Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIDCENS-URE, n.

A licensing.

LID'LESS, n.

Having no lid.

LIE,

water impregnated with alkaline salt, is written lye, to distinguish it from lie, a falsehood.

LIE, n. [Sax. lig or lyge; Sw. logn; Dan. logn; D. leugen; G. lug, luge; Russ. loj. The verb is probably the primary word.]

1. A criminal falsehood; a falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth. Fiction, or a false statement or representation, not intended to deceive, mislead or injure, as in fables, parables and the like, is not a lie. It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction, when a traveler inquires of him his road. Paley.
2. A fiction; in a ludicrous sense. Dryden.
3. False doctrine. 1 John ii.
4. An idolatrous picture of God, or a false god. Rom. i.
5. That which deceives and disappoints confidence. Micah i. To give the lie, to charge with falsehood. A man's actions may give the lie to his words.

LIE, v.i. [pret. lay; pp. lain, lien, obs. Sax. ligan or licgan; Goth. ligan; Sw. liggia; Dan. ligger; D. liegen; Russ. leju; Gr. {foreign}. The Gr. word usually signifies to speak, which is to utter or throw out sounds. Hence to lie down is to throw one's self down, and probably lie and lay are of one family, as are jacio and jaceo, in Latin.]

1. To be in a horizontal position, or nearly so, and to rest on any thing lengthwise, and not on the end. Thus a person lies on a bed, and a fallen tree on the ground. A cask stands on its end, but lies on its side.
2. To rest in an inclining posture; to lean; as, to lie on or against a column.
3. To rest; to press on.
4. To be reposited in the grave. All the kings of the earth, even all of them, lie in glory. Isa. xiv.
5. To rest on a bed or couch; to be prostrate; as, to lie sick. My little daughter lieth at the point of death. Mark v.
6. To be situated. New Haven lies in the forty-second degree of north latitude. Ireland lies west of England. Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. Callier.
7. To be; to rest; to abide; to remain; often followed by some word denoting a particular condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie pining or grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of a creditor, or at the mercy of the waves.
8. To consist. He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising of the huntsman. Locke.
9. To be sustainable in law; to be capable of being maintained. An action lies against the tenant for waste. An appeal lies in this case. Ch. J. Parsons. To lie at, to tease or importune. [Little used.] To lie at the heart, to be fixed as an object of affection or anxious desire. The Spainards have but one temptation to quarrel with us, the recovering of Jamaica, for that has ever lain at their hearts. Temple. To lie by, To be reposited, or remaining with. He has the manuscript lying by him. To rest; to intermit labor. We lay by during the heat of the day. To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment. Remove the objections that lie in the way of an amicable adjustment. To lie hard or heavy, to press; to oppress; to burden. To lie on hand, to be or remain in possession; to remain unsold or undisposed of. Great quantities of wine lie on hand, or have lain long on hand. To lie on the hands, to remain unoccupied or unemployed; to be tedious. Men are sometimes at a loss to know how to employ the time that lies on their hands. To lie on the head, to be imputed. What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head. Shak. To lie in wait, to wait for in concealment; to lie in ambush; to watch for an opportunity to attack or seize. To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Rom. xii. To lie down, to lay the body on the ground or other level place; also, to go to rest. To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young. To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by. To lie on or upon, to be a matter of obligation or duty. It lies on the plaintif to maintain his action. To lie with, To lodge or sleep with; also, to have carnal knowledge of. To belong to. It lies with you to make amends. To lie over, to remain unpaid, after the time when payment is due; as a note in bank. To lie to, to be stationary, as a ship.

LIE, v.i. [Sax. ligan, leogan; Dan. lyver; Sw. liuga; G. lugen; D. leugenen; Russ. lgu.]

1. To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive, or with an immoral design. Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. Acts v.
2. To exhibit a false representation; to say or do that which deceives another, when he has a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.

LIEF, a. [Sax. leof, loved; D. lief, G. lieb. See Love.]

Dear; beloved. [Obs.] Spenser. Shak.

LIEF, adv. [supra. This word coincides with love, L. lubet, libet, and the primary sense is to be free, prompt, ready.]

Gladly; willingly; freely; used in familiar speech, in the phrase, I had as lief go as not. It has been supposed that had in this phrase is a corruption of would. At any rate it is anomalous.

LIE'-FRAUGHT, a.

Fraught with lies. Lamb.

LIEGE, a. [It. ligio; Fr. lige; from L. ligo, to bind; Gr. {foreign}, to bind, to bend; {foreign}, a withe.]

1. Bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; subject; faithful; as, a liege man. By liege homage, a vassal was bound to serve his lord against all, without excepting his sovereign; or against all excepting a former lord to whom he owed like service. Encyc.
2. Sovereign; as, a liege lord. [See the noun.]

LIEGE, n. [supra.]

