laster 
boss acts against the last as a fulcrum in stretching the 
leather, anil is also used as a hammer for pegging the 
stretched leather to the last to hold it in place during 
the process of soling. 
lasteryt (las'ter-i), n. [Appar. < lasft + -en/.] 
A red color. 
Fair vermilion or pure lastery. 
lasting (las'ting), n. [Verbal n. of last 2 , *'.] 1 . 
Continuance; endurance. 
Thon art made for ever, as thou hast made me, if this 
felicity have lasting. B. Jonson, Epicoene, ii. 3. 
Nothing procureth the lasting of trees, bushes, and herbs 
so much as often cutting. Bacon, Nat. Hist, 586. 
If any true Briton maintains that beef and beer are es- 
sentials to develop a man in stature, or strength, or lott- 
ing, let him look at our camp-servants. W. U. Russell. 
2. A strong and durable woolen or worsted 
fabric: also called everlasting, and formerly 
durance. It is usually black, and is used for buttons and 
for the uppers of women's shoes. It is woven either with 
a double twill or with a satin-twill (then called Denmark 
satin). Draw-bays, prunella, and serge de berry are varie- 
ties of lasting. 
lasting (las'ting), p.o. [Ppr. of lasft , .] Con- 
tinuing in time ; durable ; of long continuance ; 
that may continue or endure : as, a lasting good 
or evil ; a lasting color. 
Lord ! wyth a lastande luf we loue the allone. 
York Playi, p. 3. 
O fleeting Joys 
Of Paradise, dear-bought with lasting woes ! 
Milton, P. L., x. 742. 
Diligence makes more lasting acquisitions than valour. 
Slede, Spectator, No. 2. 
May children of our children say 
"She wrought her people lasting good." 
Tennyson, To the Queen. 
=Syn. Lading, Durable, Permanent, Stable, enduring, 
abiding, undecaying. perpetual, unending. Lasting means 
resisting the effects of time or other influences tending to 
produce decay ; continuing for a long time, or as long as 
the nature of the object admits. It is the proper word for 
abstract things : as, a lasting impression ; sudden reforma- 
tions are seldom lasting. Durable is preferable for tangi- 
ble objects, and means capable of resisting wear and tear : 
as, durable material. Permanent, remaining to the end, 
abiding for ever, applies equally to physical and abstract 
objects: as, a permanent dye; a permanent situation ; the 
grave is SL permanent resting-place. Permanent and stable 
imply less of resistance than the others. Stable means 
permanent in its place, lasting upon its foundations, able 
to stand indefinitely : as, a stable form of government ; a 
stable character. 
Death, only death, can break the lasting chain. 
Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, 1. 173. 
With pins of adamant 
And chains they made all fast ; too fast they made 
And durable! Milton, P. L., x. 320. 
Was anything permanent? anything stable? Nothing 
but truth. J. F. Clarice, Ten Great Religions, iv. 3. 
The mutability in the public councils, arising from a 
rapid succession of new members, however qualified they 
may be, points out, in the strongest manner, the necessity 
of some stable institution in the government. 
A. Hamilton, Federalist, No. 62. 
lasting-awl (las'ting-al), n, A shoemakers' 
awl haying an eye near the point and carrying 
a bobbin for thread in the handle, it is used in 
sewing by hand to pass the thread through the leather and 
to assist in forming a lock-stitch with a second thread, 
lasting-jack (las'ting-jak), n. An implement 
for holding a last while the shoe-upper is strain- 
ed and secured upon it, and for adjusting the 
in-sole and out-sole so as to prepare them for 
the pegging- or sewing-machine. E, H. Knight. 
lastingly (las'ting-li), adv. In a lasting man- 
ner; so as to last; durably. 
And covenants betwixt them surely seal'd, 
Each to the other lastingly to bind. 
Drayton, Barons' Wars, Ut 
It was not therefore till the Turk had been driven out. 
not until southern Italy had been more thoroughly but 
not much more lastingly overrun by the armies of France, 
that Otranto passed for a while under the rule of Venice. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 322. 
lasting-machine, lasting-pincers, lasting- 
tool. Same as laster (b). 
lastingness (las'ting-nes), n. The quality of 
lasting; durability; permanence; long contin- 
uance. 
All [was] more lasting than beautiful, but that the con- 
sideration of the exceeding lastingness made the eye be- 
lieve it was exceeding beautiful. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. 
