Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LARK'-SPUR, n.

A plant of the genus Delphinium.

LAR'MIER, n. [Fr. from larme, a tear or drop.]

The flat jutting part of a cornice; literally, the dropper; the eave or drip of a house.

LAR'UM, n. [G. lärm, bustle, noise; Dan. id.]

Alarm; a noise giving notice of danger. [See Alarm, which is generally used.]

LAR-VA, or LARVE, n. [L. larva, a mask; Sw. larf; Dan. and G. larve.]

An insect in the caterpillar or grub state; the first stage after the egg in the metamorphoses of insects, preceding the pupa or chrysalis and perfect insect. – Linn.

LAR'VA-TED, a.

Masked; clothed as with a mask.

LA-RYN'GE-AN, a. [See Larynx.]

Pertaining to the larynx.

LAR-YN-GI'TIS, n.

An inflammation of the larynx of any sort.

LAR-YN-GOT'O-MY, n. [larynx and Gr. τεμνω, to cut.]

The operation of cutting into the larynx; the making of an incision into the larynx for assisting respiration when obstructed, or for removing foreign bodies. – Coxe. Quincy.

LAR'YNX, n. [Gr. λαρυγξ.]

In anatomy, the upper part of the windpipe or trachea, a cartilaginous cavity, which modulates the voice in speaking and singing. – Quincy.

LAS'CAR, n.

In the East Indies, a native seaman, or a gunner.

LAS-CIV'I-EN-CY, or LAS-CIV'I-ENT, n. [or a. Not used. See the next words.]

LAS-CIV'I-OUS, a. [Fr. lascif; It. and Sp. lascivo; from L. lascivus, from laxus, laxo, to relax, to loosen. Class Lg.]

1. Loose; wanton; lewd; lustful; as, lascivious men; lascivious desires; lascivious eyes. – Milton.
2. Soft; wanton; luxurious. He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, / To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. – Shak.

LAS-CIV'I-OUS-LY, adv.

Loosely; wantonly; lewdly.

LAS-CIV'I-OUS-NESS, n.

1. Looseness; irregular indulgence of animal desires; wantonness; lustfulness. Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness. Eph. iv.
2. Tendency to excite lust, and promote irregular indulgences. The reason pretended by Augustus was, the lasciviousness of his Elegies and his Art of Love. – Dryden.

LASH, n. [This may be the same word as leash, Fr. laisse, or it may be allied to the G. lasche; a slap, laschen, to lash or slap, and both may be from one root.]

1. The thong or braided cord of a whip. I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it. – Addison.
2. A leash or string.
3. A stroke with a whip, or any thing pliant and tough. The culprit was whipped thirty-nine lashes.
4. A stroke of satire; a sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain. The moral is a lash at the vanity of arrogating that to ourselves which succeeds well. – L'Estrange.

LASH, v.i.

To ply the whip; to strike at. To laugh at follies, or to lash at vice. – Dryden. To lash out, is to be extravagant or unruly. – Feltham.

LASH, v.t.

1. To strike with a lash or any thing pliant; to whip or scourge. We lash the pupil and defraud the ward. – Dryden.
2. To throw up with a sudden jerk. He falls; and lashing up his heels, his rider throws. – Dryden.
3. To beat, as with something loose; to dash against. And big waves lash the frighted shores. – Prior.
4. To tie or bind with a rope or cord; to secure or fasten by a string; as, to lash any thing to a mast or to a yard; to lash a trunk on a coach.
5. To satirize; to censure with severity; as, to lash vice.

LASH'ED, pp.

Struck with a lash; whipped; tied; made fast by a rope.

LASH'ER, n.

One that whips or lashes.

LASH'ER, or LASH'ING, n.

A piece of rope for binding or making fast one thing to another. – Mar. Dict.

LASH'FREE, a.

Free from the lash of satire. – Ben Jonson.

LASH'ING, n.

Extravagance; unruliness. – South.

LASS, n. [Qu. from laddess, as Hickes suggests.]

A young woman; a girl. – Philips.

LAS'SI-TUDE, n. [Fr. from L. lassitudo, from lassus, and this from laxus, laxo, to relax.]

1. Weakness; dullness; heaviness; weariness; languor of body or mind, proceeding from exhaustion of strength by excessive labor or action, or other means.
2. Among physicians, lassitude is a morbid sensation of languor which often precedes disease.

LASS'-LORN, a.

Forsaken by his lass or mistress. – Shak.