Chapter 83

{ Lib"ken (lb"kn), Lib"kin (lb"kn), } n. [AS. libban, E. live, v. i. + -kin.] A house or lodging. [Old Slang] B. Jonson.

||Li"bra (l"br), n.; pl. Libræ (l"br). [L., a balance.] (Astron.) (a) ||The Balance; the seventh sign in the zodiac, which the sun enters at ||the autumnal equinox in September, marked thus in almanacs, etc. (b ) ||A southern constellation between Virgo and Scorpio. || Li"bral (l"bral), a. [L. libralis, fr. libra the Roman pound.] Of a pound weight. [Obs.] Johnson.

Li*bra"ri*an (l*br"r*an), n. [See Library.] 1. One who has the care or charge of a library.

2. One who copies manuscript books. [Obs.] Broome.

Li*bra"ri*an*ship, n. The office of a librarian.

Li"bra*ry (l"br*r), n.; pl. Libraries (- rz). [OE. librairie, F. librairie bookseller's shop, book trade, formerly, a library, fr. libraire bookseller, L. librarius, from liber book; cf. libraria bookseller's shop, librarium bookcase, It. libreria. See Libel.] 1. A considerable collection of books kept for use, and not as merchandise; as, a private library; a public library.

2. A building or apartment appropriated for holding such a collection of books. Holland.

Li"brate (l"brt), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Librated (l"br*td); p. pr. & vb. n. Librating.] [L. libratus, p. p. of librare to balance, to make even, fr. libra. Cf. Level, Deliberate, Equilibrium.] To vibrate as a balance does before resting in equilibrium; hence, to be poised.

Their parts all librate on too nice a beam.

Clifton.

Li"brate, v. t. To poise; to balance.

Li*bra"tion (l*br"shn), n. [L. libratio: cf. F. libration.] 1. The act or state of librating. Jer. Taylor.

2. (Astron.) A real or apparent libratory motion, like that of a balance before coming to rest.

Libration of the moon, any one of those small periodical changes in the position of the moon's surface relatively to the earth, in consequence of which narrow portions at opposite limbs become visible or invisible alternately. It receives different names according to the manner in which it takes place; as: (a) Libration in longitude, that which, depending on the place of the moon in its elliptic orbit, causes small portions near the eastern and western borders alternately to appear and disappear each month. (b) Libration in latitude, that which depends on the varying position of the moon's axis in respect to the spectator, causing the alternate appearance and disappearance of either pole. (c) Diurnal or parallactic libration, that which brings into view on the upper limb, at rising and setting, some parts not in the average visible hemisphere.

Li"bra*to*ry (l"br*t*r), a. Balancing; moving like a balance, as it tends to an equipoise or level.

Li*bret"tist (l*brt"tst), n. One who makes a libretto.

Li*bret"to (l*brt"t; It. l*brt"t), n.; pl. E. Librettos (-tz), It. Libretti (-t). [It., dim. of libro book, L. liber. See Libel.] (Mus.) (a) A book containing the words of an opera or extended piece of music. (b) The words themselves.

Li"bri*form (l"br*fôrm), a. [Liber + -form.] (Bot.) Having the form of liber, or resembling liber.

Libriform cells, peculiar wood cells which are very slender and relatively thick-walled, and occasionally are furnished with bordered pits. Goodale.

Lib"y*an (lb"*an), a. Of or pertaining to Libya, the ancient name of that part of Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean, or of Africa as a whole.

Lice (ls), n.; pl. of Louse.

Li"cens*a*ble (l"sens**b'l), a. That can be licensed.

Li"cense (l"sens), n. [Written also licence.] [F. licence, L. licentia, fr. licere to be permitted, prob. orig., to be left free to one; akin to linquere to leave. See Loan, and cf. Illicit, Leisure.] 1. Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act; especially, a formal permission from the proper authorities to perform certain acts or to carry on a certain business, which without such permission would be illegal; a grant of permission; as, a license to preach, to practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating liquors.

To have a license and a leave at London to dwell.

P. Plowman.

2. The document granting such permission. Addison.

3. Excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum; disregard of law or propriety.

License they mean when they cry liberty.

Milton.

