Part 6473

<h1>Les</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Les</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A leash.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Chaucer.</i>

<h1>Lesbian</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Les"bi*an</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Of or pertaining to the island anciently called <i>Lesbos</i>, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.</def>

<h1>Lese</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Lese</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <def>To lose.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Chaucer.</i>

<h1>Lese-majesty</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Lese`-maj"es*ty</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>See <er>Leze majesty</er>.</def>

<h1>Lesion</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Le"sion</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>lesion</ets>, L. <ets>laesio</ets>, fr. <ets>laedere</ets>, <ets>laesum</ets>, to hurt, injure.]</ety> <def>A hurt; an injury.</def> Specifically: <sd>(a)</sd> <fld>(Civil Law)</fld> <def>Loss sustained from failure to fulfill a bargain or contract</def>. <i>Burrill</i>. <sd>(b)</sd> <fld>(Med.)</fld> <def>Any morbid change in the exercise of functions or the texture of organs.</def>

<i>Dunglison.</i>

<h1>-less</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>-less</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>. <ety>[AS. <ets>le\'a0s</ets> loose, false; akin to OS. <ets>l<?/s</ets> loose, false, D. <ets>los</ets> loose, <ets>loos</ets> false, sly, G. <ets>los</ets> loose, Icel. <ets>lauss</ets> loose, vacant, Goth. <ets>laus</ets> empty, vain, and also to E. <ets>loose</ets>, <ets>lose</ets>. &root;127. See <er>Lose</er>, and cf. <er>Loose</er>, <er>Leasing</er>.]</ety> <def>A privative adjective suffix, denoting <i>without</i>, <i>destitute of</i>, <i>not having</i>; as wit<i>less</i>, child<i>less</i>, father<i>less</i>.</def>

<h1>Less</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Less</hw> <tt>(l&ecr;s)</tt>, <tt>conj.</tt> <def>Unless.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>B. Jonson. </i>

<h1>Less</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Less</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>lesse</ets>, AS. <ets>l&aemac;ssa</ets>; akin to OFries. <ets>l&emac;ssa</ets>; a compar. from a lost positive form. Cf. <er>Lesser</er>, <er>Lest</er>, <er>Least</er>. <ets>Less</ets> has the sense of the comparative degree of <ets>little</ets>.]</ety> <def>Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter; inferior; <as>as, a <ex>less</ex> quantity or number; a horse of <ex>less</ex> size or value; in <ex>less</ex> time than before.</as></def>

<note>&hand; The substantive which <i>less</i> qualifies is often omitted; as, the purse contained <i>less</i> (money) than ten dollars. See <er>Less</er>, <tt>n.</tt></note>

<blockquote>Thus in <b>less</b> than a hundred years from the coming of Augustine, all England became Christian. <i>E. A. Freeman.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Less</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Less</hw>, <tt>adv.</tt> <ety>[AS. <ets>l<?/s</ets>. See <er>Less</er>, <ets>adj</ets>., and cf. <er>Lest</er>.]</ety> <def>Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; <as>as, <ex>less</ex> bright or loud; <ex>less</ex> beautiful.</as></def>

<h1>Less</h1> <Xpage=844>

<hw>Less</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A smaller portion or quantity.</def>

<blockquote>The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some <b>less</b>. <i>Ex. xvi. 17.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The inferior, younger, or smaller.</def>