lash 
For lygte lasschynge flame alle the loude over. 
MS. CM. Calig. A. ii., J. 111. (Halliuidl.) 
3. To strike out; plunge. [Kare.] 
We know not what rich joys we lose when first we lash 
into a new offence. Feltham, Resolves, ii. 40. 
To lash out. (a) To kick out, as a horse. (6) To break 
out or plunge recklessly. 
I lash'd mtt lavish, then began my ruth, 
And then I felt the follies of my youth. 
Greene, Song of a Country Swain. 
A pious education . . . may lay such strong fetters, such 
powerful restrictions upon the heart, that it shall not be 
able to lash out into those excesses and enormities. 
South, Sermons, X. 347. 
lash 2 (lash), a. and . [< ME. lasche, laehe, 
slack, sluggish, = G. lasch, slack, weak (= Icel. 
loskr, weak, idle, OSw. losk, idle, prob. < L.), < 
OF. lasche, lache, slack, loose, weak, remiss, 
cowardly, F. Idche, loose, cowardly, = Pr. laxc. 
lax = Sp. Pg. laxo = It. lasso, < L. laxus (ML. 
also prob. *lascus), slack, loose : see lax 1 . Cf . 
lusk.] I. a. If. Slack; slow; sluggish; inactive. 
Yif he be slow and astonyd and lache, he lyvyth as an 
aase. Chaucer, Boethius, iv. prose 8. 
2. Lax; loose; soft; hence, watery or insipid. 
[Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
Fruits being unwholesome and lash before the fifth year. 
Sir T. Browne, Garden of Cyrus, v. 
3. Moist and cold, as the weather. [Prov. Eng.] 
Il.t . A sort of soft leather. 
[A receipt] for to make rede lasche or lether. 
MS. Sloane, 1698, f. 9. (Halliwett.) 
lash-comb (lash'kom), n. A wide-toothed comb. 
[North. Eng.] 
lasher 1 (lash'er), n. [< lash 1 , v., + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who lashes, (a) One who whips, or scourges 
with a lash ; one who punishes by laying on the lash. (6) 
One who lashes or fastens a thing to something else with 
thongs, cords, etc. 
2. A lashing ; a thong or cord used as a lashing. 
3. A.fish,theCottusbubaliii. See father-lasher. 
lasher 2 (lash'er), n. [Appar. < lash 2 + -eri.] 
The slack water collected above a weir in a 
river; hence, a weir. 
He sculled down to Sandford, [and] bathed in the lasher. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, II. v. 
lashing (lash'ing), . and a. [< lash 1 , v.] I. n. 
1. The act of whipping or flogging; a scourg- 
ing. 2. A rope or cord for binding or making 
fast one thing to another. 
Torn from their planks the cracking ring-bolts drew, 
And gripes and lashings all asunder flew. 
Falconer, Shipwreck, ii. 
3. A profusion or great plenty; a bountiful or 
unstinted supply: usually in the plural: as, 
lashings of beer. [Scotch and Irish.] 
A nate buffet before them set, 
Where lashins of good dhrink there was. 
Thackeray, Mr. Molony's Account of the Ball. 
II. a. [Ppr. of lash?, 11.] Lavish. Taylor. 
(Halliwell.) 
lashing-eye (lash'ing-I), n. See eye 1 . 
lashing-ring (lash'ing-ring), n. One of the rings 
on the sides of a gun-carriage to which the tar- 
paulin, sponge, rammer, and worm are lashed or 
tied : generally used in the plural. 
lashing-String (lash'ing-string), n. In the in- 
dustrial arts, a cord used to secure anything in 
its place during the progress of the work, as in 
upholstery to hold the springs for a seat at a 
given height, preparatory to covering the seat. 
lashness (lash'nes), n. [< lash 2 + -ness.'} The 
quality of being lash; slackness; dullness. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
lash-rail (lash'ral), n. Naut., a stout bar of 
wood extending along the sides of whaling-ves- 
sels inside the bulwarks. Its use is to secure 
water-casks and other heavy casks by lashings, 
hence the name. 
