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One of the people, in distinction from the clergy; one of the laity; sometimes, a man not belonging to some particular profession, in distinction from those who do. Being a layman, I ought not to have concerned myself with speculations which belong to the profession. Dryden.

; insincere; sinister; malicious; as, a left-handed compliment. The commendations of this people are not always left-handed and detractive. Landor.

People; a nation; a man. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. Bp. Gibson.

Strong desire; passion. (Archaic.) Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others. De Quincey.

An Indo-European people, allied to the Lithuanians and Old Prussians, and inhabiting a part of the Baltic provinces of Russia.

A strong, buoyant boat especially designed for saving the lives of shipwrecked people.

(Limbourg), and usually not eaten until the curing has developed a peculiar and, to most people, unpleasant odor.

ething is to be done. You have stood your limitation, and the tribunes Endue you with the people's voice. Shak.

The commercial language of the Levant, -- a mixture of the language of the people of the region and foreign traders.

A native, or one of the people, of Lithuania; also, the language of the Lithuanian people.

To imitate the manner of the people of London.

d from tradition, books, or experience; often, the whole body of knowledge possessed by a people or class of people, or pertaining to a particular subject; as, the lore of the Egyptians; priestly lore; legal lore; folklore. "The lore of war." Fairfax. His fair offspring, nursed in princely lore. Milton.…

mber of things taken collectively; as, a lot of stationery; -- colloquially, sometimes of people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot. I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English heads, chiefly of the reign of James I. Walpole.

A people visited by Ulysses in his wanderings. They subsisted on the lotus. See Lotus (b), and Lotus-eater.

A native or inhabitant of Lucca, in Tuscany; in the plural, the people of Lucca.

One of the people of Lusitania.

A sacrifice, or ceremony, by which cities, fields, armies, or people, defiled by crimes, pestilence, or other cause of uncleanness, were purified.

A lustration or purification, especially the purification of the whole Roman people, which was made by the censors once in five years. Hence: A period of five years.

y use; as, the social machine. The whole machine of government ought not to bear upon the people with a weight so heavy and oppressive. Landor.

To spot; to stain; to blur. Maculate the honor of their people. Sir T. Elyot.