Leg bridge. A type of bridge for small spans in which the floor girders are rigidly secured at their extremities to supporting steel legs, driven into the round as piling, or resting on mudsills.
Legislature, n. -- The legislatures of some of the more important states having constitutional government are as follows, the general name (or a translation of it) of the legislative body collectively being given under the heading legislature, or parliament:
---------------------------------------------------------------- *In the self-governing colonies of Great Britain the legislative body usually consists of two chambers, the names of the legislature and the chambers varying. Thus in Australia the Federal Parliament is composed of the Senate and the House of Commons, in New Zealand the General Assembly is composed of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, etc.
#Members of the Storthing are chosen for three years by direct election by manhood suffrage, forty-one being elected from the towns and eighty-two from the rural districts. The Storthing on assembling divides into the Lagthing including one fourth and the Odelsthing including three fourths of the total membership of the Storthing. All new laws are laid first before the Odelsthing. If the two houses do not agree they vote in joint session, a majority of two thirds of those voting being necessary to a decision.
§ While theoretically general, the suffrage is so classified as often practically to disfranchise those who are not property holders.
Leg"-of-mut"ton (?), a. Having the general shape or outline of a leg of mutton; as, a leg-of- mutton, or shoulder-of-mutton, sail.
Le*nard" rays (?). (Physics.) Rays emanating from the outer surface of a plate composed of any material permeable by cathode rays, as aluminium, which forms a portion of a wall of a vacuum tube, or which is mounted within the tube and exposed to radiation from the cathode. Lenard rays are similar in all their known properties to cathode rays. So called from the German physicist Philipp Lenard (b. 1862), who first described them.
Lenard tube. (Elec.) A tube for producing Lenard rays.
Les"bi*an, a. Amatory; erotic; -- in allusion to the reputed sensuality of the Lesbian people and literature; as, Lesbian novels.
Les"bi*an*ism (?), n. (Med.) Unnatural sexual relations between women.
Lesbian love. See Lesbianism.
||Les"ter (?), n. [Pg., prob. fr. Fr. l'est the east.] (Meteor.) A dry sirocco in the Madeira Islands.
Let"ter, n. (Teleg.) A telegram longer than an ordinary message sent at rates lower than the standard message rate in consideration of its being sent and delivered subject to priority in service of regular messages. Such telegrams are called by the Western Union Company day, or night, letters according to the time of sending, and by The Postal Telegraph Company day, or night, lettergrams.
Let"ter*gram (?), n. See Letter, above.
||Le*ve"che (?), n. [Sp. Cf. Lebeccio.] (Meteor.) A dry sirocco of Spain.
Le`vo*ro*ta"tion (?), n. [Written also lævorotation.] [Levo- + rotation.] (Physics & Chem.) Rotation in the direction of an outgoing right-handed screw; counter-clockwise rotation; -- applied chiefly to the turning of the plane of polarization of light.
Li`bel*lee" (?), n. (Law) (a) The party against whom a libel has been filed; -- corresponding to defendant in a common law action. (b) The defendant in an action of libel.
||Lie"der*kranz, n. [G. See Lied, and Grants.] (Mus.) Lit., wreath of songs; -- used as the title of a group of songs, and esp. as the common name for German vocal clubs of men.
Light"*struck`, a. (Photog.) Damaged by accidental exposure to light; light-fogged; -- said of plates or films.
Light"weight` (?), n. One of less than average weight; specif.: (a) In boxing, wrestling, etc., one weighingnot more than 133 pounds (U. S. amateur rules 135 pounds, Eng. 140 pounds). (b) A person of small impotance or mental ability. [Colloq., Chiefly U. S.]
Light"weight`, a. Light in weight, as a coin; specif., applied to a man or animal who is a lightweight.
Light year. (Astron.) The distance over which light can travel in a year's time; -- used as a unit in expressing stellar distances. It is more than 63,000 times as great as the distance from the earth to the sun.
Like, n. (Golf) The stroke which equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side; as, to play the like.
||Li"kin`, n. [Written also lekin.] [ Chin. li kin; li the thousandth part of a tael + kin money.] A Chinese provincial tax levied at many inland stations upon imports or articles in transit.
"Likin," which used to be regarded as illegal, as one of the many, "squeezes" imposed by the mandarins, is, in Jamieson's opinion, just as legal as any other form of taxation.
A. R. Colquhoun.
Lil"y, n. (Auction Bridge) A royal spade; -- usually in pl. See Royal spade, below.
{Lim"burg cheese, Lim"burg*er, n., Lim"burg*er cheese} (?). A soft cheese made in the Belgian province of Limburg (Limbourg), and usually not eaten until the curing has developed a peculiar and, to most people, unpleasant odor.
Lime"light`, n. (Theat.) That part of the stage upon which the limelight as cast, usually where the most important action is progressing or where the leading player or players are placed and upon which the attention of the spectators is therefore concentrated. Hence, consspicuous position before the public; as, politicians who are never happy except in the limelight.
Lim"er*ick (?), n. [Said to be from a song with the same verse construction, current in Ireland, the refrain of which contains the place name Limerick.] A nonsense poem of five anapestic lines, of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of there feet, and rime, and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet, and rime; as --
There was a young lady, Amanda,
Whose Ballades Lyriques were quite fin de
Siècle, I deem
But her Journal Intime
Was what sent her papa to Uganda.
Li`mou*sine" (?), n. [Cf. F. limousine a kind of cloak, fr. Limousin, an old province in central France.] An automobile body with seats and permanent top like a coupé, and with the top projecting over the driver and a projecting front; also, an automobile with such a body.
{ Line"-up`, Line"up` } (?), n. The formation of football players before the start or a restart of play; hence (Colloq.), any arrangement of persons (rarely, of things), esp. when having a common purpose or sentiment; as, the line-up at a ticket-office window; the line-up of political factions.
||Lin`ge*rie (?), n. [F.] Linen goods collectively; linen underwear, esp. of women; the clothing of linen and cotton with its lace, etc., worn by a women.
Lin"gua Fran"ca. Any hybrid or other language used over a wide area as a common or commercial tongue among peoples of different speech.
Link (?), n. [See Linch.] 1. A hill or ridge, as a sand hill, or a wooded or turfy bank between cultivated fields, etc. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
2. A winding of a river; also, the ground along such a winding; a meander; -- usually in pl. [Scot.]
The windings or "links" of the Forth above and below Stirling are extremely tortuous.
Encyc. Brit.
3. pl. Sand hills with the surrounding level or undulating land, such as occur along the seashore, a river bank, etc. [Scot.]
Golf may be played on any park or common, but its original home is the "links" or common land which is found by the seashore, where the short close tuft, the sandy subsoil, and the many natural obstacles in the shape of bents, whins, sand holes, and banks, supply the conditions which are easential to the proper pursuit of the game.
Encyc. of Sport.
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