ladle 
see tate 1 .] 1. A long-handled dish-shaped 
utensil for dipping or conveying liquids. Ladles 
for domestic uses are made in many forms and of a variety 
of materials. One form of foundry-ladle of iron, techni- 
cally called a shank, for conveying molten metal from the 
furnace to the mold, hasopposite handles fortwo men, one 
of them furnished with a cross-bar at the end for tilting 
the ladle to pour out the metal. For very large work such 
foundry-ladles are moved by p, crane. 
A ladfl bygge, with a long stele [handle]. 
That cast for to kele a crokke, and saue the fatte aboue. 
Piers Plowman (C), xxii. 279. 
A Ladle for our Silver Dish 
Is what 1 want, is what I wish. 
Prior, The Ladle. 
2. A similarly shaped instrument for drawing a 
charge from a cannon. 3. The float-board of a 
mill-wheel; a ladle-board. 4. Inglass-manuf., 
same as cuvette, 2. Babbitting ladle. See babbitt- 
ing. Paying ladle, or pitch-ladle, an iron ladle with a 
long nose or spout, used for pouring melted pitch into the 
seams of a ship after they are calked. 
ladle (la'di), v. t. ; pret. and pp. ladled, ppr. la- 
dling. [< ladle, .] To lift or dip with a ladle ; 
lade. 
Daly's business was to ladle out the punch. 
T. Hook, Gilbert Qurney. 
Ladled glass. Same as \culleti. 
ladle-board (la'dl-bord), n. The float-board of 
a mill-wheel. 
ladleful (la'dl-ful), n. [< ladle + -/M/.] The 
quantity which a ladle holds when full. 
ladle-furnace (la'dl-fer"nas), n. A small gas- 
furnace heated by a Bunsen jet or burner, and 
usually provided with a support for a small 
ladle and a sheet-iron jacket for concentrating 
the heat upon the ladle : used in shops and lab- 
oratories for melting small quantities of easi- 
ly fusible metals and alloys, as zinc, tin, lead, 
solder, type-metal, Babbitt metal, etc. 
ladle-Shell (la'dl-shel), n. One of the several 
large whelks or similar shells, as species of the 
genus Fulgwr or Sycotypus, which are or may 
be used as ladles in bailing: out boats, etc. [Lo- 
cal, U. S.] 
ladlewood (la'dl-wud), n. The wood of the 
tree Hartogia Capensis. 
ladronet (la-dron'), n. [< Sp. ladron = Pg. la- 
drSto = It. ladrone = OF. laron, larron (> E. obs. 
larron), < L. latro(n-), a robber; in earlier use 
a hireling, mercenary soldier: see larceny.'] A 
thief; robber; highwayman; rogue. 
Was ever man of my great birth and fortune 
Affronted thus? I am become the talk 
Of every picaro and ladron. 
Shirley, The Brothers, v. S. 
lad's-love (ladz'luv), n. A name of the southern- 
wood, Artemisia Abrotannm. [Prov. Eng.] 
She gathered a piece of southernwood. . . . "Whatten 
you call this in your country?" asked she. "Old man," 
replied Ruth. " We call it here lad's-loce. " 
Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, xviii. 
lady (la'di), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also ladye, 
ladle, < ME. lai-edi, leredy, levedi, Icfdye, lefdi, 
laevedi, etc., < AS. lilcefdige, later Jiliefdie, a lady, 
mistress; a fern, corresponding to hlaford (orig. 
*hlafweard), lord, and prob. directly derived 
from it, with contraction, namely < hlaford + 
-ige, for -ie, fern, formative. The supposed for- 
mationjC Jildf, loaf, bread, -I- -dige, connected 
with daigee, a kneader, from the root of ddh, 
dough, namely that seen in Goth, digan, or dei- 
gan, knead (see dough), is improbable. In ME. 
the genitive or possessive is usually lady, as in 
the first quotation under def . 3 ; hence the use in 
Lady-day, and other compounds where lady is 
orig. possessive. In some of these compounds, 
and in various plant-names, lady(or lady's) orig. 
referred to the Virgin Mary.] I. n. ; pi. ladies 
(-diz). 1. A woman who has authority over a 
manor or family; the mistress of a household: 
the feminine correlative to lord. 
And ye knowe wele also that she is oon of the beste la- 
dies of the worlde, and oon of the wisest. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.X i. 84. 
Of all these bounds . . . 
We make thee lad y. Shak., Lear, L 1. 67. 
The Ladye of Branksome greets thee by me, 
Says that the fated hour is come. 
Scott, L. of L. JL, U. 4. 
