- Lie
- Lie Lie (l[imac]), n. [AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi,
G. l["u]ge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. l["o]gn, Goth. liugn.
See {Lie} to utter a falsehood.]
1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception;
an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with
the intention to deceive.
[1913 Webster]
The proper notion of a lie is an endeavoring to deceive another by signifying that to him as true, which we ourselves think not to be so. --S. Clarke. [1913 Webster]
It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road. --Paley. [1913 Webster]
2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
3. Anything which misleads or disappoints. [1913 Webster]
Wishing this lie of life was o'er. --Trench. [1913 Webster]
{To give the lie to}. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give the lie to his words.
{White lie}, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception.
Usage: {Lie}, {Untruth}. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. {Falsity}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
