Low, lō, adj. (comp. Low′er; superl. Low′est) lying in an inferior place or position: not high: deep: shallow: small: moderate: cheap: dejected: mean: plain: in poor circumstances: humble.—adv. not aloft: cheaply: meanly: in subjection, poverty, or disgrace: in times near our own: not loudly: (astron.) near the equator.—adj. Low′-born, of mean birth.—ns. Low′-church, a party within the Church of England minimising sacerdotal claims, ecclesiastical constitutions, ordinances, and forms, holding evangelical views of theology:—opp. to High-church; Low′-church′ism; Low′-church′man.—v.t. Low′er, to bring low: to depress: to degrade: to diminish.—v.i. to fall: to sink: to grow less.—adjs. Low′er-case (print.), kept in a lower case, denoting small letters as distinguished from capitals; Low′er-class, pertaining to persons of the humbler ranks.—n. Low′ering, the act of bringing low or reducing.—adj. letting down: sinking: degrading.—adj. Low′ermost, lowest.—ns. Low′land, land low with respect to higher land; Low′lander, a native of lowlands; Low′-life, humble life; Low′lihead, Low′lihood, a lowly or humble state; Low′liness.—adjs. Low′-lived, vulgar: shabby; Low′ly, of a low or humble mind: not high: meek: modest; Low′-mind′ed, moved by base or gross motives: vulgar; Low′-necked, cut low in the neck and away from the shoulders, décolleté.—n. Low′ness.—adjs. Low′-press′ure, employing or exerting a low degree of pressure (viz. less than 50 lb. to the sq. inch), said of steam and steam-engines; Low′-spir′ited, having the spirits low or cast down: not lively: sad.—n. Low′-spir′itedness.—adj. Low′-thought′ed, having the thoughts directed to low pursuits.—n. Low′-wa′ter, the lowest point of the tide at ebb.—Low Latin, a term often applied loosely to the Latin spoken and written after the fall of the Roman Empire, as well as during the Middle Ages; Low Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, so called in contrast to the great festival whose octave it ends; Low wines, the weak spirit produced from the first distillation of substances containing alcohol.—Lie low, to keep quiet or hidden. [Ice. lágr, Dut. laag, low; allied to A.S. licgan, to lie.]
Low, low, n. (Scot.) a flame.—v.i. to blaze.—n. Low′-bell, a bell used in fowling by night, in connection with a light, to frighten birds into a net. [Ice. logi; cf. Dan. lue, Ger. lohe.]
Lower, low′ėr, v.i. to appear gloomy, as the clouds: to threaten a storm: to frown.—adjs. Lou′ry, Low′ery, cloudy; Low′ering, looking sullen: appearing dark and threatening.—adv. Low′eringly. [M. E. louren, from M. E. lure, lere, the cheek, allied to A.S. hleór, and thus a variant of leer.]
Lown, lown, n. a variant of loon.
Lown, lown, adj. (Scot.) sheltered, tranquil.
Loxia, lok′si-a, n. wryneck. [Gr.]
Loxodromic, lok-so-drom′ik, adj. pertaining to certain lines on the surface of a sphere which cut all meridians at the same angle, and indicate the course held by ships in rhumb sailing.—Loxodromic curve, line, or spiral, the course of a ship oblique to the equator and cutting all the meridians at the same angle, sailing constantly toward the same point of the compass.—Loxodromics, the art of such oblique sailing. [Gr. loxos, oblique, dromos, a course.]
Loyal, loi′al, adj. faithful to one's sovereign: obedient: true to a lover.—n. Loy′alist, a loyal adherent of his sovereign, esp. in English history, a partisan of the Stuarts: in the American war, one that sided with the British troops.—adv. Loy′ally.—n. Loy′alty. [Fr.,—L. legalis—lex, legis, law.]
Lozenge, loz′enj, n. an oblique-angled parallelogram or a rhombus: a small cake of flavoured sugar, originally lozenge or diamond shaped: (her.) the rhomb-shaped figure in which the arms of maids, widows, and deceased persons are borne.—adjs. Loz′enged, formed in the shape of a lozenge; Loz′enge-shaped, shaped like a lozenge or rhomb; Loz′engy (her.), divided into lozenge-shaped compartments. [O. Fr. losange, flattery, whence its use for an epitaph, square slab, window-pane.]
Lubber, lub′ėr, Lubbard, lub′ard, n. an awkward, clumsy fellow: a lazy, sturdy fellow.—adj. Lubb′ard, lubberly.—adj. and adv. Lubb′erly.—n. Lubb′er's-hole (naut.), a hole between the head of the lower mast and the edge of the top through which 'lubbers' may climb, instead of going round the futtock shroud. [W. llob, a dolt, llabbi, a stripling.]