<B>leg-pull, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) an act of fooling, tricking, or ridiculing; hoax; practical joke. <BR> <I>Ex. He found it hard to persuade them that his call for help was not another leg-pull (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="legpuller">
<B>leg-puller, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who engages in leg-pulling. </DL>
<A NAME="legpulling">
<B>leg-pulling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) the act or practice of fooling, tricking, or ridiculing. </DL>
<A NAME="legroom">
<B>legroom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> enough space to extend one's legs when seated, especially in an automobile, airplane, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="legs">
<B>legs, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>leg.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="legstump">
<B>leg stump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Cricket.) the stump nearest the batsman. </DL>
<A NAME="legume">
<B>legume, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant which bears pods containing a number of seeds. Beans and peas are legumes; they belong to the pea family. Many legumes can absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it into nitrates by means of bacteria present in nodules on the roots of the plants. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the pod of such a plant. <DD><B> b. </B>the fruit or edible portion of such a pod. A peanut is really a legume, not a nut. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Botany.) a dry, several-seeded fruit, characteristic of plants of the pea family. It is formed of a single carpel, which is dehiscent by both sutures and so divides into two valves, the seeds being borne at the inner or ventral suture only. <BR><I>expr. <B>legumes,</B> </I>vegetables, especially those of the pea family, used for food. <BR> <I>Ex. The dry edible fruit and other species of food, which we call by the general name of legumes (Benjamin Jowett).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="legumin">
<B>legumin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biochemistry.) a globulin found in leguminous seeds. </DL>
<A NAME="leguminous">
<B>leguminous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or bearing legumes. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or belonging to the same group of plants as beans and peas; of the pea family. </DL>
<A NAME="legup">
<B>leg-up, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) help; assistance. <BR> <I>Ex. Other sections of the shipping industry ... are not scheduled to receive any ... financial leg-up from the government (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="legwarmers">
<B>leg warmers,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> knitted coverings for the legs extending from the ankles to the upper thighs. </DL>
<A NAME="legwork">
<B>legwork, </B>noun, or <B>leg work,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> work which involves much moving about or traveling, usually in pursuit of information; the work of a legman. <BR> <I>Ex. Government agencies revealed they were spending around $10 million annually to assist the Washington press corps with its legwork (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lehi">
<B>Lehi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in the Book of Mormon) a Hebrew prophet who led a group of people to the west coast of America about 600 B.C. by divine command to found a colony. After his death, the colony grew into two nations, the Nephites and the Lamanites. </DL>
<A NAME="lehr">
<B>lehr, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an oven used for annealing glass. </DL>
<A NAME="lehua">
<B>lehua, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hardwood tree of the myrtle family, found in Hawaii, Samoa, and other Pacific islands, having clusters of bright-red flowers. <DD><B> 2. </B>its flower. </DL>
<A NAME="lei">
<B>lei</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>leis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a wreath of flowers or leaves, or an imitation of them, worn as an ornament around the neck or on the head. <BR> <I>Ex. He came ashore to a rousing welcome, complete with ... hula dancers, a lei of red carnations ... (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lei">
<B>lei</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>leu.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="leibnizian">
<B>Leibnizian</B> or <B>Leibnitzian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the philosophy and works of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (or Leibnitz) (1646-1716). </DL>
<A NAME="leibnizianism">
<B>Leibnizianism</B> or <B>Leibnitzianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (or Leibnitz), including the theory of monadism and the doctrine of optimism, as based on his idea that the structure of the human mind determines man's view of reality. </DL>
<A NAME="leicester">
<B>Leicester, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any long-wooled sheep of a breed originally of Leicestershire, England. </DL>
<A NAME="leiday">
<B>Lei Day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> May 1, a holiday in Hawaii in which leis are worn and competitions for the most attractive leis are held. </DL>
<A NAME="leiomyoma">
<B>leiomyoma, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mas,</B> <B>-mata.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a benign tumor composed of smooth muscle fiber. </DL>
<A NAME="leishmandonovanbody">
<B>Leishman-Donovan body,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small, oval protozoan which is transmitted by insects to the human bloodstream in various forms of leishmaniasis. </DL>
<A NAME="leishmania">
