| lot | 1. That which happens without human design or forethought; chance; accident; hazard; fortune; fate. "But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay." (Spenser) 2. Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without man's choice or will; as, to cast or draw lots. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." (Prov. Xvi. 33) "If we draw lots, he speeds." (Shak) 3. The part, or fate, which falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without his planning. "O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's Enough to bear." (Milton) "He was but born to try The lot of man to suffer and to die." (Pope) 4. A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively; as, a lot of stationery; colloquially, sometimes of people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot. "I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English heads, chiefly of the reign of James I." (Walpole) 5. A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field; as, a building lot in a city. "The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of new York." (Kent) 6. A large quantity or number; a great deal; as, to spend a lot of money; lots of people think so. "He wrote to her . . . He might be detained in London by a lot of business." (W. Black) 7. A prize in a lottery. To cast in one's lot with, to share the fortunes of. To cast lots, to use or throw a die, or some other instrument, by the unforeseen turn or position of which, an event is by previous agreement determined. To draw lots, to determine an event, or make a decision, by drawing one thing from a number whose marks are concealed from the drawer. To pay scot and lot, to pay taxes according to one's ability. See Scot. Origin: AS. Hlot; akin to hleotan to cast lots, OS. Hlt lot, D. Lot, G. Loos, OHG. Lz, Icel. Hlutr, Sw. Lott, Dan. Lod, Goth. Hlauts. Cf. Allot, Lotto, Lottery. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| lote | <botany> A large tree (Celtis australis), found in the south of Europe. It has a hard wood, and bears a cherrylike fruit. Synonym: nettle tree. Origin: L. Lotus, Gr. Cf. Lotus. <zoology> The European burbot. Origin: F. Lotte. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotion | 1. A washing, especially of the skin for the purpose of rendering it fair. 2. A liquid preparation for bathing the skin, or an injured or diseased part, either for a medicinal purpose, or for improving its appearance. Origin: L. Lotio, fr. Lavare, lotum, to wash: cf. F. Lotion. See Lave to wash. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotong | <zoology> An East Indian monkey (Semnopithecus femoralis). Origin: Malay ltong. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotophagi | A people visited by Ulysses in his wanderings. They subsisted on the lotus. See Lotus, and Lotus-eater. Origin: L, fr. Gr.; the lotus + to eat. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotos | <botany> See Lotus. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotos-eater | One who ate the fruit or leaf of the lotus, and, as a consequence, gave himself up to indolence and daydreams; one of the Lotophagi. "The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters." (Tennyson) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lotus | 1. <botany> A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphaea Lotus and N. Caerulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments. The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it. The lote, or nettle tree. See Lote. A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover. Alternative forms: lotos] European lotus, a small tree (Diospyros Lotus) of Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish black berry, which is called also the date plum. 2. An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily. Origin: L. Lotus, Gr. Cf. Lote. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |