Lexicon: late – launch

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late (-st, -ly, -r), adv. [OE late, slowly, lazily.] (webplay: after, character, close, coming, contracted, day, degrees, end, existing, far, last, lie, life, long, ministry, near, night, place, round, season, see, slow, spring, summer, superlative, time).

  1. After dark; at night.
  2. Recently; happening not long ago.
  3. From times past.
  4. Delayed; coming after the usual time; appearing beyond the appointed season.
  5. Far advanced; near to the end; close in time to completion.

lath (-ed), v. [OE lætt, plank.]

Cover; furnish; enshroud; blanket.

Latin, proper n. [L. Latium, portion of Italy which included Rome.] (webplay: school).

Lingua franca of the Roman Empire; classical Romance language in nineteenth-century American education; foreign tongue in the Italic branch of the Indo-European family; language in which ED displayed proficiency at Mt. Holyoke but later neglected [see ED letters.]

latitude (-s), n. [L. lātus, broad, wide.] (webplay: acceptation, actions, degree, doubt, freedom, full, large, limits, place, south).

  1. Distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic; [metonymy] place; land; geographic location.
  2. Clime; global position; locality defined by its parallel distance from the equator.
  3. Freedom; leeway; absence of limit; lack of restriction.
  4. Extent; range; scope; margin within which variance is tolerated.

latitudeless, adj. [see latitude, adj.] (webplay: freedom, place).

Free; boundless; limitless.

latter, adj. [OE lætra, slower.] (webplay: between, difference, former, last, superior).

Second in a series of two.

laugh, n. [see laugh, v.] (webplay: year).

Chuckle; chortle; guffaw; giggle; expression of mirth.

laugh (-ed, -s), v. [OE hliehhan.] (webplay: breath, childish, contempt, flow'rets, fool, lively, mad, make, mockery, noise, pleasant, species, year).

  1. Bubble; gurgle; chuckle; chortle; chirp; guffaw; giggle; make mirthful noises.
  2. Express joy; project gaiety; be cheerful, pleasant, or lively.
  3. Phrase. “laugh at”: mock; scorn; deride; ridicule; treat with some degree of contempt.

laughter, n. [OE hleahtor.] (webplay: child, gay).

Bubble; gurgle; chuckle; chortle; chirp; guffaw; giggle; expression of mirth.

launch, v. [OFr lancher, to pierce, cut.] (webplay: fly, lower).

Move; let go; set in motion; cause to slide from land into water; [fig.] allow to pass on from mortality to the next life.