ศวา, ศวาน

n. (Bot.) A shrub in the West Indies (Lagetta Iintearia); -- so called from the lacelike layers of its inner bark. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. lak; cf. D. lak slander, laken to blame, OHG. lahan, AS. leán. ] 1. Blame; cause of blame; fault; crime; offense. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Deficiency; want; need; destitution; failure; as, a lack of sufficient food. [ 1913 Webster ]

She swooneth now and now for lakke of blood. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let his lack of years be no impediment. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Lacked p. pr. & vb. n. Lacking. ] 1. To blame; to find fault with. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Love them and lakke them not. Piers Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be without or destitute of; to want; to need. [ 1913 Webster ]

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. James i. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be wanting; often, impersonally, with of, meaning, to be less than, short, not quite, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

What hour now?
I think it lacks of twelve. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty. Gen. xvii. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be in want. [ 1913 Webster ]

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger. Ps. xxxiv. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. [ Cf. Alack. ] Exclamation of regret or surprise. [ Prov. Eng. ] Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ornamentation by means of lacquer painted or carved, or simply colored, sprinkled with gold or the like; -- said especially of Oriental work of this kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a chair with a ladder-back{ 2 }.
Syn. -- ladder-back chair. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a chair backrest consisting of 2 uprights with several connecting slats. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Same as hook-and-ladder company, hook-and-ladder truck. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) See Ladybird. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Cardamine (Cardamine pratensis); cuckoo flower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Lamp + black. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To inclose, or nearly inclose, as a harbor or a vessel, with land. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. landmearc. See Land, and Mark a sign. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any conspicuous object on land that serves as a guide; some prominent object, as a hill or steeple. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A structure that has special significance, such as a building with historical associations; especially, a building that is protected from destruction or alteration by special laws intended to preserve structures of historical significance; as, a landmark preservation law. [ PJC ]

4. An event or accomplishment of great significance; as, Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark of the civil rights movement. Also used attributively, as a landmark court decision. [ PJC ]

Landmarks of history, important events by which eras or conditions are determined. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A wolf (Canis pallipes), found in India, allied to the jackal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Lanker superl. Lankest. ] [ AS. hlanc; cf. G. lenken to turn, gelenk joint, OHG. hlanca hip, side, flank, and E. link of a chain. ] 1. Slender and thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean. [ 1913 Webster ]

Meager and lank with fasting grown. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who would not choose . . . to have rather a lank purse than an empty brain? Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Languid; drooping. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lank hair, long, thin hair. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. & t. To become lank; to make lank. [ Obs. ] Shak. G. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Made with boards whose edges lap one over another; clinker-built; -- said of boats. Contrasted with carvel-built.
Syn. -- lap-jointed, overlapping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Work in which one part laps over another. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh fr. AS. lāc play, sport. Cf. Lake, v. i. ] A frolic; a jolly time. [ Colloq. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Larked p. pr. & vb. n. Larking. ] To sport; to frolic. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. larke, laverock, AS. lāwerce; akin to D. leeuwerik, LG. lewerke, OHG. lērahha, G. lerche, Sw. lärka, Dan. lerke, Icel. lævirki. ] (Zool.) Any one numerous species of singing birds of the genus Alauda and allied genera (family Alaudidæ). They mostly belong to Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. In America they are represented by the shore larks, or horned larks, of the genus Otocoris. The true larks have holaspidean tarsi, very long hind claws, and, usually, dull, sandy brown colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The European skylark, or lark of the poets (Alauda arvensis), is of a brown mottled color, and is noted for its clear and sweet song, uttered as it rises and descends almost perpendicularly in the air. It is considered a table delicacy, and immense numbers are killed for the markets. Other well-known European species are the crested, or tufted, lark (Alauda cristata), and the wood lark (Alauda arborea). The pipits, or titlarks, of the genus Anthus (family Motacillidæ) are often called larks. See Pipit. The American meadow larks, of the genus Sturnella, are allied to the starlings. See Meadow Lark. The Australian bush lark is Mirafra Horsfieldii. See Shore lark. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lark bunting (Zool.), a fringilline bird (Calamospiza melanocorys) found on the plains of the Western United States. --
Lark sparrow (Zool.), a sparrow (Chondestes grammacus), found in the Mississippi Valley and the Western United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To catch larks; as, to go larking. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A digital data storage medium consisting of a thin disk onto which the data is impressed by a laser, in the form of a linear sequence of dots; same as optical disk. The data is subsequently read back by the use of a laser beam. See also compact disk. The original disk may be created by use of a laser, but copies of the original disk may be created by a replicating process which does not itself require a laser. [ PJC ]

