Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LAN-IARD, n. [lan'yard; Fr. laniere, a strap.]

A short piece of rope or line, used for fastening something in ships, as the laniards of the gun-ports, of the buoy, of the cathook, &c., but especially used to extend the shrouds and stays of the masts, by their communication with the dead eyes, &c. – Mar. Dict.

LAN'I-A-RY, a. [L. lanius, a butcher.]

Lacerating or tearing; as, the laniary teeth, i. e. the canine teeth.

LAN'I-ARY, a.

Tearing; rending. – Kirby.

LAN'I-ARY, n.

Shambles; a place of slaughter.

LAN'I-ATE, v.t. [L. lanio.]

To tear in pieces. [Little used.]

LAN-I-A'TION, n.

A tearing in pieces. [Little used.]

LAN-IF'ER-OUS, a. [L. lanifer; lana, wool, and fero, to produce.]

Bearing or producing wool.

LA-NIF'IC-AL, a.

Working in wool.

LAN'I-FICE, n. [L. lanificium; lana, wool, and facio, to make.]

Manufacture of wool. [Little used.] Bacon.

LA-NIG'ER-OUS, a. [L. laniger; lana, wool, and gero, to bear.]

Bearing or producing wool.

LANK, a. [Sax. hlanca; Gr. λαγαρος, probably allied to flank, and W. llac, slack, lax; llaciaw, to slacken; G. schlank.]

1. Loose or lax and easily yielding to pressure; not distended; not stiff or firm by distension; not plump; as, a lank bladder or purse. The clergy's bags / Are lank and lean with thy extortions. – Shak.
2. Thin; slender; meager; not full and firm; as, a lank body.
3. Languid; drooping. [See Languish.] – Milton.

LANK'LY, adv.

Thinly; loosely; laxly.

LANK'NESS, n.

Laxity; flabbiness; leanness; slenderness.

LANK'Y, a.

Lank. [Vulgar.]

LAN'NER, or LAN'NER-ET, n. [Fr. lanier; L. laniarius, lanius, a butcher.]

A species of hawk.

LANS'QUE-NET, n. [lance and knecht, a boy, a knight.]

1. A common foot soldier.
2. A game at cards. – Johnson. Encyc.

LAN'TERN, n. [Fr. lanterne; L. laterna; G. laterne; D. lantaarn; Sp. linterna.]

1. A case or vessel made of tin perforated with many holes, or of some transparent substance, as glass, horn, or oiled paper; used for carrying a candle or other light into the open air, or into stables, &c. – Locke. A dark lantern is one with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the light.
2. A light-house or light to direct the course of ships. – Addison.
3. In architecture, a little dome raised over the roof of a building to give light, and to serve as a crowning to the fabric. – Encyc.
4. A square cage of carpentry placed over the ridge of a corridor or gallery, between two rows of shops, to illuminate them. – Encyc. Magic lantern, an optical machine by which painted images are represented so much magnified as to appear like the effect of magic.

LAN'TERN, v.t.

To put to death at or on the lamp-post.

LAN'TERN-ED, a.

Put to death at a lamp-post. – G. Morris.

LAN'TERN-FLY, n.

The English name of Fulgora lanternaria, a hemipterous insect of South America, which emits a strong light in the dark.

LAN'TERN-ING, ppr.

Putting to death at or on a lamp-post.

LAN'TERN-JAWS, n.

A thin visage. – Spectator.

LA-NU'GI-NOUS, a. [L. lanuginosus, from lanugo, down, from lana, wool.]

Downy; covered with down, or fine soft hair.

LA-O'COON, n.

In mythology, the priest of Neptune or Apollo during the Trojan war.

LA-O-DI-CE'AN, a.

Like the Christians of Laodicea; lukewarm in religion.