[learn the hard way] See: HARD WAY.
[learn the ropes] See: THE ROPES.
[least] See: AT LEAST, IN THE LEAST, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE.
[leatherneck] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> A member of the United States Marine Corps. * /I didn't know your son Joe became a leatherneck./
[leave] See: SHORE LEAVE, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, TAKE LEAVE OF, TAKE ONE'S LEAVE.
[leave a bad taste in one's mouth] <v. phr.> To feel a bad impression; make you feel disgusted. * /Seeing a man beat his horse leaves a bad taste in your mouth./ * /His rudeness to the teacher left a bad taste in my mouth./
[leave alone] See: LET ALONE.
[leave at the altar] <v. phr.> 1. To decide not to marry someone in the last minute; jilt. * /Ed left poor Susan at the altar./ 2. To overlook and skip for promotion; not fulfill deserved expectation. * /Once again I didn't get my promotion and was left at the altar./
[leave behind] <v. phr.> 1. Abandon. * /Refugees on the run must sometimes leave old and sick people behind./ 2. To forget; go away without. * /We had reached our car when we noticed that we had left our keys behind./
[leave flat] <v. phr.>, <informal> To quit or leave suddenly without warning when wanted or needed; desert; forsake; abandon. * /Sam found that being a member of the trail-clearing group was a lot of hard work, so he left them flat./ * /My car ran out of gas and left me flat, ten miles from town./ Compare: LEAVE IN THE LURCH, WALK OUT(2).
[leave hanging] or [leave hanging in the air] <v. phr.> To leave undecided or unsettled. * /Because the committee could not decide on a time and place, the matter of the spring dance was left hanging./ * /Ted's mother didn't know what to do about the broken window, so his punishment was left hanging in the air until his father came home./ Compare: UP IN THE AIR.
[leave high and dry] See: HIGH AND DRY.
[leave holding the bag] or [leave holding the sack] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, * /In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag./ 2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame for something that others should share. * /When the ball hit the glass, the team scattered and left George holding the bag./ * /After the party, the other girls on the clean-up committee went away with their dates, and left Mary holding the bag./
[leave in the lurch] <v. phr.> To desert or leave alone in trouble; refuse to help or support. * /The town bully caught Eddie, and Tom left him in the lurch./ * /Bill quit his job, leaving his boss in the lurch./ Compare: LEAVE FLAT, HIGH AND DRY(2), WALK OUT(2).
[leave it at that] <v. phr.> To avoid further and more acrimonious disagreement; not argue or discuss any further. * /Our opinion on health care is obviously different, so let's just leave it at that./
[leave no stone unturned] <v. phr.> To try in every way; miss no chance; do everything possible. - Usually used in the negative. * /The police will leave no stone unturned in their search for the bank robbers./ Compare: ALL OUT, BEND HEAVEN AND EARTH, FINE-TOOTH COMB.
[leave off] <v.> To come or put to an end; stop. * /There is a high fence where the school yard leaves off and the woods begin./ * /Don told the boys to leave off teasing his little brother./ * /Marion put a marker in her book so that she would know where she left off./ Contrast: TAKE UP.
[leave one's mark] <v. phr.> To leave an impression upon; influence someone. * /Tolstoy never won the Nobel Prize, but he left his mark on world literature./ See: MAKE ONE'S MARK.
[leave open] <v. phr.> To remain temporarily unsettled; subject to further discussion. * /Brad said that the question of health insurance would be left open until some future date./
[leave out] <v. phr.> To skip; omit. * /The printer accidentally left out two paragraphs from Alan's novel./
[leave out in the cold] See: OUT IN THE COLD.
[leave out of account] <v. phr.> To fail to consider; forget about. * /The picnic planners left out of account that it might rain./ Contrast: TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
[leave-taking] See: TAKE ONE'S LEAVE.
[leave the matter open] See: LEAVE OPEN.
[leave well enough alone] See: LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
[leave without a leg to stand on] See: LEG TO STAND ON.
[leave word with] <v. phr.> To leave a message. * /Hank left word with his secretary where he could be reached by phone while he was away from his office./
[left] See: OUT IN LEFT FIELD, RIGHT AND LEFT.
[left field] <n.> 1. The part of a baseball out-field to the batter's left. * /Right-handed batters usually hit to left field./ Compare: CENTER FIELD, RIGHT FIELD. 2. See: OUT IN LEFT FIELD. - [left fielder] <n.> The player in baseball who plays in left field. * /The scoreboard in the ball park is on the fence behind the left fielder./
[left-handed] <adj.>, <informal> 1. Using the left hand habitually. 2. Crooked; phoney; homosexual. * /Morris is such a left-handed guy./ 3. Clumsy; untoward; awkward. * /Grab that hammer and stop acting so left-handed./
[left-handed compliment] An ambiguous compliment which is interpretable as an offense. * /I didn't know you could look so pretty! Is that a wig you're wearing?/
[left-wing] <adj.> That which is or belongs to a group of people in politics that favors radical change in the direction of socialism or communism. * /The left-wing faction called for an immediate strike./
[leg] See: ON ONE'S LAST LEGS, PULL ONE'S LEG, SHAKE A LEG, TAIL BETWEEN ONE'S LEGS.
[legal age] or [lawful age] The age at which a person is allowed to do a certain thing or is held responsible for an action. * /In most states the legal age for voting is 27./ * /He could not get a driver's license because he was not of lawful age./
[leg man] <n.>, <informal> 1. An errand boy; one who performs messenger services, or the like. * /Joe hired a leg man for the office./ 2. <slang>, <semi-vulgar>, <avoidable> A man who is particularly attracted to good looking female legs and pays less attention to other parts of the female anatomy. * /Herb is a leg man./
[leg-pulling] See: PULL ONE'S LEG.
[Legree] See: SIMON LEGREE.
[leg to stand on] <n. phr.> A firm foundation of facts; facts to support your claim. - Usually used in the negative. * /Jerry's answering speech left his opponent without a leg to stand on./ * /Amos sued for damages, but did not have a leg to stand on./
[leg work] <n.>, <informal> The physical end of a project, such as the typing of research reports; the physical investigating of a criminal affair; the carrying of books to and from libraries; etc. * /Joe, my research assistant, does a lot of leg work for me./
[leisure] See: AT LEISURE or AT ONE'S LEISURE.
[lend a hand] or [give a hand] also [bear a hand] <v. phr.> To give help; make yourself useful; help. * /The stage manager asked some of the boys to lend a hand with the scenery./ * /Dick saw a woman with a flat tire and offered to give her a hand with it./ Compare: LIFT A FINGER.
[lend an ear to] See: GIVE AN EAR TO.
[lend color to] See: GIVE COLOR TO.
[lend itself to] <v. phr.> To give a chance for or be useful for; to be possible or right for. * /Bob was sick and did not go to Jane's party, but his absence lent itself to misunderstanding./ * /The teacher's paperweight was a heavy piece of metal which sometimes lent itself to use as a hammer./ * /This poem lends itself to our program very well./ Compare: LEND ONESELF TO.
[lend oneself to] <v. phr.> To give help or approval to; encourage; assist. * /Alice wouldn't lend herself to the plot to hide the teacher's chalk./
[length] See: AT LENGTH, GO TO ANY LENGTH, KEEP AT A DISTANCE or KEEP AT ARM'S LENGTH.
[less] See: MORE OR LESS, MUCH LESS.
[lesson] See: TEACH A LESSON.
[less than] <adv.> Not; little. * /We were busy and less than delighted to have company that day./ * /The boys were less than happy about having a party./ Contrast: MORE THAN.