Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Lute?

\Lute\, n. [L. lutum mud, clay: cf. OF. lut.] 1. (Chem.) A cement of clay or other tenacious infusible substance for sealing joints in apparatus, or the mouths of vessels or tubes, or for coating the bodies of retorts, etc., when exposed to heat; -- called also {luting}. 2. A packing ring, as of rubber, for fruit jars, etc. 3. (Brick Making) A straight-edged piece of wood for striking off superfluous clay from mold.
\Lute\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Luted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Luting}.] To close or seal with lute; as, to lute on the cover of a crucible; to lute a joint.
\Lute\, n. [OF. leut, F. luth; skin to Pr. la['u]t, It. li['u]to, le['u]to, Sp. la['u]d, Pg. alaude; all fr. Ar. al'?d; al the + '?d wood, timber, trunk or branch of a tree, staff, stick, wood of aloes, lute or harp.] (Mus.) A stringed instrument formerly much in use. It consists of four parts, namely, the table or front, the body, having nine or ten ribs or ``sides,'' arranged like the divisions of a melon, the neck, which has nine or ten frets or divisions, and the head, or cross, in which the screws for tuning are inserted. The strings are struck with the right hand, and with the left the stops are pressed.
\Lute\, v. i. To sound, as a lute. Piers Plowman. Keats.
\Lute\, v. t. To play on a lute, or as on a lute. Knaves are men That lute and flute fantastic tenderness. --Tennyson.