Adjacent Words

Leaf definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LEAF, n. plu. leaves.
1. In botany, leaves are organs of perspiration and inhalation in plants. They usually shoot from the sides of the stems and branches, but sometimes from the root; sometimes they are sessile; more generally supported by petioles. They are of various forms, flat, extended, linear, cylindric, etc.
2. The thin, extended part of a flower; a petal.
3. A part of a book containing two pages.
4. The side of a double door. 1 Kings 6.
5. Something resembling a leaf in thinness and extension; a very thin plate; as gold leaf.
6. The movable side of a table.
LEAF, v.i. To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves. The trees leaf in May.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants [syn: leaf, leafage, foliage]
2: a sheet of any written or printed material (especially in a manuscript or book) [syn: leaf, folio]
3: hinged or detachable flat section (as of a table or door) v
1: look through a book or other written material; "He thumbed through the report"; "She leafed through the volume" [syn: flick, flip, thumb, riffle, leaf, riff]
2: turn over pages; "leaf through a book"; "leaf a manuscript"
3: produce leaves, of plants

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural leaves; also leafs) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English leef, from Old English l?af; akin to Old High German loub leaf Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) a lateral outgrowth from a plant stem that is typically a flattened expanded variably shaped greenish organ, constitutes a unit of the foliage, and functions primarily in food manufacture by photosynthesis (2) a modified leaf (as a bract or sepal) primarily engaged in functions other than food manufacture b. (1) foliage <trees in full leaf> (2) the leaves of a plant as an article of commerce 2. something suggestive of a leaf: as a. a part of a book or folded sheet containing a page on each side b. (1) a part (as of window shutters, folding doors, or gates) that slides or is hinged (2) the movable parts of a table top c. (1) a thin sheet or plate of any substance ; lamina (2) metal (as gold or silver) in sheets usually thinner than foil (3) one of the plates of a leaf spring • leafless adjective • leaflike adjective II. verb Date: 1611 intransitive verb 1. to shoot out or produce leaves <will leaf out in spring> 2. to turn over pages especially to browse or skim <leaf through a book> transitive verb to turn over the pages of

