Part 562

La"di*fy (?), v. t. [Lady + - fy.] To make a lady of; to make ladylike. [Obs.] Massinger.

La*din" (?), n. [From L. Latinus Latin. See Latin] A Romansch dialect spoken in some parts of Switzerland and the Tyrol.

Lad"ing (?), n. 1. The act of loading.

2. That which lades or constitutes a load or cargo; freight; burden; as, the lading of a ship.

Bill of lading. See under Bill.

||La*di"no (?), n.; pl. Ladinos (#). [Sp.] One of the half-breed ||descendants of whites and Indians; a mestizo; -- so called throughout ||Central America. They are usually of a yellowish orange tinge. Am. ||Cyc. || Lad"kin (?), n. A little lad. [R.] Dr. H. More.

La"dle (?), n. [AS. hlædel, fr. hladan to load, drain. See Lade, v. t.] 1. A cuplike spoon, often of large size, with a long handle, used in lading or dipping.

When the materials of glass have been kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the workmen take off with ladles.

Boyle.

2. (Founding) A vessel to carry liquid metal from the furnace to the mold.

3. The float of a mill wheel; -- called also ladle board.

4. (Gun.) (a) An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon. (b) A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.

Ladle wood (Bot.), the wood of a South African tree (Cassine Colpoon), used for carving.

La"dle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ladled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ladling (?).] To take up and convey in a ladle; to dip with, or as with, a ladle; as, to ladle out soup; to ladle oatmeal into a kettle.

La"dle*ful (?), n.; pl. Ladlefuls (&?;). A quantity sufficient to fill a ladle.

La*drone" (?), n. [Sp. ladron, L. latro servant, robber, Gr. (&?;) a servant.] A robber; a pirate; hence, loosely, a rogue or rascal.

La"dy (l"d), n.; pl. Ladies (-dz). [OE. ladi, læfdi, AS. hlfdige, hlfdie; AS. hlf loaf + a root of uncertain origin, possibly akin to E. dairy. See Loaf, and cf. Lord.]

1. A woman who looks after the domestic affairs of a family; a mistress; the female head of a household.

Agar, the handmaiden of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither goest thou? The which answered, Fro the face of Sara my lady.

Wyclif (Gen. xvi. 8.).

2. A woman having proprietary rights or authority; mistress; -- a feminine correlative of lord. "Lord or lady of high degree." Lowell.

Of all these bounds, even from this line to this, . . . We make thee lady.

Shak.

3. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound; a sweetheart.

The soldier here his wasted store supplies, And takes new valor from his lady's eyes.

Waller.

4. A woman of social distinction or position. In England, a title prefixed to the name of any woman whose husband is not of lower rank than a baron, or whose father was a nobleman not lower than an earl. The wife of a baronet or knight has the title of Lady by courtesy, but not by right.

5. A woman of refined or gentle manners; a well-bred woman; -- the feminine correlative of gentleman.