1. A vassal holding a fee by which he is bound to perform certain services and duties to his lord.
2. A lord or superior; a sovereign. Note. This is a false application of the word, arising probably from transferring the word from the vassal to the lord; the lord of liege men, being called liege lord. Johnson.

LIEGE'-MAN, n.

A vassal; a subject. [Obs.] Spenser. Shak.

LIEG'ER, n.

A resident embassador.

LI'EN,

the obsolete participle of Lie. [See Lain.]

LIEN, n. leen. [supra.]

A legal claim; the right by which the possessor of property holds it against the owner, in satisfaction of a demand.

LI-EN-TER'IC, a. [from lientery.]

Pertaining to a lientery. Grew.

LI'EN-TER-Y, n. [Fr. lienterie; L. and It. lienteria; Gr. {foreign}, smooth, and {foreign}, an intestine.]

A lax or diarrhea; in which the aliments are discharged undigested, and with little alteration either in color or substance. Encyc.

LI'ER, n. [from lie.]

One who lies down; one who rests or remains; as, a lier in wait or in ambush. Josh. viii.

LIEU, n. [Fr. from the root of L. locus, Eng. ley or lea. See Ley.]

Place; room; stead. It is used only with in. Let me have gold in lieu of silver. In lieu of fashionable honor, let justice be substituted.

LIEU-TEN'AN-CY, n. [luten'ancy. See Lieutenant.]

1. The office or commission of a lieutenant. Shak.
2. The body of lieutenants. Felton.

LIEU-TEN'ANT, n. [luten'ant. Fr.; composed of lieu, place, and tenant, L. tenens, holding.]

1. An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his absence. Officers of this kind are civil, as the lord-lieutenant of a kingdom or county; or military, as a lieutenant-general, a lieutenant-colonel.
2. In military affairs, the second commissioned officer in a company of infantry, cavalry or artillery.
3. In ships of war, the officer next in rank to the captain.

LIEU-TEN'ANT-SHIP,

See LIEUTENANCY.

LIEVE,

for lief, is vulgar. See LIEF.

LIEV'RITE, n.

A mineral, called also yenite,--which see.

LIFE, n. plur.

1. Lives. [Sax. lif, luf; Sw. lif; Dan. liv; G. leben; D. leeven. See Live.]
2. In a general sense, that state of animals and plants or of an organized being, in which its natural functions and motions are performed, or in which its organs are capable of performing their. functions. A tree is not destitute of life in winter, when the functions of its organs are suspended; nor man during a swoon or syncope; nor strictly birds, quadrupeds or serpents during their torpitude in witrer. They are not strictly dead, till the functions of their organs are incapable of being renewed.
3. In animals, animation; vitality; and in man, that state of being in which the soul and body are united. He entreated me not to take his life. Boome.
4. In plants, the state in which they grow or are capable of growth, by means of the circulation of the sap. The life of an oak may be two, three, or four hundred years.
5. The present state of existence; the time from birth to death. The life of man seldom exceeds seventy years. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1 Cor. xv.
6. Manner of living; conduct; deportment, in regard to morals. I will teach my family to lead good lives. Mrs. Barker.
7. Condition; course of living, in regard to happiness and misery. We say, a man's life has been a series of prosperity or misfortune.
8. Blood, the supposed vehicle of animation. And the warm life came issuing through the wounds. Pope.
9. Animals in general; animal being. Full nature swarms with life. Thomson.
10. System of animal nature. Lives through all life. Pope.
11. Spirit; animation; briskness; vivacity; resolution. They have no notion of life and tire in fancy and words. Felton.
12. The living form; real person or state; in opposition to a copy; as, a picture is taken from the life; a description from the life.
13. Exact resemblance; with to, before life. his portrait is drawn to the life.
14. General state of man, or of social manners; as, the studies and arts that polish life.
15. Condition; rank in society; as, high life and low life.
16. Common occurrences; course of things; human affairs. But to know That which before us lies in life, Is the prime wisdom. Milton.
17. A person; a living being, usually or always, a human being; how many lives were sacrificed during the revolution!
18. Narrative of a past life; history of the events of life; biographical narration. Johnson wrote the life of Milton and the lives of other poets.
19. In Scripture, nourishment; support of life. For the tree of the ficld is man's life. Deut. xx.
20. The stomach or appetite. His life abhorreth bread. Job xxxiii.
21. The enjoyments or blessings of the present life. Having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Tim. iv.
22. Supreme felicity. To be spiritually minded is life and peace. Rom. viii.
23. Eternal happiness in heaven. Rom. v.
24. Restoration to life. Rom v.
25. The author and giver of supreme felicity. I am the way, the truth, and the life. John xiv.
26. A quickening, animating and strengthening principle, in a moral sense. John vi.
27. Life of an execution, the period when an execution is in force, or before it expires.