leaf

noun, verb — 21 senses

leaf

nounalso spelled Leaf

UK /liːf/ · US /lif/

Etymology

From Middle English lef, leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowbʰ-o-m, from *lewbʰ- (“to cut off”). Cognates Cognate with Scots leaf (“leaf”), Yola laafe (“leaf”), North Frisian luuf (“leaf”), Saterland Frisian Loof (“leaf”), West Frisian leaf (“leaf”), Cimbrian loap (“leaf”), Dutch loof (“foliage”), German Laub (“leaves”), German Low German Loov (“leaf”), Luxembourgish Laf (“foliage, leaves”), Mòcheno lap (“leaf”), Vilamovian łaub, łaup, łojp (“leaf”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løv (“leaf”), Faroese leyv (“leaf”), Icelandic lauf (“leaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk lauv (“leaf”), Swedish löv (“leaf”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf”); also Irish luibh (“herb, plant”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Lithuanian lúobas (“bark; bast”), Polish łub (“bark”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”). (Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.

15 senses
  1. 1The usually green and flat organ that represents the…
  2. 2A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably…
  3. 3Anything resembling the leaf of a plant.
  4. 4A sheet of a book, magazine, etc. (consisting of two…
  5. 5A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin.
  6. 6One of the individual flat or curved strips of metal…
  7. 7Tea leaves.
  8. 8A flat section used to extend the size of a table.
  9. 9A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally…
  10. 10In a tree, a node that has no descendants.
  11. 11The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat.
  12. 12One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.
  13. 13Cannabis.
  14. 14A Canadian person.
  15. 15A particular value of the EAX register when a program…
1

The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.

  • Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
2

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.

3

Anything resembling the leaf of a plant.

4

Advertising, Arts, Bookbinding, Business, Crafts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Marketing, Media, Publishing A sheet of a book, magazine, etc. (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).

  • Heretofore advertisers have had to buy and pay for a leaf — two pages.1900, Profitable Advertising, volume 10, number 2, page 893:
5

A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin.

  • gold leaf
6

One of the individual flat or curved strips of metal, typically made of spring steel, that make up a leaf spring.

  • Lumbering down a precipitous "slideway," the Thornycroft broke two main leaves in the back spring[.]1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 52:
7

In plural Tea leaves.

8

A flat section used to extend the size of a table.

9

A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement.

Plural leaves or leafs

  • The train car has one single-leaf and two double-leaf doors per side.
  • The bridge shear locks were repaired and the long ends of the shear locks shortened about two inches to eliminate butting of the bridge leafs against each other.1914, Department of Bridges, City of New York, Report, page 90:
4 more examples
  • It will be noted that the pivotal mounting of the cylinders is such that the cylinders have their greatest leverage (i.e., exert the greatest door-opening force) when the door leafs 24, 28 are closed because the cylinders are generally perpendicular to the closed leafs. This is desirable because the load on the leafs is the greatest when they are closed due to air pressure. As the leafs begin to open and this air pressure decreases, the opening force exerted by the cylinders on the door leafs decreases and the opening speed of the leafs increases.1992 July 21, William R. Kennedy, John M. Kennedy, Power mine door system, US Patent 5,222,838:
  • THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE U.S. COAST GUARD: REQUIRE OWNERS/OPERATORS OF BASCULE BRIDGES TO INSTALL CAUTION LIGHTS AND DAYLIGHT MARKINGS AT ELEVATION POINTS ON BRIDGE LEAFS WHERE THEY PROTRUDE OVER NAVIGABLE CHANNELS TO IDEN TIFY^([sic]) TO MARINERS THE POINT AT WHICH FULL SKYWARD CHANNEL CLEARANCE IS NOT AVAILABLE TO TRANSITING VESSELS: THE LIGHTS SHOULD ACTIVATE WHEN THE BRIDGELEAFS ARE IN THE NORMAL FULLY OPEN POSITION.[…]THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE U.S. COAST GUARD: REQUIRE THAT BRIDGE OWNERS/OPERATORS PROVIDE IN BASCULE BRIDGE PERMIT APPLICATIONS THE ANGLE OF THE BRIDGELEAF(S). THE MAXIMUM VERTICAL CLEARANCE AT THE FENDERS AND AT THE BRIDGELEAF ENDS, AND THE EXTENT OF HORIZONTAL CHANNEL CLEARANCE OVER WHICH FULL SKYWARD CLEARANCE IS AVAILABLE WHEN THE BRIDGE LEAFS ARE IN THE FULLY OPEN POSITION.1993, Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1994: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 136:
  • The four separate segments of the movable bridge span, known as bridge leafs, were alternately rehabilitated while maintaining upper-level roadway and pedestrian traffic on one-half of the bridge and waterway traffic on one-half of the river channel.1993, Realty and Building, page 20:
  • The hydraulic system lifts and rotates two 413-ft (126-m) bridge leafs, each weighing 7,500 tons, in just four minutes.1993, The Americana Annual: An Encyclopedia of Current Events, Grolier, →ISBN, →ISSN, →LCCN, page 224:
10

