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A.Word.A.Day--lief

lief (leef) adverb

Willingly; gladly; readily.

adjective

1. Dear, beloved.

2. Willing.

[From Old English leof.]

"Lord Salisbury would have as lief taken advice from his party conference as from his valet." Edward Pearce; The Stretford End of Reason; The Guardian (London, UK); Apr 2, 1994.

"If I have a choice, I'd as lief be killed by an atom bomb as by a hand grenade or a flame thrower." Katherine Anne Porter; The Future is Now; The Days Before; New York, Harcourt, Brace; 1952.

This week's theme: Anglo-Saxon words.

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