Link Centre Dictionary

lap

UK/lap/ US/læp/ common slang
noun (6) verb (5)

noun

1.

the upper side of the thighs of a seated person

  • “he picked up the little girl and plopped her down in his lap”
2.

an area of control or responsibility

  • “the job fell right in my lap”
3.

the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs

  • “his lap was covered with food stains”
Synonyms
4.

a flap that lies over another part

  • “the lap of the shingles should be at least ten inches”
Synonyms
5.

movement once around a course

  • “he drove an extra lap just for insurance”
Synonyms
6.

touching with the tongue

  • “the dog”
Synonyms

verb

1.

lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another

2.

pass the tongue over

  • “the dog licked her hand”
Synonyms
3.

move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound

  • “The bubbles swoshed around in the glass”
  • “The curtain swooshed open”
Synonyms
4.

take up with the tongue

  • “The cat lapped up the milk”
  • “the cub licked the milk from its mother”
Synonyms
5.

wash or flow against

  • “the waves laved the shore”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.

Phrases

  • end lap
  • fall into one's lap
  • fall into someone's lap
  • fast lap
  • flying lap
  • formation lap
  • gun lap
  • hot lap
  • in lap
  • in the lap of the gods
  • joker lap
  • land in someone's lap

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.