lafayette 
tending obliquely forward, and a distinct spot on the 
shoulder. Although of small size, it is much esteemed 
for the savoriness of its flesh. Also known as goody, old- 
wife, and spot. 
2. A stromateoid fish, Stromateus triacanthus; 
the butter-fish, dollar-fish, or harvest-fish. See 
cut under butter-fish. 
lafet, n. A Middle English form of lave 3 . 
laff 1 , v. An obsolete or dialectal spelling of 
lauqh. 
laffs (laf), n. A fish of the family Synanceidce, 
Synanceia verrucosa, of an oblong form, with a 
monstrous cuboid head, warty skin, and a dor- 
sal with 13 pungent spines and 6 rays. The dor- 
sal spines are grooved and connected with an ovoid poi- 
son-gland. The flah is consequently much dreaded. It 
inhabits the Indian ocean, and is called laf or mud-la/ 
at Mauritius. Als called fi-fi. 
When a la/ is discovered, the wary fisherman, knowing 
it to be a sluggish flsh, not likely to move quickly, creeps 
slowly up to it, and stooping down lowers his hand gently 
till it is below the level of the mouth, when with a sudden 
jerk he clutches it by the lower jaw and draws it up. 
Set. Amer., N. S., LX. 227. 
Laffitte (la-fit'), n. See Chdteau Laffitte, under 
chdteau. 
laft 1 !. A Middle English preterit and past par- 
ticiple of leave 1 . 
Iaft2 (laft), n. A dialectal (Scotch) form of 
loft. 
I ... observed a peeress from her seat in front of the 
laft opposite to me, speaking vehemently to a fat lord at 
the table below. Oalt, The Steam-Boat, p. 220. 
lafter (lafter), n. [Also latter, lawter, latter, 
lighter, Sc. lachter, lauchter, a number of eggs 
laid,< Icel. Idttr, I0.tr, the place where animals, 
esp. seals, whales, etc., lay their young, < liggja 
(pret. Id), lie, > lag, a laying, etc., leggja,\&y : see 
lie 1 , lay 1 . Lafter stands for lauchter, for *laugli- 
ter, and is related to lie 1 , lay 1 , as slaughter to 
slay 1 . ] The number of eggs laid by a hen before 
she sits. Halliwell. [North. Eng.] 
lag 1 (lag), a. and n. [Prob. < W. Hag, slack, 
loose, sluggish, languid, = Corn, lac, loose, re- 
miss, = Gael, lag, feeble ; cf . L. laxits, loose, lax 
(see lax 1 ), languere, be weak or languid: see lan- 
guid 1 , languish. Icel. lakra, lag, is appar. con- 
nected with lakr, defective, and thus with E. 
lack 1 : see lack 1 .] I.t a. 1. Slow; tardy; late; 
coming after or behind. 
Some tardy cripple bore the countermand, 
That came too lag to see him buried. 
Shak., Eich. III., ii. 1. 90. 
2. Long delayed; last. 
I could be well content 
To entertain the lag-end of my life 
With quiet hours. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., v. 1. 24. 
We prevent 
The loathsome misery of age, beguile 
The gout and rheum, that in lag hours attend 
For grey approachers. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 4. 
II. n. If. One who or that which comes be- 
hind; the last comer; one who hangs back. 
What makes my ram the lag of all the flock ? 
Pope, Odyssey, ix. 526. 
2f. The lowest class ; the rump ; the fag-end. 
The senators of Athens, together with the common lag 
of people. Shak., T. of A., Hi. 6. 89. 
3. In mech., the amount of retardation of some 
movement : as, the lay of the valve of a steam- 
engine. 
No unexceptionable experimental proof has ever been 
given that there is any such thing as a true magnetic lag; 
the apparent magnetic sluggishness of thick masses of 
iron is demonstrably due to internal induced currents. 
S. P. Thompson, Dynamo-Elect. Much., p. 74. 
4. In inach., one of the strips which form the 
periphery of a wooden drum, the casing of a 
carding-machine,or the lagging or covering of a 
steam-boiler or -cylinder. 5. An old convict. 
[Australia.] 
At last he fell in with two old lags who had a deadly 
grudge against the captain. 
C. Reade, Never too Late to Mend, be. 
Hang lagt. See hang, v. i. 
lag 1 (lag), v.; pret. and pp. lagged, ppr. lagging. 
[< lag 1 , a.] I. intrans. To move slowly; fall 
behind; hang back; loiter; linger. 
Now in the rearward comes the duke and his ; 
Fortune in favour makes him lag behind. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., iii. 3. 34. 
Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage. 
Johnson, Vanity of Human Wishes. 
To this, Idomeneus : The fields of fight 
Have prov'd thy valour, and unconquer'd might ; 
And were some ambush for the foes design'd, 
Ev'n there, thy courage would not lag behind. 
Pope, Iliad, xlii. 
II. trans. If. To slacken. 
The hunter with an arrow wounded him in the leg, 
which made him to halt and lag his flight. 
Heyu-ood, Hierarchy of Angels (1635X p. 98. 
3330 
2. To clothe, as a steam-boiler, to prevent ra- 
diation of heat. 
