Thomas Davidson

“ Lace, lās, n. a plaited string for fastening: an ornamental fabric of linen, cotton, silk, or gold and silver threads, made by looping, knotting, plaiting, or twisting the thread into definite patterns, of contrasted open and close structure; three distinct varieties are made, two by handiwork, known respectively as Needle or Point lace and Pillow or Bobbin Lace, and one by machinery.—v.t. to fasten with a lace: to adorn with lace: to streak: to mark with the lash: to intermix, as coffee with brandy, &c.: to intertwine.—v.i. to be fastened with a lace.—ns. ”

“ Lanolin, lan′ō-lin, n. an unctuous substance, a mixture of the ethers of cholesterin with fatty acids, used as a basis for ointments, extracted from wool. [L. lana, wool, oleum, oil.]
Lansquenet, lans′ke-net, n. a 16th-17th cent. mercenary pikeman: a game at cards. [Fr.,—Ger. landsknecht—land, country, knecht, a soldier.] ”

“ Law′suit, a suit or process in law; Law′-writ′er, a writer on law: a copier or engrosser of legal papers; Law′yer, a practitioner in the law: (N.T.) an interpreter of the Mosaic Law: the stem of a brier.—Law Latin, Latin as used in law and legal documents, being a mixture of Latin with Old French and Latinised English words; Law of nations, now international law, originally applied to those ethical principles regarded as obligatory on all communities; Law of nature (see Nature) ; Law of the land, the established law of a country ”

“ Land, land, n. earth, the solid portion of the surface of the globe: a country: a district: soil: real estate: a nation or people: (Scot.) a group of dwellings or tenements under one roof and having a common entry.—v.t. to set on land or on shore.—v.i. to come on land or on shore.—ns. Land′-ā′gent, a person employed by the owner of an estate to let farms, collect rents, &c.; Land′-breeze, a breeze setting from the land towards the sea; Land′-crab, a family of crabs which live much or chiefly on land.—v.t. Land′damn (Shak.) , to banish from the land.—adj. ”

“ Lattice, lat′is, n. a network of crossed laths or bars, called also Latt′ice-work: anything of lattice-work, as a window: (her.) a bearing of vertical and horizontal bars crossing each other.—v.t. to form into open work: to furnish with a lattice.—ns. Latt′ice-bridge, a bridge with its sides consisting of cross-framing like lattice-work; Latt′ice-gird′er, a girder of which the web consists of diagonal pieces arranged like lattice-work ”

“ Land′-shark, a land-grabber: one who plunders sailors on shore; Land′skip (same as Landscape) ; Land′slide, Land′slip, a portion of land that falls down, generally from the side of a hill, usually due to the undermining effect of water; Lands′man, Land′man, one who lives or serves on land: one inexperienced in seafaring; Land′-spring, water lying near the surface, easily drawn upon by shallow wells; Land′-stew′ard, a person who manages a landed estate; Land′-survey′ing (see Surveying) ; Land′-tax, a tax upon land; Land′-turn, a land-breeze ”

“ Land′force, a military force serving on land, as distinguished from a naval force; Land′-grab′ber, one who acquires land by harsh and grasping means: one who is eager to occupy land from which others have been evicted; Land′-grab′bing, the act of the land-grabber; Land′-herd, a herd of animals which feed on land; Land′-hold′er, a holder or proprietor of land; Land′-hung′er, greed for the acquisition of land ”

“ Honiton lace, a lace made at Honiton in Devonshire, remarkable for the beauty of its figures and sprigs; Imitation lace, any lace made by machinery; Mechlin lace, a lace with bobbin ground and designs outlined by thread or flat cord; Spanish lace, needle-point lace brought from Spanish convents since their dissolution—but probably of Flemish origin: cut and drawn work made in convents in Spain, of patterns usually confined to simple sprigs and flowers: a modern black-silk lace with large flower-patterns, mostly of Flemish make: a modern needle-point lace with large square designs ”

“ Labour of love, work undertaken merely as an act of friendliness, and without hope of emolument; Labour with, to take pains to convince.—Hard labour, compulsory work imposed on certain criminals in addition to imprisonment. ”

