775
laissez-faire
men. It typically contains a lot pictures, especially pictures
of young women wearing very little clothing, and most of
the writing in it is about clothes, cars, drinking, sport etc
lads /lædz/ n [the+P] BrE infml a group of men that one knows
and likes
la·dy /'leɪdi/ n 1 a) polite a woman: Good morning, ladies. |
the lady of the house (=the wife and mother in the family) | a
lady doctor b) a woman of good manners and behaviour or
of high social position: They could tell as soon as they saw
her that she was a lady. c) apprec a woman of the stated
type: The new boss is a very businesslike lady. 2 old use or poet
a man's wife or female friend: the captain and his
lady 3 slang, especially AmE (used for addressing a woman): You
dropped your handkerchief, lady! 4 and all because the
lady loves Milk Tray® a phrase used in advertisements for
Milk Tray chocolates → see MILK TRAY 5 the lady's not for
turning a phrase, slightly changed from the title of a play The
Lady's not for Burning by Christopher Fry, used by Margaret
THATCHER when refusing to change her policies (POLICY) and
afterwards often used about her → see also BAG LADY, FIRST
LADY, LEADING LADY, OLD LADY; see GENTLEMAN (USAGE)
Lady n 1 in the UK, a title used before the name of a woman
who is the wife or daughter of a man with a special title
such as 'Lord' or 'Sir': Lady Diana Spencer 2 in the UK, used
as part of the title of a woman who holds an important
official position: the Lady President
Lady, The a rather old-fashioned British magazine for
women, typically read by older, UPPER-CLASS women. It also
contains advertisements for servants and nannies (NANNY).
Lady and the 'Tramp (1955) a CARTOON made by Walt
DISNEY, about two dogs who meet and have a romantic
relationship. Lady is a PEDIGREE dog, (=a special type of dog),
and she is very well cared for, but the Tramp is a MONGREL (=a
mixture of different types of dogs) who lives on the street.
la·dy·bird /'leɪdibɜːd||-bɜːrd/ BrE || la·dy·bug /'leɪdibʌg/
AmE — n a small round BEETLE (=type of insect) that is usually
red with black spots
Ladybird trademark a series of very popular small books for
children on all sorts of subjects, usually with hard covers,
which are produced in the UK
Lady 'Bountiful n derog a woman who wants to be consid-
ered rich and generous and who does a lot of CHARITY work or
gives money to poor people, but behaves as if she thinks she
is better or more important than them: She likes to think
she's Lady Bountiful.
'Lady ,Chapel n part of a Christian church, especially a
ROMAN CATHOLIC church, where people go to pray to the
Virgin MARY. It usually contains a picture or STATUE of her.
Lady Chat·ter·ley's Lov·er /ˌleɪdi ˌtʃætəlɪz 'lʌvər||-tər-/
a novel by D. H. LAWRENCE which was written in 1928, but
could not legally be sold in the UK until 1960 because the
story contained a lot of descriptions of sex and was consid-
ered to be very shocking. It is about Lady Chatterley, a
married woman from a high social class, who has a sexual
relationship with her GAMEKEEPER (=someone whose job is
to take care of wild birds that are bred to be shot for sport).
CULTURAL NOTE At a famous court case in 1960,
sometimes called the 'Lady Chatterley Trial', the JURY
decided that the book should be allowed to be sold, and
people sometimes connect this decision with the general
change in attitudes towards sex in the 1960s.
'Lady Day 25 March, the day of the ANNUNCIATION, on which,
according to Christian belief, the news was given to Mary by
the Angel Gabriel that she would become the mother of Jesus
Christ. Formerly, Lady Day was officially regarded as the first
day of the legal year in the UK.