4. That deviation from strict fact, form, or rule, in which an artist or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake of the advantage or effect gained; as, poetic license; grammatical license, etc.

Syn. -- Leave; liberty; permission.

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Li"cense (l"sens), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licensed (l"senst); p. pr. & vb. n. Licensing.] To permit or authorize by license; to give license to; as, to license a man to preach. Milton. Shak.

Li"censed (l"senst), a. Having a license; permitted or authorized by license; as, a licensed victualer; a licensed traffic.

Licensed victualer, one who has a license to keep an inn or eating house; esp., a victualer who has a license to sell intoxicating liquors.

Li`cen*see" (l`sen*s"), n. (Law) The person to whom a license is given.

Li"cens*er (l"sens*r), n. One who gives a license; as, a licenser of the press.

Li"cen*sure (l"sen*shr; 135), n. A licensing. [R.]

Li*cen"ti*ate (l*sn"sh*t or - sht; 106), n. [LL. licentiatus, fr. licentiare to allow to do anything, fr. L. licentia license. See License, n.] 1. One who has a license to exercise a profession; as, a licentiate in medicine or theology.

The college of physicians, in July, 1687, published an edict, requiring all the fellows, candidates, and licentiates, to give gratuitous advice to the neighboring poor.

Johnson.

2. A friar authorized to receive confessions and grant absolution in all places, independently of the local clergy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. One who acts without restraint, or takes a liberty, as if having a license therefor. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

4. On the continent of Europe, a university degree intermediate between that of bachelor and that of doctor.

Li*cen"ti*ate (-sh*t), v. t. To give a license to. [Obs.] L'Estrange.

Li*cen"tious (-shs), a. [L. licentiosus: cf. F. licencieux. See License.] 1. Characterized by license; passing due bounds; excessive; abusive of freedom; wantonly offensive; as, a licentious press.

A wit that no licentious pertness knows.

Savage.

2. Unrestrained by law or morality; lawless; immoral; dissolute; lewd; lascivious; as, a licentious man; a licentious life. "Licentious wickedness." Shak.

Syn. -- Unrestrained; uncurbed; uncontrolled; unruly; riotous; ungovernable; wanton; profligate; dissolute; lax; loose; sensual; impure; unchaste; lascivious; immoral.

-- Li*cen"tious*ly, adv. -- Li*cen"tious*ness, n.

Lich (lk), a. Like. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

Lich (lch), n. [AS. lc body. See Like, a.] A dead body; a corpse. [Obs.]

Lich fowl (Zoöl.), the European goatsucker; -- called also lich owl. -- Lich gate, a covered gate through which the corpse was carried to the church or burial place, and where the bier was placed to await the clergyman; a corpse gate. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. -- Lich wake, the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before burial. [Prov Eng.] Chaucer. -- Lich wall, the wall of a churchyard or burying ground. -- Lich way, the path by which the dead are carried to the grave. [Prov. Eng.]

Li"chen (l"kn; 277), n. [L., fr. Gr. leichh`n.] 1. (Bot.) One of a class of cellular, flowerless plants, (technically called Lichenes), having no distinction of leaf and stem, usually of scaly, expanded, frond-like forms, but sometimes erect or pendulous and variously branched. They derive their nourishment from the air, and generate by means of spores. The species are very widely distributed, and form irregular spots or patches, usually of a greenish or yellowish color, upon rocks, trees, and various bodies, to which they adhere with great tenacity. They are often improperly called rock moss or tree moss.

A favorite modern theory of lichens (called after its inventor the Schwendener hypothesis), is that they are not autonomous plants, but that they consist of ascigerous fungi, parasitic on algæ. Each lichen is composed of white filaments and green, or greenish, rounded cells, and it is argued that the two are of different nature, the one living at the expense of the other. See Hyphæ, and Gonidia.

2. (Med.) A name given to several varieties of skin disease, esp. to one characterized by the eruption of small, conical or flat, reddish pimples, which, if unchecked, tend to spread and produce great and even fatal exhaustion.

Li"chened (l"knd), a. Belonging to, or covered with, lichens. Tennyson.

Li*chen"ic (l*kn"k), a. Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, lichens.

