LAUNCH. The delivery, or labour, of a pregnant woman; a crying out or groaning.
LAW. To give law to a hare; a sporting term, signifying to give the animal a chance of escaping, by not setting on the dogs till the hare is at some distance; it is also more figuratively used for giving any one a chance of succeeding in a scheme or project.
LAWFUL BLANKET. A wife.
LAY. Enterprize, pursuit, or attempt: to be sick of the lay. It also means a hazard or chance: he stands a queer lay; i.e. he is in danger. CANT.
LAYSTALL. A dunghill about London, on which the soil brought from necessary houses is emptied; or, in more technical terms, where the old gold collected at weddings by the Tom t—d man, is stored.
LAZY. As lazy as Ludman's dog, who leaned against the
wall to bark. As lazy as the tinker, who laid down his
budget to f—t.
LAZY MAN'S LOAD. Lazy people frequently take up more
than they can safely carry, to save the trouble of coming
a second time.
LAZYBONES. An instrument like a pair of tongs, for old or
very fat people to take any thing from the ground without
stooping.
LEAF. To go off with the fall of the leaf; to be hanged: criminals in Dublin being turned off from the outside of the prison by the falling of a board, propped up, and moving on a hinge, like the leaf of a table. IRISH TERM.
TO LEAK. To make water.