leaf   (lēf)    (click for larger image in new window) n.   pl. leaves (lēvz) A usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants. A leaflike organ or structure. Leaves considered as a group; foliage. The state or time of having or showing leaves: trees in full leaf. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf. The leaves of a plant used or processed for a specific purpose: large supplies of tobacco leaf. Any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf. A hinged or removable section for a table top. A hinged or otherwise movable section of a folding door, shutter, or gate. One of several metal strips forming a leaf spring. v.   leafed, leaf·ing, leafs v.   intr. To produce leaves; put forth foliage: trees just beginning to leaf. To turn pages, as in searching or browsing: leafed through the catalog. v.   tr. To turn through the pages of. [Middle English, from Old English lēaf.]

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.

leaf 

Main Entry: leaf
Pronunciation: 'lEf
Function: noun
: a thin layer or sheet of tissue leaf of the coronary ligament is continuouswith the right leaf of the falciform ligament>

leaf   (lēf)  Pronunciation Key  (click for larger image in new window) An appendage growing from the stem of a plant. Leaves are extremely variable in form and function according to species. For example, the needles of pine trees, the spines of cacti, and the bright red parts of the poinsettia plant are all leaves modified for different purposes. However, most leaves are flat and green and adapted to capturing sunlight and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. They consist of an outer tissue layer (the epidermis) through which water and gases are exchanged, a spongy inner layer of cells that contain chloroplasts, and veins that supply water and minerals and carry out food. Some leaves are simple, while others are compound, consisting of multiple leaflets. The flat part of the leaf, the blade, is often attached to the stem by a leafstalk.

LEAF language
1. LISP Extended Algebraic Facility.
2. "LEAF: A Language which Integrates Logic, Equations and Functions", R. Barbuti et al in Logic Programming, Functions Relations and Equations, D. DeGroot et al eds, P-H 1986, pp.201-238.

Leaf

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.

leaf

In addition to the idiom beginning with leaf, also see quake in one's boots (like a leaf); take a leaf out of someone's book; turn over a new leaf.