lest

«lest» in Mova's early modern english dictionary: so that … not; in case — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

kind

archaic word

modern equivalent

so that … not; in case

part of speech

conjunction

meaning for a pupil

In case; to avoid the risk that something will happen. tree →

how it differs from today

Today we rarely use "lest"; we say "in case" or "so that … not". The sentences use the same sense, but the word is old.

examples

• lest when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; (Torah DEU.8.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• Hasten, lest you should be too late!' (The Orange Fairy Book) tree →
• But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said: 'Lest peradventure harm befall him.' (Torah GEN.42.4, JPS 1917) tree →

tests

manual 9; corpora 262 (Torah 66, tales 194, Sefer Yetzirah 2); EWT 0; ratio 29.7 (Torah alone 154.0); Wiktionary no archaic label

In the corpora

• And let the priests also, that come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.'
• but they shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered, lest they die.'
• And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.
• And Edom said unto him: 'Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against thee.'
• lest when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «lest» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.