Lichenic acid. (a) An organic acid, C14H24O3, obtained from Iceland moss. (b) An old name of fumaric acid.

Li*chen"i*form (-*fôrm), a. Having the form of a lichen.

Li"chen*in (l"kn*n), n. (Chem.) A substance isomeric with starch, extracted from several species of moss and lichen, esp. from Iceland moss.

{ Li`chen*o*graph"ic (l`kn**grf"k), Li`chen*o*graph"ic*al (-*kal), } a. [Cf. F. lichénographique.] Of or pertaining to lichenography.

Li`chen*og"ra*phist (-g"r*fst), n. One who describes lichens; one versed in lichenography.

Li`chen*og"ra*phy (l`kn*g"r*f), n. [Lichen + -graphy: cf. F. lichénographie.] A description of lichens; the science which illustrates the natural history of lichens.

Li`chen*ol"o*gist (-l"*jst), n. One versed in lichenology.

Li`chen*ol"o*gy (-j), n. [Lichen + -logy.] The science which treats of lichens.

Li"chen*ous (l"kn*s), a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, lichens; abounding in lichens; covered with lichens. G. Eliot.

Li"chi` (l"ch`), n. (Bot.) See Litchi.

Lich"wale` (lch"wl`), n. (Bot.) The gromwell.

Lich"wort` (-wûrt`), n. (Bot.) An herb, the wall pellitory. See Pellitory.

Lic"it (ls"t), a. [L. licitus permitted, lawful, from licere: cf. F. licite. See License.] Lawful. "Licit establishments." Carlyle. -- Lic"it*ly, adv. -- Lic"it*ness, n.

Lic`i*ta"tion (ls`*t"shn), n. [L. licitatio, fr. licitari, liceri, to bid, offer a price.] The act of offering for sale to the highest bidder. [R.]

Lick (lk), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licked (lkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Licking.] [AS. liccian; akin to OS. likkn, D. likken, OHG. lecchn, G. lecken, Goth. bi-laign, Russ. lizate, L. lingere, Gr. lei`chein , Skr. lih, rih. &radic;121. Cf. Lecher, Relish.] 1. To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his master's hand. Addison.

2. To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk. Shak.

To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. "His enemies shall lick the dust." Ps. lxxii. 9. -- To lick into shape, to give proper form to; -- from a notion that the bear's cubs are born shapeless and subsequently formed by licking. Hudibras. -- To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon. South. - - To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to consume entirely. Shak. Num. xxii. 4.

Lick, n. [See Lick, v.] 1. A stroke of the tongue in licking. "A lick at the honey pot." Dryden.

2. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue, or of something which acts like a tongue; as, to put on colors with a lick of the brush. Also, a small quantity of any substance so applied. [Colloq.]

A lick of court whitewash.

Gray.

3. A place where salt is found on the surface of the earth, to which wild animals resort to lick it up; -- often, but not always, near salt springs. [U. S.]

Lick, v. t. [Cf. OSw. lägga to place, strike, prick.] To strike with repeated blows for punishment; to flog; to whip or conquer, as in a pugilistic encounter. [Colloq. or Low] Carlyle. Thackeray.

Lick, n. A slap; a quick stroke.[Colloq.] "A lick across the face." Dryden.

Lick"er (lk"r), n. [Cf. Lecher.] One who, or that which, licks.

Licker in (Carding Machine), the drum, or cylinder, by which the lap is taken from the feed rollers.

Lick"er*ish, a. [Cf. Lecherous.] 1. Eager; craving; urged by desire; eager to taste or enjoy; greedy. "The lickerish palate of the glutton." Bp. Hall.

2. Tempting the appetite; dainty. "Lickerish baits, fit to insnare a brute." Milton.

3. Lecherous; lustful. Robert of Brunne.

-- Lick"er*ish*ly, adv. -- Lick"er*ish*ness, n.

Lick"er*ous (-s), a. Lickerish; eager; lustful. [Obs.]

-- Lick"er*ous*ness, n. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lick"ing, n. 1. A lapping with the tongue.

2. A flogging or castigation. [Colloq. or Low]

Lick"pen`ny (-pn`n), n. A devourer or absorber of money. "Law is a lickpenny." Sir W. Scott.

