# lap

Pronunciation: say "LAP" /læp/

## Noun

1. One complete circuit around a race track.
   - Simple: One full trip around a race track.
   - _She set a personal best on the third lap of the race._
   - _The cyclists completed one lap in under two minutes._
2. The flat upper surface of the thighs of a person who is sitting, or the part of their clothing that covers it.
   - Simple: The top of your thighs when you sit down, or the clothes covering that area.
   - _She shook the crumbs from the lap of her skirt._
   - _The toddler fell asleep in her grandmother's lap halfway through the story._
3. A single length of the pool, swum from one end to the other, or less often one length and back again.
   - Simple: One trip from one end of a swimming pool to the other.
   - _She managed forty laps of the pool before work every morning._
   - _He swam an easy lap to cool down after the workout._
7. A nurturing place where someone or something is reared and cared for.
   - Simple: A safe, caring place where someone or something is raised and looked after.
   - _He grew up in the quiet lap of the countryside, far from the city._
   - _Raised in the lap of a large, loving family, he never felt alone as a child._
9. The action of taking liquid into the mouth with the tongue.
   - Simple: The act of drinking liquid by scooping it up with the tongue.
   - _The puppy took one cautious lap of the milk, then backed away from the bowl._
   - _The exhausted dog drank with long, greedy laps until the bucket was nearly empty._
8. An overlapping part, or the amount by which one thing extends over another.
   - Simple: The part where one thing lies over another, or how much it overlaps.
   - _The builder increased the lap between the planks for a tighter seal._
   - _A small lap at the joint left the seam weak._
12. The action or sound of a liquid washing gently against a surface, or of an animal taking in liquid with its tongue.
   - Simple: The soft sound or motion of water touching something, or of an animal drinking with its tongue.
   - _She fell asleep to the steady lap of waves beneath the houseboat._
   - _We could hear the dog's noisy laps from across the kitchen._
14. A piece of soft metal such as brass or lead, shaped as a revolving wheel or disk, that holds cutting or polishing powder for working glass, gems, or cutlery.
   - Simple: A soft metal wheel that holds grinding powder for cutting or polishing glass, gems, or metal.
   - _A brass lap loaded with diamond powder smoothed the blade's edge._
   - _The cutter swapped the lap on his bench for a finer grade._

## Verb

4. To take liquid into the mouth with quick movements of the tongue.
   - Simple: To drink by scooping up liquid with quick movements of the tongue.
   - _The cat paused to lap from the puddle by the door._
   - _Stray dogs lapped at the spilled juice on the sidewalk._
5. Of water or waves, to move against a shore or other surface, making a splashing noise; to swash.
   - Simple: To wash gently against something with a soft splashing sound.
   - _Gentle waves lap at the shore all through the night._
   - _The tide lapped against the wooden pier._
6. To overtake a slower competitor by completing one full circuit more than they have.
   - Simple: To pass another racer by going one whole extra time around the track.
   - _On a fast circuit, the top drivers can lap the backmarkers twice._
   - _She lapped her nearest rival with ten minutes remaining._
10. To lie partly over something, or to place one thing so that it partly covers another; to overlap.
   - Simple: To lie partly over something, or to put one thing partly over another.
   - _She lapped each plank over the one below to shed water._
   - _Carpenters lap the boards to form a tight, weatherproof joint._
11. To polish or finish metal, glass, or gemstones with a lap charged with very fine abrasive.
   - Simple: To make metal, glass, or stones very smooth and exact by rubbing them against a tool covered with very fine grit.
   - _Machinists lap the valve seats to create a perfect seal._
   - _The toolmaker lapped each steel gauge block with diamond paste until it measured exactly right._
13. To fold something, bending and laying it over or onto something else.
   - Simple: To fold something and lay it over or onto something else.
   - _To wrap the gift neatly, lap the paper over the ends and crease it firmly before you add the tape._
   - _Before packing the quilt away, she lapped it into a neat square and laid it on the top shelf._
15. To wrap or wind something around an object, or to surround and enfold it.
   - Simple: To wrap or wind something around something else.
   - _Workers lap the exposed pipe in thick insulating tape._
   - _Each cable is lapped with copper tape to shield it from interference._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To rest or lay something, such as one's head, in someone's lap or on a similar soft place.
- (noun) Short for laparoscopy: an examination of or operation on the abdomen using a thin camera inserted through a small cut.
- (adjective) Short for laparoscopic: done through small cuts using a laparoscope, a thin viewing instrument.
- (noun) Short for laparotomy: a surgical operation that cuts through the wall of the abdomen to reach the organs inside.
- (noun) The loose, freely hanging part of a coat or garment, such as a skirt or an apron.
- (noun) An edge, border, or hem, such as the finished border of a piece of cloth.
- (noun) In card games and similar games, the points scored beyond those needed to finish a game, carried over into the score of the next game.
- (noun) A woman's genitals.
- (noun) In a steam engine's slide valve, how far the valve has to shift from the center of its travel before a port starts to uncover.
- (noun) A broad rolled web of cotton, readied to be fed into a carding machine.
- (noun) Strong drink, such as beer or spirits.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 7** — Old English læppa, a flap or skirt of a garment, became Middle English lappe. Behind it is Proto-Germanic *lappô ("cloth, rag"), whose source is uncertain but may be Proto-Indo-European *leb- ("to hang loosely"). Dutch lap and German Lappen ("cloth") are related.
**Meanings 1, 3, 6, 8, 10–15** — From Middle English lappen ("to fold, wrap"), from earlier wlappen, from Old English *wlappan, from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-/*wrapp- ("to wrap, fold, roll up"), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- ("to bend, turn"). It is a doublet of wrap and related to envelop and develop. The sense of getting a lap ahead on a track (1847) came from the notion of "overlapping," and the noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) grew from that.
**Meanings 4–5, 9** — Old English lapian became Middle English lappen. It traces to Proto-Germanic *lapōną ("to lick, lap") and further to Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b-, an imitative root meaning "to lick" or "to lap." Old High German laffen ("to lick") and Latin lambere ("lick") are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lap (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).