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Lich

.

A dead body. (Anglo-Saxon, líc; German, leiche.)

Lich-field, in Staffordshire. The field of the dead, i.e. of the martyred Christians.

Lich-fowls. Birds that feed on carrion, as night-ravens, etc.

Lich-gate. The shed or covered place at the entrance of churchyards, intended to afford shelter to the coffin and mourners, while they wait for the clergyman to conduct the cortège into the church.

Lich-owl. The screech-owl, superstitiously supposed to foretell death.

Lich-wake or Lyke-wake. The funeral feast or the waking of a corpse, i.e. watching it all night.

Lich-way. The path by which a funeral is conveyed to church, which not unfrequently deviates from the ordinary road. It was long supposed that wherever a dead body passed became a public thoroughfare.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Liberator (The)
Liberia
Libertines
Liberty
Liberty
Libitina
Libra [the balance]
Library
Libya
Licentiate
Lich
Lichten
Lick
Lick into Shape (To)
Lick the Dust (To)
Licks the Butter
Lickspittle (A)
Lictors
Lid
Lidskialfa [the terror of nations]
Lie