laps

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of lap.

   The runners pushed hard through the final two laps of the race.

   Both kittens curled up in the visitors' laps and dozed off.

   Note

   A regular plural that follows people rather than limbs: each seated person has one lap, so a crowd holds things in their laps. The older garment senses pluralize the same way, as in the loose laps of a coat or the laps, or hems, of cloth. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, so context decides whether laps names a thing or an action.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of lap.

   The thirsty dog laps water noisily after its long walk.

   A gentle tide laps at the pilings beneath the pier.

   Note

   Behind the -s sits a verb of enfolding and wrapping: a mother laps a child in a shawl, and a cord laps around a spindle. Most of these uses take a direct object, since something is lapped in or over something else. The sense of winding around can stand alone without one. The image throughout is the lap itself, folding around what it holds.

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