[latch on] or [hitch onto] <v.>, <informal> 1. To get hold of; grasp or grab; catch. * /He looked for something to latch onto and keep from falling./ * /The football player latched onto a pass./ 2. <slang> To get into your possession. * /The banker latched onto a thousand shares of stock./ 3. <slang> To understand. * /The teacher explained the idea of jet engines until the students latched onto it./ Syn.: CATCH ON. 4. <informal> To keep; to hold. * /The poor woman latched onto the little money she had left./ 5. <slang> To stay with; not leave. * /Marie and Dick wanted to go to the movies by themselves, but Mane's little brother latched onto them./
[latch string] <n.> 1. A string that opens an old-fashioned door by lifting a small bar. * /The early settlers kept the latch string outside the door when they were working around the house, but at night they pulled it to the inside./ 2. <informal> A warm welcome; a friendly greeting. - Used in such phrases as "the latch string is out." * /Mary has her latch siring out for everyone who comes./ Syn.: WELCOME MAT(2).
[late] See: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, OF LATE.
[lately] See: JOHNNY-COME-LATELY.
[later] See: SOONER OR LATER.
[later on] <adv.> Later; not now. * /Finish your lessons. Later on, we may have a surprise./ * /Bill couldn't stand on his head when school started, but later on he learned how./
[lather] See: IN A LATHER.
[laugh] See: HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST, HAVE THE LAST LAUGH.
[laugh all the way to the bank] <v. phr.> To have made a substantial amount of money either by lucky investment or by some fraudulent deal and rejoice over one's gains. * /If you had done what I suggested, you, too, could be laughing all the way to the bank./
[laughing matter] <n.> A funny happening; a silly situation. Usually used with "no". * /John's failing the test is no laughing matter!/ * /We were amused when our neighbor's cat had five kittens, but when our own cat had six kittens it was no laughing matter./
[laugh in one's beard] See: LAUGH UP ONE'S SLEEVE.
[laugh in one's sleeve] See: LAUGH UP ONE'S SLEEVE.
[laugh off] <v.> To dismiss with a laugh as not important or not serious; not take seriously. * /He had a bad fall while ice skating but he laughed it off./ * /You can't laugh off a ticket for speeding./ Compare: MAKE LIGHT OF.
[laugh one out of] <v. phr.> To cause another to forget his/her worries and sorrows by joking. * /Jack was worried about getting airsick, but his son and daughter laughed him out of it./
[laugh one's head off] <v. phr.>, <informal> To laugh very hard; be unable to stop laughing. * /Paul's stories are so wildly funny that I laugh my head off whenever he starts telling one of them./
[laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth] or [laugh on the other side of one's mouth] or [laugh out of the other side of one's mouth] <v. phr.>, <informal> To be made sorry; to feel annoyance or disappointment; cry. * /Paul boasted that he was a good skater, but after he fell, he laughed out of the other side of his mouth./
[laugh up one's sleeve] or [laugh in one's sleeve] or [laugh in one's beard] To be amused but not show it; hide your laughter. * /He was laughing up his sleeve when Joe answered the phone because he knew the call would he a joke./
[launch window] <n.>, <Space English>, <informal> 1. A period of time when the line-up of planets, Sun, and Moon are such as to make favorable conditions for a specific space launch. * /The mission was canceled until the next launch window which will be exactly six weeks from today./ 2. A favorable time for starting some kind of ambitious adventure. * /My next launch window for a European trip isn't until school is over in June./
[laurel] See: LOOK TO ONE'S LAURELS, REST ON ONE'S LAURELS.
[lavender] See: LAY OUT(7).
[law] See: LAY DOWN THE LAW, PARLIAMENTARY LAW, TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE'S OWN HANDS.
[law-abiding] <adj.> Obeying or following the law. * /Michael had been a law-abiding citizen all his life./
[lawful age] See: LEGAL AGE.
[law of averages] <n. phr.> The idea that you can't win all the time or lose all the time. * /The Celtics have won 10 games in a row but the law of averages will catch up with them soon./
[law unto oneself] <n. phr.>, <literary> A person who does only what he wishes; a person who ignores or breaks the law when he doesn't like it. * /Everybody in Germany feared Hitler because he was a law unto himself./ * /Mr. Brown told Johnny that he must stop trying to be a law unto himself./ Compare: TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE'S OWN HANDS.
[lay] See: KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG.
[lay about one] <v. phr.> To hit out in all directions. - Used with a reflexive object: "her", "him", or "them". * /The bandits surrounded the sheriff, but he laid about him so hard, with his gun used as a club, that they stepped back and let him escape./ * /Mrs. Franklin didn't kill the mouse, but she laid about her so hard with the broom that she scared it away./
[lay a finger on] <v. phr.> To touch or bother, even a little. Used in negative, interrogative, and conditional sentences. * /Don't you dare lay a finger on the vase!/ * /Suppose Billy fakes his brother with him; wilt the mean, tough boy down the street dare lay a finger on him?/ * /If you so much as lay a finger on my boy, I'll call the police./ Compare: LAY HANDS ON, PUT ONE'S FINGER ON.