One [cylinder] which is well lagged or covered with non- 
conducting material. Encyc. Brit., XXII. 488. 
3. To bring into the hands of justice ; cause to 
be punished for a crime. [Low slang.] 
" He is my brother on one side of the house, at least," 
said Lord Etherington, "and I should not much like to have 
him lagged for forgery." Scott, St. Eonan's Well, xxxi. 
They'll ask no questions after him, for fear they should 
be obliged to prosecute, and so get him lagged. 
Dickens, Oliver Twist, xvi. 
Iag 2 t (lag), v. t. [Origin obscure.] To take; 
steal. [Old slang.] 
Some corne away lag 
In bottle and bag ; 
Some steele for a jest 
Eggs out of the nest. 
Ttisser, Husbandrie, November's Abstract. 
lagamant, lagemant, n. [< ML. (AL.) laga- 
mannus, lagemannus, < ME. lageman, lagamon, 
lahman, <AS. lahmann, a lawman: see lawman.] 
In old Eng. law, a man vested with or at least 
qualified for the exercise of jurisdiction, or sac 
and soc. See lawman. 
lagam-balsam (lag'am-baFsam), n. The pro- 
duct of an unknown tree of Sumatra, closely 
resembling gurjun-balsam. 
lagan (la'gan), n. See ligan. 
lagartot (la-gar' to), n. [Sp., a lizard, an alli- 
gator: see alligarta, alligator.] An alligator. 
We saw in it [the Orinoco] divers sorts of strange fishes 
of marvellous bigness, but for lagartos it excelled. 
Raleigh, Discovery of Guiana. (E. Z>.) 
Lagascea (la-gas 'e-a),. [NL. (Cavanilles, 
1800), after Prof. %/l"Lagasca, director of the 
Botanical Garden at Madrid.] A genus of com- 
posite plants of the tribe Helianthoideai, type of 
the subtribe Lagascew, remarkable in having 
only a single flower in a head, but the heads 
themselves aggregated into a subglobose glom- 
erule, and the proper involucre united into a 
5-cleft tube. They are hairy or scabrousherbs or shrubs 
with entire or dentate opposite leaves, or the upper alter- 
nate, and white, yellow, or red flowers. Eight species are 
known, all natives of Mexico and Central America, one 
of which (L. mMis), however, is also found throughout 
nearly the whole of tropical America, and has become 
naturalized in many tropical countries of the eastern 
hemisphere. 
Lagasceese(lag-a-se'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (Bentham 
and Hooker, 1873), <! Lagascea + -eos.] A sub- 
tribe of heliauthoid composite plants, consist- 
ing of the anomalous genus Lagascea. 
lag-bellied (lag'beFid), a. Having a slack, 
drooping belly. 
From the lag-bellied toad 
To the mammoth. Hood, Lycus the Centaur. 
laget, '' t. [Origin obscure.] To wash. [Old 
slang.] 
laget, n. [< lage, r.] Poor, thin drink. [Old 
slang.] 
I bowse no lage, but a whole gage 
Of this I bowse to you. Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 
lagemant, n. See lagaman. 
lagena (la-je'na), ra.; pi. lagence (-ne). [L., also 
written lagosna, lagcena, lagona ; < Gr. Adywof (in 
late writers also Ady^vof, after L.), a flask, bot- 
tle.] 1. (a) In Rom. antiq., a wine-vase; an am- 
phora. (6) A vase of bottle-shaped form, gen- 
erally in unfamiliar wares, as Levantine, Per- 
sian, or the like. 2. The saccular extremity of 
the cochlea in some of the vertebrates below 
mammals, as a bird, where ramify the ultimate 
filaments of the auditory nerve. 3. [cap."] In 
2067. : (a) The typical genus of Lagenidos. Forms 
of foraminifers referred to this genus are found from 
the Carboniferous to the present period. (6) A genus 
or subgenus of mollusks of the family Fascio- 
lariidas. 
Lagenaria (laj-e-na'ri-a), . [NL., < L. lagena, 
a flask, + -aria. ] A genus of plants of the natu- 
ral order Cucurbitaceoe. There is only one species, L. 
vulgaris, which occurs throughout tropical and subtropical 
Asia and Africa, where it is commonly cultivated. It is a 
downy annual climbing herb, with broad leaves and large 
white flowers. The fruit is extremely variable in size and 
shape; it is known as the bottle- , club-, or trumpet-gourd. 
See gourd. 
Lagenidse (la-jen'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Lagena 
+ -idoe.] A family of perforate foraminifers, 
typified by the genus Lagena. The test is calcare- 
ous, and either monothalamous or consisting of a number 
of chamberlets joined in a straight, curved, spiral, alternat- 
ing, or(rarely) branching series. The aperture is terminal, 
and simple or radiate. There is no interseptal skeleton 
and no canal system. The Lagenidae are marine micro- 
scopic organisms, more or less lageniform in shape. 
