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

[last straw] or [straw that breaks the camel’s back] {n. phr.} A small trouble which follows other troubles and makes one lose patience and be unable to bear them. •/Bill had a bad day in school yesterday. He lost his knife on the way home, then he fell down, and when he broke a shoe lace, that was the last straw and he began to cry./ •/Mary didn’t like it when the other girls said she was proud and lazy, but when they said she told fibs it was 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 an argument with her. She always has the last word./ 2. The final say in deciding something. •/The superintendent has the last word in ordering new desks./ 3. {informal} The most modern thing. •/Mrs. Green’s stove is the 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 from falling./ •/The football player latched onto a pass./ 2. {slang} To get into your possession. •/The banker latched onto a thousand shares of stock./ 3. {slang} To understand. •/The teacher explained the idea of jet engines until the students latched onto it./ Syn.: CATCH ON. 4. {informal} To keep; to hold. •/The poor woman latched onto the little money she had left./ 5. {slang} To stay with; not leave. •/Marie and Dick wanted to go to the movies by themselves, but Mane’s little brother latched onto them./

[latch string]{n.} 1. A string that opens an old-fashioned door by lifting a small bar. •/The early settlers kept the latch string outside the door when they were working around the house, but at night they pulled it to the inside./ 2. {informal} A warm welcome; a friendly greeting. — Used in such phrases as "the latch string is out." •/Mary has her latch siring out for 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, we may have a surprise./ •/Bill couldn’t stand on his head when school started, 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 substantial amount of money either by lucky investment or by some fraudulent deal and rejoice over one’s gains. •/If you had done what I suggested, you, too, could be laughing all the way to the bank./

[laughing matter]{n.} A funny happening; a silly situation. — Usually used with "no". •/John’s failing the test is no laughing matter!/ •/We were amused when our neighbor’s cat had five kittens, but when our own cat had six 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 not serious; not take seriously. •/He had a bad fall while ice skating but he laughed 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 worries and sorrows by joking. •/Jack was worried about getting airsick, but his son and daughter laughed him out of it./

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

[laugh on the wrong side of one’s mouth] or [laugh on the other side of one’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 laughed out of the other side of his mouth./

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

[launch window]{n.}, {Space English}, {informal} 1. A period of time when the line-up of planets, Sun, and Moon are such as to make favorable conditions for a specific space launch. •/The mission was canceled until the next launch window which will be exactly six weeks from today./ 2. A favorable time for starting some kind of ambitious adventure. •/My next launch 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 OWN HANDS.

[law-abiding]{adj.} Obeying or following the law. •/Michael had been a 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 or lose all the time. •/The Celtics have won 10 games in a row but the law of averages will catch up with them soon./

[law unto oneself]{n. phr.}, {literary} A person who does only what 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 a reflexive object: "her", "him", or "them". •/The bandits surrounded the sheriff, but he laid about him so hard, with his gun used as a club, that they stepped 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. — Used in negative, interrogative, and conditional sentences. •/Don’t you dare lay a finger on the vase!/ •/Suppose Billy fakes his brother with him; wilt the mean, tough boy down the street dare lay a finger on him?/ •/If you so much as lay a finger on my boy, I’ll call the police./ Compare: LAY HANDS ON, PUT ONE’S FINGER ON.

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

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

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

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

[lay-away plan]{n.} A plan for buying something that you can’t pay cash for; a plan in which you pay some money down and pay a little more when you 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 the lay-away plan./