Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter L - Page 25

Lesson (n.) (Mus.) An exercise; a composition serving an educational purpose; a study.

Lessoned (imp. & p. p.) of Lesson.

Lessoning (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lesson.

Lesson (v. t.) To teach; to instruct. -- Shak.

To rest the weary, and to soothe the sad, Doth lesson happier men, and shame at least the bad. -- Byron.

Lesson (n.) A unit of instruction; "he took driving lessons."

Lesson (n.) Punishment intended as a warning to others; "they decided to make an example of him" [syn: example, deterrent example, lesson, object lesson].

Lesson (n.) The significance of a story or event; "the moral of the story is to love thy neighbor" [syn: moral, lesson].

Lesson (n.) A task assigned for individual study; "he did the lesson for today."

Lessor (n.) (Law) One who leases; the person who lets to farm, or gives a lease. -- Blackstone.

Lessor (n.) Someone who grants a lease [syn: lessor, lease giver].

Lessor. () contr. He who grants a lease. Civ. Code of L. art. 2647.

Lest (v. i.) To listen. [Obs.] -- Chaucer. Spenser.

Lest (n.) Lust; desire; pleasure. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Lest (a.) Last; least. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Lest (conj.) For fear that; that . . . not; in order that . . . not.

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty. -- Prov. xx. 13.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. -- 1 Cor. x. 12.

Lest (conj.) That (without the negative particle); -- after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension.
I feared Lest I might anger thee. -- Shak.

-let (suff.) A noun suffix having a diminutive force; as in streamlet, wavelet, armlet.

Let (v. t.) To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [Archaic]

He was so strong that no man might him let. -- Chaucer.

He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. -- 2. Thess. ii. 7.

Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, And lets me from the saddle. -- Tennyson.

Let (n.) A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; -- common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. -- Keats.

Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not. -- Latimer.

Let (n.) (Lawn Tennis) A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing over.

Let (imp. & p. p.) of Let.

Letted () of Let.

Letting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Let.

Let (v. t.) To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.]

He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let. -- Chaucer.

Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets. -- Spenser.

Let me alone in choosing of my wife. -- Chaucer.

Let (v. t.) To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Let (v. t.) To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. [Obs.]

This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch. -- Chaucer.

He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. -- Chaucer.

Anon he let two coffers make. -- Gower.

Let (v. t.) To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent.

Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let [to be or to go] loose.

Pharaoh said, I will let you go. -- Ex. viii. 28.

If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. -- Shak.

Let (v. t.) To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; -- often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses.

Let (v. t.) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; -- often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering.

Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense;

as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let).

This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. " Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let." -- Thackeray.

In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. " Rise up, let us go." -- Mark xiv. 42. " Let us seek out some desolate shade." -- Shak.

To let alone, To leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with.

To let blood, To cause blood to flow; to bleed.

To let down. (a) To lower.

To let down. (b) To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like.

To let fly or To let drive, To discharge with violence, as a blow, an arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly.

To let in or To let into. (a) To permit or suffer to enter; to admit.

To let in or To let into. (b) To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a surface for the purpose.

To let loose, To remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large.

To let off. (a) To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the charge of, as a gun.

To let off. (b) To release, as from an engagement or obligation. [Colloq.]

To let out. (a) To allow to go forth; as, to let out a prisoner.

To let out. (b) To extend or loosen, as the folds of a garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord.

To let out. (c) To lease; to give out for performance by contract, as a job.

To let out. (d) To divulge.

To let slide, To let go; to cease to care for. [Colloq.] "Let the world slide." -- Shak.

Let (v. i.) To forbear. [Obs.] -- Bacon.

Let (v. i.) To be let or leased; as, the farm lets for $500 a year. See note under Let, v. t.

To let on, To tell; to tattle; to divulge something. [Low]

To let up, To become less severe; to diminish; to cease; as, when the storm lets up. [Colloq.]

LET (n.) A brutal terrorist group active in Kashmir; fights against India with the goal of restoring Islamic rule of India; "Lashkar-e-Toiba has committed mass murders of civilian Hindus" [syn: Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, LET, Army of the Pure, Army of the Righteous].

