lathe 
or Ca diff. word) Dan. Itegil, a levying district, 
Icegd, a situation, site, prob. from the root of 
lie 1 .} In England, a part or large division of a 
county, comprising several hundreds: a term 
now confined to the county of Kent, in which 
there are five of these lathes or divisions. See 
rape 2 . 
lathe 4 (laTH), v. t.; pret. and pp. lathed, ppr. lath- 
ing. [Also laith; < ME. lathen,<. AS. lathian = 
OS. lathian, ladhiait = OFries. lathia, ladia = 
OHG. ladon, MHG. G. laden = Icel. ladha = 
Goth, lathon, invite, call.] To invite; bid; 
ask. [Prov. Eng.] 
For alle arn lathed luflyly, the luther & the better, 
That euer wern f ulged in font that test to haue. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 163. 
lathe B t, A Middle English form of loath. 
Iathe 6 t, * A Middle English form of loatlte. 
lathe-bearer (laTH'bar"er), n. Same as lathe- 
carrier. 
The grinder is laid upon the lathe-bearers or other sup- 
port. O. Byrne, Artisan's Handbook, p. 140. 
lathe-carrier (laTH'kar"i-er), re. An appliance 
fastened to an object under operation in a lathe. 
It causes the object to rotate with the mandrel and face- 
plate of the live head by means of a projection which col- 
lides with the stud or pin on the latter. Also called lathe- 
do(j, lathe-bearer. 
lathe-center (laTH'sen"ter), n. A piece of 
hardened steel, round and tapered, having the 
smaller end cut off squarely and the larger end 
of the form of a cone. One of these centers is fitted 
to a socket in the nose of the mandrel of the live head- 
stock, and the other into a socket in the spindle of the 
dead head-stock. The former is called the live-cent.er; the 
latter, the dead-center. The piece to be turned (for exam- 
ple, a piece of shafting) is prepared for placing in the lathe 
by centrally countersinking the ends. The conical ends 
of the lathe-centers are made to engage the countersunk 
ends of the piece in the countersinks, and the spindle of 
the dead head-stock is then clamped in position. The 
piece to be turned is then clamped to the mandrel by 
means of a chuck or a lathe-carrier. The spindle of the 
dead head-stock is usually provided with an adjusting- 
screw and a clamping-screw by which the dead-center is 
adjusted to and firmly held in position. 
lathe-chuck (laTH'chuk), re. A device screwed 
to the mandrel of a lathe and grasping the ob- 
ject to be turned, bored, 
ground, polished, or the 
like. E. H. Knight. 
lathe-cords (laTH'- 
kordz), n. pi. Cords 
used to turn lathes. They 
are made of the intestines of 
horses, cleaned and prepared 
by the separation of the mu- 
cous membrane. 
lathe-dog (laTH'dog), . 
Same as lathe-carrier. 
lathe-drill (lara'dril), n. 
A horizontal lathe used 
for drilling, 
lathee, lathi (lat'e), n. 
[Hind, lathi, a stick, club; 
cf. lath, a staff, pillar.] 
In India, a stick ; a blud- 
geon, usually of bamboo ^.^ste advanced 
and. Olten loaded With or caused to recede by the ac- 
irou. Also lattee. turn of a wheel, c. 
The natives use a very dangerous weapon, which they 
have been forbidden by Government to carry. ... It is 
a very heavy lathi, a solid male bamboo, 5 feet 5 inches 
long, headed with iron in a most formidable manner. 
Fanny Parkes, Wanderings in Search of the Picturesque, 
(I. 133. 
lathe-head (lara'hed), n. 1. The poppet, 
poppet-head, or head-stock of a lathe. 2. A 
small dental 
or laboratory 
lathe that 
may be fitted 
to a bench, it 
carries a single 
spindle on two 
curved arms, and 
is used by fit- 
ting laps, grind- 
ing- wheels, sin all 
brushes, and oth- 
Lathe-head (def. I). 
Ul UB11CB, ;l I IU Ulll- 
er light circular tools to the ends of the spindle. It is op- 
erated by a treadle and a light belt. 
lathe-hoist (laTH'hoist), re. A device for rais- 
ing work in the lathe to the height of the lathe- 
centers. 
lathen (lath'en), a. [< lath 1 + -en%.} Made of 
lath. [Rare'.;] 
Lathen daggers. Ainsworth, Lancashire Witches, ill. 9. 
lather 1 (laTH'tr), w. [< ME. lather, < AS. led- 
thor, a kind of niter used for soap, lather, = 
Icel. laudhr, mod. lodhr, froth, foam, a kind of 
niter or soap used in washing, = Sw. ladder, 
soap.] 1. Foam, froth, or suds made from 
3366 
soap moistened with water, as by a brush for 
shaving. 