2. [cap.] Specifically, in Great Britain, the prop- 
er title of any woman whose husband is higher 
in rank than baronet or knight, or who is the 
daughter of a nobleman not lower than an earl, 
though the title is given by courtesy also to the 
wives of baronets and knights; also, the femi- 
nine title correlative originally to Lord, and 
now also to Sir. 
You shall have two noble partners with you ; the old 
Duchess of Norfolk, and Lady Marquess Dorset. 
'Shak., Hen. VIII., v. 3. 169. 
ladyfly 
prob. orig. as a var. of ladybug."] 1. A beetle 
of the family Coccinellidte, order Coleoptera, so 
called from its graceful form and delicate col- 
oration. The eggs are laid in small clusters, and the 
larvse are for the most part carnivorous, feeding upon 
plant-lice, bark-lice, and small insects of all sorts ; one, 
however, eats the leaves of plants. The adult beetles are 
in the main predaceous, but sometimes feed upon pollen. 
The pupa is usually formed within the last larval skin, 
which is suspended by its anal end to some leaf or other 
object. The pupse and also the larvre of some species 
have 'been known to winter over, but the beetles usually 
hibernate. The species are very numerous ; those figured, 
Coccinclla picta (see under Coccinellidce), C. munda, C. 
novem-notata, Meyilla maculata, Anatis quindecim-punc- 
tata, are all common in the United States. Also called 
ladybug, ladyclock, ladycow, ladyjly. 
2. The pintail duck, Dajila acuta: so called 
from its graceful form. Sev.C.Swaineon. [Dub- 
lin Bay.] 3f. A lady-love; a sweetheart: of- 
ten used as a term of endearment. 
What, lamb! what, lady-bird! 
God forbid ! Where's this girl? What, Juliet ! 
Shak., H. and J., i. 3. 3. 
Is that your new ruff, sweet lady-bird f By my truth, 
'tis most intricately rare. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Bevels, iL 1. 
ladybug (la'di-bug), . A ladybird : the more 
common name in the United States and in some 
parts of England. 
The Americans are not alone hi referring to insects as 
" bugs," for in many parts of England we have the "lady- 
bug" (lady-bird), "May-bug" (cockchafer), and "June- 
bug " (green beetle). Athenaeum, No. 3222, p. 140. 
lady-cat (la'di-kat), n. The large channel cat- 
fish of the United States, Ictalwus punctatus. 
It attains a weight of 5 to 15 pounds, and is 
much esteemed for food. 
lady-chair (la'di -char), . Same as king's- 
cushion. 
Tina insisted on reading this with us, just as of old she 
Insisted on being carried in a lady chair over to our wood- 
land study in the island. H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 430. 
ladyclock (la'di-klok), n. [< lady + ctocfc*, 
q. v.] Same as ladybird, 1. [Prov. Eng.] 
That was only a lady-clock, child, flying away home. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xxiil. 
lady-cockle (la'di-kok*l), n. See cockle"*. 
lady-court (la'di-kort), . The court of a lady 
of the manor. 
ladycow (la'di-kou), n. Same as ladybird, 1. 
lady-crab (la'di-krab), n. The commonest edi- 
ble crab of the United States, Callinectes hasta- 
tus, upon the carapace of which is traceable an 
outline like that of a woman's bust: extended 
to various other swimming- and sand-crabs, as 
Platyonychus ocellatus. See cut under Platyo- 
nychus. 
Lady-day (la'di-da), n. The day on which is 
held the festival of the Annunciation of the 
Virgin Mary, March 25th. See annunciation. 
And vpon Saterdaye, our Ladye daye at nyght afore- 
sayde, we made sayle. 
Sir R. Ouylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 15. 
I return to town next Friday, and leave it for good on 
Lady-day. Sydney Smith, To Francis Jeffrey. 
lady-fern (la'di-fern), n. An elegant fern, As- 
plenium Filix-fcemina, widely diffused, in nu- 
merous varieties, through the northern temper- 
ate zone. Its rootstock is crowned with a cluster of 
bipinnate broadly lanceolate fronds, commonly from 1 to 
3 feet high. 
ladyfinger (la'di-fing // ger), n. See lady's-finger. 
ladyfish (la'di-fish), n. 1. A fish, Albula wi- 
pes, of the family Albulidte, of a brilliant silvery 
3328 
Certain Ladies were expelled the Court, as the Lady 
Poynings, the Lady Mouh'ng, and others, bound to ap- 
pear at the next Parliament. Baker, Chronicles, p. 145. 
3. In the days of chivalry, the woman chosen 
by a knight or squire as the object of his espe- 
cial service, his feats of arms being done in 
her honor, and his success ascribed to her in- 
fluence. 
And he [the squire] hadde ben somtyme in chivachie, . . . 