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences In a tree, a node that has no descendants.

  • The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf).2011, John Mongan, Noah Kindler, Eric Giguère, Programming Interviews Exposed:
11

The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat.

12

One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.

13

Slang Cannabis.

14

Internet, Humorous, Pejorative, Sometimes A Canadian person.

4chan slang; plural leafs; 4chan slang; plural leafs

15

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences A particular value of the EAX register when a program runs the CPUID instruction; each leaf represents a different category of information returned about the processor.

  • X86_FEATURE_HETERO_CORE_TOPOLOGY is used to identify whether the processor support heterogeneous core type by reading CPUID leaf Fn_0x80000026_EAX and bit 30. if the bit is set as one, then amd_pstate driver will check EBX 30:28 bits to get the core type.2024 May 7, Perry Yuan, “[PATCH 00/11] AMD Pstate Driver Fixes and Improvements”, in Kernel Lore:
Synonyms
phyllon
Derived terms
671 termsalderleaf Juneberry, almond tree leaf skeletoniser moth, almond tree leaf skeletonizer moth, aluminium leaf, aluminum leaf, angle leaf, apple bud and leaf mite, apple leaf midge, apple leaf miner, arrowleaf, ash-gray leaf bug, ash-leaf, aspen leaf blotch miner moth, autumn leaf, auxiliary leaf, avocado leaf, babyleaf, banana leaf, baroclinic leaf, bay leaf, bay-leaf, beleaf, belladona leaf, betel leaf, bible leaf, big-leaf, bigleaf, bitter leaf, bitter-leaf, bitterleaf, black currant leaf midge, blank leaf, bloodleaf, blue-sided leaf frog, blunt-leaf heath, borrow a leaf out of someone's book, branch-leaf, brass leaf, brightleaf, broad-leaf, broadleaf, bronze leaf, brown leaf, brown leaf spot, bumleaf, butterleaf, California single-leaf pinyon, call leaf, cedar leaf oil, cereal leaf beetle, Chinese leaf, clover-leaf, cloverleaf, coffee leaf rust, cold leaf, come into leaf, compound leaf, copper-leaf, copperleaf, cord-leaf, corn leaf aphid, crinkle leaf, curl-leaf, curly-leaf pondweed, curry leaf, curry-leaf, curry-leaf tree, cutleaf, cutleaf coneflower, cutleaf groundcherry, daisyleaf grape fern, dead leaf, deadnettle leaf beetle, deerfoot vanilla leaf, diamond-leaf laurel, digitalis leaf, dining leaf, disleaf, disleave, dock leaf, double leaf, double-leaf, Double Leaf Society, drop-leaf, dropleaf, drop-leaf table, dusky leaf monkey, Dutch leaf, dwarf red-leaf plum, earleaf nightshade, empty leaf, end leaf, end-leaf, endleaf, eumusae leaf spot, facsimile leaf, falling leaf, fall of the leaf, fanleaf, featherleaf, fern-leaf, fiddleleaf, fig-leaf, figleaf, fig leaf, fineleaf, fine leaf jam, five-leafed, fiveleaf, five-leaf, five-leaf grass, flag leaf, flannel-leaf, flannel leaf, flatleaf, flat-leaf parsley, floral leaf, Florence leaf, fly-leaf, flyleaf, foliage leaf, foliation leaf, four-leaf, four-leaf clover, four-lined leaf bug, glaucous-leaf oak, global Nagano leaf, golden leaf tree, gold leaf, grandleaf seagrape (Coccoloba pubescens, grape-leaf begonia, gray-leaf pine, grey-leaf pine, green leaf lettuce, halberd-leaf rosemallow, Hattie leaf, hawkweed-leaf saxifrage, hawkweed-leaved saxifrage, healing leaf, heart-leaf, heartleaf, hollow leaf, holly-leaf cherry, hollyleafcherry, holly-leaved cherry, Hume's leaf warbler, in full leaf, in leaf, interleaf, interleave, in the leaf, ivy-leaf, Japanese bigleaf magnolia, Japanese leaf, jelly leaf, jellyleaf, lace leaf, lace-leaf, laceleaf, lace-leaf plant, Lamotte's