Part 656

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty.

Prov. xx. 13.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

1 Cor. x. 12.

2. That (without the negative particle); -- after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension.

I feared Lest I might anger thee.

Shak.

-let (-lt). [From two French dim. endings - el (L. -ellus) and -et, as in bracelet.] A noun suffix having a diminutive force; as in streamlet, wavelet, armlet.

Let (lt), v. t. [OE. letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.] To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [Archaic]

He was so strong that no man might him let.

Chaucer.

He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2. Thess. ii. 7.

Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, And lets me from the saddle.

Tennyson.

Let, n. 1. A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; -- common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. Keats.

Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not.

Latimer.

2. (Lawn Tennis) A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing over.

Let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Let (Letted (lt"td), .); p. pr. & vb. n. Letting.] [OE. leten, læten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. ltan (past tense lt, p. p. lten); akin to OFries. lta, OS. ltan, D. laten, G. lassen, OHG. lzzan, Icel. lta, Sw. låta, Dan. lade, Goth. ltan, and L. lassus weary. The original meaning seems to have been, to let loose, let go, let drop. Cf. Alas, Late, Lassitude, Let to hinder.] 1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.]

He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let.

Chaucer.

Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets.

Spenser.

Let me alone in choosing of my wife.

Chaucer.

2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. [Obs.]