*leaf*

n. (Bot.) A tree (Terminalia latifolia) of Jamaica, the wood of which is used for boards, scantling, shingles, etc; -- sometimes called the almond tree, from the shape of its fruit. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Having broad, or relatively broad, leaves, in contrast to needlelike or scalelike leaves. Keats. [ Narrower terms: deciduous (vs. evergreen) ] [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a highway interchange between two roads in which the connecting road pattern resembles a four-leaf clover, and which allows moving from one road to another without left-hand turns. One road passes over the other, and the exit from one highway and entrance into the second highway proceeds from the right-hand lane in all directions. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

1. The leaf from a fig tree. [ PJC ]

2. An ornamental design shaped like the leaf of a fig tree, used in architecture; also, a design shaped like a fig leaf to cover genitalia in sculpture or paintings -- in reference to the biblical story in Genesis of Adam and Eve, who covered their privates with fig leaves. [ PJC ]

3. Hence: [ figurative ] Anything used to conceal what is considered embarrassing or indecent. See sense 2. [ PJC ]

n. Cinquefoil; five-finger.

{ , a. (Bot.) Having five leaflets, as the Virginia creeper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A blank leaf in the front of back or a book. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) 1. wild ginger (Asarum shuttleworthii) having persistent heart-shaped pungent leaves, growing from Western Virginia to Alabama.
Syn. -- Asarum shuttleworthii. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Bot.) An evergreen low-growing perennial (Asarum virginicum) having mottled green and silvery-gray heart-shaped pungent leaves, growing from Virginia to South Carolina.
Syn. -- Asarum virginicum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Interleaves [ See Interleave. ] A leaf inserted between other leaves; a blank leaf inserted, as in a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Leaves [ OE. leef, lef, leaf, AS. leáf; akin to S. lōf, OFries. laf, D. loof foliage, G. laub, OHG. loub leaf, foliage, Icel. lauf, Sw. löf, Dan. löv, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Leaf beetle (Zool.), any beetle which feeds upon leaves; esp., any species of the family Chrysomelidæ, 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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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 fat, the fat which lies in leaves or layers within the body of an animal. --
Leaf flea (Zool.), a jumping plant louse of the family Psyllidæ. --
Leaf frog (Zool.), any tree frog of the genus Phyllomedusa. --
Leaf green.(Bot.) See Chlorophyll. --
Leaf hopper (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), an aphid. --
Leaf metal, metal in thin leaves, as gold, silver, or tin. --
Leaf miner (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), a pale bluish green beetle (Artipus Floridanus), which, in Florida, eats the edges of the leaves of orange trees. --
Leaf roller (Zool.), See leaf roller in the vocabulary. --
Leaf scar (Bot.), the cicatrix on a stem whence a leaf has fallen. --
Leaf sewer (Zool.), 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 hinged 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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), a sawfly. --
To turn over a new leaf, to make a radical change for the better in one's way of living or doing. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were both determined to turn over a new leaf. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Leaves, collectively; foliage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A coarse American composite weed (Polymnia Uvedalia). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) 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 Megachile brevis and Megachile centuncularis. Called also rose-cutting bee.
Syn. -- leaf-cutting bee, leaf-cutter bee. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Having (such) a leaf or (so many) leaves; -- used in composition; as, broad-leafed; four-leafed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A leaflet. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having leaflike expansions on the legs; -- said of certain insects; as, the leaf-footed bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small leaping insect that sucks the juices of plants.
Syn. -- leafhopper. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The state of being leafy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no leaves or foliage; bearing no foliage. “Leafless groves.” Cowper. -- Leaf"less*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

Leafless plants, plants having no foliage, though leaves may be present in the form of scales and bracts. See Leaf, n., 1 and 2. [1913 Webster]

n. 1. A little leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) One of the divisions of a compound leaf; a foliole. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A leaflike organ or part; as, a leaflet of the gills of fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A printed sheet of paper, of one page, or one sheet folded over, containing an advertisement, tract, or other notice, and usually distributed for free or included in the package with a purchased item. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) Having a leaflike membrane on the nose; -- said of certain bats, esp. of the genera Phyllostoma and Rhinonycteris. See Vampire. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Leafed p. pr. & vb. n. Leafing. ] To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves; to leave; as, the trees leaf in May. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The larva of any tortricid moth which makes a nest by rolling up the leaves of plants and tying the leaves with spun silk; aalso, the moth itself. See Tortrix. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) The stalk or petiole which supports a leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Leafier superl. Leafiest. ] 1. Full of leaves; abounding in leaves; as, the leafy forest. “The leafy month of June.” Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Consisting of leaves. “A leafy bed.” Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A stiff leathery-leaved fern (Polypodium scouleri) of Western North America having ovate fronds parted to the midrib.
Syn. -- leathery polypody, coast polypody, Polypodium scouleri. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. A northern temperate bog shrub (Chamaedaphne calyculata) with evergreen leathery leaves and small white cylindrical flowers.
Syn. -- Chamaedaphne calyculata. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>n. (Bot.) A South European plant of the genus Leontice (Leontice leontopetalum), the tuberous roots of which contain so much alkali that they are sometimes used as a substitute for soap. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Same as Liverwort. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having rings that open and close permitting insertion and removal of pages; -- of notebooks and binders and the paper used in them; as, a looseleaf notebook; looseleaf paper.
Syn. -- loose-leaf. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A type of notebook with hard covers attached to metal rings which open, allowing sheets of writing paper to be conveniently inserted into it and removed from it. [ PJC ]

n. Sheets of writing paper having holes at the edge permitting insertion into and removal from a looseleaf binder. [ PJC ]

n. (Bot.) A tuberous or semi-tuberous South African begonia (Begonia dregei) having shallowly lobed ovate leaves and small white flowers.
Syn. -- grape-leaf begonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Tobacco which has been stripped of its stalks before packing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A thin, elastic, uniformly light-colored tobacco leaf, raised in Sumatra and extensively used for cigar wrappers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } a. (Bot.) (a) Producing three leaves; as, three-leaved nightshade. (b) Consisting of three distinct leaflets; having the leaflets arranged in threes. [ 1913 Webster ]

Three-leaved nightshade. See Trillium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) See Jeffersonia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A prolific sort of apple, good for cider. [ Obs. ] Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A name given to several plants which have soft, velvety leaves, as the Abutilon Avicennae, the Cissampelos Pareira, and the Lavatera arborea, and even the common mullein. [ 1913 Webster ]