roundleaf bat, lantern leaves, largeleaf, large leaf-eating ladybird, lattice leaf, latticeleaf, lattice leaf plant, laurel-leaf blade, laurel-leaf point, leafage, leaf alcohol, leaf aldehyde, leaf aphid, leaf area duration, leaf-area index, leaf arrowhead, leaf-arrowhead, leaf axil, leaf-base, leafbase, leafbearing, leaf-bearing, leaf-beaten, leaf-bed, leaf beet, leaf beetle, leaf-beetle, leafbird, leaf-birth, leaf blade, leaf blight, leaf blister, leaf blotch, leaf blower, leaf-blower, leafblowing, leaf-book, leaf-brass, leaf bridge, leaf-bridge, leaf brown, leaf bud, leaf-bud, leafbud, leaf bug, leaf-bug, leaf-bundl, leaf butterfly, leaf-butterflye, leaf cactus, leaf-canopy, leaf cast, leafcasting, leaf casting, leaf chafer, leaf class, leaf-climber, leaf-climbing, leaf coral, leaf crumpler, leaf-crumpler, leafcup, leaf-curling plum aphid, leaf curling plum aphid, leaf-curling spider, leaf curl, leaf-curl, leaf-cushion, leaf-cut, leafcutter, leaf-cutter ant, leaf-cutter bee, leaf cutter, leaf-cutter, leaf-cutting ant, leaf-cutting bee, leaf-cutting, leafcutting, leaf-cycle, leaf deer, leaf disease, leaf-disk test, leafdom, leaf door, leaf-drift, leaf-eared, leafeater, leafed, leafen, leafen gold, leafer, leafery, leafet, leaffall, leaf-fall, leaf fat, leaf-fat, leaf-feeder, leaf-finch, leaffish, leaf flea, leaf-flea, leafflower, leaf-folder, leaf-foot bug, leaf-footed bug, leaf-footed, leaf form, leaf frog, leaf-frog, leafful, leaf gap, leaf-gap, leaf-gate, leaf gelatine, leaf-gilding, leaf-gold, leaf green, leaf-green, leaf hopper, leaf-hopper, leafhopper, leaf-house, leaf-hut, leaf index, leafing, leaf initial, leaf insect, leaf-insect, leaf insertion, leafit, leaf-joy, leaf lard, leaf-lard, leafless, leaflet, leaf lettuce, leaf lichen, leaf-like, leaflike, leafling, leaflitter, leaf litter, leaf louse, leaf-louse, leaflove, leaf-mass, leafmeal, leaf metal, leaf-metal, leaf-miner fly, leaf miner, leaf-miner, leaf-mining caterpillar, leaf mold, leaf-mold, leaf mould, leaf-mould, leaf monkey, leaf-monkey, leaf-mosaic, leaf mottle yellows, leaf muntjac, leaf mustard, leaf nematode, leaf-netting, leaf node, leaf-nosed, leaf-nosed bat, leaf-notcher, leaf notcher, leaf of heddles, leaf-opposed, leaf out, Leafpad, leaf peeper, leaf-peeper, leaf peeping, leaf-peeping, leafpile, leaf-plant, leaf-plate, leaf-platter, leaf primordium, leaf protein, leaf protein concentrate, leaf-raking, leaf-red, Leaf River, leaf roller, leaf-roller, leaf-rolling, leafroll, leaf roll, leaf-roll, leaf-rosette, leaf rust, leaf-rust, leaf scald, leaf-scale, leaf scar, leaf-scar, leaf scorch, leafscraper, leafset, leaf sewer, leaf shape, leaf-shaped, leaf sheath, leaf-sheath, leaf-shedding, leaf sheep, leaf shelter, leaf shutter, leaf-sickness, leaf sight, leaf-sight, leaf-silver, leaf site, leaf-skin, leaf smut, leaf soil, leaf-soil, leafsome, leafspace, leaf-spine, leafspot, leaf spot, leaf-spot, leaf spring, leaf-spring, leaf-sprung, leaf stalk, leaf-stalk, leafstalk, leaf-storm, leaf storm, leaf-table, leaf-tailed, leaf-tailed gecko, leaf tea, leaf-teeth, leaf-tendril, leaf-thorn, leaf tier, leaf-tin, leaf tobacco, leaf-toed gecko, leaf topology, leaftosser, leaf trace, leaf-trace, leaf truck, leaf-turner, leaf turtle, leaf tyer, leafule, leaf valve, leaf-valve, leaf vegetable, leaf warbler, leaf-warbler, leaf wasp, leaf-wasp, leafwing, leafwise, leaf-work, leafwork, leaf-worm, leafworm, leafy, leather leaf, leatherleaf, leave, leaved, leaveless, leavish, leavy, letterleaf, lettuce leaf, linkleaf cactus, lion's leaf, littleleaf disease, little-leaf