'lady ,finger n AmE a small finger-shaped cake that is used to
make DESSERTS → see SPONGE FINGER
'lady ,friend n usually humor a man's female friend; a girlfriend:
I saw you in the pub last night with your lady friend. →
compare YOUNG LADY
,lady-in-'waiting n pl. ladies-in-waiting a lady who looks
after and serves a queen or princess
'lady-,killer n infml, sometimes derog a man who charms and
attracts all the women he meets: He thinks he's a real
lady-killer, but the girls all laugh at him.
la·dy·like /'leɪdilaɪk/ adj old-fash apprec (of a woman or her
behaviour) looking like, behaving like, or suitable to a lady;
having good manners: scratching herself in a way that was
certainly not ladylike
Lady Macbeth → see MACBETH, LADY
,Lady 'Muck n humor a woman who has a very high opinion
of her own importance, and expects people to do things for
her: It's that Paula Mims, Lady Muck herself.
,lady of the 'evening n pl. ladies of the evening euph a
PROSTITUTE
,Lady of the 'Lake, the a mysterious woman in old stories
about King Arthur. When Arthur is dying, his sword, Excali-
bur, is thrown into a lake, and the Lady of the Lake's hand
appears from under the water and catches it. She is also one
of the three queens who take Arthur by boat to Avalon to
die. → see also ARTHURIAN LEGEND
,Lady of the 'Lamp, the → see NIGHTINGALE, FLORENCE
'lady's ,fingers n [P] OKRA
la·dy·ship /'leɪdɪʃɪp/ n (often cap.) (used as a title for address-
ing or speaking of) a woman with the title of Lady: Good
morning, your ladyship. | Her ladyship will not be pleased
when she hears about this.
la Fon·taine, Jean de /ˌlæ fɒnˈteɪn||ləː fɑːn-, ʒɔ̃
dəlʒɑːn-/ (1621–95) a French poet, famous for his Fables, a
collection of short stories which teach a moral lesson. The
characters in these stories are usually animals that speak, and
many of them are based on stories by the ancient Greek
writer AESOP.
lag¹ /læg/ v -gg- [I(behind)] to move or develop more slowly
(than others); considered to be a fault: He lagged behind the
rest of the children because he kept stopping to look in shop
windows. | Why is this country lagging behind in the develop-
ment of space technology?
lag² n a TIME LAG
lag³ v -gg- [T(with)] BrE to cover (water pipes and containers)
with a special material to prevent loss of heat: We've lagged
the hotwater tank with felt.
lag⁴ n → see OLD LAG
la·ger /'lɑːɡər/ n [C;U] BrE (a glass of) a light kind of beer.
Lager is more popular with younger people than with older
people.
Lag·er·feld, Karl /'lɑːɡəfeld||-ɡər-, kaːl||kaːrl/ (1938–) a
German fashion DESIGNER. He has worked with many impor-
tant fashion companies.
'lager lout n BrE a young man who drinks too much lager (or
other alcohol) and then behaves violently or rudely, usually
in the company of other badly behaved young men
lag·gard /'lægədl-ərd/ n old use a person or thing that is very
slow or late
lag·ging /'lægɪŋ/ n [U] BrE material used to LAG a water pipe
or container
la·goon /lə'guːn/ n a lake of sea water partly or completely
separated from the sea by banks of sand, rock, CORAL etc: a
tropical lagoon
La·gos /'leɪɡɒs||-ɡɑːs/ the largest city and port in Nigeria
and the former capital of the country
La Guar·di·a /lə ˌɡwɑːdiəli-əːr-/ one of New York's main
airports, used mostly for flights within the US
lah-di-dah /ˌlɑː di 'dɑː/ adj LA-DI-DA
laid /leɪd/ past tense and participle of LAY
,laid-'back adj infml (of a person or behaviour) cheerfully
informal and/or unworried; RELAXED
lain /leɪn/ past participle of LIE
Laine, Cle·o /leɪn, 'kliːəʊ/ (1927–) a British JAZZ singer,
known especially for her work with her husband, John
Dankworth. Her official title is Dame Cleo Laine.
lair /leər/ n the place where a wild animal hides, rests, and
sleeps: (fig.) The police tracked the thieves to their lair.
laird /leəd||leərd/ n a Scottish landowner → compare SQUIRE
lai·ry /'leəri/ adj BrE infml behaving in a way that is very loud,
or with too much confidence: He's a bit lairy, your friend
Mick.
lais·sez-faire, laisser-faire /ˌleseɪ 'feər ,ˌleɪ-/ n, adj [U] Fr