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Lean-to

A shed or slight building placed against the wall of a larger structure and having a single-pitched roof; -- called also penthouse, and to-fall.

Leaning

The act, or state, of inclining; inclination; tendency; as, a leaning towards Calvinism.

Leanly

Meagerly; without fat or plumpness.

Leanness

The condition or quality of being lean.

Leap

The act of leaping, or the space passed by leaping; a jump; a spring; a bound.

Leap year

Bissextile; a year containing 366 days; every fourth year which leaps over a day more than a common year, giving to February twenty-nine days. See Bissextile.

Leaper

A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage.

Leapfrog

A play among boys, in which one stoops down and another leaps over him by placing his hands on the shoulders of the former.

Lear

An annealing oven. See Leer, n.

Learn

To acquire knowledge or skill; to make progress in acquiring knowledge or skill; to receive information or instruction; as, this child learns quickly.

Learned

Of or pertaining to learning; possessing, or characterized by, learning, esp. scholastic learning; erudite; well-informed; as, a learned scholar, writer, or lawyer; a learned book; a learned theory.

Learning

The acquisition of knowledge or skill; as, the learning of languages; the learning of telegraphy.

Lease

The temporary transfer of a possession to another person in return for a fee or other valuable consideration paid for the transfer; A demise or letting of lands, tenements, or hereditaments to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, or for any less interest than that which the lessor has in the property, usually for a specified rent or compensation.

Leasehold

A tenure by lease; specifically, land held as personalty under a lease for years.

Leash

To tie together, or hold, with a leash.

Leasing

The act of lying; falsehood; a lie or lies.

Leasy

Flimsy; vague; deceptive.

Leat

An artificial water trench, esp. one to or from a mill.

Leather

To beat, as with a thong of leather.

leather

Of, pertaining to or made of leather; consisting of leather; as, a black leather jacket.

Leatherback

A large sea turtle (Sphargis coriacea), having no bony shell on its back. It is common in the warm and temperate parts of the Atlantic, and sometimes weighs over a thousand pounds; -- called also leather turtle, leathery turtle, leather-backed tortoise, etc.

leatherfish

any of several brightly colored tropical filefishes.

leatherjack

any of several New World tropical fishes having tiny embedded scales; the leatherjacket{2}.

leatherjacket

any of several brightly colored tropical filefishes.

leatherleaf

A stiff leathery-leaved fern (Polypodium scouleri) of Western North America having ovate fronds parted to the midrib.

leatherlike

resembling or made to resemble leather; tough but pliable; leathery.

Leathern

Made of leather; consisting of leather; as, a leathern purse.

leatherneck

The sordid friar bird of Australia (Tropidorhynchus sordidus).

Leatherwood

A small branching shrub (Dirca palustris), with a white, soft wood, and a tough, leathery bark, common in damp woods in the Northern United States; -- called also moosewood, and wicopy.

Leathery

Resembling leather in appearance or consistency; tough; as, nothing but a leathery steak left to eat.

Leave

To depart; to set out.

Leave-taking

Taking of leave; the act of departing politely; the giving of parting compliments.

Leaved

Bearing, or having, a leaf or leaves; having folds; -- used in combination; as, a four-leaved clover; a two-leaved gate; long-leaved.

Leaven

To make light by the action of leaven; to cause to ferment.

leavened

made light by aerating, as with yeast or baking powder. Opposite of unleavened.

Leavening

The act of making light, or causing to ferment, by means of leaven.

Leaver

One who leaves, or withdraws.

Lebban Leban

Coagulated sour milk diluted with water; -- a common beverage among the Arabs. Also, a fermented liquor made of the same.

Lecanomancy

Divination practiced with water in a basin, by throwing three stones into it, and invoking the demon whose aid was sought.

Lecanoric

Pertaining to, or designating, an organic acid which is obtained from several varieties of lichen (Lecanora, Roccella, etc.), as a white, crystalline substance, and is called also orsellic acid, diorsellinic acid, lecanorin, etc.

Lechanorales

A category used in some classification systems for all lichens that produce apothecia.

lechatelierite

A naturally occurring colorless glass made of almost pure silica, and found in fulgurites, which are produced by lightning striking sand.

