L

a labor of love a task that is either un-

paid or badly paid and that one does sim-

ply for one’s own satisfaction or pleasure

or to please someone whom one likes or

loves. Jane made no money out of the

biography she wrote. She was writing

about the life of a friend and the book was

a labor of love. Mary hates knitting, but

she made a sweater for her boyfriend.

What a labor of love.

lace into someone or something and light into

someone or something to attack, devour, or

scold someone or something. (Informal.)

We laced into a big meal of pork and

beans.  The bully punched John once,

and then John really laced into him.

John lit into him with both fists. My fa-

ther really lit into me when I came in late.

He yelled at me for ten minutes.

laid-back relaxed and unperplexed by dif-

ficulties. (Slang.) John is so laid-back.

Nothing seems to disturb him. I wish I

could be more laid-back. I get so tense.

laid up immobilized for recuperation or re-

pairs. (Said of people and things.) I

was laid up for two weeks after my acci-

dent. My car is laid up for repairs. I

was laid up with the f lu for a week.

Todd was laid up for a month.

the land of Nod sleep. (Humorous. Bor-

rowed from the Bible, Gen. 4:16. From

the fact that people sometimes nod when

they are falling asleep.) The baby is in

the land of Nod. Look at the clock! It’s

time we were all in the land of Nod.

land on both feet Go to land on one’s feet.

land on one’s feet and land on both feet

to recover satisfactorily from a trying sit-

uation or a setback. (Also literal. As if

having fallen. Informal.) Her first year

was terrible, but she landed on both feet.

It’s going to be a hard day. I only hope

I land on my feet.

land up somehow or somewhere to finish

somehow or somewhere; to come to be

in a certain state or place at the end.

(Usually in the wrong place or in a bad

situation. See also end up somewhere.)

We set out for Denver but landed up in Salt

Lake City. He’s so extravagant that he

landed up in debt.

a landslide victory a victory by a large

margin; a very substantial victory, par-

ticularly in an election. The mayor won

a landslide victory in the election. The

younger man won a landslide victory in

the presidential election.

lap something up to believe something, es-

pecially something untrue. (Also literal.

Informal.) Did she believe it? She just

lapped it up. T I can’t imagine why she

lapped up that ridiculous story.

lapse into a coma to go into a coma.

The survivor of the crash lapsed into a

coma. Aunt Mary lapsed into a coma

and died.

large as life Go to (as) large as life.

last but not least last in sequence, but not

last in importance. (A cliché. Often said

when introducing people.) The speaker

said, “And now, last but not least, I’d like

to present Bill Smith, who will give us some

final words.” And last but not least, here

is the loser of the race.

a last-ditch effort a final effort; the last

possible attempt. I made one last-ditch

effort to get her to stay. It was a last-

ditch effort. I didn’t expect it to work.

the last person the most unlikely person

of whom one could think in a particular

situation; the most unlikely person to do

something. (Also literal. Preceded by be,

become, or seem like.) Bob seems like

the last person for Tom to insult. He’s so

hot-tempered. Mary was the last person

to ask to chair the meeting—she’s so shy.

last will and testament Go to someone’s

last will and testament.

late in life when one is old. She injured

her hip running. She’s exercising rather late

in life. Isn’t it sort of late in life to buy

a house?

late in the day far along in a project or

activity; too late in a project or activity

for action, decisions, etc., to be taken.

It was a bit late in the day for him to apol-

ogize. It’s late in the day to try to change

the plans.

laugh all the way to the bank to be very

happy about money that has been earned

by doing something that other people

might think is unfair. He may not be in

the nicest business, but he is doing well and

can laugh all the way to the bank. She

makes tons of money doing what no one

else will do and laughs all the way to the

bank.

laugh out of the other side of one’s

mouth to change sharply from happiness

to sadness. Now that you know the

truth, you’ll laugh out of the other side of

your mouth. He was so proud that he

won the election. He’s laughing out of the

other side of his mouth since they re-

counted the ballots and found out that he

lost.

laugh something off to avoid or reject a se-

rious problem by laughing at it. Tom

suffered an injury to his leg, but he laughed

it off and kept playing ball. T Mary just

laughed off her bad experience.

laugh something out of court to dismiss

something as ridiculous. The commit-

tee laughed the suggestion out of court.

Bob’s request for a large salary increase was

laughed out of court.

launch forth (on something) Go to set forth

(on something); take off (on something).

law unto oneself one who makes one’s own

laws or rules; one who sets one’s own

standards of behavior. You can’t get Bill

to follow the rules. He’s a law unto himself.

Jane is a law unto herself. She’s totally

unwilling to cooperate.

lay a finger on someone or something to touch

someone or something, even slightly.

(Usually in the negative. Compare this

with put one’s finger on something.) Don’t

you dare lay a finger on my pencil. Go get

your own! If you lay a finger on me, I’ll

scream.

lay an egg [for someone] to give a bad per-

formance. (Literal with birds and most

reptiles. Informal.) The cast of the play

really laid an egg last night. I hope I

don’t lay an egg when it’s my turn to sing.

lay down one’s life (for someone or something)

to sacrifice one’s life for someone or

something. Would you lay down your

life for your country? There aren’t many

things for which I’d lay down my life.

lay down on the job Go to lie down on the

job.

lay down the law 1. to state firmly what

the rules are (for something). Before

the meeting, the boss laid down the law.