LET (n.) A serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court; the ball must be served again [syn: let, net ball].

LET (v.) Make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen; "This permits the water to rush in"; "This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement"; "This will permit the rain to run off" [syn: let, allow, permit] [ant: keep, prevent].

LET (v.) Actively cause something to happen; "I let it be known that I was not interested."

LET (v.) Consent to, give permission; "She permitted her son to visit her estranged husband"; "I won't let the police search her basement"; "I cannot allow you to see your exam" [syn: permit, allow, let, countenance] [ant: disallow, forbid, interdict, nix, prohibit, proscribe, veto].

LET (v.) Cause to move; cause to be in a certain position or condition; "He got his squad on the ball"; "This let me in for a big surprise"; "He got a girl into trouble" [syn: get, let, have]

LET (v.) Leave unchanged; "let it be."

LET (v.) Grant use or occupation of under a term of contract; "I am leasing my country estate to some foreigners" [syn: lease, let, rent].

LET. Hindrance, obstacle, obstruction; as, without let, molestation or hindrance.

Let-alone (a.) Letting alone.

The let-alone principle, The let-alone doctrine, or The let-alone policy. (Polit. Econ.) See Laissez faire.

Compare: Leach

Leach (n.) [Written also letch.] A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.

Leach (n.) A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.

Leach tub, A wooden tub in which ashes are leached.

Compare: Lecher

Lecher (n.) A man given to lewdness; one addicted, in an excessive degree, to the indulgence of sexual desire, or to illicit sexual relations with women; also called letch and lech.

Letch (v. & n.) See Leach.

Letch (n.) Strong desire; passion. (Archaic).

Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others. -- De Quincey.

Letch (n.) A lecher. [slang]

Letch (n.) Man with strong sexual desires [syn: satyr, lecher, lech, letch].

Letchy (a.) See Leachy.

Lete (v. t.) To let; to leave. [Obs.]

Leten () obs. p. p. of Lete. -- Chaucer.

Lethal (n.) (Chem.) One of the higher alcohols of the paraffine series obtained from spermaceti as a white crystalline solid. It is so called because it occurs in the ethereal salt of lauric acid.

Lethal (a.) 致命的;危險的;毀滅性的 Deadly; mortal; fatal. "The lethal blow." -- W. Richardson. -- {Le"thal*ly}, adv.

Lethal (a.) Of an instrument of certain death; "deadly poisons"; "lethal weapon"; "a lethal injection" [syn: {deadly}, {lethal}].

Lethality (n.) 致命性;毀壞性;殺傷力 The quality of being lethal; mortality.

Lethality (n.) The quality of being deadly [syn: {deadliness}, {lethality}].

Lethargic (a.) Alt. of Lethargical.

Lethargical (a.) 昏睡的;遲鈍的 Pertaining to, affected with, or resembling, lethargy; morbidly drowsy; dull; heavy. -- {Le*thar"gic*al*ly}, adv. -- {Le*thar"gic*al*ness}, n. -- {Le*thar"gic*ness}, n.

Lethargic (a.) Deficient in alertness or activity; "bullfrogs became lethargic with the first cold nights" [syn: lethargic, unenrgetic] [ant: energetic].

Lethargized (imp. & p. p.) of Lethargize.

Lethargizing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Lethargize.

Lethargize (v. t.) To make lethargic.

All bitters are poison, and act by stilling, and depressing, and lethargizing the irritability. -- Coleridge.

-gies (n. pl. ) of Lethargy.

Lethargy (n.) 昏睡;瞌睡;不活潑;無生氣 Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked.

Lethargy (n.) A state of inaction or indifference.

Europe lay then under a deep lethargy. -- Atterbury.

Compare: Martyrology

Martyrology (n.; pl. -gies.) A history or account of martyrs; a register of martyrs. -- Bp. Stillingfleet.

Lethargy (v. t.) 使昏睡 To lethargize. [Obs.] -- Shak.

Lethargy (n.) A state of comatose torpor (as found in sleeping sickness) [syn: {lethargy}, {lassitude}, {sluggishness}].

