Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIT'I-GANT, a. [See Litigate.]

Contending in law; engaged in a lawsuit; as, the parties litigant. Ayliffe.

LIT'I-GANT, n.

A person engaged in a lawsuit. L'Estrange.

LIT'I-GATE, v.i.

To dispute in law; to carry on a suit by judicial process.

LIT'I-GATE, v.t. [L. lips, from lis, litis, a contest or debate; Ar. {}, to dispute. Class Ld, No. 2. Lis, litis, coincides with the Saxon flit, contention; flitan, to contend.]

To contest in law; to prosecute or defend by pleadings, exhibition of evidence, and judicial debate; as, to litigate a cause or a question.

LIT'I-GAT-ED, pp.

Contested judicially.

LIT-IGA'TION, n.

The act or process of carrying on a suit in a court of law or equity for the recovery of a right or claim; a judicial contest.

LI-TIG'IOUS, a. [Fr. litigieux; L. litigiosus.]

1. Inclined to judicial contest; given to the practice of contending in law; quarrelsome; contentious; applied to persons. A litigious man is a bad neighbor and a bad citizen.
2. Disputable; controvertible; subject to contention; as, litigious right. No fences, parted fields, nor marks nor bounds, Distinguish'd acres of litigious grounds. Dryden.

LI-TIG'IOUS-LY, adv.

In a contentious manner.

LI-TIG'IOUS-NESS, a.

A disposition to engage in or carry on lawsuits; inclination ot judicial contests..

LITIPO-DERM, n. [Gr. {foreign} and {foreign}.]

One of a genus of Apodul Echinoderms, having an oval body, covered with a layer of calcarious granules, forming a hard crust.

LIT'MUS, or LAC'MUS, n.

A blue pigment, formed from Argol orchal or archil, a lichen, the Roccella tinctoria. [See Archil.] It is prepared by bruising the archil, and adding quick lime and putrefied urine, or spirit of urine distilled from lime. The mixture, after cooling and the evaporation of the fluid, becomes a mass of the consistence of paste, which is laid on a board to dry in square lumps. Encyc.

LIT'ORN, n.

A bird, a species of thrush, in size and shape resembling the hen blackbird. Dict. Nat. Hist.

LIT'OTE, n. [{foreign}, slender.]

Diminution; extenuation. A trope in rhetoric, in which, by denying the contrary, more is intended than is expressed; as I do not approve, instead of I disapprove. Pope.

LIT'TER, n. [Fr. litiere, from lit; contracted from L. lectus, from the root of lego, Eng. lay; It. lettica, or lettiga; Sp. litera; Port. liteira; Arm. leter.]

1. A vehicle formed with shafts supporting a bed between them, in which a person may be borne by men or by a horse. If by the latter, it is called a horse-litter. A similar vehicle in India is called a palanquin.
2. Straw, hay or other soft substance, used as a bed for horses and for other purposes.
3. [Ice. lider, generation, from the root of lad, leod.] A brood of young pigs, kittens, puppies, or other quadrupeds. The word is applied only to certain quadrupeds, of the smaller kinds. [Qu. the root of lad.]
4. A birth of pigs or other small animals.
5. Waste matters, shreds, fragments and the like, scattered on a floor or, other clean place.

LIT'TER, v.t.

1. To bring forth young, as swine and other small quadrupeds. It is sometimes applied to human beings in contempt.
2. To scatter over carelessly with shreds, fragments and the like; as, to litter a room or a carpet. Swift.
3. To cover with straw or hay; as, to litter a stable. Dryden.
4. To supply with litter; as, to litter cattle.

LIT'TER-ED, pp.

1. Furnished with straw.
2. adj. Covered or overspread with litter, pieces, shreds, &c.

LIT'TER-ING, ppr.

1. Furnishing with straw.
2. Covering with shreds, pieces, &c.

LIT'TLE, a. [comp. less, lesser; sup. least. Sax. lytel, lytle; Scot. lite, lyte, adv. lyt; Goth. leitil; Sw. liten; Dan. liden; D. luttel; probably from the sense of diminishing. Class Ld, No. 15, 22, 31.]

1. Small in size or extent; not great or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little table; a little book; a little hill; a little distance; a little child.
2. Short in duration; as, a little time or season; a little sleep.
3. Small in quantity or amount; as, a little hay or grass; a little food; a little sum; a little light; a little air or water.
4. Of small dignity, power or importance. When thou wast little in thy own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes? 1 Sam. xv.
5. Of small force or effect; slight; inconsiderable; as, little attention or exertions; little effort; little care or diligence; little weight.

LIT'TLE, adv.

1. In a small degree; slightly; as, he is little changed. It is a little discolored.
2. Not much; in a small quantity or space of time. He sleeps little.
3. In some degree; slightly; sometimes preceded by a. The liquor is a little sour or astringent.

LIT'TLE, n.

1. A small quantity or amount. He demanded much and obtained little. He had little of his father's liberality.
2. A small space. Much was in little writ. Dryden.
3. Any thing small, slight, or of inconsiderable importance. I view with anger and disdain, How little gives thee joy and pain. Prior.
4. Not much. These they are fitted for, and little else. Cheyne.

LIT'TLE-NESS, n.

1. Smallness of size or bulk; as, the littleness of the body or of an animal.
2. Meanness; want of grandeur; as, littleness of conception.
3. Want of dignity. Contemplations on the majesty of God displayed in his works, may awaken in us a sense of our own littleness.
4. Meanness; penuriousness.

LIT'TO-RAL, a. [L. littoralis, from littus, shore.]

Belonging to a shore, as of the sea, or a great lake.

LIT'U-ITE, n.

A fossil shell.

LI-TUR'GIC-AL, a. [See Liturgy.]

Pertaining to a liturgy.

LIT'UR-GY, n. [Fr. liturgie; Sp. and It. liturgia; Gr. {foreign}; {foreign}, public, and {}, work.]

In a general sense, all public ceremonies that belong to divine service; hence, in a restricted sense, among the Romanists, the mass; and among Protestants, the common prayer, or the formulary of public prayers. Johnson. Encyc.