The theory that structural variations, characteristic of species and genera, are produced in animals and plants by the direct influence of physical environments, and esp., in the case of animals, by effort, or by use or disuse of certain organs. It is a discredited theory, not believed by modern biologists.

A monastery or convent of lamas, in Tibet, Mongolia, etc.

To bring forth a lamb or lambs, as sheep.

A name given to several common weedy European plants of the Goosefoot family, introduced into N. America, and sometimes used as pot herbs, as Chenopodium album and Atriplex patulsa.

A feast at the time of shearing lambs.

Same as lambaste.

To beat severely; to beat with a cane.

A medicine taken by licking with the tongue; a lincture.

The name of the Greek letter /, /, corresponding with the English letter L, l.

A fault in speaking or in composition, which consists in too frequent use of the letter l, or in doubling it erroneously.

Shaped like the Greek letter lambda (/); as, the lambdoid suture between the occipital and parietal bones of the skull.

Same as Lambdoid.

Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over.

The gigantic sugar pine of California and Oregon (Pinus Lambertiana). It has the leaves in fives, and cones a foot long. The timber is soft, and like that of the white pine of the Eastern States.

A small genus of Australian shrubs.

A genus of scorpion shells of shallow tropical waters of eastern hemisphere.

A small American ericaceous shrub (Kalmia angustifolia), resembling mountain laurel but having narrower leaves and small red flowers; -- called also calfkill, sheepkill, sheep laurel, etc. It is supposed to poison young sheep and other animals that eat it at times when the snow is deep and they cannot find other food.

A small lamb.

Like a lamb; gentle; meek; inoffensive.

Same as Base, n., 19.

A kind of pendent scarf or covering attached to the helmet, to protect it from wet or heat.

The skin of a lamb; especially, a skin dressed with the wool on, and used as a mat. Also used adjectively.

See Lansquenet.

Lambdoid.

To make lame.

The 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, corresponding to l.

See Lamella.

A thin plate or scale of anything, as a thin scale growing from the petals of certain flowers; or one of the thin plates or scales of which certain shells are composed.

Flat and thin; lamelliform; composed of lamellAE. In thin plates or scales.

Of or pertaining to lamella or to lamellae; lamellar.

Composed of, or furnished with, thin plates or scales. See Illust. of Antenn/.

One of the Lamellibranchia (also called Pelecypoda). Also used adjectively.

An earlier name for the class of Mollusca including all those that have bivalve shells, as the clams, oysters, mussels, etc., now called Pelecypoda or Bivalvia.

Having lamellar gills; belonging to the Lamellibranchia (also called Pelecypoda). One of the Lamellibranchia (also called Pelecypoda).

Having antennae terminating in a group of flat lamellae; -- said of certain coleopterous insects. Terminating in a group of flat lamellae; -- said of antennae. A lamellicorn insect.

A group of lamellicorn, plant-eating beetles; -- called also Lamellicornes.

Bearing, or composed of, lamellae, or thin layers, plates, or scales; foliated.

Thin and flat; scalelike; lamellar.

Having a lamellate bill, as ducks and geese.

A group of birds embracing the Anseres and flamingoes, in which the bill is lamellate.

Composed of, or having, lamellae; lamelliform.

In a lame, crippled, disabled, or imperfect manner; as, to walk lamely; a figure lamely drawn.

The condition or quality of being lame; as, the lameness of an excuse or an argument.

Grief or sorrow expressed in complaints or cries; lamentation; a wailing; a moaning; a weeping.

Mourning; sorrowful; expressing grief; as, a lamentable countenance.

The act of bewailing; audible expression of sorrow; wailing; moaning.

Mourned for; bewailed.

One who laments.

See Lamantin.

Lamentation.

In a lamenting manner.

Small steel plates combined together so as to slide one upon the other and form a piece of armor.

Foil or wire made of gold, silver, or brass.

A monster capable of assuming a woman's form, who was said to devour human beings or suck their blood; a vampire; a sorceress; a witch.

A thin plate or scale; a layer or coat lying over another; -- said of thin plates or platelike substances, as of bone or minerals.

The quality or state of being laminable.

Capable of being split into lamin/ or thin plates, as mica; capable of being extended under pressure into a thin plate or strip.

In, or consisting of, thin plates or layers; having the form of a thin plate or lamina.

A genus of great seaweeds with long and broad fronds; kelp, or devil's apron. The fronds commonly grow in clusters, and are sometimes from thirty to fifty feet in length. See Illust. of Kelp.

Pertaining to seaweeds of the genus Laminaria, or to that zone of the sea (from two to ten fathoms in depth) where the seaweeds of this genus grow.

Laminar.

To separate into laminae.

Consisting of, or covered with, laminae, or thin plates, sheets, scales, or layers, one over another; laminate.

