labes
Labia.
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labor of love
A task done with great care and dedication, often without expectation of reward.
Labour's Lost
They are — Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus; Hector, Alexander, and Julius Caesar; Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.
lac
One hundred thousand.—Anglo-Indian.
Lac of Rupees
One hundred thousand rupees. The nominal value of the Indian rupee is 2s., and at this rate of exchange a lac of rupees is equivalent to £10,000. Its value varies, how- ever, according to the market value of silver.
laced
Strengthened with ardent spirits. Tea or coffee in which brandy is poured is said to be LACED.
laced mutton
An old woman dressed to appear younger
Laced Mutton
See MUTTON. Tea or coffee laced with spirits, a cup of tea or coffee qualified with brandy or whisky.
Lacedaemonian Letter
The Greek t (iota), the smallest of the letters. See JOT. Laches Gash' iz). A legal term, from the Old French laschesse, meaning negligence, especi- ally any inexcusable delay in making a claim.
lacing
Beating. I'll lace your jacket handsomely.
lacing
A beating. From the phrase, "I’ll lace your jacket."—L’Estrange. Perhaps to give a beating with a lace or lash. Perhaps, also, a figurative phrase for ornamenting the article in question with stripes.
ladder
To go up the ladder to rest; to be hanged.
ladder
"can’t see a hole in a LADDER," said of any one who is intoxicated. It was once said that a man was never properly drunk until he could not lie down without holding, could not see a hole through a LADDER, or went to the pump to light his pipe.
ladies and gentlemen
a polite way to address a mixed audience
ladies' man
A man who is charming and attractive to women
Ladies' Plate
Formerly, a horse-race in which the riders were women. Naked Lady. See NAKED.
ladies’ mile
That part of Hyde Park where the feminine beauty, rank, and fashion most do congregate during the airing hours of the London season.
lady
A crooked or hump-backed woman.
Lady Bountiful
The benevolent lady of a village. The character is from Farquhar's Beaux Stratagem (1707).
Lady Chapel
The small chapel east of the altar, or behind the screen of the high altar; dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
lady garden
a polite term for a woman's genital area
Lady Margaret Professor
The holder of the Chair of Divinity, founded hi 1502, at Cam- bridge by Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443- 1509), the mother of Henry VII, who also founded Christ's (1505) and St. John's Colleges (1508).
lady of easy virtue
A woman of the town, an impure, a prostitute.
lady or tiger
a difficult choice between two unpleasant options
lady's curtsy
A relic of the ancient custom of women going on the knee to men of rank and power, originally to beg mercy, afterwards to acknowledge superiority.
lady's man
A man who is charming and attractive to women
Lady's Smock
A common name for the Cuckoo-flower or garden cress (Cardamwe pratensis), also sometimes applied to the convolvulus, Canterbury bells, and other flowers.
ladybirds
Light or lewd women.
laffy taffy
The vagina.
lag
A man transported. The cove was lagged for a drag. The man was transported for stealing something out of a waggon.
lag
A returned transport, or ticket-of-leave convict.
lag fever
A term of ridicule applied to men who being under sentence of transportation, pretend illness, to avoid being sent from gaol to the hulks.
lagged
Imprisoned, apprehended, or transported for a crime. From the Old Norse, LAGDA, "laid,"—laid by the leg.
lagger
A sailor. Also, one who gives evidence; an informer.
lagging gage
A chamber-pot.—Ancient Cant.
laid on one's back
Laid up with chronic ill-health; helpless.
laid up in lavender
Taken great care of, laid away, as things are put in lavender to keep off moths.
Lake Dwellings
Prehistoric human dwellings on certain lakes in Switzerland, Ireland, etc., built on piles at then* shallow edges.
lakes and streams
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Lalla Rookh
In Thomas Moore*s poem of that name (1817), the supposed daughter of Aurungzebe, Emperor of Delhi, betrothed to Aliris, Sultan of Lesser Bucharia.
lam out
Leave, depart; to run away from someone or something.
lamb's wool
Apples roasted and put into strong ale.
lamb's wool
A beverage consisting of the juice of apples roasted with spiced ale.
lambasting
A beating. Perhaps LUMB-BASTING, from the lumbar-regions.
Lambeth Palace
The official residence of the archbishops of Canterbury since 1197. The palace was built by Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1193-1205.
lambskin men
The judges: from their robes lined and bordered with ermine.
lamebrain
A fool.
lamestream
Mainstream.
Lammas Day
August 1st; one of tfae regular quarte-r days in Scotland, and in England the day on, which, in Anglo-Saxon times, the first-fruits were offered. So called from A.S. hlaf masse, the loaf-mass. See also LLEW LLAW GYEFES.
lamming
A beating.—Old English, LAM; used by Beaumont and Fletcher. Not as Sir Walter Scott supposed, from one Dr. Lamb, but from the Old Norse, LAM, the hand; also, Gaelic.
Lamourette's Kiss
A term used in France (baiser Lamourette) to denote an in- sincere or ephemeral reconciliation. On July 7th, 1792, the Abb6 Lamourette induced the different factions of the Legislative Assembly to lay aside their differences and give the kiss of peace; but the reconciliation was unsound and very short-lived.
lamp
An eye. The cove has a queer lamp. The man has a blind or squinting eye.
Lancelot du Lac
One of the earliest romances of the Round Table (1494). Sir Lancelot was the son of King Ban of Brittany, but was stolen in infancy by Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake (<?.v.
land
How lies the land? How stands the reckoning? Who has any land in Appleby? a question asked the man at whose door the glass stands long, or who does not circulate it in due time.
land and sea
by both land and water
land grabber
A common expression in Ireland during the last two decades of the 19th century, to signify one who takes the farm or land of an evicted tenant. The corresponding phrase in the 18th century was Land Pirate.
land in someone's lap
To be given or fall into someone's responsibility or possession unexpectedly
Land League
An association of Irish extremists formed in Ireland in 1879 to agitate for the reduction, or abolition, of rent, introduction of peasant proprietorship, and the settlement of the land question generally.
land legs
to regain balance and stability on land after being at sea
land of opportunity
A place with many chances to succeed or improve one's life