How to Use leaf in a Sentence

leaf

1 of 2 noun
  • The trees drop their leaves in the fall, and new leaves grow again in the spring.
  • I heard the rustle of the autumn leaves.
  • The trees have not yet come into leaf.
  • In the middle of the drink was a mint leaf in the shape of a heart.
    Souvankham Thammavongsa, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
  • The leaf blades are wider and lighter green in color than the rest of the grass in my lawn.
    Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 30 July 2023
  • Wrap an inch of sphagnum moss around the spot where the leaf and the stem meet.
    Arricca Elin Sansone, House Beautiful, 31 May 2023
  • Use a clean, sharp hand-pruner and make cuts just above a branch or leaf node.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 10 Jan. 2024
  • Then apply a layer of leaf mulch out at least to the drip-line.
    Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The Portland three-in-one leaf mulcher is the best leaf mulcher for those on a budget.
    Rachel Ahrnsen, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Feb. 2024
  • One of the telltale symptoms of beech leaf disease is dark bands in the leaves of beech trees.
    Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Keep in Mind It's designed for loose leaf tea, not tea bags.
    Michelle Love, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 July 2023
  • The soft shrub has a minty aromatic leaf and grows to about two to three feet tall.
    Ryan Conner, Dallas News, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Refugees from Aleppo, Syria, cling to a leaf floating in the wind.
    Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Mar. 2023
  • The leaves consist of one large and one small leaf that look the same, just different sizes.
    Melinda Myers, Journal Sentinel, 22 Mar. 2024
  • She was named after the maple leaf, the emblem on Canada's flag.
    Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Beech leaf disease was the first detected in Ohio in 2012.
    Camille Fine, USA TODAY, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Fine strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass, and garnish with a basil leaf.
    Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 26 Aug. 2023
  • Nevada Nevada has two state trees – the single-leaf piñon and the bristlecone pine.
    Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Frost is just ice crystals on the top of the foliage, but when there is a freeze, all of the leaf tissue can be damaged.
    Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 18 Mar. 2023
  • Of course James Paxton has a maple leaf tattoo on his right forearm.
    Varun Shankar, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Part of the life cycle of this fungus is entirely within the leaf.
    Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 May 2023
  • Wearing a white dress, her blond hair braided atop her head wrapped in a gold-leaf tiara, she was baptized in the Aegean Sea.
    Ronda Kaysen, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2023
  • The genus is known to feed on deadwood, dead leaves, leaf litter or lichens, according to Hoare.
    Rina Diane Caballar, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Small details like the way in which a droplet might hang off a leaf is inspiration in and of itself.
    Lauren Mowery, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
  • But then there’s a quick fusillade of lemongrass and lime leaf, a tidal wave of Thai basil and some serious oomph from the fish sauce.
    Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2023
  • With one leaf up, four people can sit around the table for dinner with elbow room to spare.
    Paige Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Scalp your turf to remove browned leaf stubble killed by this winter’s cold.
    Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Mar. 2024
  • This leaf likely fell off a tree in the fall once the trees paused photosynthesis for the winter and sank to the bottom of the lake, where it was buried.
    Robert Patalano, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024
  • To the seas, a cruise ship is nothing more than a leaf drifting effortlessly along the surface.
    Melanie Lieberman, Travel + Leisure, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Simply place a thin piece of paper over top of your leaf or the bark and use a colored pencil or crayon to rub over it.
    Rebecca Norris, Country Living, 29 Aug. 2023
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leaf

2 of 2 verb
  • The tree was just starting to leaf out when the April freeze hit.
    oregonlive, 22 May 2022
  • Spread the mulch this time of the year as the plants are beginning to leaf out.
    OregonLive.com, 9 Mar. 2018
  • This prepares them to leaf out as days get longer and warmer in the spring.
    Richard B. Primack, The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Once the taller trees leaf out, those spring ephemerals go to sleep for the summer.
    Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 13 Nov. 2020
  • The midwife leafed through a pile of folders on the table.
    Rossalyn Warren, Washington Post, 6 July 2017
  • Oh, and don’t be in a hurry to prune what might be slow to leaf out next spring.
    oregonlive, 4 Dec. 2021
  • The oaks are fully leafed out with their fresh lime-green new growth.
    Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 May 2018
  • All have evolved the good sense to leaf out, blossom and set seed before the canopy puts them in the dark for good.
    John Gurda, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2020
  • Visitors to the artwork are welcome to leaf through the book.
    Doug MacCash, NOLA.com, 12 Jan. 2021
  • The oak in our yard leafed out late, then the leaves all turned brown fast in June and July, starting at the top.
    Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 19 Sep. 2019
  • In the spring the trees are leafing out earlier and in the fall the ragweed is lasting longer.
    Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, 11 June 2019
  • Wait to see if plants leaf out or re-sprout, then prune off deadwood.
    Pam Peirce, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Feb. 2018
  • But first, leaf it alone: Raking leaves again this fall?
    Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2019
  • The forests were lush and green, filled with shrubby cycads and fan-leafed ginkgos.
    Jess Romeo, Popular Science, 15 Nov. 2019
  • If the top of the trunk does not leaf out eventually, contact the source of your plants and get new plants.
    Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 17 May 2018
  • Ready to leaf the hustle and bustle of city life behind?
    Annie Blanks, San Antonio Express-News, 12 Jan. 2022
  • At the cusp of what feels like the first genuine spring in three years, who can wait for the trees to leaf out before seizing on the change of season?
    Wsj Editors, WSJ, 25 Mar. 2022
  • Users would move around the map by leafing through the panels like book pages from left to right, or by flipping them up and down.
    Betsy Mason, National Geographic, 29 Aug. 2017
  • The canyon is filled with box elders that had not yet leafed out, and above us sandstone cliffs soared like skyscrapers.
    Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2019
  • Despite lacking text of any kind, this book told even a child that it was meant to be leafed through from start to finish.
    The New York Review of Books, 18 Apr. 2019
  • Mortensen’s character, Tony, takes it on the trip and leafs through it several times.
    Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 7 Jan. 2019
  • The students leaf through the books and t-shirts to make their selections before walking home.
    oregonlive, 14 June 2020
  • Trees in the Northern Hemisphere leaf out in the spring as frost recedes. Caterpillars hatch to gorge on leaves.
    Author: Livia Albeck Ripka, Brad Plumer, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2018
  • Modern slug guns will punch clover leafs at 100 yards no problem.
    Curtis Niedermier, Outdoor Life, 18 Nov. 2019
  • Tang and Hong leafed through another batch of comment cards.
    Janelle Bitker, SFChronicle.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • These plants do not leaf out until a bit later in the spring, later than some other shrubs and trees.
    oregonlive, 29 Mar. 2020
  • All three are still dormant, although others in the area are fully leafed out.
    Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, 16 Apr. 2020
  • The next spring the vine leafed out solidly and there, somewhere in the foliage, hung one thin straggle of purple flowers.
    Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2018
  • Give the plants extra time in spring to leaf out before determining whether or not the stems are dead and need to be pruned back.
    Hannah Herrera Greenspan, chicagotribune.com, 9 June 2021
  • As the perennials leaf out next spring, the foliage will camouflage the ripening foliage of the bulbs.
    Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, Indianapolis Star, 20 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leaf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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