Lethargy (n.) Weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy [syn: {inanition}, {lassitude}, {lethargy}, {slackness}].

Lethargy (n.) Inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy; "the general appearance of sluggishness alarmed his friends" [syn: {languor}, {lethargy}, {sluggishness}, {phlegm}, {flatness}].

Lethe (n.) Death. [Obs.] -- Shak.

Lethe (n.) (Class. Myth.) A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.

Lethe (n.) Oblivion; a draught of oblivion; forgetfulness.

Lethe (n.) (Greek mythology) A river in Hades; the souls of the dead had to drink from it, which made them forget all they had done and suffered when they were alive [syn: Lethe, River Lethe].

Lethean (a.) Of or pertaining to Lethe; resembling in effect the water of Lethe. -- Milton. Barrow.

Letheed (a.) Caused by Lethe. " Letheed dullness." [Obs.] -- Shak.

Letheon (n.) (Med.) Sulphuric ether used as an anaesthetic agent. [R.]

Letheonize (v. t.) To subject to the influence of letheon. [R. or Obs.]

Lethiferous (a.) Deadly; bringing death or destruction.

Lethy (a.) Lethean. [Obs.] -- Marston.

Let-off (n.) (Mach.) A device for letting off, releasing, or giving forth, as the warp from the cylinder of a loom.

Letted (imp. & p. p.) of Lette.

Lette (v. t.) To let; to hinder. See Let, to hinder. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Letter (n.) One who lets or permits; one who lets anything for hire.

Letter (n.) One who retards or hinders. [Archaic.]

Letter (n.) A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language.

And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. -- Luke xxiii. 38.

Letter (n.) A written or printed communication; a message expressed in intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle.

The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural. -- Walsh.

Letter (n.) A writing; an inscription. [Obs.]

None could expound what this letter meant. -- Chaucer.

Letter (n.) Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement.

We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver. -- Jer. Taylor.

I broke the letter of it to keep the sense. -- Tennyson.

Letter (n.) (Print.) A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.

Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed. -- Evelyn.

Letter (n.) pl. Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters.

Letter (n.) pl. A letter; an epistle. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Letter (n.) (Teleg.) A telegram longer than an ordinary message sent at rates lower than the standard message rate in consideration of its being sent and delivered subject to priority in service of regular messages. Such telegrams are called by the Western Union Company day letters, or night letters according to the time of sending, and by The Postal Telegraph Company day lettergrams, or night lettergrams.

Dead letter, Drop letter, etc. See under Dead, Drop, etc.

Letter book, A book in which copies of letters are kept.

Letter box, A box for the reception of letters to be mailed or delivered.

Letter carrier, A person who carries letters; a postman; specif., an officer of the post office who carries letters to the persons to whom they are addressed, and collects letters to be mailed.

Letter cutter, One who engraves letters or letter punches.

Letter lock, A lock that can not be opened when fastened, unless certain movable lettered rings or disks forming a part of it are in such a position (indicated by a particular combination of the letters) as to permit the bolt to be withdrawn.

A strange lock that opens with AMEN. -- Beau. & Fl.

Letter paper, Paper for writing letters on; especially, a size of paper intermediate between note paper and foolscap. See Paper.

Letter punch, A steel punch with a letter engraved on the end, used in making the matrices for type.

Letters of administration (Law), The instrument by which an administrator or administratrix is authorized to administer the goods and estate of a deceased person.

Letter of attorney, Letter of credit, etc. See under Attorney, Credit, etc.

Letter of license, A paper by which creditors extend a debtor's time for paying his debts.

Letters close or Letters clause (Eng. Law.), Letters or writs directed to particular persons for particular purposes, and hence closed or sealed on the outside; -- distinguished from letters patent. -- Burrill.

Letters of orders (Eccl.), A document duly signed and sealed, by which a bishop makes it known that he has regularly ordained a certain person as priest, deacon, etc.

Letters patent, Letters overt, or Letters open (Eng. Law), A writing executed and sealed, by which power and authority are granted to a person to do some act, or enjoy some right; as, letters patent under the seal of England.

