leaf

Universal Words noun, verb noun (plural leaves ) 1 [C] a flat green part of a plant, growing from a stem or branch or from the root: lettuce / cabbage / oak leaves * The trees are just coming into leaf. * the dead leaves of autumn / the fall seealsoBAYLEAF, FIGLEAF 2 (-leaf, -leafed, -leaved) (in adjectives) having leaves of the type or number mentioned: a four-leaf clover * a broad-leaved plant 3 [C] a sheet of paper, especially a page in a book: She carefully turned the leaves of the precious volume. seealsoFLYLEAF, LOOSE-LEAF, OVERLEAF 4 [U] metal, especially gold or silver, in the form of very thin sheets: gold leaf 5 [C] a part of a table that can be lifted up or pulled into position in order to make the table bigger IDIOMS take a leaf from / out of sb's book to copy sb's behaviour and do things in the same way that they do, because they are successful moreatNEW verb PHRASALVERBS leaf through sth to quickly turn over the pages of a book, etc. without reading them or looking at them carefully: While I was waiting I leafed through a magazine.