lap

pronunciation

How to pronounce lap in British English: UK [læp] word uk audio image

How to pronounce lap in American English: US [læp] word us audio image

Noun:

the upper side of the thighs of a seated person
an area of control or responsibility
the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs
a flap that lies over another part
movement once around a course
touching with the tongue
Verb:

lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
pass the tongue over
move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound
take up with the tongue
wash or flow against

Word Origin

lap: lap: English now has three distinct words lap, but probably two of them are ultimately related. Lap ‘upper legs of a seated person’ [OE] originally meant ‘flap of a garment’, and it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic source which also produced German lappen ‘rag, cloth, flap, lobe’, and which may lie behind label [14]. It seems likely that lap in the sense ‘folds of a garment’ was the basis of the Middle English verb lap, which meant ‘wrap’, and hence ‘extend beyond’.From this come both the verb overlap [18] and the noun lap [18], whose modern meaning ‘one circuit of a course’ emerged in the 19th century. Lap ‘lick up’ [OE] comes from a prehistoric Germanic base *lap-, which was related to Latin lambēre ‘lick’ (source of English lambent [17], and possibly responsible also for lamprey and limpet).=> label; lambent

lap (n.): Old English læppa (plural læppan) "skirt or flap of a garment," from Proto-Germanic *lapp- (cognates: Old Frisian lappa, Old Saxon lappo, Middle Dutch lappe, Dutch lap, Old High German lappa, German Lappen "rag, shred," Old Norse leppr "patch, rag"), from PIE root *leb- "be loose, hang down." Sense of "lower part of a shirt" led to that of "upper legs of seated person" (c. 1300). Used figuratively ("bosom, breast") from late 14c., as in lap of luxury, first recorded 1802. From 15c.-In 17c. the word (often in plural) was a euphemism for "female pudendum," but this is not the source of lap dance, which is first recorded 1993.To lap dance, you undress, sit your client down, order him to stay still and fully clothed, then hover over him, making a motion that you have perfected by watching Mister Softee ice cream dispensers. [Anthony Lane, review of "Showgirls," "New Yorker," Oct. 16, 1995]That this is pleasure and not torment for the client is something survivors of the late 20c. will have to explain to their youngers.

lap (v.1): "take up liquid with the tongue," from Old English lapian "to lap up, drink," from Proto-Germanic *lapojan (cognates: Old High German laffen "to lick," Old Saxon lepil, Dutch lepel, German Löffel "spoon"), from PIE imitative base *lab- (cognates: Greek laptein "to sip, lick," Latin lambere "to lick"), indicative of licking, lapping, smacking lips. Meaning "splash gently" first recorded 1823, based on similarity of sound. Related: Lapped; lapping.

lap (v.2): "to lay one part over another," early 14c., "to surround (something with something else)," from lap (n.). Figurative use, "to envelop (in love, sin, desire, etc.)" is from mid-14c. The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun in this sense is 1670s, originally "something coiled or wrapped up;" meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) also is from this sense. Related: Lapped; lapping; laps.