Lick"-spig`ot (-spg`t), n. A tapster. [Obs.]

Lick"-spit`tle (-spt`t'l), n. An abject flatterer or parasite. Theodore Hook.

Lic"o*rice (lk"*rs), n. [OE. licoris, through old French, fr. L. liquiritia, corrupted fr. glycyrrhiza, Gr. glyky`rriza; glyky`s sweet + "ri`za root. Cf. Glycerin, Glycyrrhiza, Wort.] [Written also liquorice.] 1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Glycyrrhiza (G. glabra), the root of which abounds with a sweet juice, and is much used in demulcent compositions.

2. The inspissated juice of licorice root, used as a confection and for medicinal purposes.

Licorice fern (Bot.), a name of several kinds of polypody which have rootstocks of a sweetish flavor. -- Licorice sugar. (Chem.) See Glycyrrhizin. -- Licorice weed (Bot.), the tropical plant Scapania dulcis. -- Mountain licorice (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium alpinum), found in the Alps. It has large purplish flowers and a sweetish perennial rootstock. -- Wild licorice. (Bot.) (a) The North American perennial herb Glycyrrhiza lepidota. (b) Certain broad-leaved cleavers (Galium circæzans and G. lanceolatum). (c) The leguminous climber Abrus precatorius, whose scarlet and black seeds are called black-eyed Susans. Its roots are used as a substitute for those of true licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra).

Lic"o*rous (lk"*rs), a. See Lickerish. -- Lic"o*rous*ness, n. [Obs.] Herbert.

Lic"our (lk"r), n. Liquor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lic"tor (lk"tr), n. [L.] (Rom. Antiq.) An officer who bore an ax and fasces or rods, as ensigns of his office. His duty was to attend the chief magistrates when they appeared in public, to clear the way, and cause due respect to be paid to them, also to apprehend and punish criminals.

Lictors and rods, the ensigns of their power.

Milton.

Lid (ld), n. [AS. hlid, fr. hldan (in comp.) to cover, shut; akin to OS. hldan (in comp.), D. lid lid, OHG. hlit, G. augenlid eyelid, Icel. hlið gate, gateway. &radic;40.]

1. That which covers the opening of a vessel or box, etc.; a movable cover; as, the lid of a chest or trunk.

2. The cover of the eye; an eyelid. Shak.

Tears, big tears, gushed from the rough soldier's lid.

Byron.

3. (Bot.) (a) The cover of the spore cases of mosses. (b) A calyx which separates from the flower, and falls off in a single piece, as in the Australian Eucalypti. (c) The top of an ovary which opens transversely, as in the fruit of the purslane and the tree which yields Brazil nuts.

Lid"ded (ld"dd), a. Covered with a lid. Keats.

Lidge (lj), n. Same as Ledge.[Obs.] Spenser.

Lid"less (ld"ls), a. Having no lid, or not covered with the lids, as the eyes; hence, sleepless; watchful.

A lidless watcher of the public weal.

Tennyson.

Lie (l), n. See Lye.

Lie (l), n. [AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. lüge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood.] 1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive.

The proper notion of a lie is an endeavoring to deceive another by signifying that to him as true, which we ourselves think not to be so.

S. Clarke.

It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road.

Paley.

2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. Dryden.

3. Anything which misleads or disappoints.

Wishing this lie of life was o'er.

Trench.

To give the lie to. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give the lie to his words. -- White lie, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling.

Syn. -- Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception. -- Lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity.

Lie, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lied (ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Lying (l"ng).] [OE. lien, lien, leen, leoen, AS. leógan; akin to D. liegen, OS. & OHG. liogan, G. lügen, Icel. ljga, Sw. ljuga, Dan. lyve, Goth. liugan, Russ. lgate.] To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to say or do that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.

Lie, v. i. [imp. Lay (l); p. p. Lain (ln), (Lien (l"n), Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Lying.] [OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG. ligen, licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth. ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. le`chos bed, le`xasqai to lie. Cf. Lair, Law, Lay, v. t., Litter, Low, adj.] 1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; -- often with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin.

The watchful traveler . . . Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.

Dryden.

2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port.

3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves; the paper does not lie smooth on the wall.

4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; -- with in.

Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.

