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lap¹

(lăp)

a. The front area from the waist to the knees of a seated person.

b. The portion of a garment that covers the lap.

2. A hanging or flaplike part, especially of a garment.

3. An area of responsibility, interest, or control: an opportunity that dropped in his lap.

Idiom:

the lap of luxury

Conditions of great affluence or material comfort: an heiress living in the lap of luxury.

[Middle English lappe, lappet, lap, from Old English læppa, lappet.]

lapful′ n.

lap²

(lăp)

v. lapped, lap·ping, laps

v.tr.

a. To place or lay (something) so as to overlap another: lapped the roof tiles so that water would run off.

b. To lie partly over or on: each shingle lapping the next; shadows that lapped the wall.

2. To fold (something) over onto itself: a cloth edge that had been lapped and sewn to make a hem.

3. To wrap or wind around (something); encircle.

4. To envelop in something; swathe: models who were lapped in expensive furs.

5. To join (pieces, as of wood) by means of a scarf or lap joint.

6. Sports To get ahead of (an opponent) in a race by one or more complete circuits of the course, as in running, or by two or more lengths of a pool in swimming.

7. To convert (cotton or other fibers) into a sheet or layer.

a. To polish (a surface) until smooth.

b. To hone (two mating parts) against each other until closely fitted.

v.intr.

1. To lie partly on or over something; overlap.

2. To form a lap or fold.

3. To wind around or enfold something.

a. A part that overlaps.

b. The amount by which one part overlaps another.

a. One complete round or circuit, especially of a racetrack.

b. One complete length of a straight course, as of a swimming pool.

3. A segment or stage, as of a trip.

a. A length, as of rope, required to make one complete turn around something.

b. The act of lapping or encircling.

5. A continuous band or layer of cotton, flax, or other fiber.

6. A wheel, disk, or slab of leather or metal, either stationary or rotating, used for polishing and smoothing.

[Middle English lappen, from lappe, lap, lappet; see LAP¹.]

lap³

(lăp)

v. lapped, lap·ping, laps

v.tr.

1. To take in (a liquid or food) by lifting it with the tongue.

2. To wash or slap against with soft liquid sounds: waves lapping the side of the boat.

v.intr.

1. To take in a liquid or food with the tongue.

2. To wash against something with soft liquid sounds.

a. The act or an instance of lapping.

b. The amount taken in by lapping.

2. The sound of lapping.

3. A watery food or drink.

Phrasal Verb:

lap up

To receive eagerly or greedily: lapping up praise.

[Middle English lapen, from Old English lapian.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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