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| Lamebrain | Stupid person (You can't expect that lamebrain to help us.) |
| Land lubber | Person who does not sail (Sailors are not fond of land lubbers.) |
| Last ditch | Final (John made a last ditch effort to complete his project.) |
| Laughing stock | To receive derision (His error made Tom a laughing stock at school.) |
| Lay into | To attack; criticize (Mamma intends to lay into those troublemakers.) |
| Lay off | Do not bother (someone) (You better lay off John or he'll get angry.) |
| Law, the | Police (The gang began to run when the law arrived.) |
| Leatherneck | U.S. marine (Leathernecks hit the beach early in the morning.) |
| Leg up | An advantage (A good education will give me a leg up in the job market.) |
| Lend a hand | To help (Can anyone lend me a hand with this heavy box?) |
| Let go | To release; fire (Dad had to let a few workers go.) |
| Let go of | To release (You better let go of her arm before I hit you!) |
| Let hair down | To relax (Melinda should let her hair down.) |
| Let the cat out of the bag | To reveal the truth |
| Let (yourself) go | To relax (Take it easy and let yourself go for a few hours.) |
| Libber | Follower of the women's liberation movement |
| Lick (someone) | To defeat (William can lick the school bully easily.) |
| Licked before (I) start | No hope to win (Amy feels licked before she starts.) |
| Lie like a rug | To lie fluently (Bill lies like a rug.) |
| Life is a bowl of cherries | Life is pleasant and everything is fine. |
| Life is peaches 'n cream | Life is pleasant and everything is fine. |
| Light | Not heavy; not complicated (Jenny prefers having a light conversation.) |
| Light out for | To depart (Big Bob decided to light out for help.) |
| Lights out/go out | 1. To be unconscious (Bill hit the floor with lights out.) 2. Ignorant (Ruth acted as though her lights were out) |
| Like pulling teeth | Difficult (Reasoning with Connie is like pulling teeth.) |
| Like taking candy from a baby | Easy (Convincing Mary was like taking candy from a baby.) |
| Like the dickens | Very much (Banging my knee on that rock hurt like the dickens.) |
| Like the wind | Quickly (Gossip usually travels like the wind.) |
| Like to | 1. Desire; want (George would like to eat at the new restaurant.) 2. To enjoy (I like to be with you each day.) |
| Limit, the | Excellent person (I think Alisa is the limit!) |
| Line (his) pockets | To cheat; steal (Some contractors line their pockets.) |
| Lip, don't give (me) any | Do not speak rudely and argumentatively to (me). |
| Little shaver | Young boy (Mark is just a little shaver.) |
| Live in a dream world | Unrealistic (You can't succeed if you only live in a dream world.) |
| Live it down | To fotget an unpleasant event (Doris is afraid that she can never live it down.) |
| Live it up | Enjoy life; have fun (Alisa intends to live it up on her honeymoon.) |
| Live wire | Exciting person (Sammy sure is one live wire.) |
| Living in a fool's paradise | Expression that means: A person is deluded |
| Load of | Much (The boys tried to five us a load of nonsense.) |
| Load of Bull | Nonsense [similar rude expression: Load of crap] |
| Load off shoulders | A relief from concern (Your help took a load off Jane's shoulders.) |
| Load off the mind | A relief from concern (Susan's acceptance of my apology took a load off my mind.) |
| Load up on | To take much (He loaded up on junk food.) |
| Loaner | Item that can be rented (We decided it was best to get a loaner tractor.) |
| Local, a | 1. Local anesthetic (Betty refused a local when giving birth.) 2. Local train or subway (People in New York City take the local to work.) |
| Lone wolf | Solitary person (Roger enjoys being a lone wolf.) |
| Lonely heart's club | Sadness (Melissa looks ready to join the lonely heart's club.) |
| Loner | Solitary person (Art is a loner who enjoys living on a mountain.) |
| Long and short of | Everything (Now you know the long and short of my background.) |
| Long shot | Unlikely to happen (He is a long shot to win.) |
| Long stretch | Lengthy time in prison (That Mafia boss was just given a long stretch.) |
| Long time no see | To meet infrequently (Hello, it seems like long time no see.) |
| Look alive | Be prepared; be alert (Let's try to look alive and enjoy the trip.) |
| Look for | To seek (Dennis is looking for a ride.) |
| Look for a fat lip | Will be hit in the mouth (Are you looking for a fat lip?) |
| Look forward to | To anticipate (Jimmy looks forward to another season of basketball.) |
| Look out for | To protect (Allen always looks out for his siblings.) |
| Look over | 1. To examine (We can look over the document in my office.) 2. To see from above (Don't look over my shoulder!) |
| Look-see | To look [Southern dialect] (Can you take a look-see over there?) |
| Look sharp | 1. Be careful (Everyone better look sharp. The enemy is coming.) 2. Appear attractive (Alisa looks smart today.) |
| Look smart | Appear attractive (Pauline always looks smart.) |
| Look up | To search (You can look up my number in a telephone book.) |
| Looks like | Look as if; appears to be (It looks like another defeat for our team.) |
| Loony | Crazy (That's a loony idea.) |
| Loony bin | Insane asylum (They committed Matilda to a loony bin.) |
| Loose lips | Speak without caution (Don't tell Mary. She's has loose lips.) |
| Loot | Money (It takes a lot of loot to run this store.) |
| Lose currency | Not credible (The Federal Reserve's recent report lost currency.) |
| Lose (his) cool | To become excited (Don't lose your cool. Things will be OK.) |
| Lose (his) shirt | To lose everything (Don't gamble or you'll lose your shirt.) |
| Lose out on | Miss an opportunity (I lost out on a ride to town.) |
| Lost (his) marbles | Crazy (Jill won't date you! She hasn't lost her marbles!) |
| Lot more, a | Much more (Playing ball is a lot more fun than painting the house.) |
| Lot of, a | Many; much (I have a lot of apples.) |
| Loudmouth | Noisy and boastful person (Most people don't want to be around that loudmouth.) |
| Louse | Despicable person (Our elected representative is a louse.) |
| Love tap | Light hit (Don't worry, Joe only received a love tap.) |
| Lowdown | 1. Information (I need to know the lowdown about Jimmy.) 2. Worthless (That degenerate man is a lowdown skunk!) |
| Lowlife | Despicable (Lawyer Bob often defends lowlife scum.) |
| Lug | Stupid guy (Dad warned Lucy to avoid lugs.) |
