Lagging noun
1. (Machinery) The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading .

2. Lags, collectively; narrow planks extending from one rib to another in the centering of arches.

Laggingly adverb In a lagging manner; loiteringly.

Lagly adverb Laggingly. [ Prov. Eng.]

Lagniappe, Lagnappe noun [ Etym. uncertain.] In Louisiana, a trifling present given to customers by tradesmen; a gratuity.

Lagniappe . . .is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure.

Mark Twain.

Lagomorph noun (Zoology) One of the Lagomorpha.

Lagomorpha noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... a hare + ... form.] (Zoology) A group of rodents, including the hares. They have four incisors in the upper jaw. Called also Duplicidentata .

Lagoon noun [ Italian or Spanish laguna , Latin lacuna ditch, pool, pond, lacus lake. See Lake , and confer Lacuna .] [ Written also lagune .]
1. A shallow sound, channel, pond, or lake, especially one into which the sea flows; as, the lagoons of Venice.

2. A lake in a coral island, often occupying a large portion of its area, and usually communicating with the sea. See Atoll .

Lagoon island , a coral island consisting of a narrow reef encircling a lagoon.

Lagophthalmia Lag`oph*thal"mos noun [ New Latin lagophtalmia , from Greek lagw`s hare + 'ofqalmo`s eye; -- so called from the notion that a hare sleeps with his eyes open.] (Medicine) A morbid condition in which the eye stands wide open, giving a peculiar staring appearance.

Lagopous adjective [ Greek ... a hare + ..., ..., foot.] (Botany) Having a dense covering of long hair, like the foot of a hare.

Lagthing noun [ Norw. lagting , lagthing ; lag company, society (akin to English law , lay ) + ting , thing , parliament. See Thing .] See Legislatature , below.

Lagune noun See Lagoon .

Laic noun A layman. Bp. Morton.

Laic, Laical adjective [ Latin laicus : confer French laïque . See Lay laic.] Of or pertaining to a layman or the laity. " Laical literature." Lowell.

An unprincipled, unedified, and laic rabble.

Milton.

Laicality noun The state or quality of being laic; the state or condition of a layman.

Laically adverb As a layman; after the manner of a layman; as, to treat a matter laically .

Laid imperfect & past participle of Lay .

Laid paper , paper marked with parallel lines or water marks, as if ribbed, from parallel wires in the mold. It is called blue laid , cream laid , etc., according to its color.

Laidly adjective Ugly; loathsome. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

This laidly and loathsome worm.

W. Howitt.

Lain past participle of Lie , intransitive verb

Lainere noun See Lanier . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Lair (lâr) noun [ Middle English leir , Anglo-Saxon leger ; akin to Dutch leger , German lager couch, lair, Old High German legar , Goth. ligrs , and to English lie . See Lie to be prostrate, and confer Layer , Leaguer .]

1. A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast.

2. A burying place. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

3. A pasture; sometimes, food. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Laird (lârd) noun [ See Lord .] A lord; a landholder, esp. one who holds land directly of the crown. [ Scot.]

Lairdship noun The state of being a laird; an estate; landed property. [ Scot.] Ramsay.

Laism noun See Lamaism . [ R.]

Laissez faire [ French, let alone.] Noninterference; -- an axiom of some political economists, deprecating interference of government by attempts to foster or regulate commerce, manufactures, etc., by bounty or by restriction; as, the doctrine of laissez faire ; the laissez faire system of government.

Laity (lā"ĭ*tȳ) noun [ See Lay , adjective ]
1. The people, as distinguished from the clergy; the body of the people not in orders.

A rising up of the laity against the sacerdotal caste.

Macaulay.

2. The state of a layman. [ Obsolete] Ayliffe.

3. Those who are not of a certain profession, as law or medicine, in distinction from those belonging to it.

Lakao noun Sap green. [ China]

Lake (lāk) noun [ French laque , from Persian See Lac .] A pigment formed by combining some coloring matter, usually by precipitation, with a metallic oxide or earth, esp. with aluminium hydrate; as, madder lake ; Florentine lake ; yellow lake , etc.

Lake noun [ Confer German laken .] A kind of fine white linen, formerly in use. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Lake (lāk) intransitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon lācan , læcan , to spring, jump, lāc play, sport, or from Icelandic leika to play, sport; both akin to Goth. laikan to dance. √120. Confer Knowledge .] To play; to sport. [ Prov. Eng.]

