let someone have it, Informal. to attack or assault, as by striking, shooting, or rebuking: The gunman threatened to let the teller have it if he didn't move fast.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME leten, OE lǣtan; c. D laten, G lassen, ON lāta, Goth létan; akin to Gk lédeǐn to be weary, L lassus tired. See late]
—Usage note Let us is used in all varieties of speech and writing to introduce a suggestion or a request: Let us consider all the facts before deciding. The contracted form let's occurs mostly in informal speech and writing: Let's go. Let's not think about that right now. Perhaps because let's has come to be felt as a word in its own right rather than as the contraction of let us, it is often followed in informal speech and writing by redundant or appositional pronouns: Let's us plan a picnic. Let's you and I (or me) get together tomorrow. Both Let's you and me and Let's you and I occur in the relaxed speech of educated speakers. The former conforms to the traditional rules of grammar; the latter, nonetheless, occurs more frequently. See also leave1.
(in tennis, badminton, etc.) any play that is voided and must be replayed, esp. a service that hits the net and drops into the proper part of the opponent's court.
2.
Chiefly Law. an impediment or obstacle: to act without let or hindrance.
–verb (used with object)
3.
Archaic. to hinder, prevent, or obstruct.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME letten (v.), lette (n.; deriv. of the v.), OE lettan (v.), deriv. of læt slow, tardy, late; c. ON letja to hinder]
To give permission or opportunity to; allow: I let them borrow the car. The inheritance let us finally buy a house. See Usage Note at leave1.
To cause to; make: Let the news be known.
Used as an auxiliary in the imperative to express a command, request, or proposal: Let's finish the job! Let x equal y.
Used as an auxiliary in the imperative to express a warning or threat: Just let her try!
To permit to enter, proceed, or depart: let the dog in.
To release from or as if from confinement: let the air out of the balloon; let out a yelp.
To rent or lease: let rooms.
To award, especially after bids have been submitted: let the construction job to a new firm.
v.
intr.
To become rented or leased.
To be or become assigned, as to a contractor.
To cause to come down gradually; lower: let down the sails.
To withdraw support from; forsake.
To fail to meet the expectations of; disappoint.
To allow to be known; admit: Don't let on that you know me.
To pretend.
To come to a close; end: School let out early. The play let out at 11 P.M.
To make known; reveal: Who let that story out?
To increase the size of (a garment, for example): let out a coat.
To slow down; diminish: didn't let up in their efforts.
To come to a stop; cease: The rain let up.
Phrasal Verb(s): let down
To cause to come down gradually; lower: let down the sails.
To withdraw support from; forsake.
To fail to meet the expectations of; disappoint.
let on
To allow to be known; admit: Don't let on that you know me.
To pretend.
let out
To come to a close; end: School let out early. The play let out at 11 P.M.
To make known; reveal: Who let that story out?
To increase the size of (a garment, for example): let out a coat.
let up
To slow down; diminish: didn't let up in their efforts.
To come to a stop; cease: The rain let up.
Idiom(s):
let alone
Not to mention; much less: "Their ancestors had been dirt poor and never saw royalty, let alone hung around with them"(Garrison Keillor).
Idiom(s):
let go
To cease to employ; dismiss: had to let 20 workers go.
Idiom(s):
let off on Informal
To cause to diminish, as in pressure; ease up on: Let off on the gas so that we do not exceed the speed limit.
Idiom(s):
let (one's) hair down
To drop one's reserve or inhibitions.
Idiom(s):
let (someone) have it Informal
To beat, strike, or shoot at someone.
To scold or punish.
Idiom(s):
let (someone) in on
To reveal (a secret) to someone: They finally let me in on their plans.
To allow someone to participate in (something).
Idiom(s):
let up on
To be or become more lenient with: Why don't you let up on the poor child?
[Middle English leten, from Old English lǣtan; see lē- in Indo-European roots.]
O.E. lætan "to allow, let go, bequeath, leave," also "to rent" (class VII strong verb; past tense let, pp. læten), from P.Gmc. *lætan (cf. O.S. latan, O.Fris. leta, Du. laten, Ger. lassen, Goth. letan "to leave, let"), from PIE *le(i)d- "to leave behind, leave, yield" (cf. L. lassus "faint, weary," Lith. leisti "to let, to let loose"). The primary sense appears to be "to let go through weariness, to neglect." Obsolete let (n.) "hindrance" is from O.E. lettan "hinder, delay," from P.Gmc. *latjanan, related to Mod.Eng. late. Slang letdown "disappointment" first recorded 1768. Let on "reveal, divulge" is from 1637; let up "cease, stop" is from 1787.
a brutal terrorist group active in Kashmir; fights against India with the goal of restoring Islamic rule of India; "Lashkar-e-Toiba has committed mass murders of civilian Hindus" [syn: Lashkar-e-Taiba]
2.
a serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court; the ball must be served again
verb
1.
make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen; "This permits the water to rush in"; "This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement"; "This will permit the rain to run off" [ant: keep]
2.
actively cause something to happen; "I let it be known that I was not interested"
3.
consent to, give permission; "She permitted her son to visit her estranged husband"; "I won't let the police search her basement"; "I cannot allow you to see your exam" [syn: permit] [ant: disallow]
4.
cause to move; cause to be in a certain position or condition; "He got his squad on the ball"; "This let me in for a big surprise"; "He got a girl into trouble" [syn: get]
5.