fig, little-leaf linden, littleleaf, little leaf, littleleaf snowberry, liver-leaf, liverleaf, local Nagano leaf, longleaf, long-leafed pine, long-leaf pine, longleaf pine, long-leaved pine, loose-leaf, looseleaf, lotus leaf wrap, love leaf, lower leaf zone, Lucerne leafweevil, Malabar leaf, Malayan roundleaf bat, mantle leaf, maple leaf, maple-leaf, maximum leaf spanning tree, metal leaf, Mexican flame leaf, Mexican flameleaf, mid-leaf, monoleaf, multileaf, multileaf collimator, myriad-leaf, nanoleaf, narrow-leaf ash, narrow-leaf cattail, narrowleaf hawkweed, narrow-leaf penstemon, needleleaf, needle-leaf tree, netleaf, netleaf hackberry, nettle-leaf giant hyssop, nettleleaf goosefoot, nettle-leaved goosefoot, nettle-leaf horsemint, nettle-leaf porterweed, new leaf, nonleaf, northern corn-leaf blight, northern leaf blight, noseleaf, nose leaf, nose-leaf, Novikov closed leaf theorem, oak leaf, oakleaf, oblongleaf Juneberry, one-leaf, orange-leaf, orbiculate leaf, oriental leaf, overleaf, painted leaf, painted-leaf begonia, paint leaf, paleleaf, palladium leaf, Pallas's leaf warbler, palm-leaf, palm-leaf manuscript, palm-leaf snail, parasol leaf tree, patch-leaf, peachleaf, peach leaf curl, peachleaf willow, pear leaf blister mite, pear leaf blister moth, pear leaf-curling midge, pear leaf midge, pine leaf scale, plain leaf warbler, platinum leaf, pointed-leaf maple, potato leaf roll virus, potato leafroll virus, preliminary leaf, primary leaf, proof leaf, purple-faced leaf monkey, purpleleaf, purple leaf sand cherry, quarto leaf, quiverleaf, raffle leaf, ragleaf, rain leaf, rare as a four-leaf clover, red leaf, red leaf lettuce, redleaf rose, red raspberry leaf, rigid-leaf poison, root leaf, root-leaf, rose-leaf, rough leaf, rough-leaf false vervain, roundleaf, roundleaf plantain, roundleaf snowberry, sacred pepper leaf, satanic leaf-tailed gecko, satin leaf, satinleaf, saucer-leaf, saw-leaf herb, scale leaf, seed leaf, seed-leaf, seminal leaf, Semon's leaf-nosed bat, sesame leaf, shake like a leaf, shin leaf, shin-leaf, shinleaf, shinyleaf, shortleaf, short-leaf pine, shortleaf pine, shortleaf yellow pine, silverleaf nightshade, silver-leaf nightshade, silver leaf, silver-leaf, silver leaf tree, silverleaf whitefly, simple leaf, single-leaf pine, single-leaf pinyon, singleleaf, single-leaf, skeleton leaf, sleek-leaf, softleaf, southern leaf-tailed gecko, spade leaf, specific leaf area, spiny-leaf podocarp, split-leaf philodendron, spoon-leafed sundew, spoonleaf yucca, spring leaf, starleaf, star-leaf begonia, stem-and-leaf plot, stem-and-leaf, stem and leaf, stem leaf, stiff-leaf, stiff-leaf goldenrod, strawberry leaf, stripleaf, strip-leaf, sugarleaf, Sumatra leaf, sweet leaf, sweetleaf, symplectic leaf, take a leaf out of someone's book, tansy leaf aster, tea leaf paradox, tea leaf, tea-leaf, tealeaf, tendu leaf, thickleaf, thoroughleaf, thousand-leaf, threadleaf groundsel, three-leaf, tie-a-leaf, title leaf, tooling leaf, toothleaf, triple nose-leaf bat, true leaf, true-leaf, trumpet-leaf, turn a new leaf, turn down a leaf, turn over a new leaf, turn over the next leaf, turn the leaf, twill of four leaves, twill of three leaves, twinleaf onion, twinleaf, twin-leaf, two-leaf, umbrella leaf, umbrella-leaf, underleaf, unit leaf rate, unleaf, unleave, upper leaf zone, vanilla leaf, velvet-leaf, velvetleaf, venous leaf, vine-leaf, vine leaf, walking leaf, walking-leaf, waterleaf, water leaf, water-leaf, wavyleaf, waxleaf privet, way of the leaf, Whyteleafe, willowleaf pear, willow-leaf point, windowleaf, yellow-leaf sickle pine

