English

Verb

lease ‎(third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to gather.
2. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to pick, select, pick out; to pick up.
3. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) to glean.
4. (intransitive, chiefly dialectal) to glean, gather up leavings.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

Etymology 2

From Middle English leas, lees, les, from Old English lēas ‎(“false, void, loose”), from Proto-Germanic *lausaz ‎(“loose, free”), from Proto-Indo-European *lū- ‎(“to untie, set free, sever”). Cognate with German los ‎(“loose”), Swedish lös ‎(“loose”). More at loose.

Adjective

lease ‎(comparative leaser or more lease, superlative leasest or most lease)

1. false; lying; deceptive

Related terms

• leasing

Noun

lease ‎(plural leases)

1. falsehood; a lie

   This is all lease. I don't believe it.‎

   • 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː

     We held with him there he said lease, and therefore have we all unpeaceǃ

   • 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː

     Ye shall have joy and bliss […] I say without lease.

   • 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː

     He is so fair, without lease, he seems full well to sit on this.

Etymology 3

From Middle English *leasien, from Old English lēasian ‎(“to lie, tell lies”), from lēas ‎(“falsehood, lying, untruth, mistake”).

Verb

lease ‎(third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, intransitive, Britain dialectal) To tell lies; tell lies about; slander; calumniate.

Etymology 4

From Middle English lese, from Old English lǣs ‎(“meadow”), from Proto-Germanic *lēswō ‎(“meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēy-, *lēid- ‎(“to leave, let”). Cognate with Old Saxon lēsa ‎(“meadow”). See also leasow.

Alternative forms

• leaze

Noun

lease ‎(plural leases)

1. an open pasture or common
   • 1928, Thomas Hardy, He Never Expected Much:

     Since as a child I used to lie

     Upon the leaze and watch the sky,

     Never, I own, expected I

     That life would all be fair.

Etymology 5

From Middle English lesen, from Old English līesan ‎(“to loosen, release, redeem, deliver, liberate”), from Proto-Germanic *lausijaną ‎(“to release, loosen”), from Proto-Indo-European *leu- ‎(“to cut, solve, separate”). Cognate with Dutch lozen ‎(“to drain, discharge”), German lösen ‎(“to release”), Swedish lösa ‎(“to solve”), Icelandic leysa ‎(“to solve”).

Alternative forms

• leese (Scotland)

Verb

lease ‎(third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive, Britain dialectal) To release; let go; unloose.

Etymology 6

From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier ‎(“to let, let go”), from Medieval Latin lassō ‎(“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō ‎(“to loose”); partly from Old High German lāzzan, lāzan ‎(“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen). Cognate with Old English lǣtan ‎(“to allow, let go, leave, rent”). More at let.

Verb

lease ‎(third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

1. (transitive) To operate or live in some property or land through purchasing a long-term contract (or leasehold) from the owner (or freeholder).
2. (transitive) To take or hold by lease.
3. (intransitive) To grant a lease; to let or rent.

Translations

Noun

lease ‎(plural leases)

1. A contract granting use or occupation of property during a specified period in exchange for a specified rent
2. The period of such a contract
3. A leasehold

Translations

Related terms

• lessor, lessee

Etymology 7

From leash.

Noun

lease

1. The place at which the warp-threads cross on a loom.

Anagrams

• easel

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

lease

1. first-person singular present indicative of leasen
2. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of leasen
3. imperative of leasen