luck of the draw
a situation where the outcome is determined by chance
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
luck out
To succeed or benefit by chance
luck penny
A trifle returned to a purchaser for good luck; also a penny with a hole in it, supposed to ensure good luck.
luck through
to succeed due to luck
lucky
"to cut one’s LUCKY," to go away quickly. See STRIKE.
lucky break
An unexpected and fortunate event or opportunity
lucky dip
an event or situation where the outcome is uncertain
lucky dog
A person who has unexpectedly good fortune
lucky duckling
a person who is unusually lucky
lucky star
A person or thing that brings good fortune
Lud's Town
London; so called from King Lud. And on the gates of Lud's town set your heads. SHAKESPEARE: Cymbeline, iv, 2.
ludlam’s dog
An indolent, inactive person is often said to be "as lazy as LUDLAM’S DOG, which leaned its head against the wall to bark." Sailors say "as lazy as Joe the Marine, who laid down his musket to sneeze."
lug
"my togs are in LUG," i.e., in pawn.
lug chovey
A pawnbroker’s shop.
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea
twin gods of the underworld
lugs
Ears or wattles. See WATTLES.
luke
Nothing.—North Country Cant.
Luke's Iron Crown
A symbol of political tyranny. The lifted axe, the agonising wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel, To men remote from power but rarely known, Leave reason, faith, and conscience all our own. GOLDSMITH: The Traveller* 435.
lully
Wet or drying linen.
lully prigger
A rogue who steals wet clothes hung on lines to dry.
lully triggers
Thieves who steal wet linen. Cant.
lumber
Live lumber; soldiers or passengers on board a ship are so called by the sailors.
lumber
To pawn or pledge. Probably from LOMBARD.
lumber house
A house appropriated by thieves for the reception of their stolen property.
lumber troop
A club or society of citizens of London.
lumbered
Trapped, encumbered.
lumbered
Pawned; sometimes imprisoned.
lump
Anything exceptionally large, "as a LUMP of a man," "a great LUMP of a fellow," &c.
lump in one's throat
a feeling of sadness or emotional tension
lump it
to accept something unpleasant
lump it
To dislike it; "if you don’t like it, you may LUMP IT;" sometimes varied to, "if you don’t like it, you may do the other thing." Probably from the fact that, in bulk or in lump, the good has to be taken with the bad. What you don’t like must be reckoned with the LUMP. To LUMP IT is also to take off at a draught, as medicine or a dram. "He LUMPED IT down at once."
lump of coke
A bloke—vulgar term for a man.
lump to one's throat
To feel a strong emotion, often sadness, that makes it hard to speak.
lump work
Work contracted for, or taken by the LUMP.
lumpatious
Hideous.
lumper
A contractor. On the river more especially a person who contracts to deliver a ship laden with timber.
lumpers
Persons who contract to unload ships; also thieves who lurk about wharfs to pilfer goods from ships, lighters, &c.
lumping
Great. A lumping penny worth; a great quantity for the money, a bargain. He has'got a lumping penny-worth; frequently said of a man who marries a fat woman.
lumpy
Intoxicated. Also used to signify enceinte.
luncheon truncheon
The penis.
lurch
To be left in the lurch; to be abandoned by one's confederates or party, to be left in a scrape.
lurch
A term at the game of cribbage. A is said to LURCH B when the former attains the end, or sixty-first hole, of the board before the latter has pegged his thirty-first hole; or, in more familiar words, before B has turned the corner. A LURCH sometimes, and then only by agreement, counts as a double game or rub.
lurched
Those who lose a game of whist, without scoring five, are said to be lurched.
lurcher
A lurcher of the law; a bum bailiff, or his setter.
lurk
A swindle.
lurk
A sham, swindle, or representation of feigned distress. An imposition of any kind is a LURK.
lurker
An impostor who travels the country with false certificates of fires, shipwrecks, &c. Also, termed a SILVER BEGGAR, which see.
lurries
Money, watches, rings, or other moveables.
lush
Intoxicating drinks of all kinds, but generally used for beer. It is generally allowed, as has been stated, that LUSH and its derivatives claim Lushington, the brewer, as sponsor.
lush it up
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
lushed
Drunk.
lushey
Drunk. The rolling kiddeys hud a spree, and got bloody lushey; the dashing lads went on a party of pleasure, and got very drunk.
lushington
A drunkard, or one who continually soaks himself with lush. Some years since there was a LUSHINGTON CLUB in Bow Street, Covent Garden.
lushy
Intoxicated. Johnson says, "opposite to pale," so red with drink. He must, however, have been wrong, as the foregoing derivation shows.
Lutine Bell
H.M.S. Lutine, a French warship that had been captured and put into service by the British, sailed from Yarmouth for Holland on October 9th, 1799, with bullion and specie to the value of some £500,000. That same night she was wrecked on a sandbank off the Zuyder Zee, with the loss of every soul on board save one, who died as soon as rescued. It was a black day for Lloyd's under- writers.
Lydford Law
Punish first and try afterwards. Lydford, in the county of Devon, was a fortified town, where were held the courts of the Duchy of Cornwall. Offenders against the stannary laws were confined before trial in a dungeon so loathsome and dreary that they frequently died before they could be brought to trial. Cp. CUPAR JUSTICE.
lying for the whetstone
Said of a person who is grossly exaggerating or falsifying a statement. One of the Whitsun amusements of our forefathers was the lie-wage or lie-match; he who could tell the greatest lie was rewarded with a whetstone to sharpen his wit.
lylo
Come hither.—Anglo-Chinese.
Lynch Law
Mob-law, law adminis- tered by private persons. The origin of the term is unknown; none of the suggested derivations from James Lynch or Justice Lynch having any foundation in fact.
lynch-law
Summary punishment. From an American judge famous for hanging first and trying afterwards.
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