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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

-let \-let\ (-l[e^]t) suff. [From two French dim. endings -el
(L. -ellus) and -et, as in bracelet.]
A noun suffix having a diminutive force; as in streamlet,
wavelet, armlet.
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Let \Let\ (l[e^]t), v. t. [OE. letten, AS. lettan to delay, to
hinder, fr. l[ae]t 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]
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He was so strong that no man might him let. --Chaucer.
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He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of
the way. --2. Thess.
ii. 7.
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Mine ancient wound is hardly whole,
And lets me from the saddle. --Tennyson.
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Let \Let\, n.
1. A retarding; hindrance; obstacle; impediment; delay; --
common in the phrase without let or hindrance, but
elsewhere archaic. --Keats.
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Consider whether your doings be to the let of your
salvation or not. --Latimer.
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2. (Lawn Tennis) A stroke in which a ball touches the top of
the net in passing over.
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Let \Let\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Let} ({Letted} (l[e^]t"t[e^]d),
[Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. {Letting}.] [OE. leten, l[ae]ten
(past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS.
l[=ae]tan (past tense l[=e]t, p. p. l[=ae]ten); akin to
OFries. l[=e]ta, OS. l[=a]tan, D. laten, G. lassen, OHG.
l[=a]zzan, Icel. l[=a]ta, Sw. l[*a]ta, Dan. lade, Goth.
l[=e]tan, 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.]
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He . . . prayed him his voyage for to let.
--Chaucer.
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Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets,
But to her mother Nature all her care she lets.
--Spenser.
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Let me alone in choosing of my wife. --Chaucer.
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2. To consider; to think; to esteem. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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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.]
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This irous, cursed wretch
Let this knight's son anon before him fetch.
--Chaucer.
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He . . . thus let do slay hem all three. --Chaucer.
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Anon he let two coffers make. --Gower.
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4. To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively,
by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain
or prevent.
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Note: 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.
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Pharaoh said, I will let you go. --Ex. viii.
28.
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If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it
is. --Shak.
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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.
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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.
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Note: 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.
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{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.
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Let \Let\, v. i.
1. To forbear. [Obs.] --Bacon.
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2. To be let or leased; as, the farm lets for $500 a year.
See note under {Let}, v. t.
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{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.]
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