Lake noun [ Anglo-Saxon lac , Latin lacus ; akin to Anglo-Saxon lagu lake, sea, Icelandic lögr ; OIr. loch ; confer Greek la`kkos pond, tank. Confer Loch , Lough .] A large body of water contained in a depression of the earth's surface, and supplied from the drainage of a more or less extended area.

» Lakes are for the most part of fresh water; the salt lakes, like the Great Salt Lake of Utah, have usually no outlet to the ocean.

Lake dwellers (Ethnol.) , people of a prehistoric race, or races, which inhabited different parts of Europe. Their dwellings were built on piles in lakes, a short distance from the shore. Their relics are common in the lakes of Switzerland. -- Lake dwellings (Archæol.) , dwellings built over a lake, sometimes on piles, and sometimes on rude foundations kept in place by piles; specifically, such dwellings of prehistoric times. Lake dwellings are still used by many savage tribes. Called also lacustrine dwellings . See Crannog . -- Lake fly (Zoology) , any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus Chironomus . In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larvæ live in lakes. -- Lake herring (Zoology) , the cisco ( Coregonus Artedii ). -- Lake poets , Lake school , a collective name originally applied in contempt, but now in honor, to Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, who lived in the lake country of Cumberland, England, Lamb and a few others were classed with these by hostile critics. Called also lakers and lakists . -- Lake sturgeon (Zoology) , a sturgeon ( Acipenser rubicundus ), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food. -- Lake trout (Zoology) , any one of several species of trout and salmon; in Europe, esp. Salmo fario ; in the United States, esp. Salvelinus namaycush of the Great Lakes, and of various lakes in New York, Eastern Maine, and Canada. A large variety of brook trout ( S. fontinalis ), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is also called lake trout . See Namaycush . -- Lake whitefish . (Zoology) See Whitefish . -- Lake whiting (Zoology) , an American whitefish ( Coregonus Labradoricus ), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish.

Lake-dweller noun See Lake dwellers , under Lake .

Lakelet noun A little lake. Southey.

Laker noun One that is connected with a lake or lakes, as in habitation, toil, etc.: (a) One of the poets of the Lake school. See Lake poets , under Lake , noun (b) (Zoology) A fish living in, or taken from, a lake, esp. the namaycush. (c) A lake steamer or canal boat.

The bridge tender . . . thought the Cowies "a little mite" longer than that laker .

The Century.

Lakeweed noun (Botany) The water pepper ( Polygonum Hydropiper ), an aquatic plant of Europe and North America.

Lakh noun Same as Lac , one hundred thousand.

Lakin noun See Ladykin .

Lakke noun & v. See Lack . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Laky adjective Pertaining to a lake. Sir W. Scott.

Laky adjective [ From Lake the pigment.] Transparent; -- said of blood rendered transparent by the action of some solvent agent on the red blood corpuscles.

Lallation noun [ Latin lallare to sing lalla, or lullaby: confer French lallation .] An imperfect enunciation of the letter r , in which it sounds like l .

Lalo noun The powdered leaves of the baobab tree, used by the Africans to mix in their soup, as the southern negroes use powdered sassafras. Confer Couscous .

Lam transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Lammed ; present participle & verbal noun Lamming .] [ Icelandic lemja to beat, or lama to bruise, both from lami , lama , lame. See Lame .] To beat soundly; to thrash. [ Obsolete or Low] Beau. & Fl.

Lama noun (Zoology) See Llama .

Lama noun [ Thibet. blama (pronounced lä"ma) a chief, a high priest.] In Thibet, Mongolia, etc., a priest or monk of the belief called Lamaism.

The Grand Lama , or Dalai Lama [ lit., Ocean Lama], the supreme pontiff in the lamaistic hierarchy. See Lamaism .

Lamaic adjective Of or pertaining to Lamaism.

Lamaism noun A modified form of Buddhism which prevails in Thibet, Mongolia, and some adjacent parts of Asia; -- so called from the name of its priests. See 2d Lama .

Lamaist, Lamaite noun One who believes in Lamaism.

Lamaistic adjective Of or pertaining to Lamaism.

Lamantin noun [ French lamantin , lamentin , probably from the name of the animal in the Antilles. Confer Manater .] (Zoology) The manatee. [ Written also lamentin , and lamantine .]

Lamarckian adjective Pertaining to, or involved in, the doctrines of Lamarckianism.