📖 L — The English dictionary · page 15

leniently — Everyday, meaning 1: Leniently means in a gentle, less strict way, giving a smaller punishment than expected.↗ Example: The teacher treated the late pupils leniently.↗ · The judge dealt leniently with the young driver.↗ · The test was marked leniently.↗ · Dad acted leniently because it was my birthday.↗ · Rules about lunch were applied leniently on sports day.↗ · He was punished leniently for his first mistake.↗

lens — Everyday, meaning 1: A lens is a curved piece of glass or plastic that bends light to make things look bigger, smaller or clearer, used in glasses, cameras, microscopes and telescopes.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The lens of the eye is the clear part behind the pupil that focuses light.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A contact lens is a thin lens you wear on your eye.↗ Example: A magnifying glass has a convex lens.↗ · Clean the camera lens before you take a photo.↗ · My aunt wears contact lenses.↗ · The lens in your eye focuses light.↗ · A microscope uses lenses to make tiny things look big.↗ · The telescope's lens collected light from the stars.↗ · Never look at the Sun through a lens.↗ · My glasses have thick lenses.↗

lense — Everyday, meaning 1: «Lense» is a common misspelling of «lens».↗ A lens is a curved piece of glass or clear plastic that bends light to make things look bigger, smaller or clearer, as in glasses, cameras, microscopes and the eye.↗ Example: The correct spelling is «lens», not «lense».↗ · A magnifying glass has a convex lens.↗ · The camera lens was dirty, so the photo was blurry.↗ · My sister wears contact lenses instead of glasses.↗ · The lens in your eye focuses light onto the back of the eye.↗ · A microscope uses lenses to make tiny things look big.↗ · Do not leave a lens in the sun on dry grass; it can start a fire.↗ · Clean your glasses' lenses with a soft cloth.↗

lent — Everyday, meaning 1: Past of «lend»: gave something to someone for a short time, expecting to get it back (I lent him my pen).↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Lent: in the Christian calendar, the forty days before Easter, when many Christians pray and give something up, like sweets.↗ Example: I lent my rubber to Jack and he never gave it back.↗ · The library lent us ten books for the project.↗ · She lent a hand with the washing up.↗ · For Lent, my cousin gave up chocolate.↗ · Lent lasts forty days, until Easter.↗ · We eat pancakes the day before Lent begins.↗ · Who lent you that bike?↗ · Thereupon the rich man lent him twenty roubles.↗ · Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest.↗ (Torah DEU.23.19, JPS 1917)↗ · And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not exact it of his neighbour and his brother; because the LORD'S release hath been proclaimed.↗ (Torah DEU.15.2, JPS 1917)↗ · And I likewise, my brethren and my servants, have lent them money and corn.↗ (Writings NEH.5.10, JPS 1917)↗ · I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them doth curse me.↗ (Prophets JER.15.10, JPS 1917)↗ · therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he is lent to the LORD.'↗ And he worshipped the LORD there.↗ (Prophets 1SA.1.28, JPS 1917)↗

lentil — Everyday, meaning 1: A lentil is a small round flat seed, brown, green, red or yellow, that grows in pods and is cooked and eaten, often in soups and stews.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Lentils are a pulse, part of the bean and pea family.↗ Example: Dad made lentil soup for lunch.↗ · Red lentils turn soft and yellow when cooked.↗ · Dal is an Indian dish made with lentils.↗ · We sprouted lentils on wet cotton wool in science.↗ · Lentils are full of protein.↗ · In the Bible, Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew.↗ · Rinse the lentils before you cook them.↗ · At midday the maiden took the food, but the lentils had all gone; as on the previous day, the wood birds had eaten them all.↗ · And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way.↗ (Torah GEN.25.34, JPS 1917)↗ · brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, (Prophets 2SA.17.28, JPS 1917)↗ · And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Philistines.↗ (Prophets 2SA.23.11, JPS 1917)↗

leo — Everyday, meaning 1: (space) A group of stars, a constellation, said to look like a lion.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (star signs) The fifth sign of the zodiac, for birthdays from about 23 July to 22 August.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (a name) Leo, a boy's name meaning «lion» in Latin; many popes were called Leo.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (Latin) leo = lion.↗ Example: We found the constellation Leo in the spring sky.↗ · Regulus is the brightest star in Leo.↗ · My birthday is in August, so my star sign is Leo.↗ · Leo is the Latin word for lion.↗ · My friend Leo plays football with me.↗ · Star signs like Leo are fun, but they are not science.↗ · [paragraph continues] Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagitarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877)↗ · He produced Teth, predominant in Hearing, crowned, combined, and formed Leo in the world, Ab in the year, and the left kidney in man.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887)↗ · He produced Teth, predominant in Hearing, crowned it, combined and formed with it Leo in the Universe, Ab in the Year,-and the left Kidney in Man.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893)↗

leopard — Everyday, meaning 1: A leopard is a big wild cat with yellow fur covered in dark spots called rosettes; it lives in Africa and parts of Asia.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Leopards are strong climbers and often drag their food up into trees to keep it safe from lions and hyenas.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «Leopard print» is a pattern on clothes that looks like a leopard's spots.↗ Example: The leopard rested on a branch in the afternoon heat.↗ · A leopard's spots help it hide in the long grass.↗ · The leopard dragged its catch up into a tree.↗ · Leopards hunt mostly at night.↗ · A black panther is often a leopard with very dark fur.↗ · Gran wore a leopard-print scarf.↗ · «A leopard can't change its spots», said Dad.↗ · There you will see many wild beasts—lions, tigers, leopards, apes, and so on.↗ · Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?↗ (Prophets JER.13.23, JPS 1917)↗ · Therefore am I become unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way; (Prophets HOS.13.7, JPS 1917)↗ · Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.↗ (Writings SNG.4.8, JPS 1917)↗

