Limpidness Lim"pid·ness (lĭm"pĭd*nĕs) noun Quality of being limpid; limpidity.

Limpin Lim"pin (-pĭn) noun A limpet. [ Obsolete] Holland.

Limpingly Limp"ing·ly (lĭmp"-) adverb In a limping manner.

Limpitude Limp"i·tude (-ĭ*tūd) noun Limpidity. [ Obsolete]

Limpkin Limp"kin (lĭmp"kĭn) noun (Zoology) Either one of two species of wading birds of the genus Aramus , intermediate between the cranes and rails. The limpkins are remarkable for the great length of the toes. One species ( A. giganteus ) inhabits Florida and the West Indies; the other ( A. scolopaceus ) is found in South America. Called also courlan , and crying bird .

Limpness Limp"ness noun The quality or state of being limp.

Limpsy Limp"sy (-sȳ), Lim"sy (lĭm"sȳ) adjective [ See Limp , adjective , and confer W. llymsi having a fickle motion, weak. Confer Flimsy .] Limp; flexible; flimsy. [ Local, U. S.]

Limu Li"mu (lē"mō) noun (Botany) The Hawaiian name for seaweeds. Over sixty kinds are used as food, and have species names, as Limu Lipoa , Limu palawai , etc.

Limule Lim"ule (lĭm"ul) noun [ French] (Zoology) A limulus.

Limuloidea Lim`u·loi"de·a (lĭm`u*loi"de*ȧ) noun plural [ New Latin See Limulus , and -oid .] (Zoology) An order of Merostomata, including among living animals the genus Limulus, with various allied fossil genera, mostly of the Carboniferous period. Called also Xiphosura .

» There are six pairs of leglike organs, surrounding the mouth, most of which terminate in claws; those of the first pair (probably mandibles) are the smallest; the others have the basal joints thickened and spinose, to serve as jaws, while the terminal joints serve as legs.
This group is intermediate, in some characteristics, between crustaceans and certain arachnids (scorpions), but the respiration is by means of lamellate gills borne upon the five posterior abdominal appendages, which are flat and united in pairs by their inner edges, and are protected by the lidlike anterior pair, which also bear the genital orifices.

Limulus Lim"u·lus (lĭm"u*lŭs) noun ; plural Limuli (- lī). [ Latin , dim. of limus sidelong, askance.] (Zoology) The only existing genus of Merostomata. It includes only a few species from the East Indies, and one ( Limulus polyphemus ) from the Atlantic coast of North America. Called also Molucca crab , king crab , horseshoe crab , and horsefoot .

Limy Lim"y (līm"ȳ) adjective [ See 4th Lime .] 1. Smeared with, or consisting of, lime; viscous. " Limy snares." Spenser.

2. Containing lime; as, a limy soil.

3. Resembling lime; having the qualities of lime.

Lin Lin (lĭn) intransitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon linnan . See Lithe .] To yield; to stop; to cease. [ Obsolete or Scot.] Marston.

Lin Lin transitive verb To cease from. [ Obsolete or Scot.]

Lin Lin noun [ Ir. linn , or Gael. linne ; akin to W. llyn a pool, pond, lake, but in senses 2 and 3 probably from Anglo-Saxon hlynn torrent. Confer Dunlin .] 1. A pool or collection of water, particularly one above or below a fall of water.

2. A waterfall, or cataract; as, a roaring lin .

3. A steep ravine.

» Written also linn and lyn .

Linage Lin"age (lĭn"aj) noun See Lineage . [ Obsolete] Holland.

Linament Lin"a·ment (-ȧ*m e nt) noun [ Latin linamentum , from linum flax.] (Surg.) Lint; esp., lint made into a tent for insertion into wounds or ulcers.

Linarite Li·nar"ite (le*när"īt) noun [ So called because formerly supposed to occur at Linares , in Spain.] (Min.) A hydrous sulphate of lead and copper occurring in bright blue monoclinic crystals.

Linch Linch (lĭnch) noun [ Anglo-Saxon hlinc a hill.] A ledge; a right-angled projection.

Linchi Lin"chi (lĭn"chĭ) noun [ Native Chinese name.] (Zoology) An esculent swallow.

Linchpin Linch"pin` (lĭnch"pĭn`) noun [ Anglo-Saxon lynis the axletree; akin to Dutch luns linchpin, Old Saxon lunisa , LG. lunse , German lünse , Old High German lun peg, bolt.] A pin used to prevent the wheel of a vehicle from sliding off the axletree.