Forming, or separating into, scales or thin layers.

The process of laminating, or the state of being laminated.

Having a structure consisting of lamin/, or thin layers.

Having the tarsus covered behind with a horny sheath continuous on both sides, as in most singing birds, except the larks.

Inflammation of the lamin/ or fleshy plates along the coffin bone of a horse; founder.

Somewhat lame.

See Lam.

The first day of August; -- called also Lammas day, and Lammastide.

A very large vulture (Gypa/tus barbatus), which inhabits the mountains of Southern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. When full-grown it is nine or ten feet in extent of wings. It is brownish black above, with the under parts and neck rusty yellow; the forehead and crown white; the sides of the head and beard black. It feeds partly on carrion and partly on small animals, which it kills. It has the habit of carrying tortoises and marrow bones to a great height, and dropping them on stones to obtain the contents, and is therefore called bonebreaker and ossifrage. It is supposed to be the ossifrage of the Bible. Called also bearded vulture and bearded eagle.

A natural family of oceanic sharks.

Same as Hyracoidea.

A light-producing vessel, device, instrument or apparatus; a vessel with a wick used for the combustion of oil or other inflammable liquid, for the purpose of producing artificial light; also, a similar device using a gas as the combustible fuel; an electric lamp. See sense {3}.

a protective ornamental covering used to screen the light bulb in a lamp from direct view.

A mollusklike marine animal with bivalve shell having a pair of arms bearing tentacles for capturing food, found worldwide.

A post (generally a pillar of iron) supporting a lamp or lantern for lighting a street, park, etc.

A lamp or candlestick.

One who gained the prize in the lampadrome.

A race run by young men with lighted torches in their hands. He who reached the goal first, with his torch unextinguished, gained the prize.

An inflammation and swelling of the soft parts of the roof of the mouth immediately behind the fore teeth in the horse; -- called also lampers.

A supposed salt of lampic acid.

The fine impalpable soot obtained from the smoke of carbonaceous substances which have been only partly burnt, as in the flame of a smoking lamp. It consists of finely divided carbon, with sometimes a very small proportion of various impurities. It is used as an ingredient of printers' ink, and various black pigments and cements.

See Lamprey.

The river lamprey (Ammoc/tes fluviatilis syn. Lampetra fluviatilis).

See Lampas.

Pertaining to, or produced by, a lamp; -- formerly said of a supposed acid.

Shining; brilliant.

Being without a lamp, or without light; hence, being without appreciation; dull.

Light from a lamp.

One who, or that which, lights a lamp; a person who in former times lighted street lamps which were illuminated by a combustible gas; -- such lamps are now little used, and primarily as nostalgic ornaments.

Illuminated by a lamp.

To subject to abusive ridicule expressed in a work of art; to make (a person, behavior, or institution) the subject of a lampoon.

The writer of a lampoon.

The act of lampooning; a lampoon, or lampoons.

See Lamprey.

An eel-like marsipobranch of the genus Petromyzon, and allied genera; called also lamprey eel and lamper eel. The lampreys have a round, sucking mouth, without jaws, but set with numerous minute teeth, and one to three larger teeth on the palate (see Illust. of Cyclostomi). There are seven small branchial openings on each side.

See Lamprey.

A natural family of insects comprising the fireflies.

An insect of the genus Lampyris, or family Lampyrid/. See Lampyris.

A genus of coleopterous insects, including the glowworms.

A local area network; a network{3} connecting computers and word processors and other electronic office equipment within a small area, to create an inter-office system, typically within one building or one site of a corporation. Contrasted to WAN, a wide-area network.

an island in the Hawaiian chain.

A mineral consisting of sulphate of lead, occurring either massive or in long slender prisms, of a greenish white or gray color.

A place for storing wool.

A steam boiler having two flues which contain the furnaces and extend through the boiler from end to end.

A city in Northwest England on the river Lune.

Of or pertaining to the monitorial system of instruction followed by Joseph Lancaster, of England, in which advanced pupils in a school teach pupils below them.

A member (or supporter) of the house of Lancaster.

To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

A lancepesade.

A slender marine fish of the genus Ammodytes, especially Ammodytes tobianus of the English coast; -- called also sand lance.

A kind of spear anciently used. Its use was prohibited by a statute of Richard II.

A small fishlike animal (Amphioxus lanceolatus), remarkable for the rudimentary condition of its organs. It is the type of the class Leptocardia. See Amphioxus, Leptocardia.

Like a lance.

Lanceolate.

Rather narrow, tapering to a point at the apex, and sometimes at the base also; as, a lanceolate leaf.

An assistant to a corporal; a private performing the duties of a corporal; -- called also lance corporal.

One who lances; one who carries a lance; especially, a member of a mounted body of men armed with lances, attached to the cavalry service of some nations.