Lasia (la'si-a), . [NL., < Gr. ^.daiof, hairy, 
rough, shaggy, woolly.] 1. A genus of dipter- 
ous insects of the family Acroceridai. L. kletti is 
a golden-green species, with a proboscis half as long again 
as the body, found in Arizona. Wiedemann, 1829. 
2. A genus of ladybirds: synonymous with Sub- 
coccinellaof Hope (1840). 3. A genus of mono- 
cotyledouous plants of the natural order Aroi- 
dea: (the arum family) and tribe Oronttete, the 
type of the subtribe Lasiete. It is characterized by 
a one-celled ovary and thick style, the ovule pendent from 
the apex of the cell. Only two species are known, natives 
of the East Indies and Malay archipelago. 
Lasieae (la-si'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (Beutham and 
Hooker, 1883), < Lasia + -ew.] A subtribe of 
plants of the order Aroidea;. tribe Orontiece (tribe 
Lasioidece of the De Candolles), typified by the 
genus Lasia. It embraces 6 or 7 genera, with 
elongated twisted spathes and densely flowered 
Lasiocampa (la"si-o-kam'pa), n. [NL., < Gr. 
Maiof, hairy, woolly, + ti.ajj.Kri. a caterpillar.] 
3360 
A genus of bombycid moths, giving name to the 
family Lasiocamiiidte. See Gastropaclta. 
LasiocampidB(la"si-o-kam'pi-de), n.pl. [NL., 
< Lasiocampa + -ida;'.] A family of bombycid 
moths named from the genus Lasiocampa, con- 
taining a number of stout hairy forms, among 
them those known as eggers or egger-motlis. 
Lasioderma (la"si-o-der'mii), n. [NL., < Gr. 
/tdo-<of, hairy, woolly, + depjta, skin.] A genus 
of beetles of the family Ptinidce, of wide distri- 
bution. L. serricorne and L. loeve are among the few in- 
sects which eat tobacco. Their larva) feed upon the weed 
in its dried state, doing much damage. 
Lasioidese (la-si-oi'de-e), n.pl. [NL. (A. and 
C. de Candolle), < Lasia + -oidea;.] A tribe of 
plants of the Aroideai, or arum family, embra- 
cing 19 genera. It includes the subtribes Lasiece, 
Amorphopliallece, Nephthytidece, and Montrichar- 
diete. 
Lasiopetaleae (la"si-o-pe-ta'le-e), n.pl. [NL. 
(Jacques Gay, 1831), < Lasiopetalum + -ew.] 
A tribe of plants of the natural order Stercu- 
liacea;, typified by the genus Lasiopetalum. it 
embraces, in modem systems, 8 genera, having hermaph- 
rodite flowers destitute of petals (or with the petals re- 
duced to mere scales), five anther-bearing stamens lightly 
united at the base and alternate with the sepals, the an- 
thers two-celled with the cells parallel, and five or fewer 
non-anther-bearing stamens opposite the sepals. 
Lasiopetalum (la"si-o-pet'a-lum), n. [NL. 
(James Edward Smith/1798), { Gr. ).daiof, hairy, 
woolly, + TreraAov, a leaf (petal) : see petal.] 
A genus of sterculiaeeous plants, the type of 
the tribe Lasiopetalete, distinguished from re- 
lated genera by having the sepals united with- 
out a median nerve. There are about 30 species, grow- 
ing in extratropical Australia. They are stellately pubes- 
cent shrubs, with flowers in racemes or branching cymes 
opposite the leaves or in their axils. Several species (as L. 
parmftorum, L. ferrugineum, L. macrophylluni) are culti- 
vated as greenhouse-plants. 
Lasiurus (las-i-u'rus), n. [NL., < Gr. Maioc, 
hairy, woolly, + ovpd, tail.] A genus of Amer- 
ican chiropters of the family Vespertilionidte ; 
the red bats. In typical species the back of the inter- 
femoral membrane is densely furry. The common New 
York or red bat is L. noveboracensis ; the hoary bat is L. 
ciitereus or pruinosus. See cut under bat. 
