Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - leaf

 I. noun  (plural leaves; also ~s)  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Middle English leef, from Old English leaf; akin to Old High German loub ~  Date: before 12th century  1.  a.  (1) a lateral outgrowth from a plant stem that is typically a flattened expanded variably shaped greenish organ, constitutes a unit of the foliage, and functions primarily in food manufacture by photosynthesis  (2) a modified ~ (as a bract or sepal) primarily engaged in functions other than food manufacture  b.  (1) foliage trees in full ~  (2) the leaves of a plant as an article of commerce  2. something suggestive of a ~: as  a. a part of a book or folded sheet containing a page on each side  b.  (1) a part (as of window shutters, folding doors, or gates) that slides or is hinged  (2) the movable parts of a table top  c.  (1) a thin sheet or plate of any substance ; lamina  (2) metal (as gold or silver) in sheets usually thinner than foil  (3) one of the plates of a ~ spring  • ~less adjective  • ~like adjective  II. verb  Date: 1611  intransitive verb  1. to shoot out or produce leaves will ~ out in spring  2. to turn over pages especially to browse or skim ~ through a book  transitive verb to turn over the pages of