“ Lādy's-man′tle, a genus of herbaceous plants having small, yellowish-green flowers; Lā′dy's-slipp′er, a genus of orchidaceous plants, remarkable for the large inflated lip of the corolla; Lā′dy's-smock, the Bitter Cress, a meadow-plant, with whitish, blush-coloured flowers.—Ladies' companion, a small bag used for carrying women's work; Ladies' man, one fond of women's society.—My ladyship, Your ladyship, a form of expression used in speaking to, or of, one who has the rank of a lady. ”

“ Latin′ity, the Latin tongue, style, or idiom.—Latin Church, the Western Church as distinguished from the Greek or Oriental Church, so named as having employed Latin as its official language: the Roman Catholic Church; Latin Empire, that portion of the Byzantine Empire seized in 1204 by the Crusaders, and overthrown by the Greeks in 1261; Latin kingdom, the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem ruled by French or Latin kings, and lasting from 1099 to 1187.—Classical Latin, the Latin of the writers who flourished from about 75 B.C. to 200 A.D.; Dog Latin, barbarous Latin ”

“ Lace′-frame, a machine used in lace-making; Lace′-leaf (see Lattice-leaf) ; Lace′-man, one who deals in lace; Lace′-mend′er, one who repairs lace; Lace′-pā′per, paper stamped or cut by hand with an open-work pattern like lace; Lace′-pill′ow, a cushion on which many various kinds of lace are made, held on the knees.—adj. Lā′cy, like lace.—Alençon lace, a very fine point-lace, the most important made in France; Appliqué lace, lace having sprigs or flowers sewed on net; Balloon-net lace, a form of woven lace in which the freeing threads are peculiarly twisted about the warps ”

“ Forest law, the code of law which was drawn up to preserve the forests, &c., forming the special property of the English kings; Gresham's law (polit. econ.) , the law that of two forms of currency the inferior or more depreciated tends to drive the other from circulation, owing to the hoarding and exportation of the better form; Grimm's law (philol.) , the law formulating certain changes or differences which the mute consonants exhibit in corresponding words in the Teutonic branches of the Aryan family of languages—stated by Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) ; International law (see International) ”

“ Positive law, law owing its force to human sanction as opposed to divine law; Private law (see Private) ; Roman law, the system of law developed by the ancient Romans, and often termed the civil law (q.v.) ; Salic law (see Salian) ; Statute law (see Statute) ; Sumptuary law (see Sumptuary) ; Verner's law (philol.) , a law stated by Karl Verner in 1875, showing the effect of the position of accent in the shifting of the original Aryan mute consonants, and s, into Low German, and explaining the most important anomalies in the application of Grimm's law ”

“ Laundress, lawn′dres, n. a woman who washes and irons clothes.—n. Laun′der, a washerwoman or washerman: a trough for conveying water.—v.t. to wash and iron, as clothes: (Shak.) to wet, wash.—ns. Laun′dry, a place where clothes are washed and dressed; Laun′dry-man, -maid, a male, female, worker in a laundry. [M. E. lavander—O. Fr. lavandier—L., gerundive of lavāre to wash.]
Laura, law′ra, n. an early kind of monastic community, its cells separate structures, the inmates living in solitude, meeting only for common services in the chapel—found only in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. ”

“ Last heir (Eng. law) , he to whom lands come by escheat for want of lawful heirs.—At last, in conclusion (this from A.S. on lást, therefore not from late at all, but from last (1) , which is the A.S. lást, a trace) ; Breathe one's last, to die; Die in the last ditch, to fight to the bitter end; First and last, altogether; On one's last legs, on the verge of utter failure or exhaustion; Put the last hand to, to finish, put the finishing touch to ”

“ Lā′bourer, one who labours: one who does work requiring little skill; Lā′bourist, one who contends for the interests of workmen.—adjs. Lā′bour-sav′ing, intended to supersede or lessen the labour of men ”

“ Lachrymal, Lacrymal, lak′ri-mal, adj. of or pertaining to tears, secreting tears, as in 'lachrymal duct,' the nasal duct, conveying tears from the eye to the nose.—n. one of the bones of the face, the os unguis, or nail-bone, in man.—adj. ”

“ Latt′ice-leaf, an aquatic plant, native to Madagascar, so called from the singular resemblance of the leaves to open lattice-work—otherwise Lattice-plant, Lace-leaf, Water-yam, or Ouvirandrano.—Red lattice (Shak.) , a frame of lattice-work painted red, formerly used to fill the windows of an ale-house. [Fr. lattis—latte, a lath.]
Laud, lawd, v.t. to praise in words or with singing: to celebrate.—n. commendation: praise in divine worship: (pl.) ”

