L — Lick the Dust to Lift up the Heel against Me (Part 1 of 3)

Lick the Dust (To). To fall in battle.

“His enemies shall lick the dust.” - Psalm lxxii.9.

Licks the Butter The very dogs refused to lick the butter from his forehead. Before the dead body of a Parsee is removed from the house, the forehead is smeared with clarified butter or ghee, and the dogs of the house are admitted. If the dog or dogs lick the butter, it is a good omen; if not, it signifies perdition.

Lickspittle (A). A servile toady.

“His heart too great, though fortune little,
To lick a rascal statesman's spittle.” Swift.

Lictors Binders (Latin, ligo, to bind or tie). These Roman officers were so called because they bound the hands and feet of criminals before they executed the sentence of the law. (Aulus Gellius.)

“The lictors at that word, tall yeomen all and strong.
Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng.”
Macaulay: Virginia.

Lid Anglo-Saxon, hlid; Dutch and Danish, lid. “Close” is the Latin supine clus-um.

Lidskialfa [the terror of nations ]. The throne of Alfader, whence he can view the whole universe. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Lie (Anglo-Saxon, lige, a falsehood.)
   Father of lies. Satan (John viii. 44).
   The greatest lie. The four P's (a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Poticary, and a Pedlar) disputed as to which could tell the greatest lie. The Palmer said he had never seen a woman out of patience; whereupon the other three P's threw up the sponge, saying such a falsehood could not possibly be outdone. (Heywood: The Four P's.)
   White lies. (See White.)

Lie Circumstantial (The) or The lie with circumstance. Sir, if you said so, it was a lie. As Touchstone says, this insult is voidable by this means- “If you said so, I said it was a lie,” but the word “if” makes the insult hypothetical. This is the lie direct in the second degree or once removed. (See Countercheck.)

Lie Direct (The). Sir, that's a lie. You are a liar. This is an offence no gentleman can take.

“One day as I was walking, with my customary swagger,
Says a fellow to me, `Pistol, you're a coward, though a bragger.'
Now, this was an indignity no gentleman could take, sir;
So I told him flat and plump. `You lie- (under a mistake sir).' ”

Lie Quarrelsome (The). To tell one flat and plump “You lie.” Touchstone calls this “the countercheck quarrelsome.”

“If again [the fifth time] it was not well cut, he would say I lied: this is called the countercheck quarrelsome.”'- Shakespeare: As You Like It, v. 4.

Lie hath no Feet (A). Because it cannot stand alone. In fact, a lie wants twenty others to support it, and even then is in constant danger of tripping.

Lie (Anglo-Saxon, licgan, to `bide or rest; but lie, to deceive, is the Anglo-Saxon verb leog-an.)

“Lie heavy on him, earth, for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee.

   This is part of Dr. Evan's epitaph on Sir John Vanbrugh, the comic poet, herald, and architect. The “heavy loads” referred to were Blenheim, Greenwich Hospital (which he finished), Castle Howard in Yorkshire, and other massive buildings. (1666- 1726.)

Lie Low (To). To conceal oneself or one's intentions.

“All this while Brer Rabbit lay low.”- Uncle Remus.

Lie Over (To). To be deferred; as, this question must lie over till next sessions.