Lincoln green Lin"coln green" (lĭn"kŭn grēn"). A color of cloth formerly made in Lincoln , England; the cloth itself.

Lincture Linc"ture (lĭnk"tur; 135), Linc"tus (lĭnk"tŭs) noun [ Latin lingere , linctum , to lick.] Medicine taken by licking with the tongue.

Lind Lind (lĭnd) noun The linden. See Linden . Chaucer.

Linden Lin"den (lĭn"d e n) noun [ Orig. an adj. from lind linden tree, Anglo-Saxon lind ; akin to D. & German linde , Old High German linta , Icelandic , Swedish , & Danish lind . Confer Lime linden.] (Botany) (a) A handsome tree ( Tilia Europæa ), having cymes of light yellow flowers, and large cordate leaves. The tree is common in Europe. (b) In America, the basswood, or Tilia Americana .

Lindia Lin"di·a (lĭn"dĭ*ȧ) noun [ New Latin ] (Zoology) A peculiar genus of rotifers, remarkable for the absence of ciliated disks. By some zoölogists it is thought to be like the ancestral form of the Arthropoda.

Lindiform Lin"di·form (-dĭ*fôrm) adjective [ Lindia + -form .] (Zoology) Resembling the genus Lindia; -- said of certain apodous insect larvæ. [ See Illust. under Larva .]

Line Line (līn) noun [ Middle English lin . See Linen .] 1. Flax; linen. [ Obsolete] "Garments made of line ." Spenser.

2. The longer and finer fiber of flax.

Line Line transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Lined (līnd); present participle & verbal noun Lining .] [ See Line flax.] 1. To cover the inner surface of; as, to line a cloak with silk or fur; to line a box with paper or tin.

The inside lined with rich carnation silk.

W. Browne.

2. To put something in the inside of; to fill; to supply, as a purse with money.

The charge amounteth very high for any one man's purse, except lined beyond ordinary, to reach unto.

Carew.

Till coffee has her stomach lined .

Swift.

3. To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding anything; to fortify; as, to line works with soldiers.

Line and new repair our towns of war
With men of courage and with means defendant.

Shak.

4. To impregnate; -- applied to brute animals. Creech.

Lined gold , gold foil having a lining of another metal.

Line Line noun [ Middle English line , Anglo-Saxon līne cable, hawser, probably from Latin linea a linen thread, string, line, from linum flax, thread, linen, cable; but the English word was influenced by French ligne line, from the same Latin word linea . See Linen .] 1. A linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line ; a line for snaring birds; a clothes line ; a tow line .

Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls.

Piers Plowman.

2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark; as, a chalk line .

3. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line ; the place is remote from lines of travel.

4. Direction; as, the line of sight or vision.

5. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a row of words extending across a page or column.

6. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend.

7. (Poet.) A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.

In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa.

Broome.

8. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.

He is uncommonly powerful in his own line , but it is not the line of a first-rate man.

Coleridge.

9. (Math.) That which has length, but not breadth or thickness.

10. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; boundary; contour; outline.

Eden stretched her line
From Auran eastward to the royal towers
Of great Seleucia.

Milton.

11. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.

Though on his brow were graven lines austere.

Byron.

He tipples palmistry, and dines
On all her fortune-telling lines .

Cleveland.

12. Lineament; feature; figure. "The lines of my boy's face." Shak.

13. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers.

Unite thy forces and attack their lines .

Dryden.

14. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line ; the line of descent; the male line ; a line of kings.

Of his lineage am I, and his offspring
By very line , as of the stock real.

Chaucer.

15. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.; as, a line of stages; an express line .

16. (Geology) (a) A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map. (b) The equator; -- usually called the line , or equinoctial line ; as, to cross the line .

17. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.

18. (Script.) (a) A measuring line or cord.

He marketh it out with a line .

Is. xliv. 13.

(b) That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

Ps. xvi. 6.

(c) Instruction; doctrine.

Their line is gone out through all the earth.

Ps. xix. 4.

19. (Machinery) The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of line .

20. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.

21. (Mil.) (a) A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to column . (b) The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.

22. (Fort.) (a) A trench or rampart. (b) plural Dispositions made to cover extended positions, and presenting a front in but one direction to an enemy.

23. plural (Shipbuilding) Form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections.

24. (Mus.) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.

25. (Stock Exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber.

26. (Trade) A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles; as, a full line of hosiery; a line of merinos, etc. McElrath.

27. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one management and name.