n. A diarrhea or flux. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Lathing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Lattice, n., 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An object of ridicule; a butt of sport. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughingstock of his hearers. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Lark the bird. ] The lark. [ Old Eng. & Scot. ] [ Written also lavrock. ] Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Laverock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A support for the back, attached to the seat of a carriage. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The stalk or petiole which supports a leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Akin to D. lek leaky, a leak, G. leck, Icel. lekr leaky, Dan. læk leaky, a leak, Sw. läck; cf. AS. hlec full of cracks or leaky. Cf. Leak, v. ] 1. A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape; as, a leak in a roof; a leak in a boat; a leak in a gas pipe. “One leak will sink a ship.” Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture; as, the leak gained on the ship's pumps. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Elec.) A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation; also, the point at which such loss occurs. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. an act of urinating; -- used mostly in the phrase
take a leak, i. e. to urinate. [ vulgar ] [ PJC ]

5. The disclosure of information that is expected to be kept confidential; as, leaks by the White House staff infuriated Nixon; leaks by the Special Prosecutor were criticized as illegal. [ PJC ]

To spring a leak, to open or crack so as to let in water; to begin to let in water; as, the ship sprung a leak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Leaky. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Leaked p. pr. & vb. n. Leaking. ] [ Akin to D. lekken, G. lecken, lechen, Icel. leka, Dan. lække, Sw. läcka, AS. leccan to wet, moisten. See Leak, n. ] 1. To let water or other fluid in or out through a hole, crevice, etc.; as, the cask leaks; the roof leaks; the boat leaks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To enter or escape, as a fluid, through a hole, crevice, etc.; to pass gradually into, or out of, something; -- usually with in or out. [ 1913 Webster ]

To leak out, to be divulged gradually or clandestinely; to become public; as, the facts leaked out. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of several New World tropical fishes having tiny embedded scales; the leatherjacket{ 2 }.
Syn. -- leatherjacket. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. (Zool.) The sordid friar bird of Australia (Tropidorhynchus sordidus). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ from the leather collar that was once part of their uniform. ] A member of the United States Marine Corps; a United States Marine. [ slang ] [ PJC ]

n. Articles made of leather. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. leác; akin to D. look, G. lauch, OHG. louh, Icel. laukr, Sw. lök, Dan lög. Cf. Garlic. ] (Bot.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wild leek , in America, a plant (Allium tricoccum) with a cluster of ovoid bulbs and large oblong elliptical leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ L. lentiscus, lentiscum: cf. F. lentisque. ] (Bot.) A tree; the mastic. See Mastic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Lark. ] A lark. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Licked p. pr. & vb. n. Licking. ] [ AS. liccian; akin to OS. likkōn, D. likken, OHG. lecchōn, G. lecken, Goth. bi-laigōn, Russ. lizate, L. lingere, Gr. lei`chein , Skr. lih, rih. √121. Cf. Lecher, Relish. ] 1. To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his master's hand. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. “His enemies shall lick the dust.” Ps. lxxii. 9. --
To lick into shape, to give proper form to; -- from a notion that the bear's cubs are born shapeless and subsequently formed by licking. Hudibras. --
To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon. South. --
To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to consume entirely. Shak. Num. xxii. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Lick, v. ] 1. A stroke of the tongue in licking. “A lick at the honey pot.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue, or of something which acts like a tongue; as, to put on colors with a lick of the brush. Also, a small quantity of any substance so applied. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A lick of court whitewash. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A place where salt is found on the surface of the earth, to which wild animals resort to lick it up; -- often, but not always, near salt springs. Called also salt lick. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. OSw. lägga to place, strike, prick. ] To strike with repeated blows for punishment; to flog; to whip or conquer, as in a pugilistic encounter. [ Colloq. or Low ] Carlyle. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A slap; a quick stroke. [ Colloq. ] “A lick across the face.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Photog.) Damaged by accidental exposure to light; light-fogged; -- said of plates or films. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Said to be from a song with the same verse construction, current in Ireland, the refrain of which contains the place name Limerick. ] A humorous, often nonsensical, and sometimes risqé poem of five anapestic lines, of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of three feet, and rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet, and rhyme. It often begins with "There once was a . . ." or "There was a . . ."; as -- There was a young lady, Amanda,
Whose Ballades Lyriques were quite fin de
Siècle, I deem
But her Journal Intime
Was what sent her papa to Uganda.
[ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. [ Prob. corrupted from lint and this for lunt a torch, match, D. lont match; akin to G. lunte, cf. MHG. lünden to burn. Cf. Lunt, Linstock. ] A torch made of tow and pitch, or the like. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]