L

leap, v. spring, jump, vault, bound, caper, gambol, prance, cavort, curvet.

leap, n. spring, jump, vault, bound, capriole.

leaping, a. springing, jumping, salient, saltigrade, saltatory.

leaping, n. springing, saltation, salience.

leap year. bissextile.

learn, v. master, acquire knowledge.

learned, a. educated, erudite, lettered, scholarly.

learning, n. education, erudition, lore, scholarship, knowledge. Associated Words: savant, philomath, philomathy, misology, oracle, pedant, pedantry.

lease, v. let, demise, rent.

lease, n. letting, demise; tenure. Associated Words: lessee, lessor.

least, n. minimum. Associated Words: minimize, minimization.

least, a. smallest, minimum.

leather-burning, n. pyrography.

leathery, a. coriaceous, tough, alutaceous.

leave, n. permission; leave-taking, adieu, farewell, conge; withdrawal, retirement, departure, leaving, egress.

leave, v. depart from, vacate, retire from; abandon, forsake, desert; abstain from, forego, desist from, forbear; permit, allow, let; commit, give over, intrust, consign, deliver; will, bequeath, devise; depart, set out, start, go.

leaves, n. pl. foliage, leafage. See leaf.

leavetaking, n. farewell, valedictory, conge, adieu.

leavings, n. pl. remnants, fragments, offal, refuse, waste, scraps, culls, orts.

lecher, n. rake, libertine, whoremonger.

lechery, n. libertinism, licentiousness.

lecture, n. discourse, address, dissertation, prelection; reproof, scolding.

lecture, v. discourse, address; reprove, censure, rate, upbraid, scold.

ledge, n. shelf; reef, ridge (of rocks); layer, stratum, lode.

left, n. Associated Words: sinister, sinistral, sinistrality, sinistrorse, sinistrorsal, haw, port, larboard.

left-hand, a. sinister, left.

left-handed, a. sinister, ambilevous.

leg, n. limb, shank, shin; (bones of the leg) tibia, fibula, femur, thigh bone, epipodiale. Associated Words: crotch, hock, hough, solen, cradle, puttee, hip, thigh, haunch gyve, scarpines, calf, galligaskins, spatterdashes, leggings.

legacy, n. bequest, devise.

legal, a. lawful, legitimate. Antonym: illegal.

legality, n. lawfulness, legitimacy. Antonym: illegality.

legalize, v. legitimize. Antonyms: illegalize, illegitimize.

legate, n. ambassador, envoy, representative.

legation, n. embassy.

legend, n. fable, myth; posy, inscription, motto.

legendary, a. mythical, traditional.

legerdemain, n. jugglery, sleight of hand.

legible, a. readable, decipherable. Antonym: illegible.

legion, n. host, horde, army.

legions, n. pl. battalions, troops, soldiers.

legitimate, a. lawful. Antonym: illegitimate.

lemon, n. Associated Words: citric, citrine, citrination, citrus.

lend, v. loan.

lending, n. loan.

lengthen, v. extend, elongate, stretch, prolong, protract; expatiate, amplify.

lengthening, n. extension, elongation, protraction, prolongation.

lengthwise, adv. longitudinally.

lengthy, a. long, prolix, protracted, verbose.

lenient, a. compassionate. See merciful.

lenity, n. clemency, mercy, lenience.

Lent, n. Quadragesima.

lessen, v. reduce, diminish, minify, depreciate, minimize, decrease, mitigate, abate.

lessening, n. reduction, diminution, decrease, decrement, depreciation, mitigation, shrinkage, abatement.

Lesser Bear. Cynosure.

lesson, n. task, exercise.

let, v. allow, permit, suffer; lease, rent.

let, n. hindrance.

lethargy, n. drowsiness, stupor, unconsciousness.

letter, n. epistle, favor, missive, note; encyclic, encyclical, decretal (letter of the Pope). Associated Words: correspond, epistolical, epistolary, epistolean, epistolize, epistler, epistolar, epistolography, postscript.

letter, n. initial (first letter).

letter-carrier, n. postman, mail-carrier, courier, mail-man, postboy, post.

letter for letter. literatim.

letters, n. pl. correspondence.

letters; n. pl. learning, literature, erudition, humanities.

let-up, n. (Colloq.) abatement, assuagement, respite, subsidence.

let up. (Colloq.) abate, subside, diminish, intermit.

level, a. even, flat, plain, smooth, flush, plumb; horizontal; steady, impartial, well-balanced. Antonyms: undulating uneven, concave, convex, warped.

level, v. flatten, equalize, even, smooth, reduce; raze, reduce, overthrow, demolish; adapt, adjust.

lever, n. pry. Associated Words: fulcrum, purchase, prize, prizing.

leverage, n. purchase.

levity, n. lightness, buoyancy; gayety, frivolity.

lewd, a. unchaste, lustful, licentious, libidinous, lecherous, incontinent, ribald, lascivious, rakish, ruttish, salacious, concupiscent, wanton, lubricous, prurient, pornographic. Antonyms: chaste, modest, pure.

lewdness, n. unchastity, incontinence, lust, lechery, ribaldry, salacity, concupiscence, profligacy, lasciviousness. Antonyms: chastity, modesty, purity.

liability, n. exposure, accountability, responsibility, amenability Antonyms: immunity, exemption.

liabilities, n. pl. debts, obligations, indebtedness.

liable, a. exposed, subject, accountable, answerable, amenable, bound. Antonyms: exempt, immune.

libel, n. defamation, lampoon, roorback.

libel, v. defame (by some publication), lampoon.

libellous, a. defamatory, slanderous, calumnious.