Collier.

He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.

Locke.

5. To lodge; to sleep.

Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . . . where I lay one night only.

Evelyn.

Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.

Dickens.

6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.

The wind is loud and will not lie.

Shak.

7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. "An appeal lies in this case." Parsons.

Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie.

To lie along the shore (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in sight. -- To lie at the door of, to be imputable to; as, the sin, blame, etc., lies at your door. -- To lie at the heart, to be an object of affection, desire, or anxiety. Sir W. Temple. -- To lie at the mercy of, to be in the power of. -- To lie by. (a) To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the manuscript lying by him. (b) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the heat of the day. -- To lie hard or heavy, to press or weigh; to bear hard. -- To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young. -- To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. "As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Rom. xii. 18. -- To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment. -- To lie in wait , to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush. -- To lie on or upon. (a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the result. (b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on. -- To lie low, to remain in concealment or inactive. [Slang] -- To lie on hand, To lie on one's hands, to remain unsold or unused; as, the goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much time lying on their hands. -- To lie on the head of, to be imputed to.

What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head.

Shak.

-- To lie over. (a) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due, as a note in bank. (b) To be deferred to some future occasion, as a resolution in a public deliberative body. -- To lie to (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as near the wind as possible as being the position of greatest safety in a gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. To bring to, under Bring. -- To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by. -- To lie with. (a) To lodge or sleep with. (b) To have sexual intercourse with. (c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.

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Lie (l), n. The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land or country. J. H. Newman.

He surveyed with his own eyes . . . the lie of the country on the side towards Thrace.

Jowett (Thucyd.).

Lie"ber*kühn (l"br*kn), n. [Named after a German physician and instrument maker, J. N. Lieberkühn.] (Optics) A concave metallic mirror attached to the object-glass end of a microscope, to throw down light on opaque objects; a reflector.

Lie"ber*kühn's glands` (l"br*knz glndz`). [See Lieberkühn.] (Anat.) The simple tubular glands of the small intestines; -- called also crypts of Lieberkühn.

||Lied (lt), n.; pl. Lieder (l"dr). [G.] (Mus.) A lay; a German song. ||It differs from the French chanson, and the Italian canzone, all ||three being national. || The German Lied is perhaps the most faithful reflection of the national sentiment.

Grove.

||Lie"der*ta`fel (l"dr*tä`f'l), n. [G., lit., a song table.] (Mus.) A ||popular name for any society or club which meets for the practice of ||male part songs. || Lief (lf), n. Same as Lif.

Lief (lf), a. [Written also lieve.] [OE. leef, lef, leof, AS. leóf; akin to OS. liof, OFries. liaf, D. lief, G. lieb, OHG. liob, Icel. ljfr, Sw. ljuf, Goth. liubs, and E. love. &radic;124. See Love, and cf. Believe, Leave, n., Furlough, Libidinous.] 1. Dear; beloved. [Obs., except in poetry.] "My liefe mother." Chaucer. "My liefest liege." Shak.

As thou art lief and dear.

Tennyson.

2. (Used with a form of the verb to be, and the dative of the personal pronoun.) Pleasing; agreeable; acceptable; preferable. [Obs.] See Lief, adv., and Had as lief, under Had.

Full lief me were this counsel for to hide.

Chaucer.

Death me liefer were than such despite.

Spenser.

3. Willing; disposed. [Obs.]

I am not lief to gab.

Chaucer.

He up arose, however lief or loth.

Spenser.

Lief, n. A dear one; a sweetheart. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lief, adv. Gladly; willingly; freely; -- now used only in the phrases, had as lief, and would as lief; as, I had, or would, as lief go as not.

All women liefest would Be sovereign of man's love.

Gower.

I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines.

Shak.

Far liefer by his dear hand had I die.

Tennyson.

The comparative liefer with had or would, and followed by the infinitive, either with or without the sign to, signifies prefer, choose as preferable, would or had rather. In the 16th century rather was substituted for liefer in such constructions in literary English, and has continued to be generally so used. See Had as lief, Had rather, etc. , under Had.

Lief"some (lf"sm), a. Pleasing; delightful. [Obs.]

Lieg"ance (l"jans), n. Same as Ligeance.