leper — Everyday, meaning 1: A person who has leprosy, an illness of the skin and nerves.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (Bible) In Bible times lepers had to live apart and call out «Unclean!»; Jesus touched and healed lepers.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (figurative) A person that others avoid or reject: «He was treated like a leper.».↗ Example: Jesus healed ten lepers.↗ · Only one leper came back to thank Jesus.↗ · Jesus touched the leper, and he was healed.↗ · In old times lepers lived outside the town.↗ · After the argument he felt like a leper at school.↗ · Father Damien worked in a leper colony.↗ · This king was a leper, and all his doctors had been unable to cure him, when a very clever physician came to his court.↗ · This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest.↗ (Torah LEV.14.2, JPS 1917)↗ · And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; (Torah LEV.14.3, JPS 1917)↗ · What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath an issue, he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean.↗ (Torah LEV.22.4, JPS 1917)↗ · And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a house set apart.↗ (Prophets 2KI.15.5, JPS 1917)↗ · The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.'↗ And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.↗ (Prophets 2KI.5.27, JPS 1917)↗ · So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said: 'He is a leper'; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.↗ (Writings 2CH.26.23, JPS 1917)↗

leprechaun — Everyday, meaning 1: (Irish folklore) A small, mischievous fairy, usually shown as a little man with a red or ginger beard, a green coat and hat, who makes shoes and hides a pot of gold.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: It is a figure from stories, not a real creature.↗ Example: The leprechaun hid his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.↗ · We made a leprechaun trap for St Patrick's Day.↗ · In the story, the leprechaun tricked the farmer.↗ · Leprechauns are said to be shoemakers.↗ · My little cousin believes a leprechaun messed up his room.↗ · The leprechaun wore a green hat with a gold buckle.↗

leprosy — Everyday, meaning 1: An illness caused by germs (bacteria) that harms the skin and nerves, so people can lose feeling in their hands and feet.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (Bible) In the Bible, «leprosy» meant several skin diseases; people with it had to live apart, and Jesus healed lepers.↗ Example: Jesus healed ten men who had leprosy.↗ · Leprosy can now be cured with medicine.↗ · In old times people with leprosy had to live outside the town.↗ · Leprosy harms the nerves, so people may not feel pain.↗ · Father Damien cared for people with leprosy in Hawaii.↗ · Charities still help people with leprosy around the world.↗ · The first said: “Let her be struck with leprosy in her face.”↗ · and for the leprosy of a garment, and for a house; (Torah LEV.14.55, JPS 1917)↗ · This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and for a scall; (Torah LEV.14.54, JPS 1917)↗ · When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest.↗ (Torah LEV.13.9, JPS 1917)↗ · And she said unto her mistress: 'Would that my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy.'↗ (Prophets 2KI.5.3, JPS 1917)↗ · The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.'↗ And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.↗ (Prophets 2KI.5.27, JPS 1917)↗ · And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying: 'And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.'↗ (Prophets 2KI.5.6, JPS 1917)↗

leprous — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: Having leprosy, or the skin disease described in the Torah.↗ Example: he is a leprous man, he is unclean; the priest shall surely pronounce him unclean: his plague is in his head.↗ (Torah LEV.13.44, JPS 1917)↗ · And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam; and, behold, she was leprous.↗ (Torah NUM.12.10, JPS 1917)↗ · And the LORD said furthermore unto him: 'Put now thy hand into thy bosom.'↗ And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.↗ (Torah EXO.4.6, JPS 1917)↗ · Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another: 'Why sit we here until we die?↗ (Prophets 2KI.7.3, JPS 1917)↗

ler — Everyday, meaning 1: «Ler» is not a usual English word on its own; it is most often a piece of a longer word, for example the end of «butler», «sprinkler» or «tumbler».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (a name) Ler (Lir) is a sea god in old Irish stories; the tale of «The Children of Lir» is about his children turned into swans.↗ Example: The story «The Children of Lir» is an old Irish legend.↗ · Lir's children were turned into swans.↗ · In «butler», the last three letters are l-e-r.↗ · Some old books spell the sea god's name Ler.↗ · Words like «sprinkler» end in -ler.↗

less — Everyday, meaning 1: Less means a smaller amount: less sugar.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Less means not so much: less noisy.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «Less than» compares two amounts: 5 is less than 8 (5 < 8).↗ Everyday, meaning 4: In maths talk, «less» can mean minus: ten less two is eight.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Least means the smallest amount of all.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: «Nothing less than» means only the very thing named, and nothing smaller.↗ Example: If you give some away to a friend, you have less: subtract.↗ · A pen costs 3 pounds less than a book.↗ · Kim has less juice than Tom.↗ · 5 is less than 9.↗ · 12 less 4 is 8.↗ · Please make less noise.↗ · Eat less sugar and more fruit.↗ · Who has the least money?↗ · He was accused of nothing less than murder.↗ · And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.↗ (Torah EXO.16.17, JPS 1917)↗ · The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.↗ (Torah EXO.30.15, JPS 1917)↗ · To the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance; to each one according to those that were numbered of it shall its inheritance be given.↗ (Torah NUM.26.54, JPS 1917)↗ · Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.↗ (Writings JOB.11.6, JPS 1917)↗ · Overbearing speech becometh not a churl; much less do lying lips a prince.↗ (Writings PRO.17.7, JPS 1917)↗ · How much less shall I answer Him, and choose out my arguments with Him?↗ (Writings JOB.9.14, JPS 1917)↗