lest
53
6.8
- subordinating conjunction
- /lɛst/
- Archaic
:
no sea que
- Jesse sat very still, hardly daring to breathe, lest the dream should leave him.
- lest we forget
- lest they see
- lest it become
You know, things like don't kill, don't judge lest you be judged.
- You know, things like don't kill, don't judge lest you be judged.
- I knew fear, not facts, and there was no one to ask lest we reveal ourselves.
- I am a devout Christian and I know the Bible says judge not lest ye be judged.
- Lord of the narrow gate and needles, I take from me all my trumpery, lest I die.
- But lest we forget, plasticity goes in the other direction too.
- The feds may have done it is because they don't want to put Virginia Robert Schufrey in the witness box lest she get something wrong.
- With a shudder, because there are some big implications for this, she says what we create must ever be, lest it die.
- They're fanning the flames and we've got to bring this back under control lest we do irreparable damage, he writes in the journal.
Examples
-
We must move forward as soon as possible with this ritual, with the help of all of you, lest the lives of two of our Lord's young children be lost.
-
I decided to leave early, lest I miss my flight.
-
We take it lest it rain.
-
I was hard put to hold him, lest he charge and be shot, too.
Fiction book (1994) -
Reed and his council must strike a blow, lest such a class structure become part of America.
Fiction book (1994) -
I knew fear, not facts, and there was no one to ask lest we reveal ourselves.
-
Yes, lest we become irritated by not having the answers we seek.
-
Unlucky people should exercise special caution, lest their bad luck come to harm others.
Fiction book (1990) -
But we need to have a series of clear landing sites, lest we do harm arriving blindly.
Fiction book (1992) -
Just giving you a heads-up, lest you embarrass yourself any further.
Synonyms
41
4.2
To avoid doing something because you are afraid it will happen
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word lest is related to the everyday word less and long ago meant 'that less', in other words doing something to make a bad event less likely. So lest now means 'for fear that' or 'so that something bad will not happen'.