Loading earlier words…
Lamination

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

Laminiferous

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

Laminiplantar

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

Laminitis

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

Lammas

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

lammergeyer Lammergeier Lammergeir

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.

Lamnidae

A natural family of oceanic sharks.

Lamp

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}.

lamp shade lampshade

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

lamp shell lampshell

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

Lamp-post

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

Lampadist

One who gained the prize in the lampadrome.

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.

Lampas

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.

Lampate

A supposed salt of lampic acid.

Lampblack

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.

Lampern

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

Lampic

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

Lampless

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

Lamplighter

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.

Lampoon

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

Lampoonry

The act of lampooning; a lampoon, or lampoons.

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.

Lampyridae

A natural family of insects comprising the fireflies.

Lampyrine

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

Lampyris

A genus of coleopterous insects, including the glowworms.

LAN

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.

Lanai

an island in the Hawaiian chain.

Lanarkite

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

Lanary

A place for storing wool.

Lancashire boiler

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

Lancaster

A city in Northwest England on the river Lune.

Lancasterian

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.

Lancastrian

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

Lance

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

Lance fish

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

Lancegaye Lancegay

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

Lancelet

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.

Lanceolated Lanceolate

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

Lancepesade

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

Lancer

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.

lancers

A set of quadrilles for 8 or 16 couples.

Lancet

A surgical knife-like instrument of various forms, commonly sharp-pointed and two-edged, used in venesection, and in opening abscesses, etc.

lancet fish lancetfish

A large, elongated, scaleless, voracious, deep-sea fish (Alepidosaurus ferox), having long, sharp, lancetlike teeth and a long saillike dorsal fin.

Lancewood

A tough, elastic wood, often used for the shafts of gigs, archery bows, fishing rods, and the like. Also, the tree which produces this wood, Duguetia Quitarensis (a native of Guiana and Cuba), and several other trees of the same family (Anonase/).

Lanch

To throw, as a lance; to let fly; to launch.

Lancinate

To tear; to lacerate; to pierce or stab.

Lancinating

Piercing; seeming to pierce or stab; as, lancinating pains (i.e., severe, darting pains).

Land

To come to the end of a course; to arrive at a destination, literally or figuratively; as, he landed in trouble; after hithchiking for a week, he landed in Los Angeles.

Land League

In Ireland, a combination of tenant farmers and other, organized, with Charles Stewart Parnell as president, in 1879 with a view to the reduction of farm rents and a reconstruction of the land laws.

Land of Steady Habits

Connecticut; -- a nickname alluding to the moral character of its inhabitants, implied by the rigid laws (see Blue laws) of the early period.

Land-poor

Pecuniarily embarrassed through owning much unprofitable land.

Landamman

A chief magistrate in some of the Swiss cantons.

Landau

A four-wheeled covered vehicle, the top of which is divided into two sections which can be let down, or thrown back, in such a manner as to make an open carriage.

Landed

Having an estate in land.

Lander

One who lands, or makes a landing.

Landfall

A sudden transference of property in land by the death of its owner.

Landflood

An overflowing of land by river; an inundation; a freshet.

Landgrave

A German nobleman of a rank corresponding to that of an earl in England and of a count in France.

landholding

ownership of land; the state or fact of owning land.

Landing

A going or bringing on shore.

landing gear

The wheels and attached structures under an airplane that support it and allow it to move when on the ground; also, the floats or pontoons of an amphibious airplane together with their supporting structures. Landing gear may be fixed rigidly in place, or retractable when in flight.

landing strip

A runway at an airport, at which airplanes land{3}; the long smooth surface used for takeoff or landing{4}.

landlady

A woman having real estate which she leases to a tenant or tenants.

Landlock

To inclose, or nearly inclose, as a harbor or a vessel, with land.

Landlocked

Inclosed, or nearly inclosed, by land; having no border on the sea; as, a landlocked country.

Landlord

The lord of a manor, or of land; the owner of land or houses which he leases to a tenant or tenants.

Landlordism

The state of being a landlord; the characteristics of a landlord; specifically, in Great Britain, the relation of landlords to tenants, especially as regards leased agricultural lands.

Landlubber

One who passes his life on land; -- so called among seamen in contempt or ridicule.

Landman

A man who lives or serves on land; -- opposed to seaman.

Landmark

A mark to designate the boundary of land; any mark or fixed object (as a marked tree, a stone, a ditch, or a heap of stones) by which the limits of a farm, a town, or other portion of territory may be known and preserved.

landmass

a large continuous extent of land; as, the Eurasian landmass.

Landowning

The owning of land. Having property in land; of or pertaining to landowners.

Landreeve

A subordinate officer on an extensive estate, who acts as an assistant to the steward.

Landscape

A portion of land or territory which the eye can comprehend in a single view, including all the objects it contains.

Landsman

One who lives on the land; -- opposed to seaman.

Landsturm

A general levy in time of war. The forces called out on such levy, composed of all men liable to service who are not in the army, navy, or Landwehr; the last line of defense, supposed to be called out only in case of invasion or other grave emergency. See Army organization, above.

Landtag

The diet or legislative body; as, the Landtag of Prussia. See Legislature, below.

Landtrost Landdrost

A chief magistrate in rural districts. He was replaced in 1827 by /resident magistrates./ The president of the Heemraad.

Landwehr

That part of the army, in Germany and Austria, which has completed the usual military service and is exempt from duty in time of peace, except that it is called out occasionally for drill.

Lane

A passageway between fences or hedges which is not traveled as a highroad; an alley between buildings; a narrow way among trees, rocks, and other natural obstructions; hence, in a general sense, a narrow passageway; as, a lane between lines of men, or through a field of ice.

Loading more words…