“ Laity, lā-′i-ti, n. the people as distinct from the clergy. [See Lay, adj.]
Lake, lāk, n. a pigment or colour formed by precipitating animal or vegetable colouring matters from their solutions, chiefly with alumina or oxide of tin. [Fr. laque. See Lac (2) .]
Lake, lāk, n. a large body of water within land.—ns. Lake′-bā′sin, the whole area drained by a lake; Lake′-law′yer (U.S.) , the bowfin: burbot ”

“ Langaha, lan-gä′hä, n. a Madagascar wood-snake, with a flexible scaly extension on the snout.
Langet, lang′get, n. a strong lace used in women's dress in Holland.
Langshan, lang′shan, n. a small black Chinese hen.
Langspiel, lang′spēl, n. a Shetland form of harp.
Language, lang′gwāj, n. that which is spoken by the tongue: human speech: speech peculiar to a nation: style or expression peculiar to an individual: diction: any manner of expressing thought.—v.t. to express in language.—adjs. Lang′uaged, skilled in language ”

“ Lampoon′er, one who writes a lampoon; Lampoon′ry, practice of lampooning: written personal abuse or satire. [O. Fr. lampon, orig. a drinking-song, with the refrain lampons=let us drink—lamper (or lapper, to lap) , to drink.]
Lamprey, lam′pre, n. a genus of cartilaginous fishes resembling the eel, so called from their attaching themselves to rocks or stones by their mouths. [O. Fr. lamproie—Low L. lampreda, lampetra—L. lambĕre, to lick, petra, rock.]
Lana, lä′na, n. the tough, close-grained wood of a Guiana tree. ”

“ Lar′cenously.—Grand larceny, in England, larceny of property of the value of one shilling or more; Petty larceny, larceny of property less in value than one shilling; Simple larceny, as opposed to Compound larceny, is larceny uncombined with aggravating circumstances. [O. Fr. larrecin (Fr. larcin) —L. latrocinium—latro, a robber.]
Larch, lärch, n. a genus (Larix) of coniferous trees, distinct from firs (Abies) , with perfectly erect and regularly tapering stem, small branches, numerous small leaves deciduous and clustered, growing rapidly, and yielding good timber. ”

“ Lav′ender-wa′ter, a perfume composed of spirits of wine, essential oil of lavender, and ambergris.—Lay in lavender, to lay by carefully, as clothes, with sprigs of lavender in them; Oil of lavender, an aromatic oil distilled from lavender flowers and stems, used as a stimulant and tonic. ”

“ Larus, lā′rus, n. a genus of Laridæ, the gulls proper.
Larva, lär′va, n. an insect in its first stage after issuing from the egg—i.e. in the caterpillar state: a ghost, spectre:—pl. Larvæ (lär′vē) .—adjs. Lar′val; Lar′vate, -d, clothed as with a mask; Lar′viform; Larvip′arous, producing young in a larva-form. [L. larva, a spectre, a mask.]
Larynx, lār′ingks, n. the upper part of the windpipe: the throat:—pl. Lar′ynges, Lar′ynxes (rare) .—adjs. Laryn′geal, Laryn′gean.—n. Laryngis′mus, spasm of the glottis.—adj. Laryngit′ic.—n. Laryngī′tis, inflammation of the larynx.—adj. Laryngolog′ical.—ns. ”

“ Torchon lace, peasants' bobbin laces of loose texture and geometrical designs, much imitated by machinery; Valenciennes lace, a fine bobbin lace having the design made with the ground and of the same thread. [O. Fr. las, a noose—L. laqueus, a noose.]
Lacerate, las′ėr-āt, v.t. to tear: to rend: to wound: to afflict.—adjs. Lac′erable, that may be lacerated; Lac′erant, harrowing; Lac′erate, -d, rent, torn: (bot.) having the edges cut into irregular segments.—n. Lacerā′tion, act of lacerating: the rent made by tearing.—adj. Lac′erative, tearing: having power to tear. ”

“ Brussels lace, an extremely fine lace with sprigs applied on a net ground; Duchesse lace, a Belgian pillow-lace having beautiful designs with cord outlines, often in relief; Guipure lace, any lace without a net ground, the pattern being held together by bars or brides ”