<B>lick, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to pass the tongue over. <BR> <I>Ex. to lick a stamp. He licked the ice-cream cone.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to lap up with the tongue. <BR> <I>Ex. Cats and dogs lick water to drink it.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make or bring by using the tongue. <BR> <I>Ex. The cat licked the plate clean.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to pass about or play over like a tongue. <BR> <I>Ex. The flames were licking the roof of the burning building.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal.) to beat or thrash. <BR> <I>Ex. to lick the dickens out of a boy.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) to defeat in a fight; conquer; overcome. <BR> <I>Ex. I could lick you with one hand tied behind me, if I wanted to (Mark Twain). The washing machine filter... licked a rust problem (Scientific American).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a stroke of the tongue over something. <BR> <I>Ex. He gave the ice-cream cone a big lick.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a place where natural salt is found and where animals go to lick it up. <BR> <I>Ex. shot down like deer standing at a lick (James F. Cooper).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a blow. <BR> <I>Ex. He gave his horse a few gentle licks with his hand. That rascal of a boy gave me a devil of a lick on the shoulder (Frederick Marryat).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a small quantity; as much as may be had by licking. <BR> <I>Ex. She didn't do a lick of work. Flamingo ... was so badly upset ... that he couldn't run a lick (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal.) a brief stroke of activity or effort. <BR> <I>Ex. to take a lick at a piece of work. Mr. Saxon is expected to get in his licks before the Committee today (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) speed. <BR> <I>Ex. to go at full lick.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Slang.) an improvised part, derived from the main melody, played at the beginning of a jazz composition. <BR><I>expr. <B>lick and a promise,</B> </I>(Informal.) slight or hasty work as if with a promise of doing better later. <BR> <I>Ex. I wash the dishes, give the house a "lick and promise," except on Friday morning, when I clean into every nook and cranny (Christian Science Monitor).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>lick into shape.</B> </I>See under <B>shape.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>lick one's chops.</B> </I>See under <B>chop</B> (2). <BR><I>expr. <B>lick the boots of.</B> </I>See under <B>boot</B> (1). <BR><I>expr. <B>lick the dust.</B> </I>See under <B>dust.</B> noun <B>licker.</B> </DL>
<B>lickety-split, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) at full speed; headlong; rapid; rapidly. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the lickety-split growth of trailer parks across the land (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="licking">
<B>licking, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a beating; thrashing. <BR> <I>Ex. The bigger boy gave Billy quite a licking.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a setback; reverse. <BR> <I>Ex. Business took a bad licking during the recession.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lickspit">
<B>lickspit, </B>noun. =lickspittle.</DL>
<A NAME="lickspittle">
<B>lickspittle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a contemptible flatterer; parasite; toady. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a parcel of sneaks, a set of lickspittles (Thackeray).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="licorice">
<B>licorice, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sweet-tasting substance obtained from the roots of a European and Asiatic plant, used as a flavoring in medicine, tobacco, soft drinks, and candy. <DD><B> 2. </B>candy flavored with this substance. <DD><B> 3. </B>the plant that yields this substance. It is a perennial plant that belongs to the pea family. Licorice has pinnate leaves and bluish pealike flowers in spikes. <DD><B> 4. </B>its root. <DD><B> 5. </B>any one of various plants whose roots resemble or are used as substitutes for licorice. Also, <B>liquorice,</B> <B>liquorish.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="licoricefern">
<B>licorice fern,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several polypodies with a sweet rootstock. </DL>
<A NAME="lictor">
<B>lictor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the group of attendants on a public official in ancient Rome who punished offenders at the official's orders. The lictors carried the fasces. </DL>
<A NAME="licualapalm">
<B>licuala palm,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a dwarf fan palm with large flowers and leaves arranged in a circle. </DL>
<A NAME="lid">
<B>lid, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a movable cover; top. <BR> <I>Ex. the lid of a box, the lid of a pot, a stove lid on a wood-burning stove.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a cover of skin that is moved in opening and shutting the eye; eyelid. <BR> <I>Ex. She was alone again in the darkness behind her lids (Graham Greene).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) a hat or cap. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a restraint; check; curb. <BR> <I>Ex. to put the lid on gambling. A protest against the secrecy lid was made by Governor Harriman (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Botany.) <DD><B> a. </B>the upper section of a pyxidium which separates transversely. <DD><B> b. </B>(in mosses) the coverlike part on the theca. <DD><B> 6. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a small package containing from 22 grams to one ounce of marijuana. <BR><I>expr. <B>blow</B> (or <B>flip</B>) <B>one's lid,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to get very angry or excited. <BR> <I>Ex. I showed up with my hair all straggly and no makeup on and Hillyer took a look at me and blew his lid (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>blow</B> (<B>lift</B> or <B>take</B>) <B>the lid off,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to expose (illegal or secret activities or those engaging in such activities). <BR> <I>Ex. The ensuing investigation achieved nationwide notoriety as the "Summerdale Police Scandal" and blew the lid off the Chicago Police Department (O. W. Wilson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lidar">
<B>lidar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a radar that uses laser light beams instead of radio waves. <BR> <I>Ex. Meteorological lidar [is] a laser "radar" system using high-power pulses of coherent light to portray cloud patterns and atmospheric aberrations (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lidded">
<B>lidded, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a lid; covered with or as if with a lid. </DL>
<A NAME="lidded">
<B>-lidded,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) having ______ (eye)lids. <BR> <I>Ex. Heavy-lidded = having heavy (eye)lids.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lidless">
<B>lidless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having no lid or lids. <DD><B> 2. </B>having no eyelids. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Poetic.) watchful. </DL>
<A NAME="lido">
<B>lido, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fashionable resort. <BR> <I>Ex. On beaches, mountains, roads, cruising liners and lidos you will find cricket-lovers (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lidocaine">
<B>lidocaine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a yellowish-white, crystalline compound used in the form of its hydrochloride salt as a local anesthetic. </DL>
<A NAME="lie">
<B>lie</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>lied,</B> <B>lying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something that is not true, said to deceive; false statement known to be false by the person who makes it. <BR> <I>Ex. A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something that gives or is intended to give a false impression. <BR> <I>Ex. My life was all a lie (William Godwin).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a false statement. <BR> <I>Ex. Women love the lie that saves their pride, but never an unflattering truth (Gertrude Atherton).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to tell a lie or lies. <BR> <I>Ex. A faithful witness will not lie (Proverbs 14:5).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make a false statement. <DD><B> 3. </B>to give a false impression; mislead. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative) That clock must be lying; it isn't noon yet. (Figurative.) The sun, who never lies, Foretells the change of weather in the skies (John Dryden).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to get, bring, put, or otherwise maneuver, by lying. <BR> <I>Ex. to lie oneself out of a difficulty.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>give the lie to,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to call a liar; accuse of lying. </I> <I>Ex. to give each other the lie in a tavern brawl (Robert Louis Stevenson).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to show to be false; belie. <BR> <I>Ex. His actions gave the lie to his statement.</I> </DL>
