Childrens Illustrated Thesaurus

128

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

lack^1

noun the shortage or absence

of something that is needed

» She couldn’t buy new

clothes due to a lack of money.

absence, deficiency,

scarcity, shortage, want,

dearth, insufficiency

antonym: abundance

lack^2

verb to be without something

that is needed » Katie

was a good baker, but didn’t

enter any competitions because

she lacked confidence.

be deficient in,

be short of, miss

lag

verb to make slower progress

than other people or things

» The runner-up is lagging 10

points behind the champion.

fall behind, trail

lake

noun a large area of water

surrounded by land » Jay

went for a swim in the lake.

lagoon, loch (Scotland),

mere, reservoir, tarn

lame^1

adjective unable to walk

properly because of an injured

leg » The old soldier was lame

in one leg.

crippled, hobbling, limping

lame^2

adjective weak or unconvincing

» No one believed Sam’s lame

excuse for arriving late.

feeble, flimsy, pathetic,

poor, unconvincing, weak

lament^1

verb to express sorrow

or regret over something

» Freya lamented the loss

of her favourite jumper.

grieve, mourn, wail, weep,

bemoan, bewail, whine

lament^2

noun something you say

to express sorrow or regret

» The old man sang a lament

for his lost youth.

moan, wail, gripe,

lamentation, plaint

label^1

noun a piece of paper or

plastic attached to something

for information » The label

said the shirt was made

of cotton.

sticker, tag, ticket

label^2

verb to put a label on

something » The toy was

labelled “Made in China”.

flag, sticker, tag

labour^1

noun very hard work

» Fred soon discovered that

weeding and digging the garden

was hard labour.

effort, exertion, industry,

toil, work

labour^2

noun the workforce of

a country or industry

» Some businesses

take on extra labour

to help at busy times.

employees, workers,

workforce

labour^3

verb to work very hard

» The farm workers laboured

all night to finish the harvest.

slave, toil, work

antonym: relax

The label said the shirt was

made of cotton.

She couldn’t buy new clothes

due to a lack of money.

label

laugh

chuckle chortle titter giggle snigger

(^1) verb to make a noise that shows you are
amused or happy » The comedian told such
a funny joke that we all laughed.
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