The ancients depicted friendship in the bearings and 
strength of a young man, bare-headed, rudely clothed, to 
signifle its activity, and lastingness, readiness of action, 
and aptnesses to do service. Jer. Taylor, Friendship. 
lastly (last'li), adv. 1. In the last place. 
Then does he say, he lent me 
Some shipping unrestored : lastly, he frets 
That Lepidus of the triumvirate 
Should be deposed. Shak., A. and C., ill. 6. 27. 
2f. At last; finally; in the end. 
Then take my final doom pronounced lastly, this ; 
That Lundy like allied to Wales and England is. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, v. 79. 
3362 
I for his sake will leave 
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee 
Freely put off, and for him lastly die. 
Milton, P. L., iii. 240. 
Lastrea (las-tre'a), n. [NL. ; origin not as- 
certained.] A genus of ferns belonging to 
the tribe Aspidiece, containing the marsh-fern, 
sweet mountain-fern, male-fern, etc. It is charac- 
terized by having the veins distinct after leaving the mid- 
rib, not uniting with those of the adjoining lobe. It is 
now more usually considered as a section of Aspidium. 
lasty (las'ti), a. [< lasft, v., + -#l.] Lasting; 
durable. [Prov. Eng. and U. S.] 
If you be hasty, you'll never be lasty. 
Scotch prooerb. (Jamieion.) 
lat 1 (lat), n. [Also latt; earlier form of lath*, 
q. v.] A lath. [Proy. Eng.] 
lat 2 (lat), a. [An earlier and dial, form of late 1 , 
q. v.] 1. Slow; tedious. [Prov. Eng.] 
Lat afoot, slow in moving. 
Wilbraham, p. 63. (Halliwell.) 
2. Unseasonable; wet (of weather). Say, 1674; 
Bailey, 1731. [Prov. Eng.] 
lat 3 , v . An obsolete or dialectal form of let 1 . 
lat 4 , v. An obsolete or dialectal form of let 2 . 
Iat 5 t, . A Middle English form of kadeth, third 
person singular present indicative of lead 1 . 
lat 6 (lat), n. [Hind, lat.'} In Indian arch., an 
isolated shaft or pillar, serving for various pur- 
poses, as for bear- 
ing inscriptions or 
religious emblems, 
or a statue or image, 
for supporting a 
lamp, or even for a 
flagstaff. Lilts are 
always original, and 
often elegant in de- 
sign. Also called 
stambha. 
The oldest authentic 
examples of these Idts 
that we are acquainted 
with are those which 
King Asoba set up in the 
twenty-seventh year af- 
ter his consecration 
the thirty-first of his 
reign to bear inscrip- 
tions conveying to his 
subjects the leading doc- 
trines of the new faith he 
had adopted. 
J. Fergusson, Hist. In- 
[dian Arch., p. 52. 
Lat. An abbreviation (a) of Latin; (b) [I. c.] 
of latitude. 
latakia (lat-a-ke'a), n. [So named tram Latakia 
(anciently Laodlcea ad Mare) in Syria, near 
which it is produced and from which it is ship- 
ped.] A fine variety of Turkish tobacco. 
After my sleep, which was allowed to last until a pipe 
or two of latakia had gone round the party, we remounted 
our animals. R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 266. 
Latania(la-ta'ni-a),. [NL.(Commerson,1789), 
< latanier, the Gallicized native name of the 
plants in the Isle 
of Bourbon.] A 
genus of fan- 
palms, confined 
to the Mascarene 
Islands. They be- 
long to the tribe Bo- 
rassece, and are dis- 
tinguished from Bo- 
rassus and Hyptuene 
by their numerous 
stamens, and from 
Laodicea, the only 
other genus of the 
tribe, by having the 
male flowers solitary 
in the depressions of 
the spadix. There 
are only three spe- 
cies, tall unarmed 
palms with single, 
stout, annulated 
trunks, broad, termi- 
nal, long - petioled 
leaves of rounded 
outline, and spikes 
several feet in length 
sheathed by incom- 
plete spathes. All 
Group of Lataniii Borbonica. the species are very 
ornamental, and 
much cultivated in hothouses. L. Borbonica, the common 
Bourbon palm, is best known. 
