Чтение онлайн

[leader] See: MAJORITY LEADER, MINORITY LEADER.

[lead-footed] See: HEAVY-FOOTED.

[leading light]{n. phr.} A prominent person in a community, company, or group. •/Alan is the leading light of our discussion group on music./

[lead off]{v.} To begin; start; open. •/Richardson led off the inning with a double./ •/We always let Henry lead off./ •/Mr. Jones led off with the jack of diamonds./ •/When the teacher asked if the film helped them to understand, Phil led off by saying that he learned a lot from it./

[lead on]{v. phr.} To encourage you to believe something untrue or mistaken. •/Tom led us on to believe that he was a world traveler, but we found out that he had never been outside our state./ •/We were led on to think that Jeanne and Jim were engaged to be married./

[lead one a merry dance]{v. phr.} To cause someone unusual discomfort or expense; tire someone by causing one to overdo. •/With her personal extravagances and constant social activities that cost a fortune, Carol led her husband a merry dance./

[lead the way]{v. phr.} To go before and show how to go somewhere; guide. •/The boys need someone to lead the way on their hike./ •/The men hired an Indian to lead the way to the Pueblo ruins./ •/That school led the way in finding methods to teach reading./

[lead to]{v. phr.} To result in. •/Such a heavy arms race can only lead to war./

[leaf] See: TURN OVER A NEW LEAF.

[leaf through]{v. phr.} To scan or glance through a book or other reading matter. •/I only had time to leaf through the program before the concert started./

[league] See: IN LEAGUE WITH, IVY LEAGUE.

[leaguer] See: TEXAS LEAGUER.

[leak out]{v. phr.} To become known; escape. •/The famous beauty queen tried to keep her marriage a secret, but news of it soon leaked out./

[leak to]{v. phr.} To purposely let a secret be known, as if conveying it in the strictest confidence. •/The movie star’s secret divorce was leaked to the tabloids by her housekeeper./

[lean on]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To pressure (someone) by blackmailing, threats, physical violence, or the withholding of some favor in order to make the person comply with a wish or request. •/I would gladly do what you ask if you only stopped leaning on me so hard!/

[lean over backward] See: BEND OVER BACKWARD.

[lean-to]{n.} 1. A shed for tools, such as spades, hoes, etc., attached to the wall of a house, •/Joe looked for the garden hose in the lean-to./ 2. A small cabin in the country. •/They spend their weekends in their modest lean-to in Wisconsin./

[leap] See: BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS.

[leap year]{n.} Every fourth year during which the month of February contains 29 rather than 28 days. •/During a leap year one must wait a day longer for one’s February pay check./

[learn] See: LIVE AND LEARN.

[learn by heart] See: BY HEART.

[learn by rote]{v. phr.} To blindly memorize what was taught without thinking about it. •/If you learn a subject by rote, it will be difficult to say anything original about it./

[learn one’s way around] See: KNOW ONE’S WAY AROUND.

[learn the hard way] See: HARD WAY.

[learn the ropes] See: THE ROPES.

[least] See: AT LEAST, IN THE LEAST, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE.

[leatherneck]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A member of the United States Marine Corps. •/I didn’t know your son Joe became a leatherneck./

[leave] See: SHORE LEAVE, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, TAKE LEAVE OF, TAKE ONE’S LEAVE.

[leave a bad taste in one’s mouth]{v. phr.} To feel a bad impression; make you feel disgusted. •/Seeing a man beat his horse leaves a bad taste in your mouth./ •/His rudeness to the teacher left a bad taste in my mouth./

[leave alone] See: LET ALONE.

[leave at the altar]{v. phr.} 1. To decide not to marry someone in the last minute; jilt. •/Ed left poor Susan at the altar./ 2. To overlook and skip for promotion; not fulfill deserved expectation. •/Once again I didn’t get my promotion and was left at the altar./

[leave behind]{v. phr.} 1. Abandon. •/Refugees on the run must sometimes leave old and sick people behind./ 2. To forget; go away without. •/We had reached our car when we noticed that we had left our keys behind./

[leave flat]{v. phr.}, {informal} To quit or leave suddenly without warning when wanted or needed; desert; forsake; abandon. •/Sam found that being a member of the trail-clearing group was a lot of hard work, so he left them flat./ •/My car ran out of gas and left me flat, ten miles from town./ Compare: LEAVE IN THE LURCH, WALK OUT(2).

[leave hanging] or [leave hanging in the air]{v. phr.} To leave undecided or unsettled. •/Because the committee could not decide on a time and place, the matter of the spring dance was left hanging./ •/Ted’s mother didn’t know what to do about the broken window, so his punishment was left hanging in the air until his father came home./ Compare: UP IN THE AIR.

[leave high and dry] See: HIGH AND DRY.

[leave holding the bag] or [leave holding the sack]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, •/In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag./ 2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame for something that others should share. •/When the ball hit the glass, the team scattered and left George holding the bag./ •/After the party, the other girls on the clean-up committee went away with their dates, and left Mary holding the bag./