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. leaves) 1 a each of several flattened usu. green structures of a plant, usu. on the side of a stem or branch and the main organ of photosynthesis. b other similar plant structures, e.g. bracts, sepals, and petals (floral leaf). 2 a foliage regarded collectively. b the state of having leaves out (a tree in leaf). 3 the leaves of tobacco or tea. 4 a single thickness of paper, esp. in a book with each side forming a page. 5 a very thin sheet of metal, esp. gold or silver. 6 a the hinged part or flap of a door, shutter, table, etc. b an extra section inserted to extend a table. --v. 1 intr. put forth leaves. 2 tr. (foll. by through) turn over the pages of (a book etc.). Phrases and idioms: leaf-green the colour of green leaves. leaf insect any insect of the family Phylliidae, having a flattened body leaflike in appearance. leaf-miner any of various larvae burrowing in leaves, esp. moth caterpillars of the family Gracillariidae. leaf-monkey a langur. leaf-mould soil consisting chiefly of decayed leaves. leaf spring a spring made of strips of metal. leaf-stalk a petiole. Derivatives: leafage n. leafed adj. (also in comb.). leafless adj. leaflessness n. leaflike adj. Etymology: OE leaf f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Leaf Leaf, n.; pl. Leaves. [OE. leef, lef, leaf, AS. le['a]f; akin to S. l?f, OFries. laf, D. loof foliage, G. laub,OHG. loub leaf, foliage, Icel. lauf, Sw. l["o]f, Dan. l["o]v, Goth. laufs; cf. Lith. lapas. Cf. Lodge.] 1. (Bot.) A colored, usually green, expansion growing from the side of a stem or rootstock, in which the sap for the use of the plant is elaborated under the influence of light; one of the parts of a plant which collectively constitute its foliage. Note: Such leaves usually consist of a blade, or lamina, supported upon a leafstalk or petiole, which, continued through the blade as the midrib, gives off woody ribs and veins that support the cellular texture. The petiole has usually some sort of an appendage on each side of its base, which is called the stipule. The green parenchyma of the leaf is covered with a thin epiderm pierced with closable microscopic openings, known as stomata. 2. (Bot.) A special organ of vegetation in the form of a lateral outgrowth from the stem, whether appearing as a part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract, a spine, or a tendril. Note: In this view every part of a plant, except the root and the stem, is either a leaf, or is composed of leaves more or less modified and transformed. 3. Something which is like a leaf in being wide and thin and having a flat surface, or in being attached to a larger body by one edge or end; as : (a) A part of a book or folded sheet containing two pages upon its opposite sides. (b) A side, division, or part, that slides or is hinged, as of window shutters, folding doors, etc. (c) The movable side of a table. (d) A very thin plate; as, gold leaf. (e) A portion of fat lying in a separate fold or layer. (f) One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small. Leaf beetle (Zo["o]l.), any beetle which feeds upon leaves; esp., any species of the family Chrysomelid[ae], as the potato beetle and helmet beetle. Leaf bridge, a draw-bridge having a platform or leaf which swings vertically on hinges. Leaf bud (Bot.), a bud which develops into leaves or a leafy branch. Leaf butterfly (Zo["o]l.), any butterfly which, in the form and colors of its wings, resembles the leaves of plants upon which it rests; esp., butterflies of the genus Kallima, found in Southern Asia and the East Indies. Leaf crumpler (Zo["o]l.), a small moth (Phycis indigenella), the larva of which feeds upon leaves of the apple tree, and forms its nest by crumpling and fastening leaves together in clusters. Leaf cutter (Zo["o]l.), any one of various species of wild bees of the genus Megachile, which cut rounded pieces from the edges of leaves, or the petals of flowers, to be used in the construction of their nests, which are made in holes and crevices, or in a leaf rolled up for the purpose. Among the common American species are M. brevis and M. centuncularis. Called also rose-cutting bee. Leaf fat, the fat which lies in leaves or layers within the body of an animal. Leaf flea (Zo["o]l.), a jumping plant louse of the family Psyllid[ae]. Leaf frog (Zo["o]l.), any tree frog of the genus Phyllomedusa. Leaf green.(Bot.) See Chlorophyll. Leaf hopper (Zo["o]l.), any small jumping hemipterous insect of the genus Tettigonia, and allied genera. They live upon the leaves and twigs of plants. See Live hopper. Leaf insect (Zo["o]l.), any one of several genera and species of orthopterous insects, esp. of the genus Phyllium, in which the wings, and sometimes the legs, resemble leaves in color and form. They are common in Southern Asia and the East Indies. Leaf lard, lard from leaf fat. See under Lard. Leaf louse (Zo["o]l.), an aphid. Leaf metal, metal in thin leaves, as gold, silver, or tin. Leaf miner (Zo["o]l.), any one of various small lepidopterous and dipterous insects, which, in the larval stages, burrow in and eat the parenchyma of leaves; as, the pear-tree leaf miner (Lithocolletis geminatella). Leaf notcher (Zo["o]l.), a pale bluish green beetle (Artipus Floridanus), which, in Florida, eats the edges of the leaves of orange trees. Leaf roller (Zo["o]l.), the larva of any tortricid moth which makes a nest by rolling up the leaves of plants. See Tortrix. Leaf scar (Bot.), the cicatrix on a stem whence a leaf has fallen. Leaf sewer (Zo["o]l.), a tortricid moth, whose caterpillar makes a nest by rolling up a leaf and fastening the edges together with silk, as if sewn; esp., Phoxopteris nubeculana, which feeds upon the apple tree. Leaf sight, a hinges sight on a firearm, which can be raised or folded down. Leaf trace (Bot.), one or more fibrovascular bundles, which may be traced down an endogenous stem from the base of a leaf. Leaf tier (Zo["o]l.), a tortricid moth whose larva makes a nest by fastening the edges of a leaf together with silk; esp., Teras cinderella, found on the apple tree. Leaf valve, a valve which moves on a hinge. Leaf wasp (Zo["o]l.), a sawfiy. To turn over a new leaf, to make a radical change for the better in one's way of living or doing. [Colloq.] They were both determined to turn over a new leaf. --Richardson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Leaf Leaf, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Leafed; p. pr. & vb. n. Leafing.] To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves; to leave; as, the trees leaf in May.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(leaves, leafs, leafing, leafed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. The leaves of a tree or plant are the parts that are flat, thin, and usually green. Many trees and plants lose their leaves in the winter and grow new leaves in the spring. In the garden, the leaves of the horse chestnut had already fallen... The Japanese maple that stands across the drive had just come into leaf. N-COUNT: usu pl, also in/into N see also -leaved 2. A leaf is one of the pieces of paper of which a book is made. He flattened the wrappers and put them between the leaves of his book. = page N-COUNT 3. If you take a leaf from someone's book you behave in the same way as them because you want to be like that person or as successful as they are. Maybe we should take a leaf out of Branson's book. It's easy to see how he became a billionaire... PHRASE: V inflects 4. If you say that you are going to turn over a new leaf, you mean that you are going to start to behave in a better or more acceptable way. He realized he was in the wrong and promised to turn over a new leaf. PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