The common commercial patent is a derivative form of such a right.

Letter-sheet envelope, A stamped sheet of letter paper issued by the government, prepared to be folded and sealed for transmission by mail without an envelope.

Letters testamentary (Law), An instrument granted by the proper officer to an executor after probate of a will, authorizing him to act as executor.

Letter writer. (a) One who writes letters.

Letter writer. (b) A machine for copying letters.

Letter writer. (c) A book giving directions and forms for the writing of letters.

Lettered (imp. & p. p.) of Letter.

Lettering (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Letter.

Letter (v. t.) To impress with letters; to mark with letters or words; as, a book gilt and lettered. letter bomb

Attorney (n.; pl. Attorneys.) A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [Obs.]

And will have no attorney but myself. -- Shak.

Attorney (n.; pl. Attorneys.) (Law) (a) One who is legally appointed by another to transact

any business for him; an attorney in fact.

Attorney (n.; pl. Attorneys.) (b) A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and

defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law.

Note: An attorney is either public or private. A private attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed by another, by a letter or power of attorney, to transact any business for him out of court; but in a more extended sense, this class includes any agent employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the retainer of clients. -- Bouvier. -- The attorney at law answers to the procurator of the civilians, to the solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In Great Britain and in some states of the United States, attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the business of the former is to carry on the practical and formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United States however, no such distinction exists. In England, since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called solicitors.

A power, letter, or warrant, of attorney, a written authority from one person empowering another to transact business for him.

Letter (n.) A written message addressed to a person or organization; "mailed an indignant letter to the editor" [syn: letter, missive].

Letter (n.) The conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters" [syn: letter, letter of the alphabet, alphabetic character].

Letter (n.) Owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire.

Letter (n.) A strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention); "he followed instructions to the letter"; "he obeyed the letter of the law."

Letter (n.) An award earned by participation in a school sport; "he won letters in three sports" [syn: letter, varsity letter].

Letter (v.) Win an athletic letter.

Letter (v.) Set down or print with letters.

Letter (v.) Mark letters on or mark with letters.

Letter, () In Rom. 2:27, 29 means the outward form. The "oldness of the letter" (7:6) is a phrase which denotes the old way of literal outward obedience to the law as a system of mere external rules of conduct. In 2 Cor. 3:6, "the letter" means the Mosaic law as a written law. (See WRITING.)

Letter, () com. law, Crim. law. An epistle; a despatch; a written message, usually on paper, which is folded up and sealed, sent by one person to another.

Letter, () A letter is always presumed to be sealed, unless the presumption be rebutted. 1 Caines, R. 682. 1

Letter, () This subject will be considered by 1st. Taking a view of the law relating to the transmission of letters through the post office; and, 2. The effect of letters in making contracts. 3. The ownership of letters sent and received.

Letter, () Letters are, commonly sent through the post office, and the law has carefully provided for their conveyance through the country, and their delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed. The act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the post office department, section 21, 3 Story's Laws United States, 1991, enacts, that if any person employed in any of the departments of the post office establishment, shall unlawfully detain, delay, or open, any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he shall be entrusted, or which shall have come to his possession, and which are intended to be conveyed by post or, if any such person shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy, any letter or packet entrusted to such person as aforesaid, and which shall not contain any security for, or assurance relating to money, as hereinafter described, every such offender, being thereof duly convicted, shall, for every such offence, be fined, not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisoned, not exceeding six months, or both, according to the circumstances and aggravations of the offence. And if any person, employed as aforesaid, shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he or she shall be entrusted, or which shall have come to his or her possession, and are intended to be conveyed by post, containing any bank notes, or bank post bill, bill of exchange, warrant of the treasury of the United States, note of assignment of stock in the funds, letters of attorney for receiving annuities or dividends, or for, selling stock in the funds, or for receiving the interest thereof, or any letter of credit, or note for, or relating to, payment of moneys or any bond, or warrant, draft, bill, or promissory note, covenant, contract, or agreement whatsoever, for, or relating to, the payment of money, or the delivery of any article of value, or the performance of any act, matter, or thing, or any receipt, release, acquittance, or discharge of, or from, any debt; covenant, or demand, or any part thereof, or any copy of any record of any judgment or decree, in any court of law or chancery, or any execution which way may have issued thereon; or any copy of any other record, or any other article of value, or any writing representing the same or if any such person, employed as aforesaid, shall steal, or take, any of the same out of any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, that shall come to his or her possession, such person shall, on conviction for any such offence, be imprisoned not less than ten years, nor exceeding twenty-one years; and if any person who shall have taken charge of the mails of the United States, shall quit or desert the same before such person delivers it into the post office kept at the termination of the route, or some known mail carrier, or agent of the general post office, authorized to receive the same, every such person, so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, for every such offence; and if any person concerned in carrying the mail of the United States, shall collect, receive, or carry any letter, or packet, or shall cause or procure the same to be done, contrary, to this act, every such offender shall forfeit and pay for every such offence a sum, not exceeding fifty dollars.

