let Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a brutal terrorist group active in Kashmir; fights against India with the goal of restoring Islamic rule of India
    Army of the Pure; Army of the Righteous; Lashkar-e-Taiba; Lashkar-e-Tayyiba; Lashkar-e-Toiba.
    • Lashkar-e-Toiba has committed mass murders of civilian Hindus
  2. noun a serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court; the ball must be served again
    net ball.
  3. verb make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
    allow; permit.
    • This permits the water to rush in
    • This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement
    • This will permit the rain to run off
  4. verb actively cause something to happen
    • I let it be known that I was not interested
  5. verb consent to, give permission
    countenance; allow; permit.
    • She permitted her son to visit her estranged husband
    • I won't let the police search her basement
    • I cannot allow you to see your exam
  6. verb cause to move; cause to be in a certain position or condition
    have; get.
    • He got his squad on the ball
    • This let me in for a big surprise
    • He got a girl into trouble
  7. verb leave unchanged
    • let it be
  8. verb grant use or occupation of under a term of contract
    rent; lease.
    • I am leasing my country estate to some foreigners

WordNet

Let transitive verb
Etymology
OE.letten, AS. lettan to delay, to hinder, fr. læt slow; akin to D. letten to hinder, G. verletzen to hurt, Icel. letja to hold back, Goth. latjan. See Late.
Definitions
  1. To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. Archaic
    He was so strong that no man might him let. Chaucer.
    He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 2. Thess. ii. 7.
    Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, And lets me from the saddle. Tennyson.
Let noun
Definitions
  1. A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; -- common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. Keats.
    Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not. Latimer.
  2. (Lawn Tennis) A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing over.
Let transitive verb
Etymology
OE. leten, læten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l&aemac;tan (past tense let, p. p. l&aemac;ten); akin to OFries. leta, OS. latan, D. laten, G. lessen, OHG. lazzan, Icel. lata, Sw. låta, Dan. lade, Goth. letan, and L. lassus weary. The original meaning seems to have been, to let loose, let go, let drop. Cf. Alas, Late, Lassitude, Let to hinder.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Let (Letted [obsolete] ); present participle & verbal noun Letting
Definitions
  1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.
    He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let Chaucer.
    Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets. Spenser.
    Let me alone in choosing of my wife. Chaucer.
  2. To consider; to think; to esteem. Obs. Chaucer.
  3. To cause; to make; -- used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. Obs.
    This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch. Chaucer.
    He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. Chaucer.
    Anon he let two coffers make. Gower.
  4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent. ✍ In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let [to be or to go] loose.
    Pharaoh said, I will let you go Ex. viii. 28.
    If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Shak.
  5. To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; -- often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses.
  6. To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; -- often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering. ✍ The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. " Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let." Thackeray. In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. " Rise up, let us go." Mark xiv. 42. " Let us seek out some desolate shade." Shak.
Let intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To forbear. Obs. Bacon.
  2. To be let or leased; as, the farm lets for $500 a year. See note under Left, v. i.

Webster 1913