of a tree. The olive-leaf mentioned Gen. 8:11. The barren fig-tree had nothing but leaves (Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:13). The oak-leaf is mentioned Isa. 1:30; 6:13. There are numerous allusions to leaves, their flourishing, their decay, and their restoration (Lev. 26:36; Isa. 34:4; Jer. 8:13; Dan. 4:12, 14, 21; Mark 11:13; 13:28). The fresh leaf is a symbol of prosperity (Ps. 1:3; Jer. 17:8; Ezek. 47:12); the faded, of decay (Job 13:25; Isa. 1:30; 64:6; Jer. 8:13).

Leaf of a door (1 Kings 6:34), the valve of a folding door.

Leaf of a book (Jer. 36:23), perhaps a fold of a roll.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Blade.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To go off with the fall of the leaf; to be hanged: criminals in Dublin being turned off from the outside of the prison by the falling of a board, propped up, and moving on a hinge, like the leaf of a table. IRISH TERM.

Moby Thesaurus

Burley, Cuban, Havana, Havana seed, Latakia, Maryland, Russian, Turkish, Virginia, acknowledgments, back, back matter, bastard title, bibliography, blade, bract, bracteole, bractlet, bright, bud, burgeon, burst forth, canaster, cardboard, catch line, catchword, coat, coating, collop, colophon, contents, contents page, copyright page, cotyledon, covering, cut, deal, dedication, disk, endleaf, endpaper, endsheet, errata, feuille, film, flag, flap, floral leaf, flourish, flue-cured, flyleaf, foil, fold, folio, foliole, fore edge, foreword, frond, front matter, gemmate, germinate, glume, grow, grow rank, half-title page, head, imprint, index, inscription, introduction, involucre, involucrum, lamella, lamina, laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, leaf out, leaflet, leave, lemma, ligule, lugs, luxuriate, makeup, membrane, needle, overgrow, overrun, page, pane, panel, paper, patina, peel, pellicle, petal, pile, pine needle, plait, plank, plate, plating, plug tobacco, ply, plywood, preface, preliminaries, pullulate, put forth, put forth leaves, put out buds, quire, rasher, ream, recto, reverso, riot, root, running title, safety glass, scum, seconds, seed leaf, sepal, shag, sheet, shoot, shoot up, signature, skin, slab, slat, slice, spathe, spear, spire, sprout, sprout up, stationery, stipula, stipule, strike root, subtitle, table, table of contents, tablet, tail, take root, text, title, title page, trim size, type page, upspear, upsprout, vegetate, veneer, verso, wafer