Letter, () Most contracts may be formed by correspondence; and cases not unfrequently arise where it is difficult to say whether the concurrence of the will of the contracting parties took place or not. In order to form a contract both parties must concur at the same time, or there is no agreement. Suppose, for example, that Paul of Philadelphia, is desirous of purchasing a thousand bales of cotton, and offers by letter to Peter of New Orleans, to buy them from him at a certain price; but on the next day he changes his mind, and then he writes to Peter that he withdraws his offer; or on the next day he dies; in either case, there is no contract, because Paul did not continue in the same disposition to buy the cotton, at the time that his offer was accepted. The precise moment when the consent of both parties is perfect, is, in strictness, when the person who made the offer becomes acquainted with the fact that it has been accepted. But this may be presumed from circumstances. The acceptance must be of the same precise terms without any variance whatever. 4 Wheat. 225; see 1 Pick. 278; 10 Pick. 326; 6 Wend. 103.

Letter, () A letter received by the person to whom it is directed, is the qualified property of such person: but where it is of a private nature, the receiver has no right to publish it without the consent of the writer, unless under very extraordinary circumstances; as, for example, when it is requisite to the defence of the character of the party who received it. 2 Ves. & B. 19; 2 Atk. 542; Amb. 737; 1 Ball. & B. 207; 1 Mart. (Lo.) R. 297; Denisart, verbo Lettres Missives. Vide Dead Letter; Jeopardy; Mail; Newspaper; Postage; Post Master General.

Letter, () contracts. In the civil law, locator, and in the French law, locateur, loueur, or bailleur, is he who, being the owner of a thing, lets it out to another for hire or compensation. See Hire; Locator; Conductor; Story on Bailm. Sec. 369.

Letter, () According to the French and civil law, in virtue of the contract, the letter of a thing to hire impliedly engages that the hirer shall have the full use and enjoyment of the thing hired, and that he will fulfill his own engagements and trusts in respect to it, according to the original intention of the parties. This implies an obligation to deliver the thing to the hirer; to refrain from every obstruction to the use of it by the hirer during the period of the bailment; to do no act which shall deprive the hirer of the thing; to warrant the title and possession to the hirer, to enable him to use the thing or to perform the service; to keep the thing in suitable order and repair for the purpose of the bailment; and finally to warrant the thing from from any fault inconsistent with the use of it. These are the main obligations deduced from the nature of the contract, and they seem generally founded on unexceptionable reasoning. Pothier, Louage, n. 53; Id. n. 217; Domat, B. 1, tit. 4, Sec. 3 Code Civ. of L. tit. 9, c. 2, s. 2. It is difficult to say how far (reasonable as they are in a general sense) these obligations are recognized in the common law. In some respects the common law certainly differs. See Repairs; Dougl. 744, 748; 1 Saund. 321, 32e, and ibid. note 7; 4 T. R. 318; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 980 et seq.

Letter, () civil law. The answer which the prince gave to questions of law which had been submitted to him by magistrates, was called letters or epistles. See Rescripts.

