layer.noun,.plural.layers
a single thickness of a material covering a surface or forming an overlying part or segment (a layer of dust on the windowsill; a cake with four layers); one that lays (a brick layer; a hen kept for laying eggs; a stratum (layers of sedimentary rock; a layer of warm air); a depth or level (a poem with several layers of meaning)
layer, layered, layering, layers.verbs
transitive verb use.to divide or form into layers (layered gravel and charcoal to make a filter); to cut hair into different, usually.overlapping lengths
intransitive verb use.to form or come apart as layers

lay.adjective
you use lay to describe people who are involved with a Christian.church but are not members of the clergy or are not monks or nuns; you use lay to describe people who are not experts or professionals in a particular subject or activity (it is difficult for a lay person to gain access to medical libraries)
lay, laid, laying, lays.verbs
transitive verb use.to cause to lie down (lay a child in its crib); to place in or bring to a particular.state or position; to put or set down (lay new railroad track); to produce and deposit (lay eggs); to put up to or against (lay an ear to the door; lay your head on the pillow); to lie prostrate (the heavy rain and hail laid down the crops to the ground); to put or set in order or readiness for use (lay the table for lunch in the yard); to devise; contrive (lay plans); to spread over a surface (lay paint on a canvas); to place or give importance (lay stress on clarity of expression); to impose as a burden or correction (lay a penalty upon the offender); to present for examination (lay research in front of others for further.commenting); to put forward as a demand or an assertion (laid claim to the estate); to place a bet; wager; to lay a cable
intransitive verb use.to produce and deposit eggs; to bet; wage
see also.layperson, layman, laywoman, etc.
lay.noun,.plural.lays
the direction the strands of a rope or cable are twisted in (a left lay); the amount of such twist
lay aside.phrasal verb
to give up; abandon (lay aside all past hurts)
lay away.phrasal verb
to reserve for the future; save; to put aside and hold for future delivery
lay down.phrasal verb
to lie down (time to get the children to lie down for sleep)
laid down.phrasal verb
to specify (laid down the rules of the house to the kids); rules agreed upon by the persons to be affected by them (elected.representatives laid down rules for interactions with other nations); to mark off (lay off an area for a garden); to prepare; arrange (laid on 4 more meals at the last minute for the party); to expend; spend (laid out a fortune on jewelry); to display (lay out merchandise; lay the merchandise out)
lay off, laid off.phrasal verbs
to terminate the employment of a worker
lay over.phrasal verb
to make a stopover in the course of a journey
lay up.phrasal verb
to stock for future use (lay up supplies for a long journey; she laid up most of the night thinking about the vacation); to confine with an illness or injury (was laid up for a week with a twisted ankle)
lay down the law.idiom
to assert.positively
lay it on thick.idiom
to exaggerate; overstate; to flatter.effusively
lay of the land.idiom
the nature, arrangement or disposition of something
see also layperson
Usage note:.'lay' means 'to put, place or prepare' and 'lie' is 'to recline or be situated' and are frequently confused; 'lay' is a transitive verb and takes an object; the word 'lay' and its principal parts 'laid', 'laying' are correctly used in the following examples. He laid (not lay) the newspaper on the table. The table was laid for four. Conversely, the word 'lie' is an intransitive verb and does not take an object; 'lie' and its principal parts 'lay', 'lain', 'lying' are correctly used in the following examples. She often lies (not lays) down after lunch. When I lay (not laid) down, I fell asleep. The rubbish had lain (not laid) there a week. I was lying (not laying) in bed when he called. See more Usage notes

lust.noun,.plural.lusts
lust occurs when one is excited about getting into and/or doing bad things which lead to evil things:.Matthew 6:23; a lust for something is a very strong and eager desire to have it (many never outgrow the lust for an impressive car, home and lifestyle and enter into many hurtful directions in order to satisfy it, as it often is their raison d'être); lust entertains a desire to take advantage of another in some way, even if it's hurtful to another and the one having the lust with the one having the lustful eye unable to see this:.Proverbs 14:12; 2Timothy 2:22; James 4:7; lust is intense or unrestrained.sexual.craving; lust is an overwhelming.desire or craving (a lust for recognition and/or power); intense eagerness (a lust for being the number one player in sports as opposed to.simply.just doing one's best with the mind off the glory)
lust, lusted, lusting, lusts.intransitive verbs
to have an intense or obsessive.desire, usually one that is sexual, but also a desire so strong for something for the self that it takes one away from his or her normality of living, such as could be a fancy expensive sports car
lustful.adjective
excited or driven by lust
lustfully.adverb
lustfulness.noun.(words ending in 'ess' are usually without pluralization - adding an 'es' making '...esses' is clumsy)

long, longer, longest.adjectives
extending a distance greater than one might.consider to be a short distance; of relatively great duration (a long time); of a specified.linear.extent or duration (a mile long; an hour long); made up of many members or items (a long shopping list); extending beyond an average or a standard (a long game); tediously.protracted; lengthy (a long speech); involving.substantial.chance; risky (long odds)
long.adverb
during or for an extended period of time (the infrastructure was long due for an upgrade); at or to a considerable distance; far (she walked long past the end of the trai); for or throughout a specified.period (they talked on and on for hours); at a point of time distant from that referred.to (that event took place long before we were born)
long.noun,.plural.longs
a long time (this won't take long); a garment size for a tall person
any longer.idiom
for more time (can't wait any longer)
as long as.or.so long as.idiom
during the time that (I'll stay as long as I can); inasmuch as; since (as long as you're going outside could you check to see if any mail came?); under the condition that; provided that
before long.idiom
soon
long ago.idiom
at a time or during a period well before the present (I read that book long ago)
long in the tooth.idiom
growing old (that plot in movies and books is getting a little long in the tooth)
long run.noun,.plural.long runs,.in the long run
a period of time sufficient for factors to be worked out
no longer.idiom
not now as formerly (having family responsibilites he no longer drives carelessly)
the long and the short of it.idiom
the substance or gist (you can look on the front page of the paper for the long and the short of it)

