Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LEAF'STALK, n.

The petiole or stalk which supports a leaf. Martyn.

LEAF'Y, a.

Full of leaves; as, the leafy forest. Dryden.

LEAGUE, n. leeg. [of Celtic origin. W. Ilse, a fat stone, whence Low L. leuca, S. kg ua, It. legn, Fr. Varye, Ir. kac. It appears from the Welsh, that this word is from the root of lay.]

1. Originally, a stone erected on the public roads, at certain distances, in the manner of the modern mile-stones. Hence,
2. The distance between two stones. With the English and Americans, a league is the length of three miles; but this measure is used chiefly at sea. The league on the continent of Europe, is very different among different nations- The Dutch and German league contains four geographical miles. Encyc.

LEAGUE, n. leg. [Fr. ligue; It. kga; Sp. liga; from L. ligo, to bind.]

1. An alliance or confederacy between priuces or states for their mutual aid or defense; a national contract or compact. A league may ho offensive or defensive, or both. It is offensive, when the contracting parties agree to unite in attacking a common enemy; defensive, when the parties agree to act in concert in defending each other against an enemy.
2. A combination or union of two or more parties for the purpose of maintaining friendship and promoting their mutual interest, or for executing any desiga in concert. And let there be 'Twist us and them no league, nor amity. Denham.

LEAGUE, v.i. leeg.

1. To unite, as princes or states in a contract of amity for mutual aid or defense; to confederate. Russia and Austria leagued to oppose the ambition of Buonaparte.
2. To unite or confederate, as private persons for mutual aid.

LEAGU'ED, pp. leged.

United in mutual compact; confederated.

LEAGU'ER, n. [D. beleggeren. See Belcaguer.]

Siege; investment of a town or fort by an army. [Little used.] Shak.

LEAGU'ER, n. leger.

One who unites in a league; a confederate. Encyc.

LEAGU'-ING, ppr.

Uniting in a compact.

LEA'-ING, ppr.

Quitting; withdrawing from; relinquish- ing; suffering to remain; ceasing; desisting from.

LEAK, a.

Leaky. [Not in use.] Spenser

LEAK, n. [D. lek, a leak, and leaky; lekken, to leak, to drop, to sleek or make smooth; taker, dainty, delicate, nice, delicious; G. leek, a leak, and leaky; Wen, to leak, to drop out, to jump, to lick; leiker, dainty, delicious, lickerish; Sw. laka, to distill or drop, and Vika, to leak; Van. lek, leaky; lekke, a leak; lekkelad, a dripping-pan; klekcr to leak, to drop; kicker, dainty, delicate, nice, lickerish; Sax. Mere, leaky. If the noun is the primary word, is may be the Gr. {foreign}, a fissure or crevice, from {foreign}, Dor. {foreign}, to crack, to sound, or to burst with sound, coinciding with L. lacero and loyuor, and perhaps Eng. clack. It seems that lickerish is from the root of leak, and signifies properly, watery.]

1. A crack, crevice, fissure or hole in a vessel that admits water, or permits a fluid to escape.
2. The oozing or passing of water or other fluid or liquid through a crack, fissure or aperture in a vessel, either ink it, as into a ship, or out of it, as out of a cask. To spring a leak, is to open or crack so as to let in water; to begin to let in water.

LEAK, v.i.

To let water or other liquor into or out of vessel, through a hole or crevice in the vessel. A ship leaks, when she admits water through her seams or an aperture in her bottom or sides, into the hull. A pail or a cask leaks, when it admits liquor to pass out through a hole a crevice. To leak out, to find vent; to escape privately from confinement or secrecy; as a fact or report.

LEAK'AGE, n.

1. A leaking; or the quantity of a liquor that enters or issues by leaking.
2. An allowance, in commerce, of a certain rate per cent for the leaking of casks, or the waste of liquors by leaking

LEAK-Y, a.

1. That admits water or other liquor to pass in or out; as, a leaky vessel; a leaky ship or barrel.
2. Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close. L'Estrange

LEAM'ER, n.

A dog; a kind of hound.

LEAN, a. [Sax. lame, or Was; D. Dan. and G. klein. small, lean; Sw. klen; allied perhaps to L. leafs, and Eng. slender.]

1. Wanting. flesh; meager; not fat; as, a lean body; a lean man or animal.
2. Not rich; destitute of good qualities; bare; barren; as, lean earth.
3. Low; poor; in opposition to rich or great; as, a lean action. [Unusual.]
4. Barren of thought; destitute of that which improves or entertains; jejune; as, a lean discourse or dissertation.

LEAN, n.

That part of flesh which consists of muscle without the fat. Farquhar.

LEAN, v.i. [Sax. hlinian, hkonian, to lean; Unian, to re cline G. chnrn; D. kunen; Dun. lamer; Sw. lan's sir Ir. delonoim; Russ. klonyu; Gr. {foreign}; L. cline. Class No. 3.]

1. To deviate or move from a straight or perpendicular line or to be in a position thus deviating. We say, a column leans to the north or to the east; it leans to the right or left.
2. To incline or propend; to tend toward. They delight rather to lean to their old Spenser. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not to thy own understanding. Prov. iii.
3. To bend or incline so as to rest on something; as, to lean against a wall or a pillar; to lean on the arm of another:
4. To bend; to be in a bending posture.

LEAN, v.i.

1. To incline; to cause to lean. Shak.
2. To conceal. [Ice. luna.] [Not in use.] Ray.

LEAN'ED, pp.

Inclined; caused to lean.

LEAN'ING, ppr.

Inclining; cattsing to lean.

LEAN'LY, adv.

Meagerly; without fat or plumpness.

LEAN'NESS, n.

1. Destitution of fat; want of flesh; thinness of body; meagerness; applied to animals.
2. Want of matter; poverty; emptiness; as, the leanness of a purse. Shak.
3. In Scripture, want of grace and spiritual comfort. Its sent leanness into their soot. Ps. cvi.

LEAN'-TO, n.

A part of a building which appears to lean on the main building.