Letter, () missive, Engl. law. After a bill has been filed against a peer or peeress, or lord of parliament, a petition is presented to the lord chancellor for his letter, called a letter missive, which requests the defendant to appear and answer to the bill. A neglect to attend to this, places the defendant, in relation to such suit, on the same ground as other defendants, who are not peers, and a subpoena may then issue. Newl. Pr. 9; 2 Madd. Ch. Pr. 196; Coop. Eq. Pl. 16.

Letter of Recall. () A written document addressed by the executive of one government to the executive of another, informing the latter that a minister sent by the former to him, has been recalled.

Lettered (a.) Literate; educated; versed in literature. " Are you not lettered?" -- Shak.

The unlettered barbarians willingly accepted the aid of the lettered clergy, still chiefly of Roman birth, to reduce to writing the institutes of their forefathers. -- Milman.

Lettered (a.) Of or pertaining to learning or literature; learned. " A lettered education." -- Collier.

Lettered (a.) Inscribed or stamped with letters. -- Addison.

Lettered (a.) Highly educated; having extensive information or understanding; "knowing instructors"; "a knowledgeable critic"; "a knowledgeable audience" [syn: knowing, knowledgeable, learned, lettered, well-educated, well-read].

Letterer (n.) One who makes, inscribes, or engraves, alphabetical letters.

Letterer (n.) A painter of letters.

Lettering (n.) The act or business of making, or marking with, letters, as by cutting or painting.

Lettering (n.) The letters made; as, the lettering of a sign.

Lettering (n.) Letters inscribed (especially words engraved or carved) on something [syn: inscription, lettering].

Letterless (a.) Not having a letter.

Letterless (a.) Illiterate. [Obs.] -- E. Waterhouse.

Lectern (n.) A choir desk, or reading desk, in some churches, from which the lections, or Scripture lessons, are chanted or read. -- Fairholt.

Lectern (n.) Hence: A reading desk, usually in the form of a stand with a slanted top that holds books or lecture notes at a height convenient for reading by a speaker who is standing. A modern lectern may be of adjustable height, and be fitted with a light to illuminate the material on the desk, and sometimes a microphone or other electrical equipment for use of a speaker.

Lecturn (n.) Same as lectern. [Written also lectern and lettern.] -- Fairholt.

Lettern (n.) See Lecturn.

Letterpress (n.) Print; letters and words impressed on paper or other material by types; -- often used of the reading matter in distinction from the illustrations.

Letterpress printing, Printing directly from type, in distinction from printing from plates.

Letterpress (n.) Printing from a plate with raised characters [syn: relief printing, letterpress].

Letterure (n.) Letters; literature. [Obs.] "To teach him letterure and courtesy." -- Chaucer.

Letterwood (n.) (Bot.) The beautiful and highly elastic wood of a tree of the genus Brosimum (B. Aubletii), found in Guiana; -- so called from black spots in it which bear some resemblance to hieroglyphics; also called snakewood, and leopardwood. It is much used for bows and for walking sticks.

Lettic (a.) Of or pertaining to the Letts; Lettish.

Lettic (a.) Of or pertaining to a branch of the Slavic family, subdivided into Lettish, Lithuanian, and Old Prussian.

Lettic (n.) The language of the Letts; Lettish.

Lettic (n.) The language of the Lettic race, including Lettish, Lithuanian, and Old Prussian.

Lettish (a.) Of or pertaining to the Letts.

Lettish (n.) The language spoken by the Letts. See Lettic.

Lettish (n.) The official language of Latvia; belongs to the Baltic branch of Indo-European [syn: Latvian, Lettish].

Lettrure (n.) See Letterure. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Letts (n. pl.) (Ethnol.) An Indo-European people, allied to the Lithuanians and Old Prussians, and inhabiting a part of the Baltic provinces of Russia.

Letts, IA -- U.S. city in Iowa

Population (2000): 392

Housing Units (2000): 151

Land area (2000): 0.554986 sq. miles (1.437406 sq. km)

Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)

Total area (2000): 0.554986 sq. miles (1.437406 sq. km)

FIPS code: 44715

Located within: Iowa (IA), FIPS 19

Location: 41.329049 N, 91.236356 W

ZIP Codes (1990): 52754

Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.