Soap containing small proportions of glycerin . . . forms 
a very tenacious lather. Encye. Brit., XXII. 204. 
2. Foam or froth formed in profuse sweating, 
as of a horse. 
He made the round of the hill and came back, his horse 
covered with lather and its tail trembling. 
C. Reade, Love me Little, xiv. 
lather 1 (laTH'er), v. [< ME. *lethren, < AS. letli- 
rian, lythrian, lather, smear (= Icel. laudhra, 
foam, be dripping wet with salt water, leydhra, 
wash), < ledthor, lather : see lather 1 , ;.] I. in- 
trans. To form a foam or suds, as soap and 
water; become froth or frothy matter. 
Choose water pure, 
Such as will lather cold with soap. Baynard. 
It is said that soap thus made has a beautifully mottled 
appearance, lathers freely, and has a smooth surface. 
Watt, Soap-making, p. 123. 
II. trans. 1. To spread lather on or over; 
apply lather to, as the face in shaving. 
The damsel with the soap-ball lathered him with great 
expedition, raising flakes of snow. 
SmoUett, tr. of Don Quixote, III. 281. 
Tis waste of soap to lather an ass. 
Macmillan's Mag., July, 1860, p. 210. 
2. To flog; leather. [Vulgar.] 
Do you think that to lather a man all through eleven 
pages, and then tell him he isn't to blame after all, is treat- 
ing yourself right? New Princeton Bet)., V. 53. 
lather 2 (lath'er), re. [< lath 1 + -er 1 .] A work- 
man who puts up laths for plaster-work. 
The lathers and shoemakers want ten hours' pay and 
eight hours' work. Philadelphia Times, May 1, 1886. 
lather 8 , n. A dialectal variant of ladder. Pals- 
grave ; Collier's Old Ballads, pp. 33, 105. (Halli- 
well.) 
lathe-reevet, [No AS. term is found.] In 
Anglo-Saxon hist., an officer who presided over 
a lathe. See lathe^. 
These [counties] had formerly their lathe-reeves and 
rape-reeves, acting in subordination to the shire-reeve. 
Blaekslane, Com., Int., 4. 
lathe-saw (laTH'sa), n. A small circular saw 
or fret-saw which can be fitted upon an ordi- 
nary lathe and operated by its mechanism. 
lathe-tool (laTH'tol), n. Any one of the vari- 
ous turning-tools used in tool-posts of lathes. 
Lathe-tool holder, a socket or holder fora lathe-tool. 
The shank is held by a set-screw on the post of the slide- 
rest. E. H. Knight. 
lath-hammer (lath'ham'er), n. Same as lath- 
ing-hammer. 
lathi, . See lathee. 
lathing 1 (lath'ing), re. [Verbal n. of lath 1 , v.} 
A foundation of lath or other material on 
a wall or ceiling, under the plaster; also, the 
material used for such a foundation. Metal- 
lic lathing is now used in the form of perforated and cor- 
rugated sheet-metal, rods, bars, and wire netting. The 
last form, under the name of woven-wire lathing, is the 
most usual kind. Such lathing is used in constructing 
fire-proof walls and ceilings, and in general to take the 
place of the common and dangerous wooden lathing for 
the support of plastering. 
lathing 2 (la'thing), n. [< ME. lathyng = AS. 
lathung = OFries. lathenge, ladinge = OHG. la- 
dunga, MHG. ladunge, G. ladung, a calling, in- 
vitation ; verbal n. of lattie*, v.~\ An invitation. 
Bailey, 1731; Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
lathing-clamp (lath'ing-klamp), n. A clamp 
to hold a set of spaced laths while they are be- 
ing nailed to the studding. E. H. Knight. 
lathing-hammer (lath'ing-ham''er), re. Incarp., 
a hammer which has a small hatchet-face on 
the side opposite the hammer-head and in line 
with it, the hatchet being used for cutting laths, 
and the hammer for nailing them to the studs. 
The hatchet has usually a small lateral nick for 
drawing out nails. Also called lath-hammer. 
lath-mill (lath'mil), n. A gang-saw for cutting 
laths from the log. 
lath-nail (lath'nal), re. A small cut nail used 
for fastening laths to studding. E. H. Knight. 
lath-pot (lath'pot), n. In U. S. fisheries, a coop 
or trap made of laths or thin strips of wood. 
The term lath-pot is almost universally employed to 
designate the common forms of closed lobster traps, 
whether semi-cylindrical or rectangular in shape, provid- 
ing they are constructed of laths or of any narrow strips 
of wood. Other names by which they are known to the 
fishermen are "box-traps," "house-pots," "stick-pots," 
and "lath-coops." Fisheries of U. S., V. U. 666. 
