[last stand]{n. phr.} See: LAST DITCH.

[last straw] or [straw that breaks the camel’s back] {n. phr.} Asmall trouble which follows other troubles and makes one lose patience and beunable to bear them. •/Bill had a bad day in school yesterday. He lost hisknife on the way home, then he fell down, and when he broke a shoe lace, thatwas the last straw and he began to cry./ •/Mary didn’t like it when theother girls said she was proud and lazy, but when they said she told fibs itwas the straw that broke the camel’s back and she told the teacher./

[last word]{n.} 1. The last remark in an argument. •/I never win anargument with her. She always has the last word./ 2. The final say indeciding something. •/The superintendent has the last word in ordering newdesks./ 3. {informal} The most modern thing. •/Mrs. Green’s stove isthe last word in stoves./

[latch on] or [hitch onto] {v.}, {informal} 1. To get hold of;grasp or grab; catch. •/He looked for something to latch onto and keep fromfalling./ •/The football player latched onto a pass./ 2. {slang} Toget into your possession. •/The banker latched onto a thousand shares ofstock./ 3. {slang} To understand. •/The teacher explained the idea ofjet engines until the students latched onto it./ Syn.: CATCH ON. 4.{informal} To keep; to hold. •/The poor woman latched onto the littlemoney she had left./ 5. {slang} To stay with; not leave. •/Marie andDick wanted to go to the movies by themselves, but Mane’s little brotherlatched onto them./

[latch string]{n.} 1. A string that opens an old-fashioned door bylifting a small bar. •/The early settlers kept the latch string outside thedoor when they were working around the house, but at night they pulled it tothe inside./ 2. {informal} A warm welcome; a friendly greeting. — Usedin such phrases as "the latch string is out." •/Mary has her latch siring outfor everyone who comes./ Syn.: WELCOME MAT(2).

[late] See: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, OF LATE.

[lately] See: JOHNNY-COME-LATELY.

[later] See: SOONER OR LATER.

[later on]{adv.} Later; not now. •/Finish your lessons. Later on, wemay have a surprise./ •/Bill couldn’t stand on his head when schoolstarted, but later on he learned how./

[lather] See: IN A LATHER.

[laugh] See: HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST, HAVE THE LAST LAUGH.

[laugh all the way to the bank]{v. phr.} To have made a substantialamount of money either by lucky investment or by some fraudulent deal andrejoice over one’s gains. •/If you had done what I suggested, you, too, couldbe laughing all the way to the bank./

[laughing matter]{n.} A funny happening; a silly situation. — Usuallyused with "no". •/John’s failing the test is no laughing matter!/ •/Wewere amused when our neighbor’s cat had five kittens, but when our own cat hadsix kittens it was no laughing matter./

[laugh in one’s beard] See: LAUGH UP ONE’S SLEEVE.

[laugh in one’s sleeve] See: LAUGH UP ONE’S SLEEVE.

[laugh off]{v.} To dismiss with a laugh as not important or notserious; not take seriously. •/He had a bad fall while ice skating but helaughed it off./ •/You can’t laugh off a ticket for speeding./ Compare:MAKE LIGHT OF.

[laugh one out of]{v. phr.} To cause another to forget his/her worriesand sorrows by joking. •/Jack was worried about getting airsick, but his sonand daughter laughed him out of it./

[laugh one’s head off]{v. phr.}, {informal} To laugh very hard; beunable to stop laughing. •/Paul’s stories are so wildly funny that I laugh myhead off whenever he starts telling one of them./

[laugh on the wrong side of one’s mouth] or [laugh on the other side ofone’s mouth] or [laugh out of the other side of one’s mouth] {v.phr.}, {informal} To be made sorry; to feel annoyance or disappointment;cry. •/Paul boasted that he was a good skater, but after he fell, he laughedout of the other side of his mouth./

[laugh up one’s sleeve] or [laugh in one’s sleeve] or [laugh in one’sbeard] To be amused but not show it; hide your laughter. •/He was laughingup his sleeve when Joe answered the phone because he knew the call would he ajoke./

[launch window]{n.}, {Space English}, {informal} 1. A periodof time when the line-up of planets, Sun, and Moon are such as to makefavorable conditions for a specific space launch. •/The mission was canceleduntil the next launch window which will be exactly six weeks from today./ 2.A favorable time for starting some kind of ambitious adventure. •/My nextlaunch window for a European trip isn’t until school is over in June./

[laurel] See: LOOK TO ONE’S LAURELS, REST ON ONE’S LAURELS.

[lavender] See: LAY OUT(7).

[law] See: LAY DOWN THE LAW, PARLIAMENTARY LAW, TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE’S OWNHANDS.

[law-abiding]{adj.} Obeying or following the law. •/Michael had beena law-abiding citizen all his life./

[lawful age] See: LEGAL AGE.

[law of averages]{n. phr.} The idea that you can’t win all the time orlose all the time. •/The Celtics have won 10 games in a row but the law ofaverages will catch up with them soon./

[law unto oneself]{n. phr.}, {literary} A person who does onlywhat he wishes; a person who ignores or breaks the law when he doesn’t like it.•/Everybody in Germany feared Hitler because he was a law unto himself./•/Mr. Brown told Johnny that he must stop trying to be a law unto himself./Compare: TAKE THE LAW INTO ONE’S OWN HANDS.

[lay] See: KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG.

[lay about one]{v. phr.} To hit out in all directions. — Used with areflexive object: "her", "him", or "them". •/The bandits surrounded thesheriff, but he laid about him so hard, with his gun used as a club, that theystepped back and let him escape./ •/Mrs. Franklin didn’t kill the mouse,but she laid about her so hard with the broom that she scared it away./

[lay a finger on]{v. phr.} To touch or bother, even a little. — Usedin negative, interrogative, and conditional sentences. •/Don’t you dare lay afinger on the vase!/ •/Suppose Billy fakes his brother with him; wilt themean, tough boy down the street dare lay a finger on him?/ •/If you so muchas lay a finger on my boy, I’ll call the police./ Compare: LAY HANDS ON, PUTONE’S FINGER ON.

[lay an egg]{v. phr.}, {slang} To fail to win the interest orfavor of an audience. •/His joke laid an egg./ •/Sometimes he is asuccessful speaker, but sometimes he lays an egg./

[lay aside]{v. phr.} 1. To put off until another time; interrupt anactivity. •/The president laid aside politics to turn to foreign affairs./2. To save. •/They tried to lay aside a little money each week for theirvacation./

[lay at one’s door]{v. phr.}, {literary} To blame (something) on aperson. •/The failure of the plan was laid at his door./ Compare: LAYTO(1).

[lay away]{v.} 1. To save. •/She laid a little of her pay away eachweek./ 2. To bury (a person). — Used to avoid the word "bury", which somepeople think is unpleasant. •/He was laid away in his favorite spot on thehill./

[lay-away plan]{n.} A plan for buying something that you can’t paycash for; a plan in which you pay some money down and pay a little more whenyou can, and the store holds the article until you have paid the full price.•/She could not afford to pay for the coat all at once, so she used thelay-away plan./