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love
by chance and prizes given to those who bought them →
compare DRAW², RAFFLE 2 [S] something whose result or
worth is uncertain or risky: Life is a lottery.
lot-to /'lɒtə||'lɑ-/ n a game used to make money, in which
people buy tickets with a series of numbers on them. If their
number is picked by chance, they win money or a prize.
Lotto, the trademark another name for the National Lottery
lo-tus /'ləʊtəs/ n 1 a white or pink flower that grows,
especially in Asia, on the surface of lakes 2 the shape of this
flower used formally in decorative patterns, especially in
ancient Egyptian art 3 (in ancient Greek stories) a fruit
which, when eaten, caused the eater to feel pleasantly
dreamy, forgetful, and lazy
'lotus-eater n a person who leads a lazy dreamy life and is
not concerned with the business of the world (from a story in
the Odyssey in which people behaved in this way after eating
a fruit called a lotus)
'lotus po,sition [the] a position in YOGA in which you sit on
the floor with your legs crossed and your hands on your
knees, especially when you want to MEDITATE
loud¹ /laʊd/ adj 1 having or producing great strength of
sound: The radio isn't loud enough; could you turn it up? |
loud music | loud protests 2 attracting attention by being
unpleasantly noisy or colourful: a loud young man who stood
at the desk demanding to see the manager | He was wearing a
rather loud shirt. —→ly adv —→ness n [U]
loud² adv loudly; in a loud way: Could you speak a little
louder? | He read the news article out loud. (=so people could
hear it) → see also for crying out loud (CRY¹)
loud-hail-er /ˌlaʊdˈheɪlə/ n especially BrE for MEGAPHONE
loud-mouth /'laʊdmaʊθ/ n pl. -mouths /-maʊðz/ infml derog a
person who talks too much and in an offensive way —→ed
adj
loud-speak-er /ˌlaʊdˈspikə, ˈlaʊdˌspiːkə/ n 1 a
SPEAKER 2 an apparatus for making sounds louder: The
police addressed the crowd through a loudspeaker on their car.
Lou-ga-nis, Greg /luːˈgeɪnɪs, greg/ (1960-) an American
man who won gold and silver MEDALS at the Olympics in
1976, 1984, and 1988, in diving (DIVE). In 1995 he said
publicly that he had AIDS.
Lou Geh-rig's dis-ease /luː ˈgerɪg dɪˌsiːz/ a NERVE and
muscle disease named after a famous US BASEBALL player,
Lou GEHRIG, who died of it in 1941
lough /lɒx, lɒk||lɑːk, lɑːx/ n (in Ireland) a lake or a part of
the sea almost surrounded by land
Lough Neagh /ˌlɒx ˈneɪ, ˌlɒk-||ˌlɑːk-, ˌlɑːx-/ a lake in
Northern Ireland west of Belfast, the largest lake in the UK
Lou-is, Joe /ˈluːɪs, dʒəʊ/ (1914-81) a US BOXER, known as
'the Brown Bomber', who was world HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
from 1937 to 1949, which is the longest time that any boxer
has held this title
Lou-i-si-a-na /luˌiːziˈænə/, written abbrev. LA a state in the
southern US whose largest city is New Orleans
Lou,isiana 'Purchase, the also the Lou,isiana 'Ter-
ritory the area of land which the US bought from France in
1803. It consisted of the land between the Mississippi River
and the Rocky Mountains and between Canada and the Gulf
of Mexico. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the
size of the US.
Louis Qua-torze /ˌluːi kæˈtɔːz||-ˈtɔːrz/ adj typical of the
ARCHITECTURE or furniture from the time of LOUIS XIV of
France
Louis Quinze /ˌluːi ˈkænz/ adj typical of the furniture or
style of decoration from the time of King Louis XV of
France. Louis Quinze furniture typically has a lot of curving
edges: a Louis Quinze chair
Louis Vu-it-ton /ˌluːi vjuːtɒn||-tɑːn/ a company that
makes expensive bags, cases, PURSES etc. It was the first
company to put a BRAND name on the outside of a product,
and it uses a design on its products which is a pattern that
includes the letters L and V printed together.