Lasius (la'si-us), n. [NL. (Pabricius, 1804), < Gr. 
s.aaiof, hairy, rough, shaggy, woolly.] 1. A ge- 
nus of ants of the family Formicidm, having the 
abdomennot prolonged anteriorly,and the ocelli 
of the workers very small, indistinct, or want- 
ing. It is widely distributed, with 12 European and 6 
North American species ; 4 are common to both continents. 
L. Jtanus is an example. 
2. A genus of bees of the family Apidce. Jurine, 
1807. [Not in use.] 3. Same && Lasia, 1. La- 
treille, 1829. 4. A genus of beetles of the fam- 
ily Malacodermidai : synonymous with Dasytes 
of Paykull, 1798. Motschulslcy, 1845. 
laskH (lask), n. [A transposed form of lax 1 , n.] 
Looseness; flux; diarrhea. [Prov. Eng.] 
A grave and learned minister was one day, as he walked 
in the fields for his recreation, suddenly taken with a laske 
or looseness. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 99. 
laskH (lask), v. i. [< lask 1 , n.] To suffer from 
diarrhea. 
So soft childhood puling 
Is wrung with worms begot of crudity, 
Are [and ?] apt to laske through much humidity. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Furies. 
Iask 2 t (lask), v. i. [Appar. a transposed form 
of lax 1 , a., used as a verb. Cf. lash 1 .'] Naut., 
to sail large, or with a quartering wind that 
is, with a wind about 45 abaft the beam. 
The Java came down in a lasking course on her adver- 
sary's weather quarter. 
Quoted in T. Roosevelt's Naval War of 1812, p. 120. 
lasfcSf, v. t. [ME. lasken; appar. < las, lasse, 
less : see less 1 , a. ; cf . less 1 , v. But such a use 
of the rare verb-formative -fc is doubtful.] To 
shorten ; bring to an end. 
Heigh heuene king to gode hauene me sende, 
Other laske mi liif daywes with-inne a litel terme. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), L 670. 
lask 4 (lask), n. [Var. of lesk.] Same as lastf. 
Mud worms, mussels, shrimps, and laslcs cut out of mack- 
erel are also used as baits for bass. 
Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 251. 
Iask 5 ,lasque(lask),. [Origin not ascertained.] 
A thin flat diamond with a simple facet at the 
side : used occasionally to cover small minia- 
tures, and then called portrait-stone. 
lasket (las'ket), n. [Cf. lash 1 , n.] Small lines 
sewed in loops to the bottom of a sail to secure 
a bonnet. 
laspring (las'pring), n. [Cf. lax 2 .] The sinolt 
or young salmon of the first year. [Local, Eng.] 
The smolt, or young salmon, is by the fishermen of some 
rivers called a laspring. Yarrell, British Fishes. 
lasque, n. See 
last 
lass 1 (las), . [< ME. "louse, lysse (rare) ; per- 
haps contr. < W. llodes, fern, of llawd, a lad: 
see lad 1 . The word is usually explained, in its 
mod. form (the ME. form being hitherto unno- 
ticed), as a contr. of Itiddess; but laddess is an 
affected form, rare, and not found before the 
18th century. Lass is now regarded as simply 
the fern, of lad 1 .] 1. A girl: in familiar lan- 
guage often applied to a woman of any age.. 
The last of thos lefe children was a lysse faire, 
Polexena the pert, prise of all other. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1499. 
And with your piteous layes have learnd to breed 
Compassion in a countrey lasses hart. 
Spenser, Astrophel, Prol. 
This is the prettiest low-born lass that ever 
Ran on the greensward. Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 156. 
Her prentice ban' she tried on man, 
An then she made the lasses, O. 
Burns, Green Grow the Rashes. 
2. A sweetheart. 
It was a lover and his lass. 