[lay an egg] <v. phr.>, <slang> To fail to win the interest or favor of an audience. * /His joke laid an egg./ * /Sometimes he is a successful speaker, but sometimes he lays an egg./
[lay aside] <v. phr.> 1. To put off until another time; interrupt an activity. * /The president laid aside politics to turn to foreign affairs./ 2. To save. * /They tried to lay aside a little money each week for their vacation./
[lay at one's door] <v. phr.>, <literary> To blame (something) on a person. * /The failure of the plan was laid at his door./ Compare: LAY TO(1).
[lay away] <v.> 1. To save. * /She laid a little of her pay away each week./ 2. To bury (a person). - Used to avoid the word "bury", which some people think is unpleasant. * /He was laid away in his favorite spot on the hill./
[lay-away plan] <n.> A plan for buying something that you can't pay cash for; a plan in which you pay some money down and pay a little more when you can, and the store holds the article until you have paid the full price. * /She could not afford to pay for the coat all at once, so she used the lay-away plan./
[lay bare] <v. phr.> To expose; reveal; divulge. * /During his testimony the witness laid bare the whole story of his involvement with the accused./
[lay by] <v.> To save, especially a little at a time. * /The students laid a little money by every week till they had enough for a trip to Florida./ * /The farmer laid by some of his best corn to use the next year for seed./
[lay down] <v.> 1. To let (something) be taken; give up or surrender (something). * /The general told the troops to lay down their arms./ * /He was willing to lay down his life for his country./ Compare: GIVE UP. 2. To ask people to follow; tell someone to obey; make (a rule or principle). * /The committee laid down rules about the size of tennis courts./ 3. To declare; say positively; say surely; state. * /She laid it down as always true that "a fool and his money are soon parted."/ 4. To store or save for future use, especially in a cellar. * /They laid down several barrels of cider./
[lay down one's arms] <v. phr.> To cease fighting; surrender. * /The Civil War ended when the Confederate army finally laid down its arms./
[lay down one's cards] See: LAY ONE'S CARDS ON THE TABLE.
[lay down one's life] <v. phr.> To sacrifice one's life for a cause or person; suffer martyrdom. * /The early Christians often laid down their lives for their faith./
[lay down the law] <v. phr.> 1. To give strict orders. * /The teacher lays down the law about homework every afternoon./ 2. To speak severely or seriously about a wrongdoing; scold. * /The principal called in the students and laid down the law to them about skipping classes./ Compare: TELL ONE WHERE TO GET OFF.
[lay eyes on] or [set eyes on] <v. phr.> To see. * /She knew he was different as soon as she laid eyes on him./ * /I didn't know the man; in fact, I had never set eyes on him./
[lay for] <v.>, <informal> To hide and wait for in order to catch or attack; to lie in wait for. * /The bandits laid for him along the road./ * /I knew he had the marks for the exam, so I was laying for him outside his office./
[lay hands on] <v. phr.> 1. To get hold of; find; catch. * /The treasure hunters can keep any treasure they can lay hands on./ * /If the police can lay hands on him, they will put him in jail./ Compare: LAY ONE'S HAND ON(2). 2. To do violence to; harm; hurt. * /They were afraid that if they left him alone in his disturbed condition he would lay hands on himself./
[lay hold of] <v. phr.> 1. To take hold of; grasp; grab. * /He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore./ 2. To get possession of. * /He sold every washing machine he could lay hold of./ 3. <Chiefly British> To understand. * /Some ideas in this science book are hard to lay hold of./
[lay in] <v.> To store up a supply of; to get and keep for future use. * /Mrs. Mason heard that the price of sugar might go up, so she laid in a hundred pounds of it./ * /Before school starts, the principal will lay in plenty of paper for the students' written work./ Compare: LAY UP.
[lay into] or [light into] <v.>, <informal> 1. To attack physically; go at vigorously. * /The two fighters laid into each other as soon as the bell rang./ * /John loves Italian food and he really laid into the spaghetti./ Syn.: PITCH INTO, SAIL INTO. 2. <slang> To attack with words. * /The senator laid into the opponents of his bill./ Syn.: LACE INTO, RIP INTO. Compare: BAWL OUT, TELL OFF.
[lay it on] or [lay it on thick] also [put it on thick] or [spread it on thick] or [lay it on with a trowel] <v. phr.>, <informal> To persuade someone by using very much flattery; flatter. * /Bob wanted to go to the movies. He laid it on thick to his mother./ * /Mary was caught fibbing. She sure spread it on thick./ Compare: PUT ON(2b).
[lay it on the line] See: LAY ON THE LINE(2).
[lay low] <v.> 1. To knock down; to force into a lying position; to put out of action. * /Many trees were laid low by the storm./ * /Jane was laid low by the flu./ 2. To kill. * /The hunters laid low seven pheasants./ 3. See: LIE LOW.