789
Leary, Timothy
leak·y /'li:ki/ adj letting things leak in or out: a leaky bucket |
a leaky committee, whose supposedly secret meetings were
accurately reported in the press —iness n [U]
lean¹ /li:n/ v leant /lent/ or leaned 1 [I] to slope or bend
from an upright position: The trees leant in the wind. | the
leaning tower of Pisa | He leant forward/down/over to hear
what she said. 2 [+adv/prep] to support or rest oneself in a
bent or sloping position: She leant against his shoulder. | He
leant on the back of the chair. 3 [T+obj+adv/prep] to place so as
to be supported from the side in a sloping position: Lean it
(up) against the wall. → see also LEAN OVER BACKWARDS
(BACKWARDS) —lean n [S(of)] a lean of 20°
Leaned and leant are both used in British English,
but leaned is the main form in American English.
lean on sbdy./sthg. phr v [T] 1 also lean upon — to need
the help of; depend on: The minister leans on his advisers
(for support). 2 infml to influence forcefully, often by threats:
I'm being leant on to pay up straight away.
lean towards sthg. phr v [T] to favour (an opinion, idea
etc): My wife intends to vote for the Democrats, but I find
myself leaning towards the Republicans.
lean² adj 1 (of meat) not having much fat. It is generally
considered to be healthier to eat lean meat than fatty meat
and it is often eaten by people trying to lose weight or
people interested in eating healthy foods. 2 (of a person,
especially a man, or an animal) not having much flesh;
healthily thin: He had the lean fit look of a trained athlete. |
(fig.) With our cuts in staff our company is leaner and more
profitable. 3 producing or having little value: It's been a lean
year for business. → see THIN (USAGE) 4 a lean and hungry
look quote a phrase from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.
Cassius, one of the men planning to kill Caesar, is described
as having 'a lean and hungry look' because he looks as if he is
planning to do harm to someone. —ness n [U]
lean³ n [the U] the part of meat that is not fat
Lean, Sir David (1908-91) a British film DIRECTOR who made
many well-known films, such as BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945),
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia
(1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984)
Lean Cui'sine trademark a type of frozen meal made with
less fat, less salt etc, and bought especially by people who
want to be thin
lean·ing /'li:nɪŋ/ n [(towards)] a slight tendency to favour one
thing rather than another: At an early age his leaning
towards Socialism had become apparent. | She has artistic
leanings. (=thinks she may like to become an ARTIST)
Leaning Tower of Pisa, the a tall round tower in Pisa,
Italy, which does not stand straight, but LEANS to one side. It
was built in the 12th century and is popular with tourists. In
recent years work was successfully carried out to reduce the
angle at which the tower leans, making it less likely to fall
down.
'lean-to n a small often roughly made building that rests
against the side of a larger building or structure
leap¹ /li:p/ v leapt /lept/ or leaped /lept||li:pt/ 1 [I+adv/prep]
to jump, usually so as to land in a different place: The horse
leapt across the chasm. | She leapt into the boat and grabbed
the oars. 2 [T] especially lit to jump over: He leapt the wall and
ran away. 3 [I+adv/prep] to act, move, rise etc quickly, as if
with a jump: He leapt up (=suddenly stood up) to complain. |
She leapt to his assistance. | He leapt to their defence. (=was
quick to defend them)
Leapt is more common in British English than
leaped but leaped is more common in American English.
leap at sthg. phr v [T] to accept (a chance, offer etc) eagerly:
She leapt at the chance of a trip to Europe.
leap out phr v [I(at)] to be very clearly noticeable: His name
leapt out at me from the newspaper.
leap² n 1 a sudden jump: She got over the stream with a single
leap. | (fig.) It takes a considerable leap of the imagination to
picture him as prime minister. 2 [(in)] a sudden increase in
number, amount, quantity etc: There has been a leap in the
number of births in Britain. 3 by leaps and bounds very
quickly and successfully: Her French is improving by leaps
and bounds. 4 leap in the dark an action or risk taken
without knowing what will happen as a result
leap·frog¹ /'li:pfrog||-frɔ:g, -fræg/ n [U] a game in which
one person bends down and another jumps over them from
behind
leapfrog² v -gg- [I(over):T] to advance well by missing out
(something) on the way: He leapfrogged two ranks and was
promoted directly to colonel.
