Love n.
 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters.
 Of all the dearest bonds we prove
 Thou countest sons' and mothers' love
 Most sacred, most Thine own.   --Keble.
 2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.
 He on his side
 Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love
 Hung over her enamored.   --Milton.
 3. Courtship; -- chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e., to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage.
 Demetrius . . .
 Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
 And won her soul.   --Shak.
 4. Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; -- opposed to hate; often with of and an object.
    Love, and health to all.   --Shak.
    Smit with the love of sacred song.   --Milton.
    The love of science faintly warmed his breast.   --Fenton.
 5. Due gratitude and reverence to God.
    Keep yourselves in the love of God.   --Jude 21.
 6. The object of affection; -- often employed in endearing address; as, he held his love in his arms; his greatest love was reading. “Trust me, love.”
    Open the temple gates unto my love.   --Spenser.
 7. Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus.
 Such was his form as painters, when they show
 Their utmost art, on naked Lores bestow.   --Dryden.
    Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love.   --Shak.
 8. A thin silk stuff. [Obs.]
 9. Bot. A climbing species of Clematis (Clematis Vitalba).
 10. Nothing; no points scored on one side; -- used in counting score at tennis, etc.
    He won the match by three sets to love.   --The Field.
 Note: ☞ Love is often used in the formation of compounds, in most of which the meaning is very obvious; as, love-cracked, love-darting, love-killing, love-linked, love-taught, etc.
 A labor of love, a labor undertaken on account of regard for some person, or through pleasure in the work itself, without expectation of reward.
 Free love, the doctrine or practice of consorting with one of the opposite sex, at pleasure, without marriage. See Free love.
 Free lover, one who avows or practices free love.
 In love, in the act of loving; -- said esp. of the love of the sexes; as, to be in love; to fall in love.
 Love apple Bot., the tomato.
 Love bird Zool., any one of several species of small, short-tailed parrots, or parrakeets, of the genus Agapornis, and allied genera. They are mostly from Africa. Some species are often kept as cage birds, and are celebrated for the affection which they show for their mates.
 Love broker, a person who for pay acts as agent between lovers, or as a go-between in a sexual intrigue. --Shak.
 Love charm, a charm for exciting love. --Ld. Lytton.
 Love child. an illegitimate child. --Jane Austen.
 Love day, a day formerly appointed for an amicable adjustment of differences. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman. --Chaucer.
 Love drink, a love potion; a philter. --Chaucer.
 Love favor, something given to be worn in token of love.
 Love feast, a religious festival, held quarterly by some religious denominations, as the Moravians and Methodists, in imitation of the agapæ of the early Christians.
 Love feat, the gallant act of a lover. --Shak.
 Love game, a game, as in tennis, in which the vanquished person or party does not score a point.
 Love grass. [G. liebesgras.] Bot. Any grass of the genus Eragrostis.
 Love-in-a-mist. Bot. (a) An herb of the Buttercup family (Nigella Damascena) having the flowers hidden in a maze of finely cut bracts. (b) The West Indian Passiflora fœtida, which has similar bracts.
 Love-in-idleness Bot., a kind of violet; the small pansy.
 A little western flower,
 Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound;
 And maidens call it love-in-idleness.   --Shak.
 -- Love juice, juice of a plant supposed to produce love. --Shak.
 Love knot, a knot or bow, as of ribbon; -- so called from being used as a token of love, or as a pledge of mutual affection. --Milman.
 Love lass, a sweetheart.
 Love letter, a letter of courtship. --Shak.
 Love-lies-bleeding Bot., a species of amaranth (Amarantus melancholicus).
 Love match, a marriage brought about by love alone.
 Love potion, a compounded draught intended to excite love, or venereal desire.
 Love rites, sexual intercourse. --Pope
 Love scene, an exhibition of love, as between lovers on the stage.
 Love suit, courtship. --Shak.
 Of all loves, for the sake of all love; by all means. [Obs.] “Mrs. Arden desired him of all loves to come back again.” --Holinshed.
 The god of love, or The Love god, Cupid.
 To make love, to engage in sexual intercourse; -- a euphemism.
 To make love to, to express affection for; to woo. “If you will marry, make your loves to me.” --Shak.
 To play for love, to play a game, as at cards, without stakes. “A game at piquet for love.” --Lamb.
 Syn: -- Affection; friendship; kindness; tenderness; fondness; delight.
 Rag·ged a.
 1. Rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture is broken; as, a ragged coat; a ragged sail.
 2. Broken with rough edges; having jags; uneven; rough; jagged; as, ragged rocks.
 3. Hence, harsh and disagreeable to the ear; dissonant. [R.] “A ragged noise of mirth.”
 4. Wearing tattered clothes; as, a ragged fellow.
 5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.
    What shepherd owns those ragged sheep?   --Dryden.
 Ragged lady Bot., the fennel flower (Nigella Damascena).
 Ragged robin Bot., a plant of the genus Lychnis (Lychnis Flos-cuculi), cultivated for its handsome flowers, which have the petals cut into narrow lobes.
 Ragged sailor Bot., prince's feather (Polygonum orientale).
 Ragged school, a free school for poor children, where they are taught and in part fed; -- a name given at first because they came in their common clothing. [Eng.]
 -- Rag*ged*ly, adv. -- Rag*ged*ness, n.
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 Bish·op's-wort n. Bot. Wood betony (Stachys betonica); also, the plant called fennel flower (Nigella Damascena), or devil-in-a-bush.
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 Fen·nel n.  Bot. A perennial plant of the genus Fæniculum (Fæniculum vulgare), having very finely divided leaves.  It is cultivated in gardens for the agreeable aromatic flavor of its seeds.
    Smell of sweetest fennel.   --Milton.
    A sprig of fennel was in fact the theological smelling bottle of the tender sex.   --S. G. Goodrich.
 Azorean fennel, or Sweet fennel, (Fæniculum dulce).  It is a smaller and stouter plant than the common fennel, and is used as a pot herb.
 Dog's fennel (Anthemis Cotula), a foul-smelling European weed; -- called also mayweed.
 Fennel flower Bot., an herb (Nigella) of the Buttercup family, having leaves finely divided, like those of the fennel. Nigella Damascena is common in gardens.  Nigella sativa furnishes the fennel seed, used as a condiment, etc., in India.  These seeds are the “fitches” mentioned in Isaiah (xxviii. 25).
 Fennel water Med., the distilled water of fennel seed.  It is stimulant and carminative.
 Giant fennel (Ferula communis), has stems full of pith, which, it is said, were used to carry fire, first, by Prometheus.
 Hog's fennel, a European plant (Peucedanum officinale) looking something like fennel.
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 Nigella damascena
      n : European garden plant having finely cut leaves and white or
          pale blue flowers [syn: love-in-a-mist]