Lathraea (lath-re 'a), re. [NL. (Linnaeus), so 
called as growing in concealed places, < Gr. 
ZaBpaiof, secret, hidden ; cf . }.d0pa, ?.d6pr/, secret- 
ly, < \av6dvuv, /.afeiv, hide : see latent.'] A genus 
of plants of the natural order Orobanchacew, or 
broom-rape family, with a bell-shaped, broadly 
Lathyrus 
4-cleft calyx, and short dense spike or some- 
what longer loose racemes of white, yellowish, 
or bluish flowers, sometimes tinned with pink. 
Three species are known, one of which is chiefly confined 
to western Europe, while another is widely distributed 
throughout Europe and. Asia, and the third is restricted 
to Japan. L. squamaria, or toothwort, is a parasitical 
plant, growing on the roots of trees and shrubs. It has 
a simple fleshy erect stem, a foot or less in height, with 
fleshy scale-like bracts in place of leaves, and drooping 
flesh-colored flowers. It occurs throughout Europe and 
in Asia. 
lathridiid (lath-rid'i-id), n. A beetle of the 
family Lathridiidtf, 
Lathridiidae (lath-ri-di'i-de), n. pi. [Nl/., < 
Lathridius + -ides.'} A family of clavicorn cole- 
opters having the dorsal segments of the ab- 
domen partly membranous, ventral segments 
free and nearly equal, tarsi three-jointed with 
second joint not dilated, wings not fringed with 
hairs, and elytra entire. See Lathridius. 
Lathridius (lath-rid'i-us), n. [NL., < Gr. Aa- 
0pi>f, poet, for ZaOpiof, later form of Zattpalos, 
secret, hidden: see Lathraia.} The typical ge- 
nus of Lathridiida!, having the antennal club 
three-jointed. They are small beetles, living under 
bark and stones. More than 100 species are known, main- 
ly European and Asiatic, but 15 are North American, as 
L. tenuicomis. Usually Latridius, as Herbst, 1793. 
Lathrobiidse (lath-ro-bi'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Lathrobimn + -ida;."] A family of brachely- 
trous coleopters, taking name from the genus 
Lathrobium, or merged in StaphylinicUe. Also 
written Lathrobiadce, Lathroliidff. 
lathrobiiform (lath-ro'bi-i-form), a. [< NL. 
Lathrobium + L. forma, form.] Having the 
form of the Lathrobiida; ; pertaining to the 
Lathrobiiformcs. 
Lathrobiiformes (lath-ro'bi-i-for'mez), re. pi. 
[NL. : see lathrobiiform.'} A group of beetles. 
See Lathrobiidce. 
Lathrobium (lath-ro'bi-um), re. [NL., for 
"Lathraiobium, < Gr. AaSpaiof, hidden (see Lath- 
rcea), + /3iof, life.] The typical genus of Lath- 
robiidce. Also written Lathrobins. Biinierg,l8'20. 
lathwork (lath'werk), n. Lathing; any work 
in laths, or resembling lathing. 
lathy (lath'i), a. [< lath 1 + -y 1 ."] Long and 
slender, like a lath. 
The which he tossed to and fro amain, 
And eft his lathi/ falchion brandished. 
Weet, Abuse of Travelling. 
A lathy young man, bent sideways over a spar, was 
struggling, with a very red face, to right himself. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 204. 
lathyrism (lath'i-rizm), n. [< Lathyrus + -tarn.] 
A condition produced by the use of the seeds 
of Lathyrus Cicera and other species as food. 
It is characterized by formication, tremors, and 
paraplegia. 
Lathyrus (lath'i-rus), n. [NL. (Linnceus), < 
Gr. '/.ddvpof, a kind of pulse.] A genus of legu- 
minous plants of the tribe Viciece, or vetch 
family, agreeing in the structure of the flowers 
with Pisum, the true pea, except that its style 
is not grooved on the back. See Pisum. There 
are probably about 120 species of these plants, inhabiting 
the northern hemisphere and South America. They are 
Flowering Branch of Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus VfMOsus). 
a, flower; #, fruit. 
vines creeping or climbing by tendrils, often with large 
and handsome flowers. Several species are known in 
cultivation, and the wild species are generally known as 
peas, with qualifying names, that of everlasting pea being 
applicable to the genus in general. L. macrnrhizug, a 
the sea-coast, is the beach-pea ; L. odoratm, a native of 
Sicily, is the common sweet pea of the gardens ; L. lati- 
folius, the everlasting pea of the gardens, is a cultivated 
variety of the European species L. gilvestris. Thirteen 
species are native in the United States, several of which, 
as L. ornatus and L. venosw (see cut), have broad leaflets 
and handsome, showy flowers. 
