<B>lingua franca, </B>pl. <B>lingua francas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hybrid language, consisting of Italian mixed with French, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish, used especially by traders in the eastern Mediterranean region. <BR> <I>Ex. A ... voice ... pronounced these words ... in the lingua franca, mutually understood by Christians and Saracens (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any language, especially a hybrid language, used as a trade or communication medium by people speaking different languages. <BR> <I>Ex. During the whole 500 years ... of the Abbasid Caliphate's existence, Arabic was the lingua franca of the whole area extending from ... Central Asia to Spain and Portugal inclusive (Arnold Toynbee).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="linguageral">
<B>Lingua Geral,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a language based on Tupi-Guarani and widely spoken in the Amazon region of Brazil. </DL>
<A NAME="lingual">
<B>lingual, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of the tongue. <BR> <I>Ex. a lingual nerve, a lingual defect.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Phonetics.) formed with the aid of the tongue, particularly the tip, as <I>t</I> and <I>d.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having to do with language or languages. <DD><I>noun </I> (Phonetics.) a lingual sound. adv. <B>lingually.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="lingualtonsil">
<B>lingual tonsil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a mass of lymphoid tissue located at the back of the tongue. </DL>
<A NAME="linguaromana">
<B>lingua Romana,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the vernacular language of the Romans; Vulgar Latin. </DL>
<B>linguine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of pasta, long and thin like spaghetti, but flat. <BR> <I>Ex. The kitchen produces first-rate linguine with clam sauce (Craig Claiborne).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="linguist">
<B>linguist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who studies the history and structure of language; expert in languages or linguistics. <BR> <I>Ex. The linguist collects and records utterances, and by comparing these one with another abstracts the way or modes of speaking which, as we have said, constitute the language of the speech community (Beals and Hoijer).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person skilled in a number of languages besides his own; polyglot; multilingual person. </DL>
<A NAME="linguistic">
<B>linguistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with language or the study of languages. adv. <B>linguistically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="linguistical">
<B>linguistical, </B>adjective. =linguistic.</DL>
<A NAME="linguisticanalysis">
<B>linguistic analysis,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Linguistics.) the breaking down of the elements of a language into basic units, such as phonemes, morphemes, immediate constituents, and the like, to find out the structure of the language. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Philosophy.) the analysis of the ways language is used by examining and classifying different statements; philosophical analysis. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticanalyst">
<B>linguistic analyst,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who engages in linguistic analysis. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticatlas">
<B>linguistic atlas,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a book, usually of maps, describing dialect featuresand their boundaries; dialect atlas. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticform">
<B>linguistic form,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any meaningful unit of speech, such as a sentence, phrase, word, or morpheme; speech form. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticgeographer">
<B>linguistic geographer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who studies linguistic geography. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticgeography">
<B>linguistic geography,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the study of the geographical distribution of dialect features and of local variations in dialect; dialect geography. </DL>
<B>linguistics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the science of language; comparative study of languages, including the study of speech sounds, language structures, and the history and historical relationship of languages and linguistic forms. </DL>
<A NAME="linguisticstock">
<B>linguistic stock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a group of related languages together with the parent language from which they are derived. <DD><B> 2. </B>all the people that speak languages of such a related group. </DL>
<B>liniment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a soothing liquid which is rubbed on the skin to relieve the pain of sore muscles, sprains, and bruises, or one that acts as a counterirritant. (SYN) embrocation. </DL>
<A NAME="linin">
<B>linin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Chemistry.) a crystallizable bitter principle obtained from a European species of flax, used as a purgative. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) a substance now considered to be an artificial product of fixation, but formerly thought to be the achromatic substance composing the network that encloses the granules of chromatin in the nucleus of a cell. </DL>
<A NAME="lining">
