\Lease\, v. i. [AS. lesan to gather; akin to D. lezen to
gather, read, G. lesen, Goth. lisan to gather; cf. Lith lesti
to peck.]
To gather what harvesters have left behind; to glean. [Obs.]
--Dryden.

\Lease\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Leased}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Leasing}.] [F. laisser, OF. laissier, lessier, to leave,
transmit, L. laxare to loose, slacken, from laxus loose,
wide. See {Lax}, and cf. {Lesser}.]
1. To grant to another by lease the possession of, as of
   lands, tenements, and hereditaments; to let; to demise;
   as, a landowner leases a farm to a tenant; -- sometimes
   with out.
         There were some [houses] that were leased out for
         three lives.                          --Addison.
2. To hold under a lease; to take lease of; as, a tenant
   leases his land from the owner.

\Lease\, n. [Cf. OF. lais. See {Lease}, v. t.]
1. A demise or letting of lands, tenements, or hereditaments
   to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, or
   for any less interest than that which the lessor has in
   the property, usually for a specified rent or
   compensation.
2. The contract for such letting.
3. Any tenure by grant or permission; the time for which such
   a tenure holds good; allotted time.
         Our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of
         nature.                               --Shak.
{Lease and release} a mode of conveyance of freehold estates,
   formerly common in England and in New York. its place is
   now supplied by a simple deed of grant. --Burrill.
   --Warren's Blackstone.