28. plural The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver. [ U. S.]

29. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch.

Hard lines , hard lot. C. Kingsley. [ See Def. 18.] -- Line breeding (Stockbreeding) , breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother. -- Line conch (Zoology) , a spiral marine shell ( Fasciolaria distans ), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines. -- Line engraving . (a) Engraving in which the effects are produced by lines of different width and closeness, cut with the burin upon copper or similar material; also, a plate so engraved . (b) A picture produced by printing from such an engraving. -- Line of battle . (a) (Mil. Tactics) The position of troops drawn up in their usual order without any determined maneuver . (b) (Naval) The line or arrangement formed by vessels of war in an engagement. -- Line of battle ship . See Ship of the line , below. -- Line of beauty (Fine Arts) , an abstract line supposed to be beautiful in itself and absolutely; -- differently represented by different authors, often as a kind of elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth). -- Line of centers . (Machinery) (a) A line joining two centers, or fulcra, as of wheels or levers . (b) A line which determines a dead center. See Dead center , under Dead . -- Line of dip (Geol.) , a line in the plane of a stratum, or part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a stratum to the horizon. -- Line of fire (Mil.) , the direction of fire. -- Line of force (Physics) , any line in a space in which forces are acting, so drawn that at every point of the line its tangent is the direction of the resultant of all the forces. It cuts at right angles every equipotential surface which it meets. Specifically (Magnetism) , a line in proximity to a magnet so drawn that any point in it is tangential with the direction of a short compass needle held at that point. Faraday. -- Line of life (Palmistry) , a line on the inside of the hand, curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, the length of a person's life. -- Line of lines . See Gunter's line . -- Line of march . (Mil.) (a) Arrangement of troops for marching . (b) Course or direction taken by an army or body of troops in marching. -- Line of operations , that portion of a theater of war which an army passes over in attaining its object. H. W. Halleck. -- Line of sight (Firearms) , the line which passes through the front and rear sight, at any elevation, when they are sighted at an object. -- Line tub (Nautical) , a tub in which the line carried by a whaleboat is coiled. -- Mason and Dixon's line , the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In an extended sense, the line between the free and the slave States. -- On the line , on a level with the eye of the spectator; -- said of a picture, as hung in an exhibition of pictures. -- Right line , a straight line; the shortest line that can be drawn between two points. -- Ship of the line , formerly, a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle; a vessel superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three- decker; -- called also line of battle ship . Totten. -- To cross the line , to cross the equator, as a vessel at sea. -- To give a person line , to allow him more or less liberty until it is convenient to stop or check him, like a hooked fish that swims away with the line. -- Water line (Shipbuilding) , the outline of a horizontal section of a vessel, as when floating in the water.

Line Line (līn) transitive verb 1. To mark with a line or lines; to cover with lines; as, to line a copy book.

He had a healthy color in his cheeks, and his face, though lined , bore few traces of anxiety.

Dickens.

2. To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray. [ R.] "Pictures fairest lined ." Shak.

3. To read or repeat line by line; as, to line out a hymn.

This custom of reading or lining , or, as it was frequently called, "deaconing" the hymn or psalm in the churches, was brought about partly from necessity.

N. D. Gould.

4. To form into a line; to align; as, to line troops.

To line bees , to track wild bees to their nest by following their line of flight. -- To line up (Machinery) , to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running. See 3d Line , 19.

Line-up, Lineup Line"-up`, Line"up` noun The formation of football players before the start or a restart of play; hence (Colloq.), any arrangement of persons (rarely, of things), esp. when having a common purpose or sentiment; as, the line-up at a ticket-office window; the line-up of political factions.

Lineage Lin"e·age (lĭn"e*aj; 48) noun [ Middle English linage , French lignage , from Latin linea line. See 3d Line .] Descent in a line from a common progenitor; progeny; race; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage.

Both the lineage and the certain sire
From which I sprung, from me are hidden yet.

Spenser.

Lineal Lin"e·al (lĭn"e* a l) adjective [ Latin linealis belonging to a line, from linea line: confer French linéal . See 3d Line .] 1. Descending in a direct line from an ancestor; hereditary; derived from ancestors; -- opposed to collateral ; as, a lineal descent or a lineal descendant.

The prime and ancient right of lineal succession.

Locke.

2. Inheriting by direct descent; having the right by direct descent to succeed ( to ).

For only you are lineal to the throne.

Dryden.

