Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A grassland; a meadow.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A scythe.
- noun Same as
lay , 8. - noun One of the sets of alternating threads into which the yarns of a loom are divided by the harness system so as to form the shed.
- noun Open, untilled land, usually in grass, or pasture-land; a meadow or grassy plain; a stretch of level fields or commons.
- noun Hence Any field; any level geographical surface.
- noun Fallow land; lealand.
- Untilled; fallow: said of land. Compare lealand, layland.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A meadow or sward land; a grassy field.
- noun A measure of yarn; for linen, 300 yards; for cotton, 120 yards; a lay.
- noun A set of warp threads carried by a loop of the heddle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several
measures ofyarn ; for linen, 300 yards; for cotton, 120 yards; a lay. - noun an open field,
meadow
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a unit of length of thread or yarn
- noun a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Nordhausen in the morning: the lea is a green salad, crisp with raindrops.
Gravity's Rainbow Pynchon, Thomas 1978
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That is called the lea of Lymdale 'twixt the wood and the water-side;
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs William Morris 1865
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The DMS-6000 Digital Media Server is the new launch of the CodexNovus, a company known as a lea ...
CyberTheater 2009
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Leas, a lea is a term at Kidderr minster for a hank or quantity of yarn.
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But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, in proving foresight may be vain; the best-laid schemes o 'mice an' men gang aft agley, an 'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy.
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Despite all human efforts, our best-laid plans indeed Gang aft a-gley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain.
"Terrorism is a cancer in Pakistan, we are determined, God willing, we will rid the country of this cancer." Ann Althouse 2008
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Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments have been listed below: pp. iii, 31, "MCANDREW'S HYMN" amended to _MCANDREWS 'HYMN_; p. 89, "lea" amended to _lee_:
The Seven Seas Rudyard Kipling 1900
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Willy has decided to send Mally and the bairns away from the farm, while he will sharpen his old "lea" (scythe) and remain behind to defend his homestead.
Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems Frederic William Moorman 1895
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-- Gang to yer bed, noo, an 'lea' me to my ain thouchts; no '' at they're aye the best o 'company, laddie.
Sir Gibbie George MacDonald 1864
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It's plain to me, frae words he lats fa 'noo an' than, that, instead o 'lea'in' the warl 'ahint him whan he dees, he thinks to lie smorin' an 'smocherin' i 'the mools, clammy an' weet, but a 'there, an' trimlin 'at the thocht o' the suddent awfu 'roar an' din o 'the brazen trumpet o' the archangel.
Malcolm George MacDonald 1864
lea commented on the word lea
Hawaiian goddess of canoe makers.
March 5, 2009