1. [n]  large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male
2. [n]  the fifth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about July 23 to August 22
3. [n]  (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Leo
4. [n]  a celebrity who is lionized (much sought after)

Lion
This introduction to lions includes information on the conservation efforts being made to protect them. Illustrated with color photographs.

more details ...

1. \Li"on\ (l[imac]"[u^]n), n. [F. lion, L. leo, -onis, akin
   to Gr. le`wn. Cf. {Chameleon}, {Dandelion}, {Leopard}.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) A large carnivorous feline mammal ({Felis
      leo}), found in Southern Asia and in most parts of Africa,
      distinct varieties occurring in the different countries.
      The adult male, in most varieties, has a thick mane of
      long shaggy hair that adds to his apparent size, which is
      less than that of the largest tigers. The length, however,
      is sometimes eleven feet to the base of the tail. The
      color is a tawny yellow or yellowish brown; the mane is
      darker, and the terminal tuft of the tail is black. In one
      variety, called the {maneless lion}, the male has only a
      slight mane.
   2. (Astron.) A sign and a constellation; Leo.
   3. An object of interest and curiosity, especially a person
      who is so regarded; as, he was quite a lion in London at
      that time.
            Such society was far more enjoyable than that of
            Edinburgh, for here he was not a lion, but a man.
                                                  --Prof.
                                                  Wilson.
   {American lion} (Zo["o]l.), the puma or cougar.
   {Lion ant} (Zo["o]l.), the ant-lion.
   {Lion dog} (Zo["o]l.), a fancy dog with a flowing mane,
      usually clipped to resemble a lion's mane.
   {Lion lizard} (Zo["o]l.), the basilisk.
   {Lion's share}, all, or nearly all; the best or largest part;
      -- from [AE]sop's fable of the lion hunting in company
      with certain smaller beasts, and appropriating to himself
      all the prey.
   

2. \Li"on\, n.
   {Lion of Lucerne}, a famous sculptured lion at Lucerne,
      Switzerland, designed by Thorwaldsen and dedicated in 1821
      as a memorial to the Swiss Guards who fell defending Louis
      XVI. in the attack of the mob on the Tuileries, Aug. 10,
      1792. The animal, which is hewn out of the face of a rock,
      is represented as transfixed with a broken spear and
      dying, but still trying to protect with its paw a shield
      bearing the fleur-de-lis of France.
   {Lion of St. Mark}, a winged lion, the emblem of the
      evangelist Mark, especially that of bronze surmounting a
      granite column in the Piazzetta at Venice, and holding in
      its fore paws an open book representing St. Mark's Gospel.
   {Lion of the North}, Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), King of
      Sweden, the hero of the Protestant faith in the Thirty
      Years' War. Liquid air \Liq"uid air\ (Physics)
   A transparent limpid liquid, slightly blue in color,
   consisting of a mixture of liquefied oxygen and nitrogen. It
   is prepared by subjecting air to great pressure and then
   cooling it by its own expansion to a temperature below the
   boiling point of its constituents (N -194[deg] C; O -183[deg]
   C.).