I. ˈlēf noun
( plural leaves ˈlēvz)
Etymology: Middle English leef, from Old English lēaf; akin to Old High German loub leaf, foliage, Old Norse lauf, Gothic laufs leaf, foliage, Latin liber inner bark of a tree, pith of papyrus, book, Greek lypē grief, pain, Sanskrit lumpati he injures, robs, Russian lupit' to peel, lub bast; basic meaning: to peel
1.
a.
(1) : a lateral outgrowth from a stem that constitutes part of the foliage of a plant and functions primarily in food manufacture by photosynthesis, that arises in regular succession from the growing point, that consists typically of a flattened green blade which is joined to the stem by a petiole often with a pair of stipules at its base, which in cross section exhibits an outer covering of epidermal cells penetrated by stomata usually more numerous on the lower surface, which has one or more layers of palisade cells beneath the upper epidermis and between these and the lower epidermis a mass of spongy parenchyma cells, both palisade and spongy tissue being ramified by a network of veins, and that is distinguished from a leaflet, cladophyll, or phylloclade by the presence of a bud at the juncture of petiole and stem and from a phyllode by differentiation into blade and petiole
(2) : any of various modified leaves (as a bract, sepal, petal, or scale) that are primarily engaged in functions other than food manufacture ; especially : floral leaf
(3) : petal
a candied rose leaf
b.
(1) : the leaves of trees or plants : foliage
(2) : the leaves of any plant as an article of commerce ; specifically : the leaves of the tea plant
c.
(1) : tobacco leaves ; also : the leaf form of tobacco
Connecticut seed leaf
(2) : raw unmanufactured tobacco
(3) : the whole leaf : unstemmed tobacco
(4) : a grade of tobacco leaves consisting of those of the best quality — distinguished from seconds and lugs
2. : something resembling or suggestive of a leaf: as
a. : a part of a book or folded sheet containing two pages, one on each side ; also : the written or printed matter on it
b.
(1) : a side, division, or part (as of window shutters, folding doors, hydraulic gates) that slides or is hinged
(2) : the movable parts of a table top whether hinged or separate (as in an extension table)
(3) : one of the moving portions of a drawbridge
(4) : leaf sight
(5) : either flap of a hinge
c. now chiefly dialect : one of the layers of fat about the kidneys of a hog ; also : a similar layer of fat in other animals
d.
(1) : a thin sheet or plate of any natural or artificial substance : lamina
the leaves of a gill
(2) : metal in thin layers usually thinner than foil
silver leaf
e. : an ornament (as on a capital) shaped like a leaf
f.
(1) : a tooth of a pinion (as of a gear pinion)
(2) : one of the cylindrical pieces serving as the teeth of a lantern pinion
(3) : one of the plates of a leaf spring
g. dialect Britain : a hat brim
h. : a thin section of a filter consisting of a frame or wire screen covered by a filter medium (as cloth) — called also filter leaf
i. : a loop of a leaf-shaped curve
j. : harness 4
k. : isinglass dried in the form of a leaf
l. : a foundry molder's leaf-shaped trowel or tool
•
- in leaf
[s]leaf.jpg[/s] [
forms of leaf 1a(1): 1 needle-shaped, 2 linear, 3 lanceolate, 4 elliptical, 5 ensiform, 6 oblong, 7 oblanceolate with acuminate tip, 8 ovate with acute tip, 9 obovate, 10 spatulate, 11 fiddle-shaped, 12 cuneate, 13 deltoid, 14 cordate, 15 reniform, 16 orbiculate, 17 runcinate, 18 lyrate, 19 peltate, 20 hastate, 21 sagittate, 22 odd-pinnate, 23 abruptly pinnate, 24 trifoliolate, 25, 26 palmate
]
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. : to shoot out or produce leaves : leave
chestnuts which were just leafing in the spring sun — M.E.Bates
— often used with out
a fern just leafing out — W.V.T.Clark
2. of metallic powder in enamel or paint : to assume an overlapping arrangement like that of fish scales on a painted or coated surface
3. : to turn over the pages — often used with through
leafs through the old newspaper files — Francis Russell
leafing through the fifteen letters that had come from her — Norman Mailer
transitive verb
: to turn over especially one by one
leafed the pages — Louis Vaczek
leafed his notes a final time — Kathryn Grondahl
: turn over the pages of
leafing a new novel
III. adjective
1. : of, relating to, or in the form of a leaf
leaf fiber
2. : leaved — used in combination
clover- leaf
cut- leaf