leaf

verb
Etymology

From Middle English lef, leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowbʰ-o-m, from *lewbʰ- (“to cut off”). Cognates Cognate with Scots leaf (“leaf”), Yola laafe (“leaf”), North Frisian luuf (“leaf”), Saterland Frisian Loof (“leaf”), West Frisian leaf (“leaf”), Cimbrian loap (“leaf”), Dutch loof (“foliage”), German Laub (“leaves”), German Low German Loov (“leaf”), Luxembourgish Laf (“foliage, leaves”), Mòcheno lap (“leaf”), Vilamovian łaub, łaup, łojp (“leaf”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løv (“leaf”), Faroese leyv (“leaf”), Icelandic lauf (“leaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk lauv (“leaf”), Swedish löv (“leaf”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf”); also Irish luibh (“herb, plant”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Lithuanian lúobas (“bark; bast”), Polish łub (“bark”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”). (Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.

1

To produce leaves; put forth foliage.

  • Then flowered the mead, then leafed all 'Twas caused by the runic lay.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 164:
2

To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves.

  • The lettuce in our burgers is 100% hand-leafed.
3

Informal, Uncommon To play a prank on someone by throwing a large clump or collection of leaves at them.

Synonyms
leave
Derived terms
leafing, leaf through
Related terms
foliage, frond, needle

Leaf

noun

Etymology From the maple leaf depicted on Canada's flag.

1

Internet, Humorous, Pejorative, Sometimes A Canadian person.

2

Canada, Slang A member of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, its organization, or its supporters.

3

A model of car built by Nissan, with a name chosen for its green connotations.

Derived terms
Leafland

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for leaf and Leaf.

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