Headwords:

Letts, IA

Letts

Lettuce (n.) (Bot.) A composite plant of the genus Lactuca (L. sativa), the leaves of which are used as salad. Plants of this genus yield a milky juice, from which lactucarium is obtained. The commonest wild lettuce of the United States is L. Canadensis.

Lettuce (n.) United States currency; dollar bills; greenbacks. [slang]

Hare's lettuce, Lamb's lettuce. See under Hare, and Lamb.

Lettuce opium. See Lactucarium.

Sea lettuce, certain papery green seaweeds of the genus Ulva.

Lettuce (n.) Informal terms for money [syn: boodle, bread, cabbage, clams, dinero, dough, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, lucre, loot, moolah, pelf, scratch, shekels, simoleons, sugar, wampum].

Lettuce (n.) Any of various plants of the genus Lactuca.

Lettuce (n.) Leaves of any of various plants of Lactuca sativa.

Lettuce, (n.)  An herb of the genus _Lactuca_, "Wherewith," says that pious gastronome, Hengist Pelly, "God has been pleased to reward the good and punish the wicked.  For by his inner light the righteous man has discerned a manner of compounding for it a dressing to the appetency whereof a multitude of gustible condiments conspire, being reconciled and ameliorated with profusion of oil, the entire comestible making glad the heart of the godly and causing his face to shine.  But the person of spiritual unworth is successfully tempted to the Adversary to eat of lettuce with destitution of oil, mustard, egg, salt and garlic, and with a rascal bath of vinegar polluted with sugar.  Wherefore the person of spiritual unworth suffers an intestinal pang of strange complexity and raises the song."

Letuary (n.) Electuary. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.

Let-up (n.) Abatement; also, cessation; as, it blew a gale for three days without any let-up. [Colloq.]

Leuc- (pref.) Same as Leuco-.

Leucadendron (n.) (Bot.) A genus of evergreen shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, having handsome foliage. Leucadendron argenteum is the silverboom of the colonists.

Leucadendron (n.) Large genus of evergreen trees and shrubs having silvery white leaves and solitary terminal flowers with conspicuous silvery bracts [syn: Leucadendron, genus Leucadendron].

Leucaniline (n.) (Chem.) A colorless, crystalline, organic base, obtained from rosaniline by reduction, and also from other sources. It forms colorless salts.

Leuchaemia (n.) (Med.) See Leukemia. [Written also leukemia, leukaemia,a nd leucemia.] -- Leu*ch[ae]m"ic (l[-u]*k[e^]m"[i^]k), a. [Written also leukemic and leukaemic.] Leucic

Leukaemia (n.) A disease in which the white corpuscles of the blood are largely increased in number, and there is enlargement of the spleen, or the lymphatic glands; formerly called leucocythaemia. It is due to a cancer of the bone marrow, and results in anemia and increased susceptibility to infectious disease. [Also spelled leucemia and leuchaemia.] Leuke

Leucic (a.) Alt. of Leucinic

Leucinic (a.) (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from leucin, and called also oxycaproic acid.

Leucine, Leucin (n.) (Physiol. Chem.) A naturally occurring alpha-amino acid ({(CH3)2CH.CH2.CH(NH2)-COOH), one of the building units of almost all proteins of living organisms, both animal and vegetable. It is one of the essential amino acids (not synthesized by the human body, a required component for proper nutrition), and is hydrophobic in character when bound in proteins. In isolated form it is a white, crystalline, zwitterionic substance formed, e. g. by the decomposition of proteins by pancreatic digestion, by the action of boiling dilute mineral acid, or by putrefaction. Chemically it is to be considered as amido-caproic acid. It occurs as two optical isomers, the L- and D-forms. The L-form, L-leucine, is the natural form, present in most proteins.

Leucite (n.) (Min.) A mineral having a glassy fracture, occurring in translucent trapezohedral crystals. It is a silicate of alumina and potash. It is found in the volcanic rocks of Italy, especially at Vesuvius.

Leucite (n.) (Bot.) A leucoplast.

Leucitic (a.) (Min.) Containing leucite; as, leucitic rocks.

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