'leap year n [C;U] a year, every fourth year, in which
February has 29 days instead of 28 days. Usually it is the
custom in Britain for a man to ask a woman to marry him,
but in a leap year, and especially on February 29th, it is the
custom that a woman can ask a man to marry her.
Lear, Edward /lɪə/ (1812-88) a British artist and poet, best
known for his Book of Nonsense, a collection of humorous
poems
Lear, King → see KING LEAR
Lear, Norman (1922-) a US film and television writer and
PRODUCER, known especially for the television programmes
All in the Family (1971-79) and Maude (1972-78). He is also
known for his active support of CIVIL RIGHTS.
learn /lɜ:n||lɜ:rn/ v learned or learnt /lɜ:nt||lɜ:rnt/ 1 [I;T(ə-
bout)] to gain knowledge of (a subject) or skill in (an activity),
especially through experience or through being taught: The
child is learning quickly. | I'm trying to learn French. | [+to-v]
She is learning to be a dancer. | [+wh-] He is learning how to
play the drums. | We hope he'll learn from his mistakes.
(=become wiser as a result of them) → compare
TEACH 2 [T+(that) obj] to come to understand; REALIZE: You
must learn that you can't treat people like servants. 3 [T] to
fix in the memory; MEMORIZE: The teacher told us to learn the
poem (by heart). | an actor learning his lines 4 [[(of, about);T;T]
infml to become informed (of): She only learnt of (=found out
about) her son's marriage long after the event. | Where did you
learn this news? | [+(that)] We were pleased to learn that he had
arrived safely. | [+wh-] We have yet to learn whether he arrived
safely. 5 [T] BrE slang humor to punish (someone) by shouting
at them, hitting them etc: That'll learn you to be cheeky! 6 learn
one's lesson to suffer so much from doing something bad that one will not do it again → see also LIVE
and learn (LIVE¹)
For the simple past form and past participle
learned and learnt are both common in British English,
but the usual American English form is learned. → see
also KNOW (USAGE)
learn·ed /'lɜ:nɪd||'lɜ:r-/ adj fml or pomp 1 having much know-
ledge as the result of study and reading: We consulted the
most learned professors. 2 [A] of or for advanced study: a
publisher of learned works —ly adv
,learned so'ciety n a society where educated people discuss
certain subjects involving study or reading
learn·er /'lɜ:nə ||'lɜ:r-/ n a person who is learning, especially
a person (learner driver (BrE) who is learning to drive a car:
She's a rather slow learner. (=is slow at learning)
'learner's ,permit AmE for PROVISIONAL LICENCE
learn·ing /'lɜ:nɪŋ||'lɜ:r-/ n [U] 1 deep and wide knowledge
gained through reading and study: a man of great learning
→ compare KNOWLEDGE 2 a little learning is a dangerous
thing quote a phrase from a work by Alexander Pope, often
used when saying that it is not helpful to know a small
amount about a subject
'learning curve n the rate at which someone learns some-
thing, e.g. a job, over a period of time
'learning difficulties n [P] a mental problem that affects
someone's ability to learn: a school for children with learning
difficulties
Lea·ry, Tim·o·thy /'liəri, 'tɪməθi/ (1920-96) an American
writer and PSYCHOLOGIST who believed that controlled use
of the drug LSD could change people's lives in a positive
way. He is known for saying 'Turn on, tune in, drop out'. In
1963 he was forced to leave his job as a PSYCHOLOGY
PROFESSOR at Harvard University because he had been
doing EXPERIMENTS with LSD on students. He continued his
experiments at a large house in New York called Millbrook,
but was put in prison. The Weather Underground Organiza-
tion, a COMMUNIST TERRORIST group, helped him to escape,
but he was later caught in Switzerland and taken back to the
US.