Part 6685

<h1>Ludibrious</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu*dib"ri*ous</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ludibrium</ets> mockery, derision, from <ets>ludere</ets> to play, sport.]</ety> <def>Sportive; ridiculous; wanton.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Tooker.</i>

<h1>Ludibund</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu"di*bund</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ludibundus</ets>.]</ety> <def>Sportive.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark> -- <wordforms><wf>Lu"di*bund*ness</wf>, <tt>n.</tt> <mark>[Obs.]</mark></wordforms>

<i>Dr. H. More.</i>

<h1>Ludicrous</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu"di*crous</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ludicrus</ets>, or <ets>ludicer</ets>, from <ets>ludus</ets> play, sport, fr. <ets>ludere</ets> to play.]</ety> <def>Adapted to excite laughter, without scorn or contempt; sportive.</def>

<i>Broome.</i>

<blockquote>A chapter upon German rhetoric would be in the same <b>ludicrous</b> predicament as Van Troil's chapter on the snakes of Iceland, which delivers its business in one summary sentence, announcing, that snakes in Iceland -- there are none. <i>De Quincey.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- Laughable; sportive; burlesque; comic; droll; ridiculous.</syn> <usage> -- <er>Ludicrous</er>, <er>Laughable</er>, <er>Ridiculous</er>. We speak of a thing as <i>ludicrous</i> when it tends to produce laughter; as <i>laughable</i> when the impression is somewhat stronger; as <i>ridiculous</i> when more or less contempt is mingled with the merriment created.</usage>

-- <wordforms><wf>Lu"di*crous*ly</wf>, <tt>adv.</tt> -- <wf>Lu"di*crous*ness</wf>, <tt>n.</tt></wordforms>

<h1>Ludification</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu`di*fi*ca"tion</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ludificatio</ets>, fr. <ets>ludificare</ets> to make sport of; <ets>ludus</ets> sport + <ets>-ficare</ets> (in comp.) to make. See <er>-fy</er>.]</ety> <def>The act of deriding.</def>

<h1>Ludificatory</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu*dif"i*ca*to*ry</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ludificatorius</ets>.]</ety> <def>Making sport; tending to excite derision.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<h1>Ludlamite</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lud"lam*ite</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Named after Mr. <ets>Ludlam</ets>, of London.]</ety> <fld>(Min.)</fld> <def>A mineral occurring in small, green, transparent, monoclinic crystals. It is a hydrous phosphate of iron.</def>

<h1>Ludlow group</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lud"low group`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>. <fld>(Geol.)</fld> <def>A subdivision of the British Upper Silurian lying below the Old Red Sandstone; -- so named from the <i>Ludlow</i>, in Western England. See the <i>Chart</i> of <er>Geology</er>.</def>

<h1>Ludwigite</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lud"wig*ite</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Named after the chemist <ets>Ludwig</ets>.]</ety> <fld>(Min.)</fld> <def>A borate of iron and magnesia, occurring in fibrous masses of a blackish green color.</def>

<h1>Lues</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Lu"es</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L.]</ety> <fld>(Med.)</fld> <def>Disease, especially of a contagious kind.</def>

<cs><col>Lues venerea</col>, <cd>syphilis; -- called also simply <altname>lues</altname>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Luff</h1> <Xpage=873>

<hw>Luff</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>lof</ets>, prob. a sort of timber by which the course of a ship was directed, perh. a sort of paddle; cf. D. <ets>loef</ets> luff, <ets>loeven</ets> to luff. The word is perh. akin to E. <ets>glove</ets>. Cf. <er>Aloof</er>.]</ety> <fld>(Naut.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>The side of a ship toward the wind</def>. <sd>(b)</sd> <def>The act of sailing a ship close to the wind</def>. <sd>(c)</sd> <def>The roundest part of a ship's bow</def>. <sd>(d)</sd> <def>The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.</def>

<cs><col>Luff tackle</col>, <cd>a purchase composed of a double and single block and fall, used for various purposes. <i>Totten<i>.</cd> -- <col>Luff upon luff</col>, <cd>a luff tackle attached to the fall of another luff tackle.</cd> <i>R. H. Dana, Jr. </i></cs>