<B>lining, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a layer of material covering the inner surface of something. <BR> <I>Ex. the lining of a coat, the lining of a stove.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the material reinforcing the back of a book. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) contents, as of the pocket or purse. <BR> <I>Ex. the lining of his coffers shall make coats To deck our soldiers (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the act of providing with a lining. <BR> <I>Ex. In making a coat, lining is the process that is most difficult for an inexperienced seamstress.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>concrete or steel applied to the interior of shafts and tunnels for smoothness and strength. <DD><I>verb </I> present participle of <B>line</B> (2). </DL>
<A NAME="link">
<B>link</B> (1), noun, verb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one ring or loop of a chain. <BR> <I>Ex. The tractor pulled the log with a chain that had very heavy links.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>anything that joins as a link joins. <BR> <I>Ex. a cuff link. I had severed the link between myself and my former condition (Frederick Marryat). Labour thus helped to create a link of friendship between the rising peoples (London Times).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a part or parts so joined. <BR> <I>Ex. links of sausage.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a fact or thought that connects others. <BR> <I>Ex. a link in a chain of evidence.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the hundreth part of a surveyor's chain, used as a measure of length, equal to 7.92 inches. <DD><B> 5. </B>a rod, bar, or similar piece connected at its ends to two parts of a machine and transmitting motion from one to the other. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Electricity.) the part of a fuse that melts when too strong a current goes through it. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Chemistry.) <B>=bond.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to join as a link does; unite or connect. <BR> <I>Ex. to link arms. Your fortunes and his are linked together (Charles Kingsley).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be coupled, joined, or connected. <BR> <I>Ex. Your story links up with his.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> arranged in or connected by links. <BR> <I>Ex. link sausages.</I> noun <B>linker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="link">
<B>link</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a torch, especially one made of tow and pitch, formerly used to light people's way along the streets. </DL>
<B>linkage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of linking. <DD><B> 2. </B>the state of being linked. <DD><B> 3. </B>an arrangement or system of links. <DD><B> 4. </B>the policy or practice of having some aspect of the relations between two countries dependent upon the success or failure of another aspect of their relations: <DD><B> 5. </B>(Biology.) the association of two or more genes or their characteristics on the same chromosome so that they are transmitted together. <DD><B> 6. </B>any one of various devices consisting of a number of bars linked or pivoted together, used to produce a desired motion in a machine part, or for tracing lines. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Electricity.) the product of the magnetic flux going through a coil and the number of turns in the coil. It serves as a measure of the voltage that can be induced in the coil. </DL>
<A NAME="linkagegroup">
<B>linkage group,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) a group of genes or hereditary characteristics that are transmitted together. </DL>
<A NAME="linkboy">
<B>linkboy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a boy who used to be employed to carry a link or torch to light the way for a person along the streets. </DL>
<A NAME="linked">
<B>linked, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>connected by or like links. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) exhibiting linkage. </DL>
<A NAME="linkingr">
<B>linking r,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Phonetics.) (in dialects in which <I>r</I> is not pronounced in final and preconsonantal position) the final <I>r-</I> sound preserved before a word with an initial vowel, as in <I>far off</I> with a linking <I>r</I> (contrasted with <I>far</I> with no <I>r-</I> sound). </DL>
<A NAME="linkingverb">
<B>linking verb,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a verb, with little or no meaning of its own, used to connect a subject with a predicate noun or predicate adjective; copula. <I>Be</I> and <I>seem</I> are the most common linking verbs. In "The men are soldiers," <I>are</I> is a linking verb. </DL>
<A NAME="linkman">
<B>linkman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a man formerly employed to carry a link or torch to light the way for a person along the street. <DD><B> 2. </B>a player who acts as a link between the center forwards and backs in soccer, Rugby, and field hockey. <DD><B> 3. </B>(British.) <DD><B> a. </B>a moderator or coordinator, especially of a radio or television discussion program. <DD><B> b. </B>an intermediary; a go-between. </DL>
<A NAME="linkmotion">
<B>link motion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a valve gear in a steam engine for controlling (including reversing) the valve motion, consisting of a series of links connecting the eccentrics to the block that operates the valve. <DD><B> 2. </B>any system of links that connects, and regulates the motion of, two parts, one of which drives the other. </DL>
<A NAME="links">
<B>links, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=golf course.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Scottish.) <DD><B> a. </B>comparatively level or gently rolling sandy ground near the seashore, covered with turf or coarse grass. <DD><B> b. </B>the windings of a stream. <DD><B> c. </B>the ground lying along such windings. </DL>
