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Laughter

A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i.

Laumontite

A mineral, of a white color and vitreous luster. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Exposed to the air, it loses water, becomes opaque, and crumbles.

launcher

a device capable of launching a rocket.

launching

the act of moving a newly-built vessel into the water for the first time.

launchpad

a platform from which rockets or space craft are launched.

Laund

A plain sprinkled with trees or underbrush; a glade.

Launder

To wash, as clothes; to wash, and to smooth with a flatiron or mangle; to wash and iron; as, to launder shirts.

Launderer

One who follows the business of laundering.

Laundering

The act, or occupation, of one who launders; washing and ironing.

Laundryman

A man who follows the business of laundering.

Laura

A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior.

Lauraceous

Belonging to, or resembling, a natural order (Laurace/) of trees and shrubs having aromatic bark and foliage, and including the laurel, sassafras, cinnamon tree, true camphor tree, etc.

Laureate

To honor with a wreath of laurel, as formerly was done in bestowing a degree at the English universities.

Laureation

The act of crowning with laurel; the act of conferring an academic degree, or honorary title.

Laurel

An evergreen shrub, of the genus Laurus (Laurus nobilis), having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils; -- called also sweet bay.

laurel-tree

A small tree (Persea borbonia) of the Southern U. S. having dark red heartwood.

Laureled

Crowned with laurel, or with a laurel wreath; laureate.

laurels

An honor or honors conferred for some notable achievement.

Laurentian

Pertaining to, or near, the St. Lawrence River; as, the Laurentian hills.

Laurestine

The Viburnum Tinus, an evergreen shrub or tree of the south of Europe, which flowers during the winter months.

Lauric

Pertaining to, or derived from, the European bay or laurel (Laurus nobilis).

Laurin

A white crystalline substance extracted from the fruit of the bay (Laurus nobilis), and consisting of a complex mixture of glycerin ethers of several organic acids.

Laurinol

Ordinary camphor; -- so called in allusion to the family name (Laurace/) of the camphor trees. See Camphor.

Laurite

A rare sulphide of osmium and ruthenium found with platinum in Borneo and Oregon.

Laurus

A genus of trees including, according to modern authors, only the true laurel (Laurus nobilis), and the larger Laurus Canariensis of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Formerly the sassafras, the camphor tree, the cinnamon tree, and several other aromatic trees and shrubs, were also referred to the genus Laurus.

Lautverschiebung

The regular changes which the primitive Indo-European stops, or mute consonants, underwent in the Teutonic languages, probably as early as the 3d century b. c. , often called the first Lautverschiebung, sound shifting, or consonant shifting. A somewhat similar set of changes taking place in the High German dialects (less fully in modern literary German) from the 6th to the 8th century, known as the second Lautverschiebung, the results of which form the striking differences between High German and The Low German Languages. The statement of these changes is commonly regarded as forming part of Grimm's law, because included in it as originally framed.

lav

Same as lavatory{5}; -- a shortened form of the word.

Lava

The melted rock ejected by a volcano from its top or fissured sides. It flows out in streams sometimes miles in length. It also issues from fissures in the earth's surface, and forms beds covering many square miles, as in the Northwestern United States.

lavalava

A printed cloth garment resembling a skirt or kilt, worn as the principle garment by both men and women in Polynesia, especialy in Samoa; called also pareu.

Lavandula

A genus of plants of the mint family including the lavender{1}.

Lavaret

A European whitefish (Coregonus laveretus), found in the mountain lakes of Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland.

Lavatera

A widespread genus of herbs or soft-wooded arborescent shrubs cultivated for their showy flowers.

Lavatic

Like lava, or composed of lava; lavic.

Lave

The remainder; others.

Laveer

To beat against the wind; to tack.

Lavement

A washing or bathing; also, an enema.

Lavender

An aromatic plant of the genus Lavandula (Lavandula vera), common in the south of Europe. It yields and oil used in medicine and perfumery. The Spike lavender (Lavandula Spica) yields a coarser oil (oil of spike), used in the arts.

Laver

The fronds of certain marine alg/ used as food, and for making a sauce called laver sauce. Green laver is the Ulva latissima; purple laver, Porphyra laciniata and Porphyra vulgaris. It is prepared by stewing, either alone or with other vegetables, and with various condiments; -- called also sloke, or sloakan.

