le|ni|ent /liː niənt/ ADJ When someone in authority is lenient , they are not as strict or severe as expected. □ [+ with ] He believes the government already is lenient with drug traffickers. □ Professor Oswald takes a sightly more lenient view. ● le|ni|ent|ly ADV [ADV after v] □ Many people believe reckless drivers are treated too leniently.
lens ◆◇◇ /le nz/ (lenses )
1 N‑COUNT A lens is a thin curved piece of glass or plastic used in things such as cameras, telescopes, and pairs of glasses. You look through a lens in order to make things look larger, smaller, or clearer. □ …a camera lens. □ I packed your sunglasses with the green lenses.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] In your eye, the lens is the part behind the pupil that focuses light and helps you to see clearly.
3 → see also contact lens , telephoto lens , wide-angle lens , zoom lens
lent /le nt/ Lent is the past tense and past participle of lend .
Lent N‑UNCOUNT Lent is the period of forty days before Easter, during which some Christians give up something that they enjoy.
len|til /le nt I l/ (lentils ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Lentils are the seeds of a lentil plant. They are usually dried and are used to make soups and stews.
Leo /liː oʊ/ (Leos )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Leo is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Its symbol is a lion. People who are born approximately between the 23rd of July and the 22nd of August come under this sign.
2 N‑COUNT A Leo is a person whose sign of the zodiac is Leo.
leo|nine /liː əna I n/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Leonine means like a lion, and is used especially to describe men with a lot of hair on their head, or with big beards. [LITERARY ] □ …a tall leonine grey-haired man.
leop|ard /le pə r d/ (leopards ) N‑COUNT A leopard is a type of large, wild cat. Leopards have yellow fur and black spots, and live in Africa and Asia.
leo|tard /liː ətɑː r d/ (leotards ) N‑COUNT A leotard is a tight-fitting piece of clothing, covering the body but not the legs, that some people wear when they practise dancing or do exercise.
lep|er /le pə r / (lepers )
1 N‑COUNT A leper is a person who has leprosy. This word could cause offence.
2 N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as a leper , you mean that people in their community avoid them because they have done something that has shocked or offended people. □ The newspaper article had branded her a social leper not fit to be seen in company.
lep|ro|sy /le prəsi/ N‑UNCOUNT Leprosy is an infectious disease that damages people's flesh.
les|bian ◆◇◇ /le zbiən/ (lesbians )
1 ADJ Lesbian is used to describe homosexual women. □ Many of her best friends were lesbian. ● N‑COUNT A lesbian is a woman who is lesbian. □ …a youth group for lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
2 ADJ Lesbian is used to describe the relationships and activities of homosexual women, and the organizations or publications intended for them or created by them. □ …a long-term lesbian relationship.
les|bi|an|ism /le zbiən I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Lesbianism refers to homosexual relationships between women or the preference that a woman shows for sexual relationships with women. □ …today's increased public awareness of lesbianism.
le|sion /liː ʒ ə n/ (lesions ) N‑COUNT A lesion is an injury or wound to someone's body. [MEDICAL ] □ …skin lesions. □ …a lesion of the spinal cord.
less ◆◆◆ /le s/ Less is often considered to be the comparative form of little . 1 DET You use less to indicate that there is a smaller amount of something than before or than average. You can use 'a little', 'a lot', 'a bit', 'far', and 'much' in front of less . □ People should eat less fat to reduce the risk of heart disease. □ …a dishwasher that uses less water and electricity than older machines. ● PRON Less is also a pronoun. □ Borrowers are striving to ease their financial position by spending less and saving more. ● QUANT Less is also a quantifier. □ Last year less of the money went into high-technology companies.
2 PHRASE You use less than before a number or amount to say that the actual number or amount is smaller than this. □ Motorways actually cover less than 0.1 percent of the countryside. □ Less than a half hour later he returned upstairs.
3 ADV [ADV adj/adv] You use less to indicate that something or someone has a smaller amount of a quality than they used to or than is average or usual. □ Other amenities, less commonly available, include a library and exercise room. □ [+ of ] Poverty is less of a problem now than it used to be.
4 ADV If you say that something is less one thing than another, you mean that it is like the second thing rather than the first. □ At first sight it looked less like a capital city than a mining camp.
5 ADV [ADV with v] If you do something less than before or less than someone else, you do it to a smaller extent or not as often. □ We are eating more and exercising less. □ [+ of ] I see less of any of my friends than I used to.
6 PHRASE You use the expressions still less , much less , and even less after a negative statement in order to introduce and emphasize a further statement, and to make it negative too. [FORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ I never talked about it, still less about her. □ The boy didn't have a girlfriend, much less a wife.
7 PREP When you are referring to amounts, you use less in front of a number or quantity to indicate that it is to be subtracted from another number or quantity already mentioned. □ …Boyton Financial Services Fees: £750, less £400. □ Company car drivers will pay between ten and twenty five percent, less tax.