in the morning. [Not used.]

LEV'IABLE, adjective [from levy.] That may be levied; that may be assessed and collected; as sums leviable by course of law.

LEVI'ATHAN, noun [Heb.]

1. An aquatic animal, described in Job 41:1, and mentioned in other passages of Scripture. In Isaiah, it is called the crooked serpent. It is not agreed what animal is intended by the writers, whether the crocodile, the whale, or a species of serpent.

2. The whale, or a great whale.

LEV'IGATE, verb transitive [Latin lavigo, from lavis, smooth, Gr.]

1. In pharmacy and chimistry, to rub or grind to a fine impalpable powder; to make fine, soft and smooth.

2. To plane; to polish.

LEV'IGATE, adjective Made smooth.

LEV'IGATED, participle passive Reduced to a fine impalpable powder.

LEV'IGATING, participle present tense Rendering very fine, soft and smooth, by grinding or rubbing.

LEVIGA'TION, noun The act or operation of grinding or rubbing a solid substance to a fine impalpable powder.

LEVITA'TION, noun [Latin levis, levitas.] Lightness; buoyancy; act of making light.

LE'VITE, noun [from Levi, one the sons of Jacob.]

One of the tribe or family of Levi; a descendant of Levi; more particularly, an officer in the Jewish church, who was employed in manual service, as in bringing wood and other necessaries for the sacrifices. The Levites also sung and played on instruments of music. They were subordinate to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who was also of the family of Levi.

LEVIT'ICAL, adjective

1. Belong to the Levites, or descendants of Levi; as the levitical law, the law given by Moses, which prescribed the duties and rights of the priests and Levites, and regulated the civil and religious concerns of the Jews.

2. Priestly.

LEVIT'ICALLY, adverb After the manner of the Levites.

LEVIT'ICUS, noun [from Levi, Levite.] A canonical book of the Old Testament, containing the laws and regulations which relate to the priests and Levites among the Jews, or the body of the ceremonial law.

LEV'ITY, noun [Latin levitas, from levis, light; connected perhaps with Eng. lift.]

1. Lightness; the want of weight in a body, compared with another that is heavier. The ascent of a balloon in the air is owing to its levity as the gas that fills it is lighter than common air.

2. Lightness of temper or conduct; inconstancy; changeableness; unsteadiness; as the levity of youth.

3. Want of due consideration; vanity; freak. He never employed his omnipotence out of levity or ostentation.

4. Gaiety of mind; want of seriousness; disposition to trifle. The spirit of religion and seriousness was succeeded by levity

LEV'Y, verb transitive [Latin levo; Eng. to lift.]

1. To raise; to collect. To levy troops, is to enlist or to order men into public service. To levy an army, is to collect troops and form an army by enrollment, conscription or other means.

2. To raise; to collect by assessment; as, to levy taxes, toll tribute, or contributions.

To levy war, is to raise or begin war; to take arms for attack; to attack.

To levy a fine, to commence and carry on a suit for assuring the title to lands or tenements.

LEV'Y, noun

1. The act of collecting men for military, or other public service, as by enlistment, enrollment or other means. 1 Kings 9:15.

2. Troops collected; an army raised. 1 Kings 5:13.

3. The act of collecting money for public use by tax or other imposition.

4. War raised. [Not in use.]

LEW, adjective Tepid; lukewarm; pale; wan. obsolete

LEWD, adjective [Heb.]

1. Given to the unlawful indulgence of lust; addicted to fornication or adultery; dissolute; lustful; libidinous.

Ezekiel 23:44.

2. Proceeding from unlawful lust; as lewd actions.

3. Wicked; vile; profligate; licentious. Acts 27:1.

LEWD, adjective [Latin gnes, from geno.] Lay; laical; not clerical. obsolete

LEWD'LY, adverb

1. With the unlawful indulgence of lust; lustfully.

2. Wickedly; wantonly.

LEWD'NESS, noun

1. The unlawful indulgence of lust; fornication, or adultery.

2. In Scripture, it generally denotes idolatry.

3. Licentiousness; shamelessness.

LEWD'STER, noun One given to the criminal indulgence of lust; a lecher. [Not used.]

LEXICOG'RAPHER, noun [See Lexicography.] The author of a lexicon or dictionary.

LEXICOGRAPH'IC, adjective Pertaining to the writing or compilation of a dictionary.

LEXICOG'RAPHY, noun [Gr. a dictionary, and to write.]

1. The act of writing a lexicon or dictionary, or the art of composing dictionaries.

2. The composition or compilation of a dictionary.

LEXICOL'OGY, noun [Gr. a dictionary, and discourse.]

The science of words; that branch of learning which treats of the proper signification and just application of words.

LEX'ICON, noun [Gr. a dictionary, from to speak.]

A dictionary; a vocabulary or book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language, with the definition of each, or an explanation of its meaning.

LEX'ICONIST, noun A writer of a lexicon. [Little used.]

LEX'IGRAPHY, noun [Gr. a word, and to write.] The art or practice of defining words.

LEY, a different orthography of lay and lea, a meadow or field.

LEY, noun [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.