We all knew exactly what to do. The way

she laid down the law means that I’ll re-

member her rules. 2. to scold someone for

misbehaving. (Informal.) When the

teacher caught us, he really laid down the

law. Poor Bob. He really got it when his

mother laid down the law.

lay eyes on someone or something Go to set

eyes on someone or something.

of that fishing pole. I’m ready to catch a

huge fish.

lay into someone or something to attack, con-

sume, or scold someone or something.

Bob laid into the big plate of fried chicken.

The bear laid into the hunter. My fa-

ther really laid into me when I got home.

lay it on thick and lay it on with a

trowel; pour it on thick; spread it on

thick to exaggerate praise, excuses, or

blame. Sally was laying it on thick when

she said that Tom was the best singer she

had ever heard. After Bob finished mak-

ing his excuses, Sally said that he was pour-

ing it on thick. Bob always spreads it on

thick.

lay it on with a trowel Go to lay it on

thick.

lay low Go to lie low.

lay off (someone or something) to leave some-

one or something alone; to stop bother-

ing someone or something; to take it easy

(on someone or something). (Slang. See also

lay someone off.) Lay off Bill. He didn’t

mean any harm! Hey! I said lay off!

Lay off the butter. Don’t use it all up.

the lay of the land 1. the arrangement of

features on an area of land. The sur-

veyor mapped the lay of the land. The

geologist studied the lay of the land, trying

to determine if there was oil below. 2. the

arrangement or organization of some-

thing other than land. As soon as I get

the lay of the land in my new job, things

will go better. The company’s corporate

structure was complex, so understanding

the lay of the land took time.

lay one’s cards on the table Go to put one’s

cards on the table.

lay one’s hands on someone or something Go

to get one’s hands on someone or something.

lay over (somewhere) to pause somewhere

during one’s journey. (Compare this with

stop over (somewhere).) I had to lay over

in San Antonio for a few hours before my

plane left. I want a bus that goes straight

through. I don’t want to lay over.

lay someone away to bury someone.

laid my uncle away last week. They laid

him away with a quiet ceremony.

lay someone off to put an employee out of

work, possibly temporarily. They even

laid the president off. T The computer fac-

tory laid off two thousand workers.

lay someone up to cause someone to be ill

in bed. A broken leg laid me up for two

months. T Flu laid up everyone at work

for a week or more.

lay something by Go to put something by.

lay something in to get something and store

it for future use. They laid a lot of food

in for the holidays. T We always lay in a

large supply of firewood each November.

lay something on someone to direct blame,

guilt, or verbal abuse at someone. (Also

literal. Slang. See also put the blame on

someone or something.) Don’t lay that stuff

on me! It’s not my fault. The boss is in

the conference room laying a lot of anger

on the sales staff.

lay something on the line Go to put something

on the line.

lay something to rest Go to put something to

rest.

lay something to waste and lay waste to

something to destroy an area (literally or

figuratively). The invaders laid the vil-

lage to waste. The kids came in and laid

waste to my clean house.

lay the blame on someone or something Go to

put the blame on someone or something.

lay the finger on someone Go to put the fin-

ger on someone.

lay waste to something Go to lay something

to waste.

lead a dog’s life and live a dog’s life to

lead a miserable life. Poor Jane really

leads a dog’s life. I’ve been working so

hard. I’m tired of living a dog’s life.

lead off to begin; to start (assuming that

others will follow). We were waiting for

someone to start dancing. Finally, Bob and

Jane led off. The hunter led off, and the

dogs followed. The first baseman will

lead off as the first batter in the baseball

game.

lead someone by the nose to force someone

to go somewhere (with you); to lead

someone by coercion. (Informal.) John

had to lead Tom by the nose to get him to

the opera. I’ll go, but you’ll have to lead

me by the nose.

lead someone down the garden path to de-

ceive someone. Now, be honest with

me. Don’t lead me down the garden path.

That cheater really led her down the

garden path.

lead someone on a merry chase to lead

someone in a purposeless pursuit.

What a waste of time. You really led me on

a merry chase. Jane led Bill on a merry

chase trying to find an antique lamp.

lead someone to believe something to imply

something to someone; to cause someone

to believe something untrue, without ly-

ing. But you led me to believe that this

watch was guaranteed! Did you lead her

to believe that she was hired as a clerk?

lead someone to do something to cause some-

one to do something. This agent led me

to purchase a worthless piece of land.

My illness led me to quit my job.

lead the life of Riley to live in luxury. (In-

formal. No one knows who Riley is.)

If I had a million dollars, I could live the

life of Riley.  The treasurer took our

money to Mexico, where he lived the life

of Riley until the police caught him.

lead up to something to prepare the way for

something. His compliments were his

way of leading up to asking for money.

What were his actions leading up to?

a leading question a question that sug-

gests the kind of answer that the person

who asks it wants to hear. The mayor

was angered by the reporter’s leading ques-

tions. “Don’t you think that the police

are failing to stop crime?” is an example

of a leading question.

leaf through something Go to thumb

through something.

lean on someone to try to make someone do

something; to coerce someone to do

something. (Also literal. Informal.) If

she refuses to do it, lean on her a bit.

Don’t lean on me! I don’t have to do it if I

don’t want to.

lean over backwards (to do something) Go

to fall over backwards (to do something).

lean toward doing something to tend toward

doing something; to favor doing some-

thing. The union is leaning toward ac-

cepting the proposal. My friends leaned

toward swimming instead of shopping.

leap at the opportunity Go to jump at the

chance.

leap to conclusions Go to jump to

conclusions.