What does "leaf" mean?
The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
Leaf
/liːf/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
- Grammar: leaf is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: folio, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, back.
- Useful contrasts: defoliate, defoliated, ignore.
- Usage evidence: The criminal became a Christian and turned over a new leaf.
How to use "leaf"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "leaf" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "leaf" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "leaf" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "leaf" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "leaf" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "folio" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "leaf", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. countable, uncountable
"Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them."
- 2 A Canadian person. Internet, humorous, pejorative, sometimes
- 3 hinged or detachable flat section (as of a table or door) wordnet
- 4 A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into. countable, uncountable
- 5 A member of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, its organization, or its supporters. Canada, slang
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 a sheet of any written or printed material (especially in a manuscript or book) wordnet
- 7 Anything resembling the leaf of a plant. countable, uncountable
- 8 A model of car built by Nissan, with a name chosen for its green connotations.
- 9 the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants wordnet
- 10 A sheet of a book, magazine, etc. (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf). countable, uncountable
"Heretofore advertisers have had to buy and pay for a leaf — two pages."
- 11 A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin. countable, uncountable
"gold leaf"
- 12 One of the individual flat or curved strips of metal, typically made of spring steel, that make up a leaf spring. countable, uncountable
"Lumbering down a precipitous "slideway," the Thornycroft broke two main leaves in the back spring[.]"
- 13 Tea leaves. countable, in-plural, uncountable
- 14 A flat section used to extend the size of a table. countable, uncountable
- 15 A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement. countable, uncountable
"The train car has one single-leaf and two double-leaf doors per side."
- 16 In a tree, a node that has no descendants. countable, uncountable
"The algorithm pops the stack to obtain a new current node when there are no more children (when it reaches a leaf)."
- 17 The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat. countable, uncountable
- 18 One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small. countable, uncountable
- 19 Cannabis. slang, uncountable
- 20 A Canadian person. Internet, countable, humorous, pejorative, sometimes, uncountable
- 21 A particular value of the EAX register when a program runs the CPUID instruction; each leaf represents a different category of information returned about the processor. countable, uncountable
"X86_FEATURE_HETERO_CORE_TOPOLOGY is used to identify whether the processor support heterogeneous core type by reading CPUID leaf Fn_0x80000026_EAX and bit 30. if the bit is set as one, then amd_pstate driver will check EBX 30:28 bits to get the core type."
Verb
- 1 To produce leaves; put forth foliage. intransitive
"Then flowered the mead, then leafed all 'Twas caused by the runic lay."
- 2 produce leaves, of plants wordnet
- 3 To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves. transitive
"The lettuce in our burgers is 100% hand-leafed."
- 4 turn over pages wordnet
- 5 To play a prank on someone by throwing a large clump or collection of leaves at them. informal, transitive, uncommon
Show 1 more definition
- 6 look through a book or other written material wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from Old English.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The criminal became a Christian and turned over a new leaf."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "leaf"?
Common synonyms include: folio, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, back, back matter, bastard title.
How do you use "leaf" in a sentence?
The criminal became a Christian and turned over a new leaf.
How do you pronounce "leaf"?
Pronounced /liːf/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowbʰ-o-m, from *lewbʰ- (“to cut off”). Cognates Cognate with Scots leaf (“leaf”), Yola laafe (“leaf”), North Frisian luuf (“leaf”), Saterland Frisian Loof (“leaf”), West Frisian leaf (“leaf”), Cimbrian loap (“leaf”), Dutch loof (“foliage”), German Laub (“leaves”), German Low German Loov (“leaf”), Luxembourgish Laf (“foliage, leaves”), Mòcheno lap (“leaf”), Vilamovian łaub, łaup, łojp (“leaf”), Danish løv (“leaf”), Faroese leyv (“leaf”), Icelandic lauf (“leaf”), Norwegian Bokmål lauv, løv (“leaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk lauv (“leaf”), Swedish löf, löv (“leaf”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf”); also Irish luibh (“herb, plant”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Lithuanian lúobas (“bark; bast”), Polish łub (“bark”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”). (Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.
Etymology 2
From the Old English personal names Lēofa and Lēofe, both from lēof (“dear, beloved”).
Etymology 3
From leaf.