Lagenideada.i-e-nid'p-a), n. pi. [NL.] Theia- 
genidai regarded as an order, and divided into 
Lagenina, Potymorphina, and Ramulinina. 
laggen 
lageniform (la-jen'jrform), a. [< L. lagena, a 
flask, + forma, form.] In hot. and sodl, shaped 
like a Florence flask ; much dilated or subglo- 
bose at base, but ending in a slender cylinder 
or neck. 
Thus the shell of Nodosaria is obviously made up of a 
succession of lageniform chambers. 
W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 479. 
Lageninae (laj-e-ni'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Lagena 
+ -ina:.] A subfamily of Lagenida;, having a 
single-chambered test. 
Lagenorhynchus (la-je-no-ring'kus), n. [NL., 
< L. laijena, Gr. adj^of, a'bottle, + Gr. frvyxof, 
a snout.] A genus of bottle-nosed dolphins, 
belonging to the subfamily Delphinince, having 
80 to 90 vertebra?, small teeth, and a compar- 
atively short and broad snout, as the white- 
Youn Skunk-porpoise (Lafffttorhynchus acutus). 
(From Report of U. S. Fish Commission, 1884.) 
beaked and white-sided dolphins, L. albirostris 
and L. acutus or leucopleurus . The characteristic 
coloration is blackish with white stripes, whence some of 
the species are called skunk-porpoises. The species are at 
least nine in number, but their synonymy is confused. The 
one here figured, properly called L. acutus, is also known 
as L. leucopleurus, L. gubemator, and by other names. J. 
E. Gray, 1846. 
lager (la'ger), n. [< G. lager, an abbr. of lager- 
bier, lager-beer: see lager-beer.] Same as la- 
ger-beer (which see, under beer 1 ). [U. S.] 
lager-beer (lii'ger-ber'), n. [< G. lagerbier, lit. 
' store-beer,' < lager, a storehouse, magazine, a 
place where things lie in store (= AS. leger, a 
bed, couch, E. lair: see lair 1 and leaguer 2 ), + 
bier = E. beer 1 .] See beer 1 . 
Lagerstrcemia (la-ger-stre'mi-ii), n. [NL. 
(LmnsBus), named after Magnus \(mLagerstrdm, 
a director of the East India Company at Goth- 
enburg.] A jjenus of polypetalous trees and 
shrubs belonging to the natural order Lythra- 
riea! and tribe Lythrece. They have a campannlate 
6- parted calyx, 6 petals, numerous stamens, a 3- to 6-celled, 
3- to 6-valved capsule, and large winged seeds. The leaves 
are mostly opposite and in two rows, petioled, oblong or 
ovate, entire, and often glaucous underneath, and the 
flowers are in ample terminal and axillary branching 
panicles. About 21 species are known, natives of tropical 
eastern Asia, subtropical Australia, and Madagascar. Five 
or six species are cultivated, notably L. Indica, the crape- 
myrtle or Indian lilac, a hardy shrub, native of China, with 
bright rose-colored flowers borne in great profusion and 
exceedingly beautiful. L. Flos-Regime, native of India, 
is called bloodwood, jarool, and queen' s-flmcer. See these 
words. L. microcarpa is the ben-teak. 
Lagerstrcemieae (la'ger-Btre-nu'e-e), n. pi. 
[NL. (A.P. de Candolle, 1826), < Lagerstrcemia + 
-ecu.] A tribe of plants of the order Lyfhrarieas, 
founded on the genus Lagerstrcemia. 
Lagetta (la-jet'a), n. [NL. (A. L. Jussieu, 
1789), < lagetto, tne native name of the tree in 
Jamaica.] A genus of dicotyledonous apeta- 
lous trees of the West Indies, belonging to the 
natural order Thymelceacece and tribe Euiliy- 
melosea;. It is characterized by hermaphrodite tetramer- 
ous, loosely spiked or racemed flowers, and by having the 
four broad scales of the ureeolate persistent perianth con- 
nivent under the stamens. These trees have beautifully 
reticulated bark, broad, oblong, alternate leaves, and white 
flowers. Only two species are known, both confined to 
the West Indies. L. lintearia is the lacebark-tree. 
Lagetteae (la-jet'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (Meisner, 
1836), < Lagetta 4- -ece.] An old tribe of the 
Thymelneaceae, founded on the genus Lagetta. 
laggan (lag'an), n. [Hind.] In India, a basin 
with pierced cover into which water is poured 
from the lota to wash the hands after a meal. 
laggard (lag'ard), a. and n. [< lag 1 + -ard.] 
I. a. Slow; sluggish; backward. 
Thy humblest reed could more prevail, 
Had more of strength, diviner rage, 
Than all which charms this laggard age. 
Collins, Odes, xii. 
Weak minstrels of a laggard day. 
Skilled but to imitate an elder page. 
Scott, Don Roderick, Int, St. 3. 
II. 11. One who lags; a loiterer; a lazy, slack 
fellow. 
A laggard in love, and a dastard in war. 
Scott, Young Lochinvar. 
Here comes a laggard hanging down his head, 
Who seems no bolder than a beaten hound. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
laggen (lag 'en), . [Origin obscure.] The 
angle between the side and the bottom of a 
wooden dish. [Scotch.] 
