Let sleeping Aussies lie
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
let sleeping dogs lie
Avoid reviving a past conflict or issue
let sleeping dogs lie. (14th century)
Avoid discussing or stirring up a potentially controversial issue
let slide
to ignore or forgive someone's mistake
let slip
To accidentally reveal a secret or information
let someone down gently
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
let someone go
to release or dismiss someone from a job or relationship
let someone have it
to scold or punish someone severely
let something slip
Accidentally reveal a secret or piece of information
let that sink in
Give that information time to be fully understood and considered.
let the buyer beware
Buyers are responsible for ensuring goods are as expected
let the cat out
Or LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG, a common phrase, which implies that a secret is to be or has been let out.
let the chips fall where they may
To accept the consequences of a decision or action without trying to control them
Let the dead bury the dead (N.T.)
Focus on the living, not the past
let the grass grow under one's feet
to not take action or make progress
let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
let the punishment fit the crime
A penalty should match the severity of the offense
let them eat cake
to be indifferent to others' suffering
let things alone
to leave something unchanged or untouched
let things be
to leave a situation or problem alone without trying to change it
let this cup pass from me
To avoid a difficult or unpleasant situation
let this cup pass from me
Let this trouble or affliction be taken away, that I may not be compelled to undergo it; this cup is "full of the wine of God's fury," let me not be com- pelled to drink it. The reference is to Christ's agony in the garden (Matt, xxvi, 39).
let well alone
Do not interfere with something that is already satisfactory
let your hair down
Relax and be yourself
let's be having you
Come on, let's get moving or take action
let's get the party started
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
let's get this circus on the road
Let's start or continue this project or activity
let's not and say we did
To pretend something was done to avoid actually doing it
letch
A whim of the amorous kind, out of the common way.
letcha
Let you.
Letter of Credit
A letter written by a merchant or banker to another, requesting him to credit the bearer with certain sums of money. Circular Notes are letters of credit carried by travellers.
Letter of Licence
An instrument in writing made by a creditor, allowmg a debtor longer time for the payment of his debt.
Letter of Marque
A commission authorizing a privateer to make reprisals on a hostile nation till satisfaction for injury has been duly made. Marque is from Provencal marcar, Med. Lat. mar car et to seize as a pledge.
Letter of Safe Conduct
A writ under the Great Seal, guaranteeing safety to and fro to the person named in the passport.
Letter of Slains
In old Scottish law a petition to the Crown from the relatives of a murdered person, declaring that they have received satisfaction (assythmenf), and asking pardon for the murderer.
letters after one's name
Academic or professional qualifications
Letters Missive
An order from the Lord Chancellor to a peer to put in an appearance to a bill filed in chancery.
Letters of Administration
The legal instru- ment granted by the Probate Court to a person appointed administrator to one who has died intestate.
letters of fire and sword
Formerly in Scot- land if a criminal refused to answer his citation, it was accounted treason, and "letters of fire and sword" were sent to the sheriff, author- izing him to use either or both these instru- ments to apprehend the contumacious party.
Letters of Horning
In Scottish history, signed orders putting rebels to the horn. See HORN.
Letters of Junius
See JUNTOS. Letters Patent, or Overt. See PATENT.
Lettres de Cachet
See CACHET. Leucadia or Leucas GU ka' di a). One of the Ionian Islands, now known as Santa Maura. Here is the promontory from which Sappho threw herself into the sea when she found her love for Phaon was in vain.
letty
A bed. Italian, LETTO.—Lingua Franca.
Levant and Ponent Winds
The east wind is the Levant, and the west wind the Ponent. The former is from Lat. levare, to raise (sun- rise), and the latter from ponere, to set (sunset).
levanter
A card-sharper, or defaulting gambler. It was formerly the custom to give out to the creditors, when a person was in pecuniary difficulties, and it was convenient for him to keep away, that he was gone to the East, or the LEVANT; hence, when one loses a bet, and decamps without settling, he is said to LEVANT. The LEVANT was also a notorious place for queer customers, who would do anything rather than pay. Its reputation is not particularly odorous even now.
level best
to do something as well as one can
level off
to stop increasing or decreasing and remain steady
level to the ground
completely destroyed or demolished
level with
be honest or truthful with someone
LevSe en masse
A patriotic rising of a whole nation to defend their country.
levy
A shilling.—Liverpool. Among labourers a LEVY is a sum obtained before it is due, something to keep a man going till Saturday-night comes, or his task is finished.
Lewis and Clark
pioneers or explorers
Lewis Machine-gun
Named after an American Army officer and inventor, Isaac Newton Lewis (1858-1931), whose organizational system still dominates the artillery corps.
lexicon
Balatronicum; a Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence, by a Member of the Whip Club, assisted by Hell-fire Dick, 8vo. 1811.
Leyden Jar
A glass vessel partly coated, inside and out, with lead foil, and used to accumulate electricity; invented by Vanleigh, of Leyden, Holland, m 1745.
lezz
lesbian
lezzer
lesbian
lezzie
A lesbian.
lezzo
A lesbian.
libben
A private dwelling-house. CANT.