<B>lucid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>easy to follow or understand. <BR> <I>Ex. A good explanation is lucid. The tangled weights and measures of old France gave place to the simple and lucid decimal system (H. G. Wells).</I> (SYN) plain. <DD><B> 2. </B>clear in intellect; sane; rational. <BR> <I>Ex. An insane person sometimes has lucid intervals.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>clear; translucent or transparent. <BR> <I>Ex. a lucid stream.</I> (SYN) pellucid, limpid. <DD><B> 4. </B>shining; bright. (SYN) luminous. adv. <B>lucidly.</B> noun <B>lucidness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="lucidity">
<B>lucidity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> lucid quality or condition; clearness, especially of thought, expression, perception, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. The lucidity and accuracy of French had, both in style and in thought, served him well (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="lucifer">
<B>Lucifer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the chief rebel angel who was cast out of heaven; Satan; the Devil. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Poetic.) the planet Venus when it is the morning star. </DL>
<A NAME="lucifer">
<B>lucifer, </B>noun, or <B>lucifer match,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a match that lights by friction. </DL>
<A NAME="luciferase">
<B>luciferase, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biochemistry.) an enzyme found in the cells of luminescent organisms, which acts on luciferin to produce luminosity. </DL>
<A NAME="luciferian">
<B>Luciferian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like Lucifer; evil; diabolic. </DL>
<A NAME="luciferin">
<B>luciferin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biochemistry.) a chemical substance found in the cells of luminescent organisms, such as fireflies, which, when acted on by luciferase, undergoes oxidation producing heatless light. </DL>
<A NAME="luciferous">
<B>luciferous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>bringing illumination or insight; illuminating. <DD><B> 2. </B>that brings, conveys, or emits light. </DL>
<A NAME="lucifugous">
<B>lucifugous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> shunning the light, as bats and cockroaches do. </DL>
<A NAME="lucina">
<B>Lucina, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Roman Mythology.) the goddess of childbirth, identified with Juno or sometimes Diana. </DL>
<A NAME="lucite">
<B>Lucite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a plastic, an acrylic resin, used instead of glass for airplane windows, lighting fixtures, camera lenses, automobile tail lights, and surgical and scientific instruments; methyl methacrylate. </DL>
<A NAME="lucivee">
<B>lucivee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Dialect and Canada.) the Canada lynx. </DL>
<A NAME="luck">
<B>luck, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>that which seems to happen or come to one by chance; fortune; chance. <BR> <I>Ex. Luck favored me, and I won. There is no luck in literary reputation (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>good luck; success, prosperity, or advantage coming by chance. <BR> <I>Ex. to wish one luck, to have luck in fishing. She gave me a penny for luck. She had the luck to win first prize.</I> (SYN) success. <DD><B> 3. </B>some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend. <DD><I>v.i., v.t. </I> (Informal.) to come by sheerest chance or luck. <BR> <I>Ex. I will admit that a number of them have lucked in on me while I was backing good, sensible 30-1 shots, but I have never let that affect my basic thinking about horse racing (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>as luck would have it,</B> </I>as it happened; just by chance. <BR> <I>Ex. [She] fell in love with Mexico and, as luck would have it, an elegant band of Mexicans reciprocated (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>down on one's luck,</B> </I>(Informal.) having bad luck; unlucky. <BR> <I>Ex. He would not hesitate to give money to anyone down on his luck (London Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in luck,</B> </I>having good luck; fortunate; lucky. <BR> <I>Ex. I am in luck today: I found a quarter.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>out of luck,</B> </I>having bad luck; unlucky. <BR> <I>Ex. In the big storm, the fishermen were out of luck.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>push one's luck,</B> </I>(Informal.) to carry one's advantage too far. <BR> <I>Ex. Would you, I asked, pushing my luck, admit His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia? (Punch).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>try one's luck,</B> </I>to see what one can do. <BR> <I>Ex. He tried his luck at various jobs until he found one that suited him.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>worse luck,</B> </I>unfortunately. <BR> <I>Ex. Worse luck, it rained.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="luckily">
<B>luckily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> by good luck; fortunately. </DL>
<A NAME="luckiness">
<B>luckiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality or condition of being lucky; fortunateness. </DL>
<A NAME="luckless">
<B>luckless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having bad luck; bringing bad luck; unlucky; unfortunate. adv. <B>lucklessly.</B> noun <B>lucklessness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="luckpenny">
<B>luck penny,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a penny or other coin kept or given to bring good luck. <DD><B> 2. </B>a small sum given back for luck by the seller to the purchaser in a business transaction. </DL>
