Litre, lē′tr, n. the unit of the French measures of capacity, both dry and liquid. It is the volume of a cubic decimètre, and contains a kilogramme of water at 4° C. in a vacuum, equal to .2200967 British imperial gallon, therefore less than a quart—4½ litres being roughly equal to a gallon.
Litter, lit′ėr, n. a heap of straw, &c., for animals to lie upon: materials for a bed: any scattered collection of objects, esp. of little value: a vehicle containing a bed for carrying about, a hospital stretcher: a brood of small quadrupeds.—v.t. to cover or supply with litter: to scatter carelessly about: to give birth to (said of small animals).—v.i. to produce a litter or brood.—p.adj. Litt′ered. [O. Fr. litiere—Low L. lectaria—L. lectus, a bed.]
Littérateur, lit-ėr-a-tėr′, n. a literary man. [Fr.]
Little, lit′l, adj. (comp. Less; superl. Least) small in quantity or extent: weak, poor: brief.—n. that which is small in quantity or extent: a small space.—adv. in a small quantity or degree: not much.—ns. Litt′le-ease, discomfort, misery: a form of punishment, as the stocks; Litt′le-end′ian, one of the Lilliputian party who opposed the Big-endians, maintaining that boiled eggs should be cracked at the little end; Litt′le-go (see Go); Litt′leness; Litt′le-off′ice, a short service of psalms, hymns, collects, &c.—adj. Litt′leworth, worthless.—By little and little, by degrees; In little, on a small scale; Not a little, considerably. [A.S. lýtel.]
Littoral, lit′or-al, adj. belonging to the sea-shore.—n. the strip of land along it.—Littoral zone, the interval on a sea-coast between high and low water mark. [L.,—litus, litŏris, shore.]
Liturate, lit′ū-rāt, adj. (bot.) having spots formed by the abrasion of the surface: in entomology, marked with spots (Lituræ) growing paler at one end.
Liturgy, lit′ur-ji, n. the form of service or regular ritual of a church—strictly, that used in the celebration of the Eucharist: in ancient Greece, a form of personal service to the state.—n. Liturge′, a leader in public worship.—adjs. Litur′gic, -al.—adv. Litur′gically.—ns. Litur′gics, the doctrine of liturgies; Liturgiol′ogist, a student of liturgies; Liturgiol′ogy, the study of liturgical forms; Lit′urgist, a leader in public worship: one who adheres to, or who studies, liturgies. [Fr.,—Gr. leitourgia—laos, the people, ergon, work.]
Lituus, li-tū′us, n. an augur's staff with recurved top: a spiral of similar form.—adjs. Lit′uāte, forked with the points turned outward; Lit′uiform. [L.]
Live, liv, v.i. to have, or continue in, life, temporal or spiritual: to last, subsist: to enjoy life: to direct one's course of life: to be nourished or supported: to dwell.—v.t. to spend: to act in conformity to:—pr.p. liv′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. lived.—adj. Liv′able, capable of being lived: habitable.—n. Liv′er.—Live down, live so as to cause a slander, a grief, &c. to be forgotten by one's self or others; Live out, to continue alive until the end of anything: (U.S.) to be from home in domestic service; Live under, to be tenant to; Live up to, to rule one's life according to some standard. [A.S. lifian; Ger. leben.]
Live, līv, adj. having life: alive, not dead: active: containing fire: burning: vivid.—Lived (līvd), used in compounds, as long-lived.—ns. Live′-axle, driving-axle; Live′-bait, a living worm or minnow used in fishing: Live′-cir′cuit, a circuit through which an electric current is flowing.—n.pl. Live′-feath′ers, those plucked from the living fowl.—n. Live′-lē′ver, that one of a pair of brake-levers to which the power is first applied:—opp. to Dead-lever.—adj. Live′-long, that lives or lasts long.—ns. Live′-oak, an American oak, with durable wood; Live′-shell, a shell loaded and fused for firing, or fired and not yet exploded; Live′-stock, domestic animals, esp. horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs; Live′-well, the well in a fishing-boat where fish are kept alive.