Most debonair and luculent lady.
B. Jonson.
Lu"cu*lent*ly, adv. In a luculent manner; clearly.
Lu*cul"lite (?), n. [From Lucullus, a Roman consul, famous for his
great wealth and luxury: cf. F. lucullite.] (Min.) A variety of black
limestone, often polished for ornamental purposes.
||Lu*cu"ma (?), n. (Bot.) An American genus of sapotaceous trees
||bearing sweet and edible fruits.
||
Lucuma mammosum is called natural marmalade in the West Indies; L.
Caimito, of Peru, furnishes a delicious fruit called lucuma and
caimito.
Lud"dite (?), n. One of a number of riotous persons in England, who for
six years (1811-17) tried to prevent the use of labor-saving machinery
by breaking it, burning factories, etc.; -- so called from Ned Lud, a
half-witted man who some years previously had broken stocking frames.
J. & H. Smith. H. Martineau.
Lu*dib"ri*ous (?), a. [L. ludibrium mockery, derision, from ludere to
play, sport.] Sportive; ridiculous; wanton. [Obs.] Tooker.
Lu"di*bund (?), a. [L. ludibundus.] Sportive. [Obs.] --
Lu"di*bund*ness, n. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
Lu"di*crous (?), a. [L. ludicrus, or ludicer, from ludus play, sport,
fr. ludere to play.] Adapted to excite laughter, without scorn or
contempt; sportive. Broome.
A chapter upon German rhetoric would be in the same ludicrous
predicament as Van Troil's chapter on the snakes of Iceland, which
delivers its business in one summary sentence, announcing, that
snakes in Iceland -- there are none.
De Quincey.
Syn. -- Laughable; sportive; burlesque; comic; droll; ridiculous. --
Ludicrous, Laughable, Ridiculous. We speak of a thing as ludicrous when
it tends to produce laughter; as laughable when the impression is
somewhat stronger; as ridiculous when more or less contempt is mingled
with the merriment created.
-- Lu"di*crous*ly, adv. -- Lu"di*crous*ness, n.
Lu`di*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [L. ludificatio, fr. ludificare to make sport
of; ludus sport + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See - fy.] The act of
deriding.
Lu*dif"i*ca*to*ry (?), a. [L. ludificatorius.] Making sport; tending to
excite derision. [Obs.]
Lud"lam*ite (?), n. [Named after Mr. Ludlam, of London.] (Min.) A
mineral occurring in small, green, transparent, monoclinic crystals. It
is a hydrous phosphate of iron.
Lud"low group` (?). (Geol.) A subdivision of the British Upper Silurian
lying below the Old Red Sandstone; -- so named from the Ludlow, in
Western England. See the Chart of Geology.
Lud"wig*ite (?), n. [Named after the chemist Ludwig.] (Min.) A borate
of iron and magnesia, occurring in fibrous masses of a blackish green
color.
||Lu"es (?), n. [L.] (Med.) Disease, especially of a contagious kind.
||
Lues venerea, syphilis; -- called also simply lues.
Luff (?), n. [OE. lof, prob. a sort of timber by which the course of a
ship was directed, perh. a sort of paddle; cf. D. loef luff, loeven to
luff. The word is perh. akin to E. glove. Cf. Aloof.] (Naut.) (a) The
side of a ship toward the wind. (b) The act of sailing a ship close to
the wind. (c) The roundest part of a ship's bow. (d) The forward or
weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other
fore-and- aft sails.
Luff tackle, a purchase composed of a double and single block and fall,
used for various purposes. Totten. -- Luff upon luff, a luff tackle
attached to the fall of another luff tackle. R. H. Dana, Jr.
<! p. 874 !>
Luff (lf), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Luffed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Luffing.]
(Naut.) To turn the head of a vessel toward the wind; to sail nearer
the wind; to turn the tiller so as to make the vessel sail nearer the
wind.
To luff round, or To luff alee, to make the extreme of this movement,
for the purpose of throwing the ship's head into the wind.
Luf"fer (lf"fr), n. (Arch.) See Louver.
Lug (lg), n. [Sw. lugg the forelock.] 1. The ear, or its lobe. [Scot. &
Prov. Eng.]
2. That which projects like an ear, esp. that by which anything is
supported, carried, or grasped, or to which a support is fastened; an
ear; as, the lugs of a kettle; the lugs of a founder's flask; the lug
(handle) of a jug.
3. (Mach.) A projecting piece to which anything, as a rod, is attached,
or against which anything, as a wedge or key, bears, or through which a
bolt passes, etc.