<A NAME="lucky">
<B>lucky, </B>adjective, <B>luckier,</B> <B>luckiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having good luck. <BR> <I>Ex. a lucky person.</I> (SYN) happy. <DD><B> 2. </B>bringing good luck. <BR> <I>Ex. a person's lucky star, a lucky charm, a lucky meeting. This is a lucky day.</I> (SYN) happy. </DL>
<A NAME="lucrative">
<B>lucrative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> bringing in money; yielding gain or profit; profitable. <BR> <I>Ex. a lucrative profession, a lucrative investment.</I> (SYN) gainful, remunerative. adv. <B>lucratively.</B> noun <B>lucrativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="lucre">
<B>lucre, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> money considered as a bad or degrading influence; gain viewed as a low motive for action. <BR> <I>Ex. not greedy of filthy lucre (I Timothy 3:3).</I> (SYN) pelf, mammon. </DL>
<A NAME="lucretian">
<B>Lucretian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with Lucretius (about 94-about 55 B.C.), the Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher, or with his philosophical doctrines. </DL>
<A NAME="lucubrate">
<B>lucubrate, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-brated,</B> <B>-brating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to work by artificial light. <DD><B> 2. </B>to produce lucubrations; discourse learnedly in writing. noun <B>lucubrator.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="lucubration">
<B>lucubration, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>laborious study: Absolute measure, which always inspired the lucubrations of the Greeks, was never popular in Greek trade (Atlantic). <DD><B> 2. </B>a learned or carefully written production, especially one that is labored and dull. <DD><B> 3. </B>study carried on late at night. <BR> <I>Ex. the well-earned harvest of ... many a midnight lucubration (Edward Gibbon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="luculent">
<B>luculent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>clear, convincing, or lucid, as of evidence, arguments, or explanations. <DD><B> 2. </B>full of light; bright; luminous. adv. <B>luculently.</B> </DL>
<B>lucus a non lucendo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a grove, so called from not being light. <DD><B> 2. </B>an absurd derivation; illogical reasoning. </DL>
<A NAME="lucystoner">
<B>Lucy Stoner,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a woman who believes in keeping and using her maiden name after marriage. <BR> <I>Ex. Whoever thought a Lucy Stoner would be so girlishly sensitive as Jane Grant about being called a "newshen"? (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="luddism">
<B>Luddism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the principles and practices of the Luddites. <DD><B> 2. </B>strong opposition to increased mechanization or automation in any field. <BR> <I>Ex. There is the Dataf low project, aimed at increasing their productivity: "Though systems men are just as susceptible to Luddism as anyone else," McQuaker comments (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="luddite">
<B>Luddite, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a member of any one of the organized bands of workmen in England (1811-16) who set about destroying manufacturing equipment because they believed that it lessened employment. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who is strongly opposed to increased mechanization or automation in any field. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Luddites or with Luddism. <BR> <I>Ex. Luddite riots. In American estimates, however, port capacity can be greatly increased by quick installation of modern equipment--if the Indian Government is really determined to override the Luddite resistance of the wharf labour (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ludditish">
<B>Ludditish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> characteristic of a Luddite; showing Ludditism. <BR> <I>Ex. Not many years ago it was considered regressive and Ludditish even to suggest the need for control of technology (Wilbur H. Ferry).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ludditism">
<B>Ludditism, </B>noun. <B>=Luddism.</B></DL>
<A NAME="lude">
<B>lude, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) Quaalude. <BR> <I>Ex. Because "ludes," as the students call them, are so abused as a "fun" drug, pharmacists are constantly on the watch for phoney prescriptions (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ludic">
<B>ludic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with play; playful. <BR> <I>Ex. Despite the time-worn example of kittens chasing blown leaves as if they were mice, it remains to be proved that "ludic behaviour" (play) is directly related to superiority in the adult animal (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ludicrous">
<B>ludicrous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> absurd but amusing; causing derisive laughter; ridiculous. <BR> <I>Ex. the ludicrous acts of a clown.</I> (SYN) laughable, droll, comical. adv. <B>ludicrously.</B> noun <B>ludicrousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ludlow">
<B>Ludlow, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a style of sans-serif printing type. </DL>
<A NAME="ludo">
<B>ludo, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) a game resembling pachisi, played with dice and counters on a special board. </DL>
<A NAME="lues">
<B>lues, </B>noun. <B>=syphilis.</B></DL>
<A NAME="luetic">
<B>luetic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with lues; affected with lues; syphilitic. adv. <B>luetically.</B> </DL>