3. Composed of lines; delineated; as, lineal designs.

4. In the direction of a line; of or pertaining to a line; measured on, or ascertained by, a line; linear; as, lineal magnitude.

Lineal measure , the measure of length; -- usually written linear measure .

Lineality Lin`e·al"i·ty (-ăl"ĭ*tȳ) noun The quality of being lineal.

Lineally Lin"e·al·ly (lĭn"e* a l*lȳ) adverb In a lineal manner; as, the prince is lineally descended from the Conqueror.

Lineament Lin"e·a·ment (-ȧ*m e nt) noun [ Latin lineamentum , from linea line: confer French linéament . See 3d Line .] One of the outlines, exterior features, or distinctive marks, of a body or figure, particularly of the face; feature; form; mark; -- usually in the plural . "The lineaments of the body." Locke. " Lineaments in the character." Swift.

Man he seems
In all his lineaments .

Milton.

Linear Lin"e·ar (-e*ẽr) adjective [ Latin linearis , linearius , from linea line: confer French linéaire . See 3d Line .] 1. Of or pertaining to a line; consisting of lines; in a straight direction; lineal.

2. (Botany) Like a line; narrow; of the same breadth throughout, except at the extremities; as, a linear leaf.

Linear differential equation (Math.) , an equation which is of the first degree, when the expression which is equated to zero is regarded as a function of the dependent variable and its differential coefficients. -- Linear equation (Math.) , an equation of the first degree between two variables; -- so called because every such equation may be considered as representing a right line. -- Linear measure , the measurement of length. -- Linear numbers (Math.) , such numbers as have relation to length only: such is a number which represents one side of a plane figure. If the plane figure is a square, the linear figure is called a root . -- Linear problem (Geom.) , a problem which may be solved geometrically by the use of right lines alone. -- Linear transformation (Alg.) , a change of variables where each variable is replaced by a function of the first degree in the new variable.

Linear-shaped Lin"e·ar-shaped` (-shāpt`) adjective Of a linear shape.

Linearensate Lin`e·ar·en"sate (-ĕn"sat) adjective (Botany) Having the form of a sword, but very long and narrow.

Linearly Lin"e·ar·ly adverb In a linear manner; with lines.

Lineary Lin"e·a·ry (-a*rȳ) adjective Linear. Holland.

Lineate Lin"e·ate (lĭn"e*at), Lin"e*a`ted (-ā`tĕd) adjective [ Latin lineatus , past participle of lineare to reduce to a straight line, from linea line.] 1. (Zoology) Marked with lines.

2. (Botany) Marked longitudinally with depressed parallel lines; as, a lineate leaf.

Lineation Lin`e·a"tion (-ā"shŭn) noun [ Latin lineatio the drawing of a line, from lineare .] Delineation; a line or lines.

Lineature Lin"e·a·ture (lĭn"e*ȧ*tur; 135) noun Anything having outline. [ R.] Holland.

Lineman Line"man (līn"măn) noun ; plural Linemen (-mĕn). 1. One who carries the line in surveying, etc.

2. A man employed to examine the rails of a railroad to see if they are in good condition; also, a man employed to repair telegraph lines.

Linen Lin"en (lĭn"ĕn) adjective [ Middle English , from lin linen. See Linen , noun ] 1. Made of linen; as, linen cloth; a linen stocking.

2. Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.

Linen Lin"en noun [ Prop. an adj. from Middle English lin flax, Anglo-Saxon līn flax, whence līnen made of flax; akin to Old Saxon , Icelandic , & Middle High German līn flax and linen, German lein , leinen , linen, Swedish lin flax, Goth. lein linen, Latin linum flax, linen, Greek li`non . Confer Line , Linseed .] 1. Thread or cloth made of flax or (rarely) of hemp; -- used in a general sense to include cambric, shirting, sheeting, towels, tablecloths, etc. "In linen white as milk." Robert of Brunne.

2. Underclothing, esp. the shirt, as being, in former times, chiefly made of linen.

Linen draper , a dealer in linen. -- Linen prover , a small microscope for counting the threads in a given space in linen fabrics. -- Linen scroll , Linen pattern (Architecture) , an ornament for filling panels, copied from the folds of a piece of stuff symmetrically disposed.

Linener Lin"en·er (-ẽr) noun A dealer in linen; a linen draper. [ Obsolete]

Lineolate Lin"e·o·late (lĭn"e*o*lat) adjective [ Latin lineola , dim. of linea line.] 1. (Zoology) Marked with little lines.

2. (Botany) Marked longitudinally with fine lines. Gray.

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