Shale., As you Like it, v. S (song). 
Hemp-seed, I saw thee, 
An* her that is to be my lass, 
Come after me, an' draw thee. 
Burns, Halloween. 
3. A maid-servant; a servant-girl. [Scotch.] 
It will may-be no be sae weel to speak about it while 
that lang-lugged limmer o' a lass is gaun flisking in and 
out o' the room. Scott, Guy Mannering, xlv. 
lass 2 (las), a. [See lazy.] Lazy. [Prov. Eng.] 
lasset, a. and adv. A Middle English form of 
lassie (las'i), . [Dim. of lass 1 .] A little lass; 
a young girl. 
My love, she's but a lassie yet. 
Burns, My Love, she's but a Lassie yet. 
Come lead me, lassie, to the shade, 
Where willows grow beside the brook. Crabbe. 
lassitude (las'i-tud), . [< F. lassitude = Sp. 
lasitud = Pg. lassidSo = It. lassitudine, < L. 
lassitudo, faintness, weariness, < lassus, faint, 
weary, perhaps for "ladtus, and thus akin to E. 
late: see late 1 . Cf. alas.] The state of having 
the energies weakened ; weakness ; weariness ; 
languor of body or mind. 
The animal spirits being spent, the soul can hardly move 
the body any longer, the sense whereof we call lassitude. 
Dr. H. More, Immortal, of Soul, iii. 8. 
The heat of the summer months is sufficiently oppres- 
sive to occasion considerable lassitude. 
E. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 5. 
=Syn. Weariness, etc. See fatigue. 
lass-lorn (las'lorn), a. Forsaken by one's lass 
or mistress. 
Thy broom-groves, 
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, 
Being lass-lorn. Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 68. 
lasso (las'6), n. ; pi. lassosor lassoes (-6z). [< Pg. 
laqo, a snare, trick, = Sp. lazo, a snare, slip- 
knot, = F. lacs, a snare, < L. laqueus, a snare : 
see lace.] A long rope or cord of hide (from 
60 to 100 feet), having a running noose at one 
end, used especially in the Spanish (or origi- 
nally Spanish or Portuguese) parts of America 
for catching horses and wild cattle. The noose is 
thrown with a whirl from horseback over the head or horns 
of the chased animal while in full career. See lariat. 
They [the lariat and the lasso] are the same, with a very 
great difference. The lasso may be used for picketing a 
horse, but the rope with which a horse is ordinarily pick- 
eted would never be of use as a lasso. 
JR. I. Dodge, Our Wild Indians, p. 281. 
lasso (las'6), v. t. [< lasso, n.] To catch or 
capture by means of a lasso. 
lasso-cell (las'o-sel), n. One of the peculiar 
filiferous cell-like structures of coelenterates, 
endowed with ability to throw out with aston- 
ishing rapidity the contained thread, which has 
the property of exciting a stinging or pricking 
feeling on sentient surfaces ; an urticating or- 
gan ; a nematocyst or thread-cell ; a cnidocyst 
or cnida ; a nettling-eell. See cut under cnida. 
lassock (las'ok), . [< Inss 1 + -ock.] A little 
lass ; a lassie. [Scotch.] 
I mind, when I was a gilpy of a lassock, seeing the Duke. 
Scott, Old Mortality, v. 
last 1 (last), n. [< ME. last, lest, < AS. lout, liest, 
m., a footstep, track, footprint, trace; also, in 
glosses, laist, f., a boot, lesste, a shoemakers' 
last; = D. leest, a last, form, = OHG. MHG. 
leist, G. leisten, a last, = Icel. leistr, the foot 
below the ankle, a short sock, = Sw. last = 
Dan. last, a last, = Goth, hiists, a foot-track; 
cf. OHG. /ma, MHG. leise, leitt, track, furrow; 
prob. < Goth, leisan, find out, pret. pres. lais, I 
know: see lear 1 , learn, lore. Hence lasfi.] A 
wooden pattern or model of the human foot, on 
which shoes are formed. 
