2. Not strict or stringent; not exact; loose; weak; vague; equivocal.
The discipline was lax.
Macaulay.
Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.
J. A. Symonds.
The word "æternus" itself is sometimes of a lax signification.
Jortin. 3. Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.
Syn. — Loose; slack; vague; unconfined; unrestrained; dissolute; licentious.
Lax
(Lax), n. A looseness; diarrhea.
Laxation
(Lax*a"tion) n. [L. laxatio, fr. laxare to loosen, fr. laxus loose, slack.] The act of loosening
or slackening, or the state of being loosened or slackened.
Laxative
(Lax"a*tive) a. [L. laxativus mitigating, assuaging: cf. F. laxatif. See Lax, a.]
1. Having a tendency to loosen or relax. Milton.
2. (Med.) Having the effect of loosening or opening the intestines, and relieving from constipation; —
opposed to astringent. — n. (Med.) A laxative medicine. See the Note under Cathartic.
Laxativeness
(Lax"a*tive*ness), n. The quality of being laxative.
Laxator
(||Lax*a"tor) n. [NL., fr. L. laxare, laxatum, to loosen.] (Anat.) That which loosens; — esp., a
muscle which by its contraction loosens some part.
Laxity
(Lax"i*ty) n. [L. laxitas, fr. laxus loose, slack: cf. F. laxité, See Lax, a.] The state or quality of
being lax; want of tenseness, strictness, or exactness.
Laxly
(Lax"ly), adv. In a lax manner.
Laxness
(Lax"ness), n. The state of being lax; laxity.
Lay
(Lay) imp. of Lie, to recline.
Lay
(Lay), a. [F. lai, L. laicus, Gr. of or from the people, lay, from people. Cf. Laic.]
1. Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.
2. Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.[Obs.]
3. Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding
the nature of a disease.
Lay baptism (Eccl.), baptism administered by a lay person. F. G. Lee. — Lay brother (R. C. Ch.),
one received into a convent of monks under the three vows, but not in holy orders. — Lay clerk (Eccl.),
a layman who leads the responses of the congregation, etc., in the church service. Hook. — Lay
days (Com.), time allowed in a charter party for taking in and discharging cargo. McElrath. — Lay
elder. See 2d Elder, 3, note.
Lay
(Lay) n. The laity; the common people. [Obs.]
The learned have no more privilege than the lay.
B. Jonson.
