n. 1. A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; -- common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but elsewhere archaic. Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Lawn Tennis) A stroke in which a ball touches the top of the net in passing over. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 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. ] To retard; to hinder; to impede; to oppose. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He was so strong that no man might him let. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 2. Thess. ii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mine ancient wound is hardly whole,
And lets me from the saddle. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Let (Letted [ Obs ].); p. pr. & vb. n. Letting. ] [ OE. leten, læten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l&aemacr_;tan (past tense lēt, p. p. l&aemacr_;ten); akin to OFries. lēta, OS. lātan, D. laten, G. lassen, OHG. lāzzan, Icel. lāta, Sw. låta, Dan. lade, Goth. lētan, 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. ] 1. To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. [ Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets,
But to her mother Nature all her care she lets. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let me alone in choosing of my wife. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This irous, cursed wretch
Let this knight's son anon before him fetch. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Anon he let two coffers make. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pharaoh said, I will let you go. Ex. viii. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

To let alone, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with. --
To let blood, to cause blood to flow; to bleed. --
To let down. (a) To lower. (b) To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like. --
To let fly or
To let drive, to discharge with violence, as a blow, an arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly. --
To let in or
To let into. (a) To permit or suffer to enter; to admit. (b) To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a surface for the purpose. --
To let loose, to remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large. --
To let off. (a) To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the charge of, as a gun. (b) To release, as from an engagement or obligation. [ Colloq. ] --
To let out. (a) To allow to go forth; as, to let out a prisoner. (b) To extend or loosen, as the folds of a garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord. (c) To lease; to give out for performance by contract, as a job. (d) To divulge. --
To let slide, to let go; to cease to care for. [ Colloq. ] “ Let the world slide.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To forbear. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be let or leased; as, the farm lets for $500 a year. See note under Let, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

To let on, to tell; to tattle; to divulge something. [ Low ] --
To let up, to become less severe; to diminish; to cease; as, when the storm lets up. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Letting alone. [ 1913 Webster ]

The let-alone principle,
The let-alone doctrine, or
The let-alone policy. (Polit. Econ.) See Laissez faire. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Lech, Lecher. ] 1. Strong desire; passion; especially, lust. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A lecher. [ slang ] [ PJC ]

v. & n. See Leach. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Leachy. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To let; to leave. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. p. p. of Lete. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]