A-Z Database
This word dates back to the 1400s when it meant someone who owned so much land that some of it was rented out to tenants. It still retains this meanin...
In the sense of a sweeping, overwhelming majority of votes, especially in an election campaign, this usage is originally American dating from the late...
see In the lap of luxury
see In the lap of the gods
So called because the larder was originally the room in which bacon was hung. The word dates from the 1400s when lard was originally fatty bacon and t...
see La-di-da
The expression large as life dates from the early 19th century and originally described portraits or statues, which are literally life-size. Lewis Car...
Larger than life is a more modern expression dating from the mid-20th century describing persons or characters whose behaviour is more flamboyant or e...
To frolic, play tricks etc dates from the early 19th century. Sometimes also known as skylarking and derives from the aerobatic antics of the European...
see Laanie
A popular expression in Australia where it is still used to describe rowdy but generally good-natured hooligans. First cited in Australia from around...
The earliest citation for this now well-worn phrase appears to be from John Lyly Euphues and His England (1580) “last, but not the least”, closely fol...
This expression is now a metaphor for the final opportunity to accomplish something or retrieve a situation, and dates from the early 20th century. It...
This is literally the moment before death, the last breath but can also mean the last chance or opportunity to complete something before a deadline or...
A final, often valedictory, performance or appearance; derives from the Edwin O’Connor novel The Last Hurrah (1956) which was made into a movie of the...