And born him wel, as of so litel space, 
In hope to stonden in his lady grace. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 88. 
But thou that hast no lady canst not fight. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
4. A woman of good family and of established 
social position, or one accepted as such: a re- 
stricted sense correlative to gentleman in like 
use. 
She was born, in our familiar phrase, a lady, and from 
the beginning, throughout a long life, she was surrounded 
with perfect ease of circumstance. 
Harper's Hag., LXXVII. 960. 
5. A woman of good breeding, education, and 
refinement of mind and manner: a general 
sense correlative to gentleman in like use: in 
common speech used indiscriminately as a syn- 
onym for woman (a use generally vulgar, and 
to be avoided except in address). See gentle- 
man, 4. 
A lovely Ladie rode him f aire beside. 
Upon a lowly Asse more white then snow. 
Spenser, F. Q., L L 4. 
Her artists were quick to give fine expression to the 
new moods of the Middle Ages ; her gentlemen were the 
first in Europe, and the first modern ladies were Venetian. 
C. E. Norton, Church-building in Middle Ages, p. 40. 
1 admit that our abuse of the word isvillanous. I know 
of an orator who once said, in a public meeting where bon- 
nets preponderated, that "thetadfes were lastat the cross 
and first at the tomb " ! Lowell, Biglow Papers, Int. 
6. A wife ; a man's spouse : used in this sense 
always with direct reference to the husband: 
as, John Smith and lady. [Formerly in com- 
mon use, but now regarded as inelegant.] 
Mr. Bertram asked his lady one morning at breakfast 
whether this was not little Harry's birth-day. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, ix. 
" Hope you and your good lady are well " [said Colonel 
Sprowle.J 0. W. Holmes, Elsie Venner, vii. 
7. A sweetheart. [Local, U. S.] 8. A slate 
measuring about 16 inches long by 10 broad. 
9. The calcareous apparatus in the cardiac part 
of the stomach of the lobster, the function of 
which is the trituration of the food Congrega- 
tion of Our Lady of Calvary. See congregation. Eng- 
lish Ladles. See Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
under institute. Greeting or salutation of Our Lady t, 
the Annunciation. Ladles' companion, a small port- 
able reticule or bag of stiff material, arranged to hold im- 
plements for women's work, with gloves, purse, handker- 
chief, etc. Ladles' man, a man who is fond of the soci- 
ety of women, and is zealous in paying them petty at- 
tentions. Ladles of the bedchamber. See bedcham- 
ber. Lady bell. Same as angelus bell (which see, under 
belli). Lady chapel, in a large church built for Roman 
Catholic use, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, gen- 
erally placed behind the high altar, at the extremity of the 
apse or the eastern end of the church. In churches built 
before the thirteenth century the Lady chapel is often a 
separate building. The use of the name is modern. See 
cut under cathedral. Lady Of the laket, a kept mis- 
tress. [Old slang.] 
All women would be of one piece 
But for the difference marriage makes 
'Twixt wives and ladies of the lakes. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, III. 1. 868. 
Lady with twelve flounces, the goldfinch, Carduelis ele- 
gant. [Shropshire, Eng.] Leading lady. See leading. 
Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Dolors. See 
Dolors of the Virgin Mary, under dolor. Our Lady Of 
Heaven's hent. See Acni. Our Lady's bedstraw. 
See bedstraw, 2(o). Our Lady's Ellwand. See ellwand, 2. 
II. a. Of a lady ; ladylike. 
ladybird (la'di-berd), n. [< lady, with ref. to 
"Our Lady," i. e. the Virgin Mary, + bircfl-; 
Ladj-fish, or Bone-fish (Allmta vu/fes). 
(From Report of U. S. Fish Commission, 1884. ) 
color, abundant in tropical seas, and quite gamy, 
but of little value as food. 2. A labroid fish; 
Harpe rttfa, with 12 dorsal spines, continuous 
lateral line, scaly cheeks and opercles, base of 
dorsal fin scaly, and posterior canines. It is a 
common West Indian fish, occurring also along 
the Florida coast, and of beautiful color. More 
fully called Spanish ladyfish; also doncella. 
3. The skipper or saury, Scomberesox saunis. 
a. larva of Mys ia or Anatis quindtcim-functata; t, pupa of lady-fluke (la'di-flok), U. The halibut. [PrOV. 
same ; c, first joint of larva, enlarged ; d, beetle ; c. nine-spotted Eni? ~\ 
ladybird (CoccineUa novtm-notata] ; /, trim ladybird (C. munda} ; -, j^'a 
f, spotted ladybird (Mefilla Maculala). (Lines show natural sizes.) ladyfly (la dl-fll), II. Same as ladybird, 1. 
