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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

lest en · CCONJ

Pronunciation

  • /lɛst/ (Early, Modern)
  • (US) audio
  • /liːst/ (obsolete)
  • /lɛst/
  • /lɛːst/ (Early, Modern)

Etymology

c. 1200, contracted from Middle English les te (“less that”), from Old English þȳ lǣs þe (“whereby less that”), from þȳ (instrumental case of demonstrative article þæt (“that”)) + lǣs (“less”) + þe (“that,” relative particle). The þȳ was dropped and the remaining two words contracted into leste.

Meanings

  1. (formal, literary) For fear that; that not; in order to prevent something from happening; in case.
    • I brought my notes lest faulty memory lead me astray.
    • Lest any astrologer reading this result get cocky, Dr Cajochen does not believe that what he has found is directly influenced by the Moon through, say, some tidal effect. What he thinks he has discovered is an additional hand on the body’s clock-face. 2013 July 27, “Lunacy?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846:
    • Stay free from petty jealousies / Live by no man's code / And hold your judgment for yourself / Lest you wind up on this road 1967, “I Am a Lonesome Hobo”, in Bob Dylan (music), John Wesley Harding:
    • He won't go outside, lest he be eaten by those ravenous eagles.
    • I thought to haue told thee of it, but I fear'd / Leaſt I might anger thee. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 2:
    • And then Robert Loo came out swiftly with the half-filled jar lest more be said. 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 565:
  2. (after certain expressions denoting fear or apprehension, formal, literary) that (without the negative particle; introduces the reason for an emotion.)
    • There was danger/alarm lest the plan become known.
    • That you and I should be in the same house together and not able to speak to each other is in itself a misery, but this is terribly enhanced by the dread lest this state of things should be made to continue. 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Lady Milborough as Ambassador”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 81:
    • I am afraid lest I revealed too much.
    • [M]y ward, or rather my adopted son Leo Vincey and myself have recently passed through a real African adventure, of a nature so much more marvellous than the one which you describe, that to tell the truth I am almost ashamed to submit it to you lest you should disbelieve my tale. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
    • Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Relateds

in case · lest we forget

Synonyms

before

Translations (77)

km ក្រែង (for fear that) · ar مَخَافَةَ أَن (for fear that) · uk щоби ... не (that … not) · da af frygt for at (for fear that) · tr daha önce (that … not) · bg за да не (that … not) · uk щоб ... не (that … not) · pl że (that (without the negative particle)) · fr de peur que (for fear that) · de auf dass nicht (that … not) · grc μή (for fear that) · ru и́на́че (that … not) · hu nehogy (for fear that) · pl żeby nie (for fear that) · he פֶּן (for fear that) · cs ze strachu, že ... (for fear that) · ang þȳ lǣs (that … not) · sl da ne bi (for fear that) · eo pro timo ke (for fear that) · fi ettei (that … not) · fi jottei (for fear that) · ka რათა არ (for fear that) · ang þȳ lǣs (for fear that) · uk боячи́сь, що (for fear that) · sh da ne (that … not) · sh da ne bi (for fear that) · fr sans quoi (for fear that) · pl żeby nie (that … not) · sh kako ne ... (that … not) · mi kei tūpono (for fear that) · ro în caz că (for fear that) · grc μήποτε (that … not) · es no vaya a ser que (for fear that) · ru из страха (for fear that) · pt a fim de que ... não (for fear that) · ru чтобы не (that … not) · id jangan-jangan akan (for fear that) · bg от страх да не (for fear that) · id jangan-jangan (for fear that) · fi ettei (for fear that) · de fürchtend, dass (for fear that) · bg да не (that … not) · nl uit angst dat (for fear that) · ru что (for fear that) · ja しないように (for fear that) · sh iz straha da ne (for fear that) · sv så att inte (that … not) · it per paura che (for fear that) · uk аби́ ... не (that … not) · hu nehogy (that … not) · la nē (that … not) · fi siltä varalta, että (for fear that) · la nē (that (without the negative particle)) · bcl harambili (for fear that) · cs aby ... ne (that … not) · tr bundan korkarak (for fear that) · tr bunun üzerine değil (that … not) · uk що (that (without the negative particle)) · grc μή (that … not) · su bisi (for fear that) · nl opdat ... niet (that … not) · bn পাছে (that … not) · grc μήποτε (for fear that) · fi siinä pelossa, että (for fear that) · fi jottei (that … not) · pt para que (for fear that) · fi sen pelossa, että (for fear that) · ro care (that (without the negative particle)) · ga ar eagla go (for fear that) · got 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (for fear that) · de in der Furcht, dass (for fear that) · mi kei (that … not) · gl non sexa que (for fear that) · de bevor (that … not) · cmn 以免 (for fear that) · ar خِيفَةَ أَنَّ (for fear that) · cs v případě, že ... (for fear that)