leaf
- noun
- /liːf/
- Ada closed the book and plucked a boxwood leaf as a page marker.
- loose-leaf
Examples
-
Marcia showed Kaye her leaf assortment to send to a friend in California.
Fiction book (1999) -
Please write your notes on a leaf of paper for class tomorrow.
-
Why is it written on a leaf?
-
All of our materials are loose leaf.
-
The first sections of the loose-leaf publication are due out this month.
Academic text (1996) -
Taped to the window in front of him is another piece of loose-leaf paper headed YOUR SCHEDULE.
Fiction book (2001) -
So let's get everything off our desks except for a pen or pencil and two pieces of loose-leaf paper.
-
Each leaf in the book contains an illustration that enhances the text.
-
He accidentally skipped a leaf while reading the manuscript aloud.
Synonyms
A single piece of paper used for writing or printing
A single flat sheet used for writing or printing
A single flat piece of paper used for writing or printing
A single sheet of paper from an old or handwritten book
Idioms
Compounds
An herb with flat broad leaves that people use in cooking for its strong flavor
- Specialized
A soft, good quality pig fat from around the kidneys that people use in baking
A small leaf used in South Indian and Sri Lankan cooking to add a strong smell and taste
- UK
A small herb with round yellow flowers and a strong smell that people use to flavor food or tea
- Specialized
A large western North American tree with very big leaves that have five parts and turn orange in autumn
- Australian
A small upright shrub from Australia and Tasmania with fragrant white flowers
- Specialized
A leaf with each main leaflet divided into smaller leaflets, like on ferns
A small pine tree from California that has single needles and cones with edible seeds
- Specialized
A flat plant part divided into several small leaflets joined to one stalk
- Specialized
A water plant with long curly leaves that grow under water in ponds and lakes
- Specialized
A leaf shaped like a long oval that is widest in the middle and narrows equally to each end
- Specialized
A leaf with leaflets along a central stalk that ends with a pair at the tip
- Specialized
A leaf with pairs of leaflets along a central stem and no single leaflet at the tip
A small yellow insect with four black stripes on its back that feeds on plants
- Specialized
A long narrow leaf that is widest in the middle and pointed at both ends
A small brightly colored beetle that eats plant leaves and whose young damage roots and stems
A vegetable with large green leaves and thick stalks that people grow for its edible stems and leaves
A large insect that feeds on plant juices and has leaf-shaped parts on its back legs
- Specialized
A small moth whose caterpillars roll leaves and tie them with silk to make a nest
- Specialized
Leaves with brown edges that look burned from heat, drought or poor watering
How Thick
Surface Forms
Etymology
Leaf for a page comes from the plant sense: a single sheet of paper in a book was likened to a flat 'leaf'. So a torn or loose leaf in a book is just a flat piece of paper like a plant leaf.