<B>leishmania, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a genus of protozoan flagellates that are parasitic in vertebrate tissues and cause leishmaniasis. <BR> <I>Ex. Leishmanias ... are responsible for oriental sore and potentially fatal kala-azar (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="leishmaniasis">
<B>leishmaniasis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a disease most common in tropical areas, causing lesions and sores of the skin and mucous membranes. It is caused by a protozoan in the bloodstream, and a more serious form, kala-azar, attacks internal organs. </DL>
<A NAME="leister">
<B>leister, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a rod with three or more prongs on the end, used for spearing fish. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to spear (fish) with such a rod. noun <B>leisterer.</B> </DL>
<B>leisure, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>time free from required work, in which a person may rest, amuse himself, and do the things he likes to do. <BR> <I>Ex. A busy man hasn't much leisure. She spends at least a part of her leisure in reading. 'Zounds! how has he the leisure to be sick In such a justling time? (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of having time free from required work. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentleman of leisure.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>free; not busy. <BR> <I>Ex. leisure hours. A whole leisure Saturday afternoon was before him (Longfellow).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=leisured.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>at leisure,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>free; not busy. </I> <I>Ex. to be at leisure to see a caller.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>without hurry; taking plenty of time. <BR> <I>Ex. to proceed at leisure.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>at one's leisure,</B> </I>when one has leisure; at one's convenience. <BR> <I>Ex. Write me at your leisure.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="leisured">
<B>leisured, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having ample leisure. <BR> <I>Ex. the leisured class of society.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>leisurely. <BR> <I>Ex. He walked at a leisured pace.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="leisurely">
<B>leisurely, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> without hurry; taking plenty of time; deliberate. <BR> <I>Ex. a leisurely person (adj.), to stroll leisurely through the park (adv.).</I> noun <B>leisureliness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="leisuresuit">
<B>leisure suit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man's suit consisting of a light, shirt-styled jacket and matching trousers, designed especially for leisure-time wear. </DL>
<A NAME="leisurewear">
<B>leisurewear, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> casual clothes for leisure-time wear. </DL>
<A NAME="leitmotif">
<B>leitmotif</B> or <B>leitmotiv, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a short passage in a musical composition, associated throughout the work with a certain person, situation, or idea. Franz Liszt developed the leitmotif used later by Richard Wagner in his operas. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) any recurrent theme or motif. <BR> <I>Ex. This is the leitmotif of the three novels, the stories of three tormented men (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lek">
<B>lek</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the unit of money of Albania, equal to 100 qintar. </DL>
<A NAME="lek">
<B>lek</B> (2), noun, verb, <B>lekked,</B> <B>lekking.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a meeting ground of male birds for display and courtship. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to gather at a lek. </DL>
<A NAME="lekythos">
<B>lekythos, </B>noun, pl. <B>-thoi.</B> <B>=lecythus.</B></DL>
<B>leman, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a lover; sweetheart. <BR> <I>Ex. He ... offered kingdoms unto her in view, To be his Leman and his Lady true (Edmund Spenser).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an unlawful lover or mistress. </DL>
<A NAME="lemelo">
<B>lemelo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-los.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a hybrid fruit produced by crossing the grapefruit and the lemon. </DL>
<A NAME="lemma">
<B>lemma</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>lemmas,</B> <B>lemmata.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Mathematics.) a subsidiary or auxiliary proposition to be used in the proof of a main proposition. <DD><B> 2. </B>an argument, theme, subject, or gloss. </DL>
<A NAME="lemma">
<B>lemma</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) the lower bract of the pair enclosing the flower in a spikelet of grass. </DL>
<A NAME="lemmer">
<B>lemmer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who cuts the meat and bones from the bodies of whales. </DL>
<A NAME="lemming">
<B>lemming, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small, mouselike arctic rodent, having a short tail and furry feet. At certain times, when food is scarce, lemmings migrate in great masses. Some reach the sea where they swim a short distance, and usually drown. </DL>
<A NAME="lemnianearth">
<B>Lemnian earth</B> or <B>bole,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a soft, astringent, clayey substance found on the island of Lemnos, in the northern Aegean Sea, and formerly much used for medicinal purposes; terra sigillata; sphragide. </DL>
<A NAME="lemniscate">
<B>lemniscate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Geometry.) a closed curve consisting of two symmetrical loops meeting at a node and generally resembling a horizontal figure 8. </DL>
<A NAME="lemniscus">
<B>lemniscus, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nisci.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy.) a band of nerve fibers in the mesencephalon. </DL>
