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leaf

 - 15 dictionary results
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leaf

  [leef] noun, plural leaves  [leevz] , verb
Use leaf in a Sentence
–noun
1. one of the expanded, usually green organs borne by the stem of a plant.
2. any similar or corresponding lateral outgrowth of a stem.
3. a petal: a rose leaf.
4. leaves collectively; foliage.
5. Bibliography. a unit generally comprising two printed, blank, or illustrated pages of a book, one on each side.
6. a thin sheet of metal: silver leaf.
7. a lamina or layer.
8. a sliding, hinged, or detachable flat part, as of a door or tabletop.
9. a section of a drawbridge.
10. a single strip of metal in a leaf spring.
11. a tooth of a small gear wheel, as of a pinion.
12. leaf fat.
13. Textiles. shaft (def. 14).
–verb (used without object)
14. to put forth leaves.
15. to turn pages, esp. quickly (usually fol. by through): to leaf through a book.
–verb (used with object)
16. to thumb or turn, as the pages of a book or magazine, in a casual or cursory inspection of the contents.
—Idioms
17. in leaf, covered with foliage; having leaves: the pale green tint of the woods newly in leaf.
18. take a leaf out of or from someone's book, to follow someone's example; imitate: Some countries that took a leaf out of American industry's book are now doing very well for themselves.
19. turn over a new leaf, to begin anew; make a fresh start: Every New Year's we make resolutions to turn over a new leaf.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME leef, lef, OE lēaf; c. D loof, G Laub, ON lauf, Goth laufs

Related forms:
leafless, adjective
leaflike, adjective
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Leaf

  [leef]
–noun
Mun⋅ro  [muhn-roh] , 1905–76, U.S. author and illustrator of books for children.

shaft

  [shaft, shahft]
–noun
1. a long pole forming the body of various weapons, as lances, halberds, or arrows.
2. something directed or barbed as in sharp attack: shafts of sarcasm.
3. a ray or beam: a shaft of sunlight.
4. a long, comparatively straight handle serving as an important or balancing part of an implement or device, as of a hammer, ax, golf club, or other implement.
5. Machinery. a rotating or oscillating round, straight bar for transmitting motion and torque, usually supported on bearings and carrying gears, wheels, or the like, as a propeller shaft on a ship, or a drive shaft of an engine.
6. a flagpole.
7. Architecture.
a. that part of a column or pier between the base and capital.
b. any distinct, slender, vertical masonry feature engaged in a wall or pier and usually supporting or feigning to support an arch or vault.
8. a monument in the form of a column, obelisk, or the like.
9. either of the parallel bars of wood between which the animal drawing a vehicle is hitched.
10. any well-like passage or vertical enclosed space, as in a building: an elevator shaft.
11. Mining. a vertical or sloping passageway leading to the surface.
12. Botany. the trunk of a tree.
13. Zoology. the main stem or midrib of a feather.
14. Also called leaf. Textiles. the harness or warp with reference to the pattern of interlacing threads in weave constructions (usually used in combination): an eight-shaft satin.
15. the part of a candelabrum that supports the branches.
–verb (used with object)
16. to push or propel with a pole: to shaft a boat through a tunnel.
17. Informal. to treat in a harsh, unfair, or treacherous manner.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE sceaft; c. G Schaft; cf. L scāpus shaft, Gk skêptron scepter

Related forms:
shaftless, adjective
shaftlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To leaf
leaf   (lēf)   


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n.   pl. leaves (lēvz)

  1. A usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.

  2. A leaflike organ or structure.

    1. Leaves considered as a group; foliage.

    2. The state or time of having or showing leaves: trees in full leaf.

    3. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal.

    4. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf.

  4. The leaves of a plant used or processed for a specific purpose: large supplies of tobacco leaf.

  5. Any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page.

    1. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal.

    2. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf.

  7. A hinged or removable section for a table top.

  8. A hinged or otherwise movable section of a folding door, shutter, or gate.

  9. One of several metal strips forming a leaf spring.

v.   leafed, leaf·ing, leafs

v.   intr.

  1. To produce leaves; put forth foliage: trees just beginning to leaf.

  2. 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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
leaf

  1. n.
    cocaine. (Sometimes with the. Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant.) : The entire shipment of leaf was seized by the feds.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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shaft

  1. n.
    a bad deal; unfair treatment. : He really gave me the shaft.
  2. tv.
    to do wrong to someone; to harm or cheat someone. (See also shafted.) : We are going to shaft this guy in a way that he will remember.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

leaf 
O.E. leaf "leaf of a plant, page of a book," from P.Gmc. *laubaz (cf. O.S. lof, O.N. lauf, O.Fris. laf, Du. loof, O.H.G. loub, Ger. Laub, Goth. lauf), perhaps from PIE *leup- "to peel off, break off" (cf. Lith. luobas, O.C.S. lubu "bark, rind"). Extended 15c. to very thin sheets of metal (esp. gold). Meaning "hinged flap on the side of a table" is from 1558. The verb meaning "to turn over (the pages of a book)" is from 1663; the sense of a book page is that in the phrase to turn over a (new) leaf (1577). Leaflet is 1787 as a term in botany; 1867 as a term in printing and publication.

shaft  (1)
O.E. sceaft "long, slender rod of a staff or spear," from P.Gmc. *skaftaz (cf. O.N. skapt, O.S. skaft, O.H.G. scaft, Ger. schaft, Du. schacht, not found in Gothic), which some connect with a Gmc. passive pp. of PIE base *(s)kep- "to cut, to scrape" (cf. O.E. scafan "to shave") on notion of "tree branch stripped of its bark." But cf. L. scapus "shaft, stem, shank," which appears to be a cognate. Meaning "beam or ray" (of light, etc.) is attested from c.1300. Vulgar slang meaning "penis" first recorded 1719. Verb meaning "treat cruelly and unfairly" is 1950s, with overtones of sodomy.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

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>

Main Entry: shaft
Pronunciation: 'shaft
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural shafts /'shaf(t)s/
: a long slender cylindricalbody or part: as a : the cylindrical part of a long bone between the enlarged ends b : HAIRSHAFT
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

shaft (shāft)
n.

  1. An elongated rodlike structure, such as the midsection of a long bone.

  2. The section of a hair projecting from the surface of the body.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

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 mathematics, data
(Or "terminal node") In a tree, a node which has no daughter.
(1998-11-14)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

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.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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