leave unchanged; "let it be"
6.
grant use or occupation of under a term of contract; "I am leasing my country estate to some foreigners" [syn: lease]
Blood\, n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. bl?d; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth, bl??, Sw. & Dan. blod; prob. fr. the same root as E. blow to bloom. See Blow to bloom.]1. The fluid which circulates in the principal vascular system of animals, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body, and bringing away waste products to be excreted. See under Arterial. Note: The blood consists of a liquid, the plasma, containing minute particles, the blood corpuscles. In the invertebrate animals it is usually nearly colorless, and contains only one kind of corpuscles; but in all vertebrates, except Amphioxus, it contains some colorless corpuscles, with many more which are red and give the blood its uniformly red color. See Corpuscle, Plasma. 2. Relationship by descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity; kinship. To share the blood of Saxon royalty. --Sir W. Scott. A friend of our own blood. --Waller. Half blood (Law), relationship through only one parent. Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood. --Bouvier. --Peters. 3. Descent; lineage; especially, honorable birth; the highest royal lineage. Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam. --Shak. I am a gentleman of blood and breeding. --Shak. 4. (Stock Breeding) Descent from parents of recognized breed; excellence or purity of breed. Note: In stock breeding half blood is descent showing one half only of pure breed. Blue blood, full blood, or warm blood, is the same as blood. 5. The fleshy nature of man. Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood. --Shak. 6. The shedding of blood; the taking of life, murder; manslaughter; destruction. So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones. --Hood. 7. A bloodthirsty or murderous disposition. [R.] He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries. --Shak. 8. Temper of mind; disposition; state of the passions; -- as if the blood were the seat of emotions. When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth. --Shak. Note: Often, in this sense, accompanied with bad, cold, warm, or other qualifying word. Thus, to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion; to do it in bad blood, is to do it in anger. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated. To warm or heat the blood is to excite the passions. Qualified by up, excited feeling or passion is signified; as, my blood was up. 9. A man of fire or spirit; a fiery spark; a gay, showy man; a rake. Seest thou not . . . how giddily 'a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty? --Shak. It was the morning costume of a dandy or blood. --Thackeray. 10. The juice of anything, especially if red. He washed . . . his clothes in the blood of grapes. --Gen. xiix. 11. Note: Blood is often used as an adjective, and as the first part of self-explaining compound words; as, blood-bespotted, blood-bought, blood-curdling, blood-dyed, blood-red, blood-spilling, blood-stained, blood-warm, blood-won. Blood baptism (Eccl. Hist.), the martyrdom of those who had not been baptized. They were considered as baptized in blood, and this was regarded as a full substitute for literal baptism. Blood blister, a blister or bleb containing blood or bloody serum, usually caused by an injury. Blood brother, brother by blood or birth. Blood clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve mollusk of the genus Arca and allied genera, esp. Argina pexata of the American coast. So named from the color of its flesh. Blood corpuscle. See Corpuscle. Blood crystal (Physiol.), one of the crystals formed by the separation in a crystalline form of the h[ae]moglobin of the red blood corpuscles; h[ae]matocrystallin. All blood does not yield blood crystals. Blood heat, heat equal to the temperature of human blood, or about 981/2 [deg] Fahr. Blood horse, a horse whose blood or lineage is derived from the purest and most highly prized origin or stock. Blood money. See in the Vocabulary. Blood orange, an orange with dark red pulp. Blood poisoning (Med.), a morbid state of the blood caused by the introduction of poisonous or infective matters from without, or the absorption or retention of such as are produced in the body itself; tox[ae]mia. Blood pudding, a pudding made of blood and other materials. Blood relation, one connected by blood or descent. Blood spavin. See under Spavin. Blood vessel. See in the Vocabulary. Blue blood, the blood of noble or aristocratic families, which, according to a Spanish prover, has in it a tinge of blue; -- hence, a member of an old and aristocratic family. Flesh and blood. (a) A blood relation, esp. a child. (b) Human nature. In blood (Hunting), in a state of perfect health and vigor. --Shak. To let blood. See under Let. Prince of the blood, the son of a sovereign, or the issue of a royal family. The sons, brothers, and uncles of the sovereign are styled princes of the blood royal; and the daughters, sisters, and aunts are princesses of the blood royal.
For*let"\, v. t. [OE. forleten, AS. forl[=ae]tan; pref. for- + l[=ae]tan to allow; akin to G. verlassen to leave. See Let to allow.] To give up; to leave; to abandon. [Obs.] "To forlet sin." --Chaucer.
Late\, a. [Compar. Later, or latter; superl. Latest.] [OE. lat slow, slack, AS. l[ae]t; akin to OS. lat, D. laat late, G. lass weary, lazy, slack, Icel. latr, Sw. lat, Dan. lad, Goth. lats, and to E. let, v. See Let to permit, and cf. Alas, Lassitude.]1. Coming after the time when due, or after the usual or proper time; not early; slow; tardy; long delayed; as, a late spring. 2. Far advanced toward the end or close; as, a late hour of the day; a late period of life. 3. Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; lately deceased, departed, or gone out of office; as, the late bishop of London; the late administration. 4. Not long past; happening not long ago; recent; as, the late rains; we have received late intelligence. 5. Continuing or doing until an advanced hour of the night; as, late revels; a late watcher.
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