Lavish

To expend or bestow with profusion; to use with prodigality; to squander; as, to lavish money or praise.

Lavoesium

A supposed new metallic element, which was said to have been discovered in pyrites, and some other minerals, and to be of a silver-white color, and malleable. It is not currently (1998) a recognized element.

Lavolta Lavolt

An old dance, for two persons, being a kind of waltz, in which the woman made a high spring or bound.

Law

An exclamation of mild surprise.

Law-abiding

Abiding the law; waiting for the operation of law for the enforcement of rights; also, abiding by the law; obedient to the law; as, law-abiding people.

law-breaking

an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act.

law-makers

Those persons who make or amend or repeal laws, collectively.

Lawe

To cut off the claws and balls of, as of a dog's fore feet.

Lawful

Conformable to law; allowed by law; legitimate; competent.

lawfully-begotten

born in wedlock; legitimate; enjoying full filial rights; not illegitimate; -- of people.

Lawgiver

One who makes or enacts a law or system of laws; a legislator.

Lawless

Contrary to, or unauthorized by, law; illegal; as, a lawless claim.

Lawmaking

Enacting laws; legislative. The enacting of laws; legislation.

Lawmonger

A trader in law; one who practices law as if it were a trade.

Lawn

A very fine linen (or sometimes cotton) fabric with a rather open texture. Lawn is used for the sleeves of a bishop's official dress in the English Church, and, figuratively, stands for the office itself.

Lawny

Made of lawn or fine linen.

lawrencium

A transuranic element of atomic number 103. It was discovered in 1961 by bombardment of californium in a cyclotron with boron nuclei. Other isotopes were prepared in 1965 at Dubna. The atomic weight of the most stable isotope is 256, having a half-life of 35 seconds. Symbol Lr.

Laws

the first five books of the Old Testament, also called The Law and Torah.

Lawsonia

An Asiatic and North African shrub (Lawsonia inermis), with smooth oval leaves, and fragrant white flowers. Henna is prepared from the leaves and twigs. In England the shrub is called Egyptian privet, and in the West Indies, Jamaica mignonette.

Lawsuit

An action at law; a suit in equity or admiralty; any legal proceeding before a court for the enforcement of a claim.

Lawyer

One versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to conduct lawsuits for clients, or to advise as to prosecution or defence of lawsuits, or as to legal rights and obligations in other matters. It is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, sergeants, and advocates.

lawyerbush

A stout-stemmed trailing shrub (Rubus cissoides) of New Zealand that scrambles over other growth.

Lax

A looseness; diarrhea.

Laxation

The act of loosening or slackening, or the state of being loosened or slackened.

Laxative

Having a tendency to loosen or relax.

Laxator

That which loosens; -- esp., a muscle which by its contraction loosens some part.

Laxity

The state or quality of being lax; lack of tenseness, strictness, or exactness.

Laxness

The state of being lax; laxity.

Lay

That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.

layby

A paved area beside a main road where cars can stop temporarily.

Layer

One who, or that which, lays.

Layette

The outfit of clothing, blankets, etc., prepared for a newborn infant, and placed ready for use.

Layia

A genus of Western U. S. annuals with showy yellow or white flowers.

Layland

Land lying untilled; fallow ground.

Layman

One of the people, in distinction from the clergy; one of the laity; sometimes, a man not belonging to some particular profession, in distinction from those who do.

layperson

someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person; a layman.

Layshaft Lay shaft

A secondary shaft, as in a sliding change gear for an automobile; a cam shaft operated by a two-to-one gear in an internal-combustion engine. It is generally a shaft moving more or less independently of the other parts of a machine, as, in some marine engines, a shaft, driven by a small auxiliary engine, for independently operating the valves of the main engine to insure uniform motion.

Layship

The condition of being a layman.

Laystall

A place where rubbish, dung, etc., are laid or deposited.

Lazar

A person infected with a filthy or pestilential disease; a leper.

Lazaretto Lazaret

A public building, hospital, or pesthouse for the reception of diseased persons, particularly those affected with contagious diseases.

Lazarite Lazarist

One of the Congregation of the Priests of the Mission, a religious institute founded by Vincent de Paul in 1624, and popularly called Lazarists or Lazarites from the College of St. Lazare in Paris, which was occupied by them until 1792.

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