Leaf /(lēf)/

Leaf

n.

pl. Leaves ((lēvz))

  1. A colored, usually green, expansion growing from the side of a stem or rootstock, in which the sap for the use of the plant is elaborated under the influence of light; one of the parts of a plant which collectively constitute its foliage. (Bot.)
  2. A special organ of vegetation in the form of a lateral outgrowth from the stem, whether appearing as a part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract, a spine, or a tendril. (Bot.)
  3. Something which is like a leaf in being wide and thin and having a flat surface, or in being attached to a larger body by one edge or end;
    They were both determined to turn over a new leaf.

Phrases & Compounds
Leaf beetle
any beetle which feeds upon leaves; esp., any species of the family Chrysomelidæ, as the potato beetle and helmet beetle.
Leaf bridge
a draw-bridge having a platform or leaf which swings vertically on hinges.
Leaf bud
a bud which develops into leaves or a leafy branch.
Leaf butterfly
any butterfly which, in the form and colors of its wings, resembles the leaves of plants upon which it rests; esp., butterflies of the genus Kallima, found in Southern Asia and the East Indies.
Leaf crumpler
a small moth (Phycis indigenella), the larva of which feeds upon leaves of the apple tree, and forms its nest by crumpling and fastening leaves together in clusters.
Leaf fat
the fat which lies in leaves or layers within the body of an animal.
Leaf flea
a jumping plant louse of the family Psyllidæ.
Leaf frog
any tree frog of the genus Phyllomedusa.
Leaf green
See Chlorophyll.
Leaf hopper
any small jumping hemipterous insect of the genus Tettigonia, and allied genera. They live upon the leaves and twigs of plants. See Live hopper.
Leaf insect
any one of several genera and species of orthopterous insects, esp. of the genus Phyllium, in which the wings, and sometimes the legs, resemble leaves in color and form. They are common in Southern Asia and the East Indies.
Leaf lard
lard from leaf fat. See under Lard.
Leaf louse
an aphid.
Leaf metal
metal in thin leaves, as gold, silver, or tin.
Leaf miner
any one of various small lepidopterous and dipterous insects, which, in the larval stages, burrow in and eat the parenchyma of leaves; as, the pear-tree leaf miner (Lithocolletis geminatella).
Leaf notcher
a pale bluish green beetle (Artipus Floridanus), which, in Florida, eats the edges of the leaves of orange trees.
Leaf roller
See leaf roller in the vocabulary.
Leaf scar
the cicatrix on a stem whence a leaf has fallen.
Leaf sewer
a tortricid moth, whose caterpillar makes a nest by rolling up a leaf and fastening the edges together with silk, as if sewn; esp., Phoxopteris nubeculana, which feeds upon the apple tree.
Leaf sight
a hinged sight on a firearm, which can be raised or folded down.
Leaf trace
one or more fibrovascular bundles, which may be traced down an endogenous stem from the base of a leaf.
Leaf tier
a tortricid moth whose larva makes a nest by fastening the edges of a leaf together with silk; esp., Teras cinderella, found on the apple tree.
Leaf valve
a valve which moves on a hinge.
Leaf wasp
a sawfly.
To turn over a new leaf
to make a radical change for the better in one's way of living or doing.

Leaf

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Leafed; p. pr. & vb. n. Leafing

  1. To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves; to leave; as, the trees leaf in May.