gravity 2.MW 9 [C] a scientific rule
that sb has
stated to explain a natural
process aE#: the first law of
thermodynamics f&f}—see also Murphy’s Law, Parkinson’s law, Sod’s Law, legal,
legalize,
LEGISLATE
rm be a law unto your'self to
behave in an independent way and ignore rules or what other people want you to
do i go to 'law {BrE) to
ask a court to settle
a problem or disagreement #; tTlr^ ,law and 'order a
situation in
which people obey the
law and behave in a peaceful way ; j&A; il vp iX: The government struggled to maintain
law and order. f] 3c 0 0 After
the riots, the
military was brought in to restore law and order. 0 They claim to
be the party of law
and order. S 6 JIM Min A
the ,law of
'averages the principle that one thing will happen as often as
another if you try enough times : Keep applying and
by the law of
averages you’ll
get a job sooner or later. ^
if nE, IS
the .law of the
'jungle a situation in which people are prepared to harm other people in order
to succeed fl'J; II $1lay
down the 'law to tell
sb with force what they should or should not do take
the law into
your own 'hands to do
sth illegal in order to punish sb for doing sth wrong, instead of letting the
police deal with them g&LSI there’s
no 'law against
sth (informaf) used to tell sb
who is criticizing you that you are not doing anything wrong ,(,A W U fi 65 A ) it til Hr 7 If : I’ll sing if I want to—there’s no law
against it. ft;
P| —:— it til If 7 ft o — more at
LETTER n., POSSESSION, RULE /
law breaker /'lo:breik8(r)/
noun a person who does not obey the law 7&A7 ► law-
break-ing noun [U]
' law court noun {BrE) = court of law o note at court lawful /'loifl/ adj.
(formal) allowed
or recognized by law; legal 67 &MUA67 Aft67 his lawful heir #< ^ 7p:
A Pl-n unlawful ►
law ful ly /-fali/
adv.: a
lawfully elected government law-ful-ness noun [U]
lawks /loiks/ exclamation {old-fashioned,
BrE) used
to show that you are surprised, angry or impatient ( Mtp
mm
lawless /'bilos/ adj. 1 (of a country or an
area HkK) where laws do not exist or are not obeyed JcikW 61; 7il7'C lawless
streets o the
lawless days
of the revolution I b] M 0
-f
2 (of people or their
actions A fj A) without respect for the law ; i ftmm; 7£6ti
H77I anarchic, wild : lawless
gangs g
A '& 610 \‘K
►
law less ness noun [U]
1 law lord noun {BrE) a member of the British House of Lords who
is qualified to perform its legal work ( ^
m)
law-maker /'lo:meik0(r)/
noun a person in government who makes
the laws of a country fL # H771 legislator
law-man /'bimaen/ noun {pi. law-men /-men/) {especially L/5) an officer responsible for keeping
law and order, especially a sheriff ; {.Xfm ) Jr ( )
ip
Xt
lawn /loin/ noun 1 [C] an area of ground
covered in short grass in a garden/yard or park, or used for playing a game on In summer we have to
mow the lawn twice a
week. Jl
Ao
o a croquet lawn picture
o page R24 2
[U]
a type of fine cotton or linen cloth used for making clothes ) :
'lawn bowling noun [U] (NAmE)
= bowl n.{6) lawn-mow
er /'lo:nm0U8(r); NAmE -mou-/ (also mower) noun a machine for cutting the grass on lawns
f!l Ef +JL; JtlTtil — picture □> garden .lawn 'tennis noun [U] (formal) = tennis
| 1143
law-ren-cium /ln'rensiam; NAmE lor’r-/ noun [U] {symb Lr) a chemical element. Lawrencium is
a radioactive metal. ® ( )
law-suit /'loisuit; BrE also -sjuit/ (also suit) noun a claim or complaint against sb
that a person or an organization can make in court : He filed a lawsuit
against his record company. M ftj (>i A 6ti A M
&7
WL
lawyer 0-w /'b:ja(r)/ noun a
person who is trained and qualified to advise people about the law and to
represent them in court, and to write legal documents #!)ip
MORE ABOUT
lawyers
*
Lawyer is a general term for a person who is qualified to advise people about
the law, to prepare legal documents for them and/or to represent them in a
court of law. * lawyer ^ilMiW,
mmxr
m In
barrister ; barrister advocate,,
•
In NAmE attorney is a more formal
word used for a
lawyer and is used especially in job titles. felbH^ in
4*, attorney ^ lawyer lE^, :
district attorney
■ Counsel is the formal legal word used for a lawyer who is representing someone
in court. * counsel A
counsel for the prosecution
m Solicitor is the BrE term for a lawyer
who gives legal advice and prepares documents, for example when you are buying
a house, and sometimes has the right to speak in a court of law. * solicitor ,
m In NAmE solicitor is only used in the titles of some lawyers who work for the government.
4dfcH^i« th, solicitor Solicitor General
lax /laeks/
adj 1 {disapproving) not strict, severe or careful enough about work, rules or standards of
behaviour 767 7T^6iJ; 033 slack,
careless: lax security/discipline
0 a lax attitude to health and safety regulations AT.
2 {phonetics i^W) (of a speech sound i|H=f) produced with
the muscles of the speech organs relaxed 65; fj 6^ Plin tense ► lax ity /’laeksati/ noun [U]
laxa tive /'laeksativ/
noun a medicine, food or drink that makes sb empty their bowels easily il'®
If'J; #ifi{lL#fLI ► laxa-tive adj.
lay ow /lei/ verb,
adj., noun — see also lie1
v. m verb (laid, laid /leid/)
► PUT DOWN/SPREAD T,i~f; MX 1 [usually +adv./prep.] to put sb/sth in a particular position, especially when it is done
gently or carefully ( ) $[S,
, M : [VN] She laid the baby down gently on the bed. 0
He laid a
hand on my
arm. 0 The horse laid back its
ears. 0 0 Relatives laid wreaths on
the grave. £E# k M^EStuMT
» O [VN-ADJ] The cloth should be laid flat. 1$ M X 7 Ik o isiaid Some speakers confuse this sense of
lay with lie, especially in the present and progressive tenses. However, lay
has an object and lie does not: She was lying on the beach, o She was laying
on the beach: o Why
don’t you lie on