Latanites (lat-a-ni'tez), n. [NL. (Massalongo, 
1858), < Latania + -ites.\ A genus of fossil palms, 
more or less closely related to Latania. Massalon- 
go has described sixteen species from the Lower Tertiary 
of Italy, but the number is probably too large, and will be 
reduced by the discovery of connecting forms. 
Latax (la'taks), . [NL., < Gr. /".drnf , some wa- 
ter-quadruped, supposed to be a beaver.] A 
Lat. Asoka's Pillar, Allahabad. 
latch 
name under which two genera of otters have 
been formed: (a) The sea-otter, of the subfam- 
ily Enhydrinai. C. L. Gloger, 1827. See En- 
hyclris, 2. (b) Certain land-otters of the sub- 
family Lutriruf, as the North American Lutra 
canadensis. J. E. Gray. 
latch 1 (lach), v. [< ME. latchen, lacchen (pret. 
laulite, laugte, lagte, also lacchide, pp. lauht, lagt, 
also latchia), < AS. laccan, Iwccean, gelaiccan, 
seize, catch hold of. Cf. clutch, as supposed to 
be ult. < AS. gelaiccan.'} I. trans. If. To seize; 
lay hold of ; snatch ; catch. 
"Certes, sire, that is Both," sede William thanne, 
& lepes lijtli him to & lacchis him in armes. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. &.), L 4526. 
Andromaca, for drede of the derf kyng, 
Lamydon hir litill sun lagM in hir armes. 
Destruction of Troy (B. E. T. S.), L 18732. 
But I have words 
That would be howl'd out in the desert air, 
Where hearing should not latch them. 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 3. 195. 
2f. To take ; snatch up or off. 
And then lacches his leue & his loue kyst, 
Past furth priuely and that pert leuyt. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 811. 
Thay ledde hym furthe in the rowte, and lacked ofe his 
wedes. Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), L 1515. 
3f. To receive ; obtain. 
And if thow wilt be graciouse to God do as the gospel 
techeth, 
And biloue the amonges low men, so shallow lacche grace. 
Piers Plowman (B), vi. 230. 
And that no tale may be told in tyme for to come, 
Ne witnes in writyng by weghes herafter, 
That any lord of our londe shuld lacche scene a skorne 
Vnwrokyn with wondis. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4194. 
He stepped between the blow and us, and latehed it in 
his own body and soul. Bp. Andrews, On the Passion. 
4. To hold; support; retain. [Prov. Eng.] 
5. To close or fasten with a latch: as, to latch 
a gate. 
II. intrans. 1. To snatch: with at. 
Lyjtly lepez he hym to, & last at his honde ; 
Then feersly that other freke vpon fote lystis. 
Sir Qawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 328. 
2. To light or fall. [Prov. Eng.] 
The golden-crested wren is ... often caught by the 
hand while latching in the rigging or among the gear, 
during the North Sea fishery. 
C. Swainson, British Birds (1885X p. 26. 
3. To tarry; loiter; lag. [Prov. Eng. and 
Scotch.] 
He's eye latchin' at 's wark, and eye ahin*. Jamieson. 
latch 1 (lach), n. [< ME. lacche, a latch, < lacchen, 
latch, catch: see latch 1 , v.'] A device for catch- 
ing or retaining something; a catch. Specifically 
(at) A trap ; snare. 
Love wil non other bridde cacche, 
Though he sette either nette or lacche. 
Krnn. of the Rose, I. 1624. 
(b) A kind of gravity -lock, or door-fastening consisting of 
some form of pivoted bolt falling into and catching against 
A, thumb-latch. B, gate-latch. 
a catch or stop. Latches are usually made with a lifter 
or lever for raising the bar from either side of the door. 
Some simple forms 
consist merely of a 
wooden baron thein- 
side, which is raised 
by a string passed 
through a hole in the 
door. Door-andgate- 
latches are made in 
many forms, and are 
described by their ' 
names, rim-, night-, 
thumb-latches, etc. 
This said, his guilty 
hand pluck'd up 
the latch, 
And with his knee 
the door he opens 
wide. 
SAot.,Lucrece,1.358. 
He swung the heavy door shut and put down the wooden 
latch relic of the pioneer period. 
E. Eggleston, The Graysons, xxxi. 
(c) ffaut., a small line like a loop, used to fasten a bonnet 
on the foot of a sail. Also latching, (d) The trigger of 
a crossbow ; hence, the crossbow itself when it is of the 
Reverejble Latch. 
