little green men
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CULTURAL NOTE It used to be considered polite to keep
the little finger straight when holding something like a cup,
but people now think this is AFFECTED (=not real, natural,
or sincere) and make fun of people who do it.
,little green 'men n informal humor [P] living beings thought to
come from another PLANET especially MARTIANS (=imaginary
creatures from the planet Mars): little green men in a flying
saucer | What causes the crop circles? Little green men or
human hoaxers—or neither?
,Little House on the 'Prairie a novel for children,
written by the US writer Laura Ingalls WILDER. The book
describes her life as a child in the American Midwest in the
19th century, when her family were among the first white
people to live there. It is also the name of a popular US
television programme of the 1970s, which was based on
Wilder's books.
Little Jack Hor·ner /ˌlɪtl dʒæk ˈhɔːrnər ǁ-ˈhɔːr-/ a charac-
ter from a NURSERY RHYME (=an old song or poem for young
children)
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum,
And said 'What a good boy am I'.
,Little 'John one of Robin Hood's followers, in old English
stories. He is called Little John as a joke because he is so big
and strong.
'Little Leagues a baseball LEAGUE for children in the US
and Canada. Some other countries, for example some coun-
tries in Latin America, also have Little Leagues: Are your kids
playing in Little Leagues this year?
Little Lord Faunt·le·roy /ˌlɪtl lɔːrd fɔːntlərɔɪl-ːrd-/ the
main character in the 19th century children's book Little Lord
Fauntleroy (1886) by Frances Hodgson BURNETT. He is an
American boy who becomes an English lord when his father
dies, and is known for his long BLOND curly hair, his neat
clothes, and his polite, morally good behaviour.
,Little 'Mermaid, The a FAIRY TALE by Hans Christian
ANDERSEN in which a MERMAID (=a woman with a fish's tail
instead of legs) changes her fish's tail for legs, even though
this is very painful, because she loves a human prince. But
the prince marries a human princess instead, and the little
mermaid dies. The story was made into a CARTOON film by
Walt DISNEY in 1989. There is a STATUE of the Little Mer-
maid at the entrance to the HARBOUR in Copenhagen, the
capital city of Denmark.
Little Miss Muf·fet /ˌlɪtl mɪs ˈmʌfɪt/ a character from a
NURSERY RHYME (=an old song or poem for young children).
She is a young girl who is frightened by a SPIDER and runs
away:
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a great spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Little Nell /ˌlɪtl ˈnel/ a character in the book The Old
Curiosity Shop (1841) by Charles DICKENS. Many people think
of the death of Little Nell as one of the saddest stories in
English literature, although some people think it is so sad that
it seems silly and emotional.
Little Or·phan An·nie /ˌlɪtl ˌɔːrfən ˈæniˌɔːr-/ a character
in the US CARTOON STRIP Little Orphan Annie. She is an
ORPHAN (=a child whose parents have died) who gets into a
lot of trouble, especially when the man who takes care of
her, DADDY WARBUCKS, is away. The story has also been made
into a popular musical play and film called Annie.
'little people [the+P] informal 1 fairies (FAIRY), especially Irish
LEPRECHAUNS: He thinks he's talking to the little people. 2 the
people in a country or organization who have no power: It's
the little people who get hurt by these policies, not the wealthy.
,Little Red 'Book, The a small book with a red cover,
printed in China and containing many sayings from the
speeches and writings of the Chinese leader MAO ZEDONG. It
was read especially during the CULTURAL REVOLUTION of the
late 1960s, and at public meetings large crowds of people
used to wave their copies of the Little Red Book.
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Rid·ing Hood /ˌlɪtl red ˈraɪdɪŋhʊd/ also Red
Ridinghood a character in the old children's story Little
Red Riding Hood, who is a young girl. In the story the BIG BAD
WOLF eats Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother and puts
on her clothes. When Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit
her grandmother she is surprised by her appearance and
says, 'Oh, Grandma, what big teeth you have!', and the wolf
replies, 'All the better to eat you with' and swallows Little
Red Riding Hood. A WOODCUTTER (=someone whose job is
to cut down trees) kills the wolf, cuts open its stomach, and
saves Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.
'Little Rock the capital of the US state of Arkansas. It is
known especially as the place where, in 1957, the US Presi-
dent had to send US government soldiers to a school, because
the state Governor was using Arkansas state soldiers to pre-
vent nine black children from going to a school where all the
children were white. Bill CLINTON lived in Little Rock when
he was the state Governor of Arkansas, before he became
President of the US.
,little 'toe n the smallest toe on the outside of the foot
,little 'woman [the] (an expression for mentioning) one's
wife; often considered offensive, especially by women
,Little 'Women (1868) a book for girls written by Louisa May
ALCOTT which describes the happy family lives of four sisters
in New England, whose names are Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy
Lit·tle·wood, Joan /ˈlɪtlwʊd dʒəʊn/ (1914-2002) a British
theatre director who developed new and original ways of
expressing her LEFT-WING political ideas in the theatre. She is
known especially for her stage production of Oh, What a
Lovely War! in 1963.
Lit·tle·woods¹ /ˈlɪtlwdz/ trademark the largest and best
known of the companies that operate football POOLS in the
UK (=a system by which people risk small amounts of
money on the results of football games, and can win a lot of
money if they guess the results correctly). The pools have
become less popular since the UK's NATIONAL LOTTERY was
established in 1994.
Littlewoods² trademark one of a group of British shops
selling clothes, food, and electrical goods
lit-to-ral /ˈlɪtərəl/ n, adj tech (an area of land) near the coast
li-tur-gi-cal /lɪˈtɜːdʒɪkəlǀˌɜr-/ adj formal like or used in a liturgy
—ly /kli/ adv
lit·ur·gy /ˈlɪtɜːdʒiǀˌɜr-/ n 1 [C] a form of worship in the
Christian church, using prayers, songs etc according to fixed
patterns in religious services 2 [the] (sometimes cap.) the writ-
ten form of these services
Liu, Lu·cy /liːu luːsi/ (1968–) a US television and film actress,
known for appearing in the television programme Ally
McBeal and the Charlie's Angels series of films, and other
films, including Kill Bill
liv·a·ble, live·able /ˈlɪvəbəl/ adj 1 [(N)] suitable to live in;
HABITABLE: The house is not livable (in). 2 [(WITH)] bearable;
endurable (ENDURE): The pain is bad, but it's livable (with).
live¹ /lɪv/ v 1 [I] to be alive; have life: Humans and animals
have an equal right to live. 2 [I] to continue to be alive: His
illness is so serious, he is unlikely to live. | She lived to a great
age. | She won't live much longer if she keeps taking drugs. |
(fig.) A writer's words can live beyond his death. | (written on a
wall) 'Elvis lives!' (=we feel that Elvis Presley is still alive) |