Lou-is XIV /ˌluːi ðə fːˈtiːnθ||-fɔːr-/ (1638-1715) the King of
France from 1643 to 1715. He was the called the 'Sun King'
and his COURT at Versailles was known for being very
beautiful and expensively decorated. He also supported
important artists and writers, and the time when he was
King is seen as a great period in French history.
Louis XVI /ˌluːi ðə sɪksˈtiːnθ/ (1754-93) the King of France
from 1774 to 1792. He and his wife MARIE ANTOINETTE were
put in prison during the FRENCH REVOLUTION, and were
killed by having their heads cut off by the GUILLOTINE.
lounge¹ /laʊndʒ/ n 1 [C] a comfortable room for sitting in,
such as a) especially BrE a LIVING ROOM in a private house b)
a small public room in a hotel c) AmE a large public room
especially in a hotel or theatre d) LOUNGE BAR → see also
COCKTAIL LOUNGE 2 [S] BrE infml an act or period of lounging
lounge² v [I+adv/prep] 1 to stand or sit in a leaning lazy way:
lounging near the bar 2 derog to spend time in a lazy way,
doing nothing: Don't lounge around/about all day: do some-
thing!
'lounge bar n BrE for SALOON BAR
'lounge ,lizard n a man who goes to bars, NIGHTCLUBS etc in
the hope of finding women who will buy him drinks or food
or who will even support him with money
loung-er /'laʊndʒə/ n 1 derog a lazy person who does no
work 2 a type of folding bed used in the garden for lying in
the sun; a SUNBED
'lounge suit BrE || business suit AmE — n a man's suit, for
wearing during the day, e.g. in an office
CULTURAL NOTE In Britain and the US many men who
work in a bank, office etc have to wear a lounge suit
when they go to work, even when the weather is very hot
or very cold. It is usually in a dark colour such as grey or
black and is usually worn with a shirt and tie.
lour /'laʊə/ v [I] especially BrE for LOWER
Lourdes /lʊəd, lʊədz||lʊərd/ a small town in southwest
France where Roman Catholics believe that Saint BERNADETTE
saw the Virgin MARY appear. They consider Lourdes to be a
holy place, and many sick people go there because they
believe that the water there is holy and has the power to
cure them.
louse¹ /laʊs/ n 1 pl. lice /laɪs/ any of several types of small
wingless insect that live on the skin and in the hair of
people and animals → see also DELOUSE 2 pl. louses
/'laʊsɪz/ slang a worthless person
louse² v
louse sthg./sbdy. ↔ up phr v [T] AmE slang to make worse
rather than better; MESS UP: The rain has loused up my plans.
lou-sy /'laʊzi/ adj 1 infml very bad, unpleasant, useless etc:
What lousy weather! 2 [F+with] slang a) derog filled (with):
The town was lousy with tourists. b) having plenty (of
especially money) 3 covered with lice (LOUSE)
lout /laʊt/ n derog a rough rude (young) man —→ish adj
—→ishness n [U]
Louth /laʊθ, laʊð/ the smallest COUNTY in the Republic of
Ireland, on the northeast coast
lou-vre also lou-ver AmE /'luːvə/ n an arrangement of
narrow sloping bands of wood, plastic, metal etc, fixed in a
frame that swings across a window, doorway etc, especially
to allow some light in but keep rain or strong sun out
Louvre, the /'luːvrə, luːv/ the most famous French
MUSEUM, which is in Paris and has many important paint-
ings, including the MONA LISA, and STATUES, including Nike
or the Winged Victory
lov-a-ble, loveable /'lʌvəbəl/ adj easy to love or like;
pleasant: His vicious temper didn't make him the most lovable
of men. | a lovable kitten
love¹ /lʌv/ n 1 [U(not)] a strong feeling of fondness for another
person, especially between members of a family or close
friends: a mother's love for her child → opposite HATE,
HATRED 2 [U(for)] fondness combined with sexual attraction:
The young pair are in love (with each other). | They fell in
love at once: it was love at first sight. | a love story
CULTURAL NOTE Love is usually represented by a red heart
or by CUPID. → see Cultural Note at VALENTINE'S DAY
3 [S:U(of, for)] warm interest and enjoyment (in) and attrac-
tion (to): (a) love of music/sport 4 [C] the object of such
interest and attraction: Music was one of the great loves of
his life. 5 [C] a person who is loved: She was the great love of