longing.noun,.plural.longings
longing is a feeling to have or do something that seems beyond you at the time; if you feel longing or a longing for something, you have a rather sad feeling because you want it so much (he felt a longing for the familiar (she spoke of her longing to return home); a strong persistent.yearning or desire, that for some reason cannot be fulfilled at this time
longingly.adverb
long, longed, longing, longs.intransitive verbs
to have an earnest, heartfelt.desire, especially for something.beyond reach; yearn

lake.noun,.plural.lakes
a large inland body of fresh water or salt water; a large scenic pond, as in a park; a large pool of liquid (a lake of spilled coffee on my desk); compare ocean, pond, sea

lesion.noun,.plural.lesions
a wound or an injury; a localized.pathological change in a bodily organ or tissue; an infected or diseased patch of skin

lifestyle.noun,.plural.lifestyles
a way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group

lag, lagged, lagging, lags.verbs
intransitive verb use.to fail to keep up a pace; straggle; to proceed or develop with comparative slowness; the electrical current lags behind the voltage; to fail, weaken or slacken.gradually; flag
transitive verb use.to cause to hang back or fall behind; to shoot, throw or pitch a coin, for example at a mark
lag.noun,.plural.lags
the act, process or condition of lagging; one that lags behind; a condition of slowness
lagger.noun,.plural.laggers
laggard.noun,.plural.laggards
one that lags; a straggler
laggard.adjective
hanging back or falling behind; dilatory; slow
laggardly.adverb
laggardness.noun

lien.noun,.plural.liens
in law, the right to take and hold or sell the property of a debtor as security or payment for a debt or duty, such as for non performance

lode.noun,.plural.lodes
the metalliferous.ore that fills a fissure in a rock formation; a vein of mineral ore deposited.between clearly demarcated layers of rock; a rich source or supply such as the.mother lode.being the main vein of ore in a region

liquor.noun,.plural.liquors
various.beverages.containing the intoxicant.alcohol made by distillation.rather than by fermentation; a solution, an emulsion or a suspension for industrial use
liquor, liquored, liquoring, liquors.transitive verbs
to steep malt, for example
liqueur.noun,.plural.liqueurs
various strongly flavored alcoholic beverages, one typically selected and served in a very small quantity after dinner

leeward.adverb
leeward.adjective
the leeward side of something is the side that is sheltered from the wind (we camped on the leeward side of the mountain); compare windward
leeward.noun
the lee side
lee.noun
the side away from the direction from which the wind blows; the side sheltered from the wind
lee.adjective
of.or.relating.to the side sheltered from the wind

lees.plural.noun
sediment settling during fermentation, especially in wine making; dregs

leeway.noun
a margin of freedom or variation, as of activity, time or expenditure; latitude; leeway is the freedom that someone has to take the action they want to or to change their plans (he has no leeway for extracurricular activities at the present time; is it because they can't be trusted or because they are controlled that rarely do schoolteachers have leeway to teach classes the way they want); an allowable margin of freedom or variation; tolerance

liquid.noun,.plural.liquids
the state of matter in which a substance.exhibits a characteristic.readiness to flow and has little or no tendency to disperse and has relatively high incompressibility; matter or a specific body of matter in this state
liquid.adjective
of.or.being a liquid; having been liquefied, such as being melted by heating (liquid wax); condensed by cooling (liquid oxygen); flowing readily; fluid (added milk to make the cooking batter more liquid)
liquidly.adverb
liquidness.noun
liquidity.noun,.plural.liquidities
liquidity is the amount of cash someone has available to spend and also is the amount of liquid assets one can readily turn into cash, thus increasing one's spendability; the state of being liquid; the quality of being readily convertible into cash (an investment with high liquidity is one where you can draw out whatever cash wanted from the amount you put in); available cash or the capacity to obtain it on demand
liquify, liquified, liquifying, liquifies.verbs
also liquefy (go figure), welcome to the descriptive but confusing.hodgepodge of the English language; more examples
transitive verb use.to cause to become liquid, especially; to melt a solid by heating (turned the ice cubes back into water); to condense a gas by cooling
intransitive verb use.to become liquid; melt
liquefier.noun,.plural.liquefiers
liquefaction.noun,.plural.liquefactions
the process of liquefying; the state of being liquefied

liquidate, liquidated, liquidating, liquidates.verbs
transitive verb use.to pay off a debt, a claim or an obligation; settle; to settle the affairs of a business firm, for example, by determining the liabilities and applying the assets to their discharge; to convert assets into cash (sold her table on the Internet)
intransitive verb use.to settle a debt, a claim or an obligation; to settle the affairs of a business or an estate by disposing of its assets and liabilities; eliminate
liquidation.noun,.plural.liquidations
liquidator.noun,.plural.liquidators