KNIGHT n.
ght of the shire, in England, one of the representatives of a county in Parliament, in distinction from the representatives of cities and boroughs. -- Knights commanders, Knights grand cross, different classes of the Order of the Bath. See under Bath, and Companion. Knights of labor, a secret organization whose profes…
LABOR n.
ysical toil or bodily exertion, especially when fatiguing, irksome, or unavoidable, in distinction from sportive exercise; hard, muscular effort directed to some useful end, as agriculture, manufactures, and like; servile toil; exertion; work. God hath set Labor and rest, as day and night, to men Successive. Milton.…
LABRADOR n.
er ducks. It was formerly common on the coast of New England, but is now supposed to be extinct, no specimens having been reported since 1878. -- Labrador feldspar. See Labradorite. -- Labrador tea (Bot.), a name of two low, evergreen shrubs of the genus Ledum (L. palustre and L. latifolium), found in Northern Europe…
LARCENY n.
right owner of the same; theft. Cf. Embezzlement. Grand larceny and Petit larceny are distinctions having reference to the nature or value of the property stolen. They are abolished in England. -- Mixed, or Compound, larceny, that which, under statute, includes in it the aggravation of a taking from a building or the…
LARGE a.
ors, or a representative, as in Congress, chosen to represent the whole of a State, in distinction from those chosen to represent particular districts in a State. [U. S.] -- To give, go, run, or sail large (Naut.), to have the wind crossing the direction of a vessel's course in such a way that the sails feel its full f…
LATERAL a.
, in fishes, a line of sensory organs along either side of the body, often marked by a distinct line of color. -- Lateral pressure or stress (Mech.), a pressure or stress at right angles to the length, as of a beam or bridge; -- distinguished from longitudinal pressure or stress. -- Lateral strength (Mech.), strength…
LATIN a.
osition or idiom. Latin Church (Eccl. Hist.), the Western or Roman Catholic Church, as distinct from the Greek or Eastern Church. -- Latin cross. See Illust. 1 of Cross. -- Latin races, a designation sometimes loosely given to certain nations, esp. the French, Spanish, and Italians, who speak languages principally de…