lack|ey

lack|ey
lack|ey «LAK ee», noun, plural -eys, adjective, verb, -eyed, -ey|ing.
–n.
1. a male servant; footman: »

The nobleman sent one of his lackeys ahead with a message. I saw a gay gilt chariot…the coachman with a new cockade, and the lackeys with insolence and plenty in their countenances (Sir Richard Steele).

SYNONYM(S): flunky.
2. a follower who obeys orders as if he were a servant; toady. SYNONYM(S): sycophant.
–adj.
servile; slavish: »

a lackey informer.

–v.t.
1. to wait on: »

A thousand liveried angels lacky her (Milton).

2. to be slavish to.
–v.i.
to act or serve as a lackey: »

The Navy still lackeys around the clock for the Royal Yacht Squadron and its guests (Manchester Guardian Weekly).

[< Middle French laquais < Spanish lacayo foot soldier, perhaps < Arabic al-qā'id chief, captain (usually a Moor who occupies a lesser post because he was captured by Christians). Compare etym. under alcaide.]

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lack — Lack …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • lack — vb Lack, want, need, require are comparable when meaning to be without something, especially something essential or greatly to be desired. Lack may imply either an absence or a shortage in the supply or amount of that something {the house lacks a …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • lack — I verb be bereft of, be deficient, be deprived of, be desirous, be destitute, be in need, be in want, be inadequate, be inferior, be insufficient, be needy, be poor, be wanting, be without, crave, desiderate, desire, fall short, feel a dearth,… …   Law dictionary

  • lack — ⇒LACK, subst. masc. Vieilli. Unité de compte en Perse et en Inde. Lack de roupies. Cent mille roupies. Le riche nabab qui (...) rêve au monceau d or de ses lacks de roupies (COPPÉE, Poés., t. 2, 1883, p. 244). Prononc. et Orth. : [lak]. Att. ds… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lack — [lak], der; [e]s, e: [farbloses] flüssiges Gemisch, mit dem z. B. Möbel angestrichen werden und das nach dem Trocknen einen glänzenden Überzug bildet: farbloser, roter, schnell trocknender Lack; der Lack springt ab, blättert ab, bekommt Risse. *… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • lack — Ⅰ. lack UK US /læk/ noun [S or U] ► a situation in which there is not enough of something, or something is not available: serious/severe lack of sth »Many of these communities are having to cope with a severe lack of resources. » Lack of time is… …   Financial and business terms

  • lack — verb. The use with for meaning ‘to be short of something’ in negative contexts seems to have originated in the 19c: • If you are inclined to undertake the search, I have so provided that you will not lack for means Rider Haggard, 1887 • Here s… …   Modern English usage

  • Lack — (l[a^]k), n. [OE. lak; cf. D. lak slander, laken to blame, OHG. lahan, AS. le[ a]n.] 1. Blame; cause of blame; fault; crime; offense. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 2. Deficiency; want; need; destitution; failure; as, a lack of sufficient food.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Lack — Lack, v. i. 1. To be wanting; often, impersonally, with of, meaning, to be less than, short, not quite, etc. [1913 Webster] What hour now? I think it lacks of twelve. Shak. [1913 Webster] Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty. Gen. xvii …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Lack — Sm std. (16. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus it. lacca f., das über arab. lakk und pers. lāk auf pāli lākhā f. zurückgeht. Dieses aus ai. lākṣā f. Lack , das wohl zu ai. rájyati färbt sich, rötet sich gehört, also eigentlich (rote) Färbung . Der… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Lack — Lack, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lacked} (l[a^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lacking}.] 1. To blame; to find fault with. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Love them and lakke them not. Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] 2. To be without or destitute of; to want; to need. [1913 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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