Leche

See water buck, under 3d Buck.

Lecherous

Like a lecher; addicted to lewdness; excessively lustful; -- used mostly of men; lust-provoking.

lecherousness

an inclination to excessive indulgence in sexual activity; habitually developing a strong sexual arousal.

Lechery

Free indulgence of lust; excessive indulgence in sexual relations; -- used mostly of men.

Lecithin

A complex, nitrogenous phosphorized substance widely distributed through the animal body, and especially conspicuous in the brain and nerve tissue, in yolk of eggs, and in the white blood corpuscles.

Lectern

A choir desk, or reading desk, in some churches, from which the lections, or Scripture lessons, are chanted or read.

Lectica

A kind of litter or portable couch.

Lection

A lesson or selection, especially of Scripture, read in divine service.

Lectionary

A book, or a list, of lections, for reading in divine service.

Lector

A reader of lections; formerly, a person designated to read lessons to the illiterate.

Lectual

Confining to the bed; as, a lectual disease.

Lecture

To deliver a lecture or lectures.

Lecturer

One who lectures; an assistant preacher.

Lecythis

A genus of gigantic trees, chiefly Brazilian, of the order Myrtace/, having woody capsules opening by an apical lid. Lecythis Zabucajo yields the delicious sapucaia nuts. Lecythis Ollaria produces the monkey-pots, its capsules. Its bark separates into thin sheets, like paper, used by the natives for cigarette wrappers.

Ledge

A shelf on which articles may be laid; also, that which resembles such a shelf in form or use, as a projecting ridge or part, or a molding or edge in joinery.

Ledger

A book in which a summary of accounts is laid up or preserved; the final book of record in business transactions, in which all debits and credits from the journal, etc., are placed under appropriate heads.

Ledgment

A string-course or horizontal suit of moldings, such as the base moldings of a building. The development of the surface of a body on a plane, so that the dimensions of the different sides may be easily ascertained.

Ledgy

Abounding in ledges; consisting of a ledge or reef; as, a ledgy island.

Ledum

A genus of evergreen shrubs of the north temperate regions.

Lee

Of or pertaining to the part or side opposite to that against which the wind blows; -- opposed to weather; as, the lee side or lee rail of a vessel.

Leeboard

A board, or frame of planks, lowered over the side of a vessel to lessen her leeway when closehauled, by giving her greater draught.

Leech

To treat as a surgeon; to doctor; as, to leech wounds.

Leechcraft

The art of healing; skill of a physician.

Leek

A plant of the genus Allium (Allium Porrum), having broadly linear succulent leaves rising from a loose oblong cylindrical bulb. The flavor is stronger than that of the common onion.

Leer

To entice with a leer, or leers; as, to leer a man to ruin.

Leere

Tape or braid; an ornament.

Leet

The European pollock.

Leetman

One subject to the jurisdiction of a court-leet.

Leeward

Pertaining to, or in the direction of, the part or side toward which the wind blows; -- opposed to windward; as, a leeward berth; a leeward ship. The lee side; the lee. Toward the lee.

Leeway

The lateral movement of a ship to the leeward of her course; drift.

Left

That part of surrounding space toward which the left side of one's body is turned; as, the house is on the left when you face North.

left brain

The left cerebral hemisphere of the brain; in humans, it controls motor activity on the right side of the body, and in most people is the primary location for control of language, logic, and mathematical thought.

left wing

Those trying to reform the established order, particularly in political matters, to enhance the condition of the common people; -- sometimes applied to those advocating overthrow of an existing government by radical means.

left-brain

Of or pertaining to the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain.

left-brained

Exhibiting intellectual or personality characteristics suggesting dominance of linguistic or logical modes of thought, which are usually controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere; as, left-brained pedants unable to appreciate music; also referred to as linear. See linear{3}. Contrasted with right-brained.

Left-hand

Situated on the left; nearer the left hand than the right; as, the left-hand side; the left-hand road.

Left-handed

Having the left hand or arm stronger and more dexterous than the right; using the left hand and arm with more dexterity than the right.

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