lid

[lid]

noun

1. a removable or hinged cover for closing the opening, usually at the top, of a pot, jar, trunk, etc.; a movable cover.

2. an eyelid.

3. a restraint, ceiling, or curb, as on prices or news.

4. Slang.,  a hat, cap, or other head covering.

5. (in mosses)

   1. the cover of the capsule; operculum.

   2. the upper section of a pyxidium.

6. Slang.,  one ounce of marijuana.

verb (used with object)

lidded, lidding 

1. to supply or cover with a lid.

lid

/ lɪd /

noun

1. a cover, usually removable or hinged, for a receptacle

   a saucepan lid

   a desk lid

2. short for eyelid

3. botany another name for operculum

4. slang,  short for skidlid

5. old-fashioned,  a quantity of marijuana, usually an ounce

6. informal,  to raise one's hat as a greeting, etc

7. slang,  to become crazy or angry

8. informal

   1. to be the final blow to

   2. to curb, prevent, or discourage

9. informal,  to make startling or spectacular revelations about

Other Word Forms

• sublid noun
• underlid noun
• unlidded adjective
• lidded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lid¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hlid; cognate with Dutch, German lid, Old Norse hlith gate, gateway

Word History and Origins

Origin of lid¹

Old English hlid; related to Old Friesian hlid, Old High German hlit cover

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. blow / flip one's lid, to lose control, especially to rage hysterically: Also flip one's wig.

   He nearly flipped his lid over the way they damaged his car.

2. blow the lid off, to expose to public view, especially to reveal something scandalous, illegal, etc.

see blow the lid off; flip one's lid; put the lid on.

Example Sentences

However, some have used Aberdeen's collapse last term as a reason to put a lid on the positivity bubbling away at Tynecastle.

Read more on BBC

Track 80, “Room Service Ooh,” is exactly what it sounds like, with a clattering lid being lifted off a plate followed by Lindhome’s exclamation at what’s underneath.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Institute for Fiscal Studies reckons that we'd have to work until 74 to keep a lid on state pension spending.

Read more on BBC

This efficiency made professional sense, though it had the potential to put a lid on what is usually the most interesting, unruly, moving, unpredictable part of the show.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Claire Bracey, interim chief executive of Become, says the report "is once again lifting the lid